LIS Shines

We hope you have been enjoying the summer! It is time to prepare for the start of the school year, we have mailed home placement letters last week and Genesis is now open for you to view your child's placement. There are also mandatory forms to sign in Genesis each year, so please log in to your parent Genesis account now - parents.ltps.org

There is A LOT of information in this newsletter to prepare our LIS families for the start of the school year. Please take some time to read through it all so that your child is all set for the 1st Day of School on Thursday, September 4th!

Did you read our last newsletter? If not, read through it here for grade-specific information. Link to Mid-August Smore

We communicate two different ways throughout the school year, usually every Friday. One way is through email and the other way is through TalkingPoints, which sends messages directly to your phone in the language that you choose as your primary language in Genesis. Please be sure that you are set up to receive both emails and TalkingPoint messages from LIS prior to the start of the school year so you don't miss any important information.

Principal:Sharin Rello srello@ltps.org

Assistant Principals:

Gregg Zenerovitz gzenerovitz@ltps.org

LIS Main Office: (609) 671-5531

LIS Principal's Secretary: Jen Logue jlogue@ltps.org

Main office secretary: Dilnaz Shroff dshroff@ltps.org

Guidance secretary: Rebecca Neiswender rneiswender@ltps.org

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• Wednesday, September 3rd - 4th Grade Classroom meet & greet (more details below)
• Thursday, September 4th - First Day of School for Students (Full Day of School)
• Wednesday, September 17th - Back to School Night at LIS (times TBD)
• Tuesday, September 23rd - School's Closed for Rosh Hashanah
• September 24 and 25 - LIS Picture Days

LIS School Hours 8:45 - 3:30

• Doors open at 8:30 am. NO student can be dropped off or arrive at LIS before 8:15.
• Dismissal starts at 3:20. All students must be picked up by 3:40.
• If your child is eligible for bussing you will see their bus in Genesis at the end of August. LIS does not handle bus routes or times, it is determined by our transportation department.

If you need before or after care based on the LIS school hours, the YMCA program offers it right at LIS, see the flyer for more information below

If your child is eligible for bussing, you will be able to log into Genesis at parents.ltps.org to look at your child's Bus # and bus stop times. This information comes directly from the transportation department, not the school, and is currently available. The bus times CAN CHANGE up until the first day of school, so please check Genesis the day before school starts to verify bus times and bus stops.

We will send a form to fill out asking your child's dismissal by 8/30 and this email will have a lot of information about walking and bike riding as well.

• The Transportation Department will NOT be mailing out bus passes. You may print your pass through your Genesis Parent Portal when they become available
• The pick-up times are an estimate. You should be at the bus stop 10 minutes early. As timings become more steady we will update bus pass times.
• Your BUS STOP LOCATION MAY HAVE CHANGED. Your BUS NUMBER/ROUTE NUMBER MAY HAVE CHANGED. Please take note and discuss the route number and stop location with your child(ren) and make sure to check again before the first day of school in case there are any last minute changes.
• Many buses are at capacity, so it is imperative that your student ride the bus assigned to them from the stop assigned to them.

Interested? View more information by clicking the flyer!

For lunch this year, our students will have the option of bringing their own lunch or ordering lunch at school. Lunch will be of cost to your family unless you qualify for free lunch. Please be sure to fill out the application through Genesis to see if you qualify! We also provide Breakfast at LIS, students should go to the cafeteria when they arrive to LIS to purchase/get their breakfast.

Lawrence Township Public Schools uses the platform PaySchools Central for student breakfast/lunch accounts. Any balance you had in PaySchools Central from last year has been rolled over. You can find instructions on creating an account on our district dining services website. Cash and check payments are also accepted for meals. For checks, please include your payment form and make the check payable to Lawrence Township BOE.

The cost of lunch and breakfast this year, if you are not participating in the free/reduced program is:

• Lunch $3.75

• Breakfast $2.50

You can find the breakfast and lunch menus here: https://ltps.nutrislices.com/menu.

Our Free and Reduced Lunch forms are now part of your mandatory forms when logging into Genesis. If you need an additional copy of the form, please reach out to our main office at 609-671-5500.

You need to submit a new Free and Reduced Lunch form every year.

Your child forgot their lunch, now what? We have plenty of options for students in the cafeteria for purchase including the daily hot lunch, bagels, and vegetarian options as well.

We DO NOT allow any food delivery for students to the building (Door Dash, Uber Eats, Pizza Delivery, etc.)

