Lowell Lantern

Dear Lowell Families,

It has been great to see all of our Lowell students back at school this week!! It has been a fabulous first week back to school! Students have worked hard to get back into the school routine and have enjoyed seeing each other!

We kicked off our Kindness and Justice Challenge today and will continue our Challenge through the month of February. The K & J Challenge is a national initiative that was started by the son of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to promote the importance of treating each other with kindness and respect. The components of this challenge tie very closely to our CORE beliefs at Lowell. Through the K & J Challenge, we support many local community organizations. Students get to be an active part in giving back to our community -- a valuable lesson! We encourage you to talk to your children about our Challenge and promote these acts of kindness and justice both at home and at school. This truly is one of our favorite events that we do each year, and it is so rewarding to see the pride that students have for taking part in something so special! Each Friday, students will have the opportunity to participate in a spirit day. We ask students to pay $1.00 to participate. We also will have our Penny War again this year. Students are asked to bring in loose change to donate to our Penny War. All money raised will be donated to our charitable organizations that we are sponsoring through the K & J Challenge. We will be supporting Riley Children’s Hospital, The American Heart Association, and our own Warren Early Childhood Center through this Challenge. We appreciate your participation!

Second Quarter Honor Roll Celebrations are scheduled for next week. Please note the time change below. All celebrations will begin at 7:30am (this is different than some of the invites that were sent home). Honor Roll Celebration Dates and times are below:

• Wednesday, January 15 at 7:30am -- Second Grade

• Thursday, January 16 at 7:30am -- Third Grade

• Friday, January 17 at 7:30am -- Fourth Grade

On Saturday, January 25, 2020 at 9:00am, the district is hosting a Legislative Forum at the Warren Education and Community Center at 10th and Post Road. State representatives and governing officials will be on hand to listen to the district initiatives and to share their plans and insights. We welcome all of you to attend this very informative session and to hear from our legislators.

Have a great weekend and enjoy your time with your children!

Mrs. Griffin

All celebrations will begin at 7:30am

Wednesday, January 15 at 7:30am -- Second Grade

Thursday, January 16 at 7:30am -- Third Grade

Friday, January 17 at 7:30am -- Fourth Grade

MSD of Warren Township Elementary School Visitation Procedures

Parents and visitors are encouraged to visit Lowell Elementary. We are making a more concise effort in our visitor policy because the safety and well-being of our students and staff is our highest priority. All visitors must provide a government-issued ID to be scanned into the Raptor Visitor Management System. At the conclusion of all visits, please return to the main office to sign out. You can find more information about Raptor by visiting our website. School administration reserves the right to refuse visitation for anyone who does not comply with school visitation procedures.

Classroom Visitation

Classroom visits consist of observing teaching and learning in action. To protect instructional time and the activities taking place in the classroom, we ask that parents refrain from talking with the teacher to allow him/her to continue teaching. If you need to speak with a teacher, please follow the procedure for teacher visitation below. Procedures for classroom visits:

• provide advanced notice to the teacher

• must be on students emergency contact list

• maximum visitors in a classroom of 2 parties

• limited to a maximum of 30 minutes

• classroom visitations during arrival and dismissal will not be allowed.

• including walking students to class

Teacher Visitation

Meeting with your child’s teacher(s) is a valuable part of the education process. Procedures for teacher visitation:

• schedule a meeting time with a teacher

• must be a custodial parent or guardian

Lunch Visitation

If you are interested in eating lunch with your student at school, please follow these procedures:

• eat in a designated area assigned by the school

• only visitors who are on a students contacts list

• other students will not be able to accompany your student

• outside food/drink is permitted

• at the conclusion of lunch, please return to the office.

Thank you for your assistance in ensuring a safe and secure school environment for all students and staff members.

It's time to make the kindness connection! The National Kindness and Justice Challenge is a celebration of the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lowell students began our 16th annual Kindness and Justice Challenge today. They will participate in activities that build an understanding of how simple acts of kindness and justice make a tremendous impact on our community and our world.

For the next several weeks, Lowell students will earn kindness links to be displayed in our hallways. Students will be encouraged to think about how we treat one another and how we must work together to make this world a better place for everyone.

During the months of January and February, students can bring in money for our Penny War to donate toward the Early Childhood Center in Warren Township, The American Heart Association, and Riley Hospital for Children. Students may bring in pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and bills. In addition, every Friday we will have spirit days. Students are asked to bring in $1.00 to participate in these spirit days.

One way parents can help is by simply enforcing and encouraging the demonstration of kind and just acts at home! Thank you for teaching the valuable lessons of kindness and justice through your own example and support. These will be a part of your child's life forever just as your child will always be somebody special to us!

The book fair was a huge success! Thank you to the students, parents, and staff for your support. Because of your generosity our sales totaled $8366. The Scholastic Book Fair is our main fundraiser for our library. This money will be used to purchase new books for our school library. The penguin coin challenge was a hit as well! Approximately $250 was collected in loose change. Our library will receive that amount in books and Scholastic will match that and send $500 in books to children in need.

A very special thanks to all the hard-working volunteers who offered their time to help! We couldn’t have done it without you! Amber Sifuentes, Elizabeth Capps, Lori Limeberry, Nicole Garrett, Janice Murphy, Renata Piotrowski, Susie Ammerman, Crystal Espinoza, Jackie Allen, Melissa Haley, Tina McIntyre, Jamie Sanders, Candy Gauer, Megan Morgan, Savannah Sifuentes, Tom Pratt, Amanda Guess, Marissa Temple, & Susie Howard.

You will notice additional fencing has been added to our parking lot area. This fencing has eliminated some additional parking spaces. The back half of the parking lot will no longer be accessible for parking. We will begin to use the new gravel lot. Please be mindful of parking in this lot and follow the correct traffic pattern. Please park only in the designated areas. If you are visiting school during the school day, parking may be limited in the lot. Check the gravel lot for spaces as needed. Parking is available on the south side of the building until 2:15pm. All vehicles must be moved from the south side by 2:15pm to ensure that space is readily available for our buses at the end of the day.

For those who are car riders, please be patient as our car rider line procedures will have to be adjusted due to the added fencing. OUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY IS SAFETY OF STUDENTS! PLEASE LISTEN TO THE TEACHERS AND STAFF WHO ARE DIRECTING TRAFFIC FOR THE CAR RIDER LINE AND ADHERE TO THEIR REQUESTS. BE PATIENT WITH THESE CHANGES. STAY IN LINE AND DO NOT PASS OTHER CARS OR TRY TO EXIT THE LINE IN FRONT OF OTHERS.

A couple of reminders:

• Lowell is a SMOKE-FREE CAMPUS. There is no smoking anywhere on Lowell’s campus. This includes smoking in cars while waiting in the car rider line. Please extinguish all smoking materials before arriving on Lowell’s Campus.

• Please be attentive while in the car rider line. Move your cars to the furthest point in the line. Do not leave gaps in the line. Listen for directions from school staff as you are moving through the car rider line.

• Remember, our priority is student safety. We realize this may mean a few more minutes in the car rider line. Please be patient and adhere to the procedures so that we can ensure the safety of all of our children and staff!

We appreciate your attentiveness to following our car rider procedures and your efforts to ensure student and staff safety during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up! Thank

Warren's High Ability Program is designed to meet the unique academic needs of gifted and talented students. The curriculum in these classes is differentiated and faster paced and students will be working above grade level if they qualify. As a district, we look at all students in grades 1, 4, 6 and 8 to see if they qualify for the following school year based on eligibility criteria. Parent recommendations are considered along with achievement scores when determining placement in high ability. More detailed identification information can be found here: https://www.warren.k12.in.us/o/msd-of-warren-township/page/high-ability--3 If you would like to complete a recommendation for the broad based planning committee to consider you can do so here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeptTssN1vtlIXg0RyEmmSYMROhINneDMw7OepoY4W_Ckq-gw/viewform The parent recommendation form will be open until January 31, 2020.

This fall, MSD of Warren Township will be creating a comprehensive strategic plan based on community input that will ensure all students and staff have the conditions necessary to develop and apply Journey of a Graduate (JoG) skills and dispositions. The Journey of a Graduate skills are a set of 6 skills and dispositions that have been identified by our community needed for success in and out of school. The JoG skills are Critical Thinking, Citizenship, Communication, Collaboration, Content Knowledge, and Resilience. These JoG skills will serve as the foundation of the district strategic plan.

One way the district will capture community input is through an online survey. Linked below is a short survey that will ask questions around our strengths as a district and help us identify areas for improvement,

(Click on link below to begin survey)

This fall, MSD of Warren Township will be creating a comprehensive strategic plan based on community input that will ensure all students and staff have the conditions necessary to develop and apply Journey of a Graduate (JoG) skills and dispositions. The Journey of a Graduate skills are a set of 6 skills and dispositions that have been identified by our community needed for success in and out of school. The JoG skills are Critical Thinking, Citizenship, Communication, Collaboration, Content Knowledge, and Resilience. These JoG skills will serve as the foundation of the district strategic plan.

One way the district will capture community input is through an online survey. Linked below is a short survey that will ask questions around our strengths as a district and help us identify areas for improvement,

(Click on link below to begin survey)

http://bit.ly/MSDWTSPS

http://bit.ly/MSDWTSPSSPANISH

Dr. Tim Hanson

The Indiana Pesticide Review Board has regulations that impact how school corporations may use pesticides on school grounds. MSD Warren Township follows these guidelines and we are inviting parents and guardians to join our Pesticide Notification Registry. By signing up for this registry, you will be notified via email at least 48 hours prior to a pesticide application at your child’s school, subject to certain exceptions. You will be invited to sign up for this notification each school year.

You will need to sign up for this notification every school year.

If you would like to participate, please complete the required form found at www.warren.k12.in.us.

* Students are expected to be at school on time every day. Our tardy bell rings at 8:05am. Please plan accordingly to ensure your child is in his/her classroom by 8:05am each day.

* If your child will be absent due to illness or late due to a doctor's appointment, please call the front office at 317-532-3900 to report the absence or late arrival. This helps to ensure your child's safety. Please bring a doctor's note to document the excused absence.

* Dismissal is at 3:05pm. If you are picking up your child from school, please follow our car rider procedures.

* When arriving at Lowell, please make sure you stop first at the front desk. All visitors MUST sign in and put on a Lowell Badge while in the building. Safety is our top priority for our students. This process allows us to ensure every child's safety during the school day. Thank you for your cooperation.

* Parents are always welcome at Lowell! If you would like to visit your child's classroom, please call or email your child's teacher or Mrs. Griffin so we can make arrangements and ensure that the students will be in the classroom at the time of your visit. We encourage you and welcome you to always be a part of your child's learning, and we truly value your involvement!

* Please remember that our Lowell Campus is a smoke-free campus. There is no smoking allowed anywhere on Lowell grounds. This includes smoking in your cars while on the Lowell Campus.

Dear Lowell Families,

I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know how excited the Lowell Elementary family is about the start of the school year and to share our process for emergency preparedness. In an effort to make sure our students and staff understand and know what to do in the case of emergencies, we plan practice drills throughout the school year. Some of these drills include procedures we practice monthly, like fire drills, and some we practice only a few times during the year, like wind/tornado drills.

We wanted you to be aware of the types of drills that we practice together in the event of a school safety concern so that you can talk with your students about these situations if they should come home with questions.

• Fire Drills – Students and staff evacuate their classrooms and exit the building. All classrooms report to a designated location outside of the school building. During these drills, cars entering campus will be stopped by staff until our perimeter is clear of students and staff.

• Wind/Tornado Drills – Students and staff report to designated locations in the building away from large windows and doors with windows. During this drill, our exterior doors will be locked so that all office staff can participate as well.

• Lockdown Drills – Our buildings are secured internally and externally. Students remain with staff and wait for directions. During these drills, if you visit campus, you may see law enforcement agencies like Warren Police, parked on our campus supporting this practice.

• Bus Evacuation Drills – Students practice exiting the bus using emergency exits upon arriving to school. During these drills, cars entering campus will be stopped by staff until our perimeter is clear of students and staff.

It is important to note that your student’s focus and cooperation during our drills is paramount. When drills are conducted, all individuals on our campus must participate, and that number can be upwards of 600 people. Paying attention, being alert and following directions allows for the best learning experience during the drills. Please reinforce this at home. Also, please know that if you are in the building when these drills are being practiced, you will be asked to practice with our school.

I appreciate your support and ask that you reach out with any questions.

Kim Griffin, Principal

The occasion may arise when the school district wants to recognize your child or your child's school. This may include your child's photo, your child's name or your child's work in district publications, newsletters, on school district websites, and in electronic/ social media or in staff training videos. We may also want to tell the media (including newspapers, television, and radio) about your child's achievements. We never knowingly release information about a student to anyone who wants to use it for commercial/ political purposes. However, we will honor your request to not include your child in these types of recognitions if you notify your child's school office in writing that you do not want this type of information released.

https://go.boarddocs.com/in/msdwt/Board.nsf/files/BD5KA350D6C6/$file/Student%20Success%20Handbook%20Board%20Approved%2019-20%20school%20year%20(1).pdf

Contact Us

Kim Griffin -- Principal

kgriffin@warren.k12.in.us

Tasha Reedus -- Dean

nreedus@warren.k12.in.us

Website: lowell.warren.k12.in.us
Location: 2150 South Hunter Road, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone: 317-532-3900
Facebook: facebook.com/LOWELLLEOPARDS
Twitter: @LowellElementa1