Please Vote!
Election Day is Tuesday, November 7. Please go vote tomorrow if you have not already done so. This is important to our school district. The General Obligation Bond on the ballot does NOT increase your taxes and will provide the opportunity for LAPS to complete critical repairs and updates to our facilities.
Be mindful that we have several different types of illness circulating including Covid. Please keep sick students at home. You can find more information and resources for Covid on the NMDOH website.
Have a good week!
Jennifer Guy
Veterans Day Celebrations
Veterans Day is Saturday, November 11 but LAPS will be closed on Friday, November 10 in observance of this national holiday.
Barranca Mesa Elementary would like to Attention all military families! We would like to invite all military families to their Veterans Day breakfast & assembly on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The pancake breakfast starts at 7:30 am, followed by the assembly at 8:40 am featuring a slide show, guest speaker and a performance by the Bobcat Choir.
The Mountain Elementary 3rd and 4th grade performance for parents will be held on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 2:20 pm.
School Psychology Week
This week is school psychology week. Thank you to our LAPS school psychologists for all that you do for our students:
- Shannon Corey (Aspen Elementary)
- Jenny Pearson (Barranca Mesa Elementary)
- Angelic Herrera (Mountain Elementary)
- Betsy Hemphill (Los Alamos Middle School)
- Caron Inglis (Los Alamos High School)
- Tiffany Richie (Los Alamos High School)
Once again, the LAPS Transportation Department would like to remind drivers in Los Alamos and White Rock to exercise caution when it comes to school buses, bus stops and the students who ride those buses, as well as inform the community about the law regarding school buses.
Since the start of the new school year, there have been 67 stop arm violations, including two involving Fed Ex delivery trucks.
New Mexico Statutes Chapter 66. Motor Vehicles § 66-7-347 regarding Overtaking and passing school bus states that the driver of a vehicle upon approaching or overtaking from either direction any school bus which has stopped on the roadway, with special school bus signals in operation, for the purpose of receiving or discharging any school children, shall stop the vehicle at least ten feet before reaching the school bus and shall not proceed until the special school bus signals are turned off, the school bus resumes motion or until signaled by the driver to proceed.
Here is a list of the school bus safety rules:
First, drive slowly and look for children waiting at the bus stop, walking or riding their bicycles to school.
Second, know what the flashing lights indicate. A red flashing light with the extended stop arm means traffic is required to stop, even in both directions of a two-lane road. Yellow flashing lights mean the bus is preparing to stop, so proceed with caution.
Be careful when pulling up to a bus stop because children might be running out to the bus.
Finally, follow all school zone speed limits, look for students in crosswalks and never pass a bus on the outside of a turn.
If you have any questions about school bus stops or school bus safety, please contact the Transportation Department at 505-663-2255.
When Should I Keep My Child Home?
Whether or not to keep a child home from school isn’t always an easy decision. It is obvious that a very ill child does not belong at school, but there are lots of days when common sense isn’t enough to make the choice. The following discussion may give parents some helpful guidelines.
To begin, children with fevers should not be in school. Remember that ill children sometimes have normal temperatures in the morning but become feverish by afternoon. A child with a fever the afternoon before a school day should stay home the following day. Returning to school is appropriate after 24 hours of being fever free. Definitions of “fever” vary, but it is generally accepted that the line is crossed somewhere between 100 and 100.4 degrees F. On the other hand, some children feel very ill with small temperature elevations.
Conditions making students too uncomfortable to participate in class are also reasonable grounds for remaining at home. Examples are urinary tract infections, painful injuries, and nagging coughs. Sometimes the school nurse can help make students more comfortable and keep them at school. An example is the administration of pain medication as needed for healing fractures (see the section on Medications at School). Parents may also consult the school nurse with questions about whether or not to keep a child home from school, or with questions about how the school environment might be modified to accommodate a student’s problems.
Finally, children with contagious diseases, spread by contact or coughing or sneezing, should stay home. Examples of these are influenza, chicken pox, and strep throat. A child with strep throat may return to school after 24 hours of antibiotics if feeling well enough. Recent reports have stated that the common cold is most contagious during the first three days of infection. Of course, every child with a sniffle cannot miss school, but consideration for other students and staff is expected and appreciated. Children should be reminded to use tissues to cover coughs and sneezes and ESPECIALLY to wash hands frequently.