There are two ways you can report your student's absence from school:

• Login into Genesis at parents.ltps.org and report under the attendance tab. Select notify office and complete needed information.

• If you need assistance reporting an absence through genesis, please click here for step-by-step directions. This feature is designed to streamline the process and save you time.

• Call the absentee line by 9 AM at 609-671-5463.

Should you need any assistance or have questions about your parent portal account, do not hesitate to contact our front office staff at (609) 671-5531 or your child's school counselor.

Medications During School Hours:

Whenever possible, the parent/guardian should arrange with their physician for medication to

be given outside of school hours. If, however, their physician deems it necessary for the student to take medication during school hours, there are specific procedures to follow. These procedures are to be followed for all medications, including over‐the‐counter or short‐term medications such as antibiotics or cough medicine. (Medication forms are online on our district website). Health Forms: https://lis.ltps.org/our-school/health-office

New doctors’ orders are required at the start of each school year.

1. The physician must complete and sign one of the three District forms:

a. Asthma Action Plan‐ Students who have asthma and use an inhaler or nebulizer.

b. Allergic Reaction Action Plan‐ Students who have food or other allergies and require

emergency medication.

c. Request for Administration of Medication‐ Any other medication required during

school hours.

2. The parent/guardian must sign the medication form and return it to the nurse.

3. Children in Pre‐Kindergarten through sixth grade are not allowed to carry or self‐

administer medication.

4. Asthma Inhalers and Epi‐Pens ONLY – Permission to Self‐ Administer Medication

(Grade 7‐12)

a. The physician and parent must sign that the student is capable of self‐administering

their medication.

b. The student must demonstrate to the school nurse that they have proper knowledge

and use of their medication.

c. Please call your school nurse to review the District’s policy regarding under what

circumstances students are permitted to self‐administer medication during school-sponsored events.

5. For the safety of all students, medications must be hand-delivered to the school nurse

by the parent/guardian in the original pharmacy-labeled container.

a. When getting the prescription filled, ask the pharmacist to provide an extra labeled

container for school.

6. Asthma Medication via NEBULIZERS:

a. In addition to the medication, the parent needs to also provide a mask, chamber &

tubing that will remain in the Health Office.

7. The prescribing physician must provide written orders if there is a change in the

original order. New orders are required in September even if a change order was

received during the school year. New orders are needed every September.

Our class placement letters were mailed home August 21st, along with the supply lists (our teachers asked for a few supplies, but if your family can't afford them, we can provide them for you, just reach out to the grade level guidance counselor). The homerooms and 6th-grade schedules are now available on Genesis: (parents.ltps.org).

Our school counselors are grade-specific and will follow their students for their three years at LIS. Below are the counselors and their grade-level assignments. Please note that our LIS counselors do not work over the summer but will return all emails and calls during the first week back to school in September.

4th-Grade School Counselor: Amy Lopez alopez@ltps.org

5th-Grade School Counselor: Jen Holmes jholmes@ltps.org

6th-Grade School Counselor: Danielle Bollaci dbollaci@ltps.org

Many ask us what our Cell Phone policy is at LIS. We have an "Away for the Day" policy at LIS where students are not allowed to use or have access to a phone (or use a smartwatch as a cell phone, meaning making calls or texting) throughout the school day. Cell phones are to be turned off and in their bookbags from when they arrive at LIS until they are dismissed and leave the building. If students violate this policy, their device is confiscated and brought to the main office, where a parent/guardian is required to pick it up.

This year, we will be doing an information series about cell phones, social media, and the importance of limiting online presence of our LIS age-students throughout the school year.

Want to learn more? Here are just some resources that we will continue to share throughout the school year:

• Wait until 8th Campaign
• Away for the Day Initiative
• Screenagers the Movie resources

Check out our LTPS Summer Learning Portal for activities to keep you engaged over the days of summer!

https://sites.google.com/ltps.info/ltpssummer-learning-2024/home

ELA Curriculum Information

https://sites.google.com/ltps.info/ltpsprek-6elawebsite/home

Math Curriculum Information

https://sites.google.com/ltps.info/mathematicsatlawrencetownshipp/our-vision?authuser=0

The link below contains important information from the State of New Jersey on mental health resources, support for food insecurities, health travel tips, water safety, and more!

https://www.nj.gov/highereducation/documents/pdf/SchoolEndResourceParentsandStudentsJune2025.pdf