This Is How We Lakeview

Thank you to those students and families who joined us for our first night of conferences, and a big thank you to those families who came out for our first Family Workshop. Our next opportunity for conferences is Tuesday, October 13th. If you still need to schedule a conference for the 13th, please reach out to any of your child's team teachers and they will get you on their schedule for that day.

This week, we held our first Team Town Hall meetings with each team (some teams have meetings next week) to review the quarter so far, celebrate our Lakeview Values recipients, and to reinforce our building expectations for our students. We discussed hallway behavior and and respecting others, as we have had several situations this past week with students putting their hands on one another and/or use profane/derogatory words toward others.

We have only two weeks left in the quarter, and it will go quickly. Typically, our core subjects have unit or quarter assessments toward the end of the quarter, so our students should do their best to ensure they are caught up on work and reviewing material so they are ready for those assessments.

Ben Baptist

Principal

Important Dates

Thursday, October 8th: End of Quarter 1

Friday, October 9th: No School - Teacher Record Day

Monday, October 12: No School for Students

Tuesday, October 13: No School - Conference Day

Friday, October 16th: Lunch with a Loved One (details to come)

Congratulations to our September Students of the Month! Each month at Lakeview, teachers nominate students who go above and beyond to uphold our Lakeview Values of being Prepared, Respectful, showing Ownership, and being Safe. These students model these positive behaviors on a daily basis, and we are proud that they represent Lakeview.

Congratulations to our September nominees: Marni Canini, Rehan Chapagai, Nitai Das, Haima Farhoud, Lexi King-Crump, Chanelle Kwarteng-Duah, and Laila Turner.

Congratulations to our latest Lakeview Values recipients! This week, students were recognized for showing safety.

A big thanks goes out to our PTO for putting together a Teen Night for our students on Friday, October 16th, from 7-9 pm.

The event will be held at Lakeview, in our Cafeteria and Gym. For $10, students get to enjoy a DJ, dance battle, photo booth, a free snack and drink, and various games and activities. For those students who are interested, they can enter a team into a 3v3 basketball tournament (separate registration).

To register, please fill out the Google Form embedded below.

We would also love volunteers! If you are interested in helping chaperone the event and have time, please click this volunteer link (also linked in the registration form) so we can approve you as a volunteer for that night.

If you have any questions, please reach out to PTO Vice President Taylor Ranger (t.marieranger@gmail.com).

Pickerington Local School District and Lakeview Junior High value input from our community. We need to hear from students because their voices are important as we work to improve their overall school experience and support the development of skills they will need for success in life.

Starting Monday, September 21st, we will be asking all of our students to complete a 20-30 minute survey to help us understand how to better serve them and their families. Just like in previous years, we are partnering with Panorama Education to support us in this survey process. This survey helps us track our progress toward our first building goal of at least 80% of our students feeling a sense of belonging at Lakeview.

Use the links below to find out more about why your student's input is so important or to view the questions that will be asked on each survey. Feel free to reach out with any questions!

Chromebook repairs can be costly. For $40, the Technology Protection Plan provides up to $400 in coverage for eligible repairs throughout the school year.

• Pay by September 30 to participate.
• The fee is already available in eligible students’ Infinite Campus accounts.
• Students whose families do not purchase the plan will be responsible for repair costs.

For more information, review your student’s handbook or contact the Technology Department's Device Fee Specialist Natalie Ruble at 614-834-2109. Please remind students to handle their Chromebook with care. *Intentional damage is not covered.

Don't wait until its too late and miss out on this year's yearbook! Click the image below to place an order and secure your 2027 yearbook!

I want to give a warm welcome to our new PTO Executive Board for the 2026-27 school year! We have had two great meetings to start the year and establish the vision for this year's PTO, and we are excited to get to work.

President: Jessica Hart

Vice President: Taylor Ranger

Secretary: Katie Vincer Sears

Treasurer: Pepper Chapman

Marketing/Communications Chair: Sheila Rossiter

The Executive Board is already hard at work planning events for our students and general fundraising events. If you are interested in helping out in any way, especially for planning for a potential Teen Night in October, please reach out to Jessica Hart (jekahart@gmail.com) or Taylor Ranger!

Earlier this week, the district sent out communications to all families regarding transportation updates and the latest information. Please see the file below about how to update your Infinite Campus information in order to ensure the information linked with BusRight is correct.