Children with colds should be kept home as appropriate. Constant coughing and sneezing are sufficient reason. Another infection condition is conjunctivitis, or “pink eye”. Though the state Department of Health no longer requires exclusion of students with pink eye from school, most Los Alamos pediatricians recommend staying at home for the first 24 hours of treatment. Parents may request that the school nurse check on a child returning to school after an illness. Sometimes a child seems well enough to return to school in the morning but parents are concerned that the child may not feel well later.
Los Alamos County (LAC) Social Services Division has launched a Vaccine Availability webpage on the County’s website that provides a list compiled by LAC Health Council to help navigate finding vaccines in the county.
Community members can utilize this new resource to find locations providing COVID, RSV, and/or flu vaccines; ages the location is serving, clinic hours and contact information, as well as registration information.
For more information, contact County Social Services at 505.662.8068 or email LACSSD@lacnm.us.
Navigating Parents' Rights
Los Alamos Public Schools is hosting a presentation on Navigating Parent Rights for students who are receiving special education services. This is a great presentation for those who have a student who is receiving special education services at school. Attorney Dawn Vernooy from Walsh Gallegos will present on parent rights under the Individuals with Disability Education Act.
Please see this flyer for more information. We hope you can join us.
UNM-PNM Mathematics Contest
Registration for the UNM-PNM Statewide High School Mathematics Contest is open now through Nov. 7.
The goal of the contest is to promote mathematics education in New Mexico by rewarding students, teachers, and their schools for mathematics excellence. Between 700 to 1200 New Mexico students benefit from this program annually. The contest is designed at high-school level, and New Mexico students from grades 5 through 12 have been participating. It has two examination rounds, each testing mathematical potential and ingenuity in addition to formal knowledge. Round I is administered online. The top finalists from Round I are invited to the UNM Campus in early February to compete in Round II, administered as an in-person written exam. Prior to the Round II examination, a prominent mathematician or statitician will give a presentation available to all. Recent invited guest speakers for Round II of the contest include Laura Kubatko of Ohio State University, Peter Kuchment of Texas A&M University, and Yuliya Gorb of the National Science Foundation. The 2023-2024 contest is directed by James Degnan and Stephen Lau.UNM-PNM Statewide High School Mathematics Contest.
For details, see the contest website
MVP Scholarship
It’s November, and that means the deadline to apply for the Most Valuable Student Scholarship is almost here. Submit your application by 11:59 p.m. PST on November 13 to be considered for one of the 500 scholarships.
Most Valuable Student scholarships range from $1,000 to $7,500 per year and are open to current high school seniors. Applicants do not need to be related to a member of the Elks.
Learn more about the scholarship and apply at enf.elks.org/mvs
To check out the complete Sports Schedule, go to RankOne.
Monday, November 6
LAMS Girls Basketball vs. Espanola Middle School, LAMS Brousseau Gym, 7th grade 4 pm, 8th grade 5:30 pm
Tuesday, November 7
LAHS Volleyball vs. Moriarty High School, Moriarty High School, 9th Grade 4 pm, JV 5 pm, Varsity 6 pm
Wednesday, November 8
LAHS Girls Soccer vs. Hope Christian, Hope Christian High School, 3 pm (State Semifinals)
LAMS Girls Basketball vs. Taos Middle School, LAMS Brousseau Gym,7th grade 4 pm, 8th grade 5:30 pm
Thursday, November 9
LAHS Volleyball vs. Pojoaque High School, Griffith Gym, 9th Grade 4 pm, JV 5 pm, Varsity 6 pm
Saturday, November 11
LAHS Boys and Girls Cross Country, State Championships, Albuquerque Academy
LAHS Varsity Football vs. Artesia, Artesia High School, 1 pm (State Quarterfinals)
Tuesday, November 14
LAMS Girls Basketball vs. Pojoaque Middle School, LAMS Brousseau Gym, 7th grade 4 pm, 8th grade 5:30 pm
