Hello Students and Families,

Did you know you can check your child's grades and check to see if they have any missing assignments by logging into your Skyward Family Access account? Each week, we have our students do a grade check in their Trojan Time class on Mondays. Students look to see what their current grades are and also see if they have any missing assignments. Feel free to have your child show you how they can access this information on their iPads through Skyward, as well. If you are having difficulties accessing your account, please call the school office and we can help you with this.

Students are moving through the lunch lines much quicker now. Thank you for encouraging your child to memorize their Student ID number. This is how students check-out at the register. When students do not remember their Student ID Number, our cafeteria staff have to look the student up by their last name. This can be a bit time consuming, especially if it is not easy to hear the student spelling their last name. When it is time for our students to leave the cafeteria, students that are still eating are always encouraged to stay and finish their meals. This may mean that they will be a few minutes late to recess or class, however we do feel that it is very important for them to not leave lunch hungry.

This year, we will be shifting our focus toward student attendance. The Indiana Department of Education has set a goal for each student to be in attendance 94% of the school year. We will be adding our weekly attendance rates to each newsletter to help keep us all aware of where we stand based on the goal of 94% attendance. It looks like we are off to a good start! For more information on our updated attendance policy, please review the student handbook on our school website.

Together we shine brighter!

Have a wonderful week,

Mrs. Hardwicke

Principal

• When you enter our campus driveway, there are two lanes. Everyone should use the left-side lane (Row 1) until it is full to 900 N. Then, begin pulling into the right-side lane (Row 2).
• Stay in your lane. Do not move to a different lane.
• When arrival and dismissal begin, Row 1 will completely empty before Row 2 begins to move. Please be patient if you are in Row 2.
• Officer Mike Steege will be assisting with arrival and dismissal traffic and monitor the traffic rows.
• Once the lines begin moving, they will go quickly.
• During arrival, do NOT leave your lane after your child exits your vehicle. Stay in your lane and wait for everyone in front of you to exit our loading zone.
• The arrival line will not start moving until 8:30.
• During dismissal, you CAN leave the loading zone once your child is in your vehicle.
• Please be patient. We are all trying to move our students as quickly and safely as possible.

Mrs. Nelson's 6th grade science classes completed a bridge building learning activity. Students designed, built, and tested bridge prototypes that they built out of paper by stacking textbooks on them.

Exclusion Day is Thursday, September 12, 2024 for 6th grade students whose immunizations

are not up to date as well as any 5th or 6th grade student who has an Immunization Waiver on

file that has not been completed for this school year. Waivers must be completed and signed

annually to be valid. The required immunizations for 6th grade are a Tdap and MCV4

(meningitis).

To avoid exclusion please submit your student’s updated immunizations or waiver to Erika Judy

R.N., LIS School Nurse. You may scan and email them to ejudy@duneland.k12.in.us or send

your student’s updated record to school. A scheduled appointment card with date, time and

location of where updated vaccines will be received will also be accepted.

For any questions or concerns please contact Nurse Judy via email or by calling 219-983-3690 ext. 3015.

Liberty Intermediate School Running Club will begin on September 9th and will conclude October 30th. All students in 5th and 6th grades are welcome to join. The Running Club is designed to educate students on the benefits of running while having after school fun with their peers. Those who join should be serious about getting into shape and make an attempt to attend all the running dates.

Liberty Intermediate is a great place to learn to enjoy distance running. There is a lot of space to run and play games on the campus.. Students will learn how to do proper warm-ups, make weekly gains in distance, and play new games outside that involve running.

Please use this link below to find more information about the LIS Running Club

Mrs. Smenyak has been the counselor at Liberty Intermediate School for the last six years, and has been a school counselor for 21 years. Mrs. Smenyak grew up in Southern California. Once she moved to Northwest Indiana, she found out that she really does enjoy the weather here, for at least 6 months out of the year. She enjoys the months the most when she can be outside running, kayaking or relaxing on the beach. Mrs. Smenyak also enjoys traveling to national parks, creating lists of home improvement projects, watching hummingbirds, reading, and falling asleep on the couch while watching TV.

Mrs. Smenyak spends her days at Liberty making a difference in our students lives. She is a great listener and a helpful problem solver. Students can visit Mrs. Smenyak in our Counseling Suite at school if they need someone to talk to. Thank you for everything you do for our students.

Superpower: Training her cats to do tricks

Colleges Attended: Cal State Fullerton/Indiana University South Bend

Fun Fact: Mrs. Smenyak wanted to be a librarian when she was a kid and made her own Dewey Decimal system to organize her books.

When I Grow Up I Would Like to Be: A National Park Backcountry Ranger

Use the link below to place your order online.

inter-state.com/order

Order online with the code 87531BT.

Liberty Intermediate School and Liberty Middle School will be sharing a yearbook this year. Use this link to order a Liberty Campus Newsletter.

A Message from our PTO President, Mrs. Christine Harris

We are so excited to start another year at LIS! The PTO has a lot of fun things planned for this year! Some of the things we do are Fun Nights, spirit wear sales, family nights and staff appreciation. We also help sponsor school clubs, help with extra classroom resources and much more!

If you are interested in getting involved, email us at lisptochesterton@gmail.com

We have one fundraiser that we plan on doing this year but if you would rather opt out, see the form below where you could donate directly to PTO.

Thanks! We are looking forward to a great year!

PTO Meetings

PTO will meet monthly on the second Wednesday of each month. Meetings are held in the LIS Media Center after school. Our first meeting will be on September 11th. All parents and guardians are welcome to join. We hope to see you there!

Spirit Wear

Be on the lookout for Liberty spirit wear information coming home soon. PTO will be sponsoring a spirit wear sale in September.

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.

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.

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 Middle School Cross Country, Westling, and Track and Field. Below is a link to the Liberty Fall Sports page. This fall, students can participate in Middle School Cross Country. Mr. Nick Bamber is the athletic director for Liberty Campus. Please reach out to Mr. Bamber with any questions.

9/5 - Picture Day

9/11 - PTO Meeting at 4:00 in Liberty Campus Media Center

9/16 - Liberty Campus Community Open House and Site Tours

9/20 - Purchase Kona Ice During Lunch

Please help your student memorize their student identification number, as they will need to know this number in order to purchase their lunch.

Here are the meal prices for the 2024-25 school year:

Intermediate/Middle Breakfast Price: $1.60

Intermediate/Middle Lunch Price: $2.95

For more information about our Child Nutrition Department and school menus, please visit the link below.

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.

Learn more about the Duneland Early Learning Classes at the the HUB. Click on the image below to enroll.

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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