Does your student already speak, read, write, and understand a language other than English? PLSD offers an opportunity through the AAPPL test to earn high school world language credit based on their fluency in that language. Please see the document below for more information, including how to sign up your student for the test.

Parent volunteers play a key role in shaping a positive school environment! The Parents on Positivity Patrol (PoPP) program brings caring adults into our schools to spread encouragement and support for students and staff. Together, we are a community!

Want to make a difference? Click the link to join #PoPP today!

Our hearts are with the people of Nepal following the catastrophic flooding that has devastated communities, displaced thousands of families, and left many grieving the loss of loved ones. We recognize that this tragedy may be especially difficult for members of our Nepali community who have relatives, friends, and personal connections in the affected areas.

As a district, we would like to offer our schools, staff, students, and families an opportunity to support the relief efforts. We are organizing a voluntary donation campaign benefiting UNICEF USA, which is providing children and families in Nepal with emergency supplies, clean water, sanitation services, health support, protection, and assistance with continued access to education.

Those who wish to contribute may donate directly through the following link:

UNICEF USA – Nepal Flash Flood Relief

Participation is entirely voluntary. Donations should be made directly to UNICEF USA; the district and individual schools will not collect cash or checks.

During this difficult time, we stand in solidarity with our Nepali students, families, staff members, and the broader Nepali community. We hope this collective expression of compassion will provide meaningful assistance to children and families as they begin the long process of recovery and rebuilding.

This year, Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plans (RIMPs) are new to the junior high as current 7th-graders move up to our building. Progress monitoring for the RIMPs is done through both iReady diagnostic screeners and Acadience Benchmarking.

All students engage with iReady at least three times a year with the Fall, Winter, and Spring universal screener assessments. These assessments help us identify where math and/or reading gaps may exist, which allows us to provide targeted intervention to students to help close those gaps.

Acadience Benchmarking is provided to all students on a RIMP as well as students receiving RTI Reading services.

Did you know that missing just two school days a month puts a student on track to miss more than 10% of the school year? Missing at least 10% of the school year is what the state of Ohio labels "Chronic Absenteeism," and it can have a big impact on students' academic success.

You may have seen our recent District communication about changes to attendance communication this school year. As Ohio implements new attendance requirements under House Bill 96 (HB 96), families will receive more information from schools about the amount of instructional time students miss.

Our focus in Pickerington is on awareness, communication and support—not simply counting absences.

Why does attendance matter?

Regular attendance gives students consistent opportunities to learn from their teachers, collaborate with classmates, participate in classroom experiences and build the knowledge and skills that support their success.

What can families expect?

At 38 hours of missed instructional time:
Your school will contact you to make you aware of the amount of instructional time your student has missed. This early communication is intended to provide families with information before a student reaches the state's 5% attendance threshold.

What is the 5% threshold?
Ohio considers missing 5% or more of the instructional time for which a student is enrolled to be a level of absenteeism that requires additional attention and intervention.

At 65 hours of missed instructional time:
Your school will make personalized contact with your family. This provides an opportunity to talk about your student's attendance, understand any challenges that may be getting in the way of regular attendance and connect you with support or resources when needed.

Why does missed time matter?

We understand that students sometimes need to be absent. Illness, appointments, family circumstances and other situations happen, and absences will continue to be identified as excused or unexcused based on the reason for the absence and applicable District requirements.

At the same time, even an excused absence means a student misses something—a lesson, a class discussion, time with classmates, hands-on learning or an opportunity to practice an important skill.

Our goal is to recognize concerns early and work alongside families before attendance becomes a bigger challenge.

Every day a student is able to be at school is another opportunity to learn, connect and grow. Together, we can help our students make the most of those opportunities.

For more information, visit Student Attendance: What Families Need to Know on the Pickerington Local Schools website.

This year, one of our goals is to highlight our incredible students and staff through our new Instagram page. Each day, we plan to capture the learning in our classrooms, the excitement throughout the building, and the successes our students and staff experience. We hope you will follow us @lakeviewjuniorhigh!

Pickerington Schools will take reasonable steps to ensure that persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) have meaningful access and an equal opportunity to participate in all services, activities, and programs available throughout the district. It is the policy of PLSD to ensure meaningful communication with