Lawrence Public Schools

"What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child,

that must the community want for all its children." - John Dewey

As we turn the calendar to November, and turn back our clocks this weekend, we appreciate the hard work of our students, teachers and teams, school families, and community partners to sustain our strong start to this school year through this second quarter.

It was wonderful to join a group of parents, staff, and community members, as well as three members of the Board of Education, for a robust conversation at Liberty Memorial Central Middle School Tuesday evening. We were inspired to hear from two new-to-Lawrence parents about the warm welcome their families have experienced at LMCMS this fall. I appreciate all of the voices around the table and the school experiences and thoughtful insights shared.

What an enjoyable morning I had on Wednesday, bringing school updates to approximately 40 leaders from across the community during Leadership Lawrence Education Day. This group asked such great questions! It was heartwarming to learn that many of the individuals present already volunteer, partner, and otherwise contribute to support our students!

Community Conversations & Survey

Please check your schedule, continue reading about the community engagement opportunities planned this month, and join us! I can't wait to hear from our students in conversations coming up at Lawrence High and Free State, as well as online with Lawrence Virtual School's High School Academy. Interacting with your children is a joy! The kindergartners pictured here welcomed me with open arms on a return visit to Quail Run after I had spent time substitute teaching in their delightful classroom. I hope to spend time in conversation with you this fall.

Many thanks to all who have attended a conversation, either at your school or at one of our community gatherings, and to the 400+ individuals who have already participated in our survey. We are excited to continue making these connections and to bring an update of what we are hearing from you to the second November meeting of the Board. A full report is planned in January.

We value our partnership and thank you for your support of our more than 10,000 students and the remarkable staff who serve them each day.

Sincerely,

Jeanice Kerr Swift

Interim Superintendent of Schools

Lawrence Public Schools

As a cost-saving measure, our Business Office will begin next week emailing student fee statements instead of mailing paper ones. If student fees are due, please watch your inbox for an email statement with the subject line: "November Fee Statement" from "Lawrence Public Schools - USD #497". This is a new system for us called BrightArrow. The sender's email address may start with "Notification-Do_Not_Reply" and end with "@target.brightarrow" and ".com".

If you need to update your email address in PowerSchool, please contact your elementary school administrative assistant or middle or high school registrar. It's important for your child's school to always have your current contact information on file, especially in the event of an emergency.

The Business Office will only email statements when student fees are due, and emails will only be sent to one family member per student. If you think you owe student fees, but do not receive an emailed statement, please check the spam folder first. If it's not found there, email MyFees@usd497.org with your student's name, school, and student ID number if available.

If there is no email address on file for your family in PowerSchool, or if emails to the one on file are undeliverable, you will receive a paper statement by U.S. Mail. The Business Office also will continue mailing paper statements if fees are owed at the end of the school year.