Dear Students and Families,

The holiday season is upon us, and we’re wrapping up this busy year and the second grading period with lots of fun and festive spirit! As we head into the final week before winter break, we have an exciting lineup of activities to celebrate the season and spread joy throughout our school community.

Each day this week, we’ll be embracing the holiday spirit with themed spirit days! We encourage all our students to join in the festive fun and show off their holiday cheer with their most creative outfits.

Our Trojan Time classes have been busy decorating their classroom doors for the annual door decorating contest, and the results are sure to be absolutely fantastic! We can’t wait to see all the incredible designs, and on Thursday, we’ll be joined by Liberty Elementary’s 4th graders to help judge and pick the winners. Our choir, band, and orchestra will also spread some cheer when they go caroling through the halls on Tuesday morning.

Friday will bring our annual Reindeer Games, a fun-filled morning of friendly competition, games, and lots of cheer! It’s always a highlight of the holiday season, and we know our students will enjoy every minute of it. All of our students will have an opportunity to participate in at least one game.

As we wrap up the year, I want to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to each of you for your ongoing support and involvement in making this school year so wonderful. We hope you and your family enjoy a safe, relaxing, and joyful winter break, filled with warmth, love, and happiness. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Tuesday, January 7, ready to kick off the new year with renewed energy and excitement.

Together we shine brighter!

Have a wonderful week,

Mrs. Hardwicke

Principal

Just a reminder that the pick up of gifts and food for the LIS Christmas for Teens program will be this Wednesday, the 18th during school hours, 8:00 - 4:00. The pick up will be at entrance 1 (which is the music entrance). If there is not someone at Entrance 1 when you arrive, please stop in the main office and they will make sure someone is available to assist you.

Ms. Ellis and the LIS News Crew Club have started creating a weekly video update for the upcoming week and students view the broadcast on Fridays. The students write and produce their own broadcasts, as well as create their own posters that are used in their backgrounds. Keep up the great work, Trojans!

In keeping with our Core Values, Duneland School Corporation is committed to fostering partnerships to improve the quality of life in our community. One of our most important partnerships is with our families. As we strive to continue to build upon and strengthen our family partnerships, DSC is applying for renewal from the Indiana Department of Education as an IDOE “Family Friendly Schools” corporation. In doing so, we will continue to “focus on addressing students' academic, physical, emotional, and social needs while providing the needed resources and fostering the active involvement of their families through schools and the community.” (Indiana Department of Education Family Friendly Schools Handbook)

Please help us as we continue to support our students and community by completing the IDOE online survey by December 20, 2024

Your ongoing support in educating the children of our community is greatly appreciated!

SURVEY LINKS AND INSTRUCTIONS:

Survey Links:

• 2025-2026 Family Friendly Survey Questions for Families

• 2025-2026 Family Friendly Survey Questions for Families-Spanish

School Name: choose your school from the drop-down list

School Corporation: 6470 Duneland School Corporation

School Liaison Name: MICHELLE PALKO

School Liaison email: mpalko@duneland.k12.in.us

School Codes for your convenience:

6928 - Bailly Elementary School

6819 - Brummitt Elementary School

6817 - Jackson Elementary School

6823 - Liberty Elementary School

6941 - Newton Yost Elementary School

6821 - Liberty Intermediate School

6927 - Westchester Intermediate School

6925 - Chesterton Senior High School

6926- Northwest Indiana Online School (Trojan Virtual Academy)

The Duneland School Corporation (DSC) 2024 Winter Card Contest for grades K-8 has come to a close. Three designs were selected from the many cards that were submitted. These cards are now on display through 3:30 p.m. on January 6, 2024 at the Duneland Administration Center, 601 W Morgan Avenue in Chesterton during business hours Monday thru Friday from 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

A winning card design was selected from the elementary, intermediate and middle school level submissions. Winners will be recognized by the school board on Monday, December 2 at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will be hosted at the Duneland Administration Center, 601 W. Morgan Ave in Chesterton. The winning card designs from each level will be used as the 2024 DSC holiday cards.

We would like to congratulate Liberty Intermediate School sixth grader Alex Hardsock for winning the card contest for our level. Your design is cheerful and bright!

Buddy Bag Form Link: https://forms.gle/ScwTgvpuFmg7es16A

Liberty Intermediate and Liberty Elementary schools have partnered up with NWI No Child Hungry to provide Buddy Bags for students in need.

The Buddy Bag program is designed to help fight childhood hunger. Buddy Bags are kid-friendly sacks of food that are sent home with students on Fridays to ensure they have enough to eat on the weekend. In each bag, students get a shelf-stable breakfast, lunch, dinner, fruit cup, applesauce, sweet snack, and salty snack. Each student who participates in the Buddy Bag program receives meals for both Saturday & Sunday.

The program is free of charge and is run anonymously in partnership with NWI No Child Hungry and their generous sponsors. For more information about this program, or if you would like to make a donation, you can check out the NWI No Child Hungry website.

Currently this program is only for Liberty Intermediate and Liberty Elementary school students. If you have more than one student in these schools, the program will provide a bag for each student that is signed up.

For other questions about the program, contact the counselor at your child's school:

Liberty Elementary School: Mrs. Stainko

Liberty Intermediate School: Mrs. Smenyak

Students in Mrs. Olson's class learned about the ecosystem in science. They completed an activity creating food chains that include producers, consumers, & decomposers. The kids enjoyed this hands-on activity.

PTO has opened up a spirit wear shop online. Orders can be placed throughout the year. Check out their winter hats! They are the perfect addition to your winter wardrobe.

The Duneland Education Foundation will host their 5th annual Trivia Night on Saturday, January 25, 2025 from 5-9 p.m. at the Chesterton Moose Lodge, 602 Broadway in Chesterton. Doors will open at 5:00 p.m. and trivia will begin at 6:00 p.m.

Teams are strongly encouraged to dress up and decorate their table according to this year’s theme is The Great Outdoors. The cost is $30 per person (age 21 and over) which includes dinner. The maximum team size is eight (8) persons.

First place prize $500; Second place $250; Special Prizes for Best Theme Costumes, Best Theme Table Decor, and Best Team Name; 50/50 Raffle, Heads or Tails, and more.

Buy your tickets now at https://25deftrivia.eventbrite.com/

12/16-12/18 Garbology Presentation - 5th Grade

12/18 - General Music Class Musicals

12/20 - End of Grading Period 2

12/20 - Reindeer Games

12/23-1/3 - Winter Break

1/7 - School Resumes

1/7 - Toma the Mime Visit - 5th Grade

1/8 - Indiana Wildlife Presentations

1/10 - Report Cards Released on Skyward

As part of our commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of all our students, we want to inform you about an important update regarding students who are injured and wearing medical devices such as walking boots, crutches, casts, slings, or splints. Effective immediately, any student with a medical device will be required to provide a doctor’s note confirming that they are cleared to participate in both gym class and recess. If a doctor advises against participation for any specified duration, the student will need to provide a subsequent note from the doctor clearing the student to resume these activities once they are healed.

This update is designed to ensure that all students can safely engage in physical activities while also considering their health and recovery. If you have any questions or need further clarification, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Health Clinic. Thank you for your cooperation and support.

Sixth grade students will have the opportunity to participate in both LIS intramural sports and Liberty Middle School athletics. If your child wants to participate in middle school sports, they must have a current physical on file, dated after 4/1/24. Sixth grade students can ONLY participate in Middle School Cross Country, Westling, and Track and Field. Below is a link to the Liberty Winter Sports page. This winter, students can participate in Middle School Wrestling. Mr. Nick Bamber is the athletic director for Liberty Campus. Please reach out to Mr. Bamber with any questions.

The goal of the Duneland School Corporation district school newsletters is to inform students, parents and the school community about school-related information.

The Duneland Schools share information that pertains to opportunities our students may be interested in and outside of school on a special page on our website. These available opportunities are offered by not-for-profit partnerships and organizations within our school district boundaries and local communities. Follow this link to Community Opportunities.

Want your event/activity/camp posted on this page? Submit a request by email with the flyer/information to the Duneland Schools Administrative Center to ahicks@duneland.k12.in.us and bmartinson@duneland.k12.in.us.

Cell Phones, Smart Watches, Earbuds, & Earphones Usage

5th and 6th grade students are not allowed to use their personal communication devices (cell phones and smart watches) during the instructional day. Items used for communication should be stored in lockers to be kept safe throughout the day. If students need to contact a parent/guardian during the day, they are welcome to do so from the office. Classrooms also have phone access. Similarly, students are not permitted to wear personal earbuds with bluetooth capabilities attached to their phones (e.g. Air Pods, etc.). Students will need to use their school-issued iPad earphones for Exact Path lessons and select ILEARN testing sessions. The only time audio ear pieces are permitted are for teacher-assigned classwork and medically-approved needs.

iPad Use

• iPads are the property of Duneland Schools. Students should keep the devices in operable condition.
• Students should refrain from downloading apps, pics, etc. that are not permitted under school and/or corporation policy.
  
• Students are required to bring their charged iPads to class. Intermediate curriculum is designed to utilize iPads for lessons and enrichment activities.

Information regarding student bus transportation for the 2024-2025 school year is available on DSC website under the Transportation Department.

TRACK STUDENT'S BUS WITH MYSTOP APP

The Duneland School Corporation Department of Transportation has now made My Stop available to our families.

My Stop is a web-based application which will allow parents to access live bus GPS information using a smartphone, tablet, or computer and securely view the current location of your child’s bus on routes. The system also provides the bus’s estimated time of arrival at your child’s bus stop.

Please read the attached letter to parents for more information on how to use My Stop to track your child's bus.

The DSC Child Nutrition Department utilizes NutriSlice as its menus program. This app is available for iPhone and Android through your mobile app store. Parents can also access the full website for Duneland Schools on a computer via this NutriSlice link.

This app will allow parents and students to view the menus as well as the nutritional info for each menu item at any of the Duneland Schools. This program will be developed further incorporating images of the actual food items being served at each of the Duneland schools.

To make an appointment please call 219-763-8112. Let NorthShore know you are a Duneland School student or staff member and that you would like to make an appointment at the Duneland School Clinic located at the old CMS.

DuneNews

You can access the most current issue of the DuneNews by clicking here.

LIBERTY INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL

School Website: https://www.duneland.k12.in.us/Domain/13

Address: 50 W. 900 N. Chesterton, IN 46304

Phone: 219-983-3690

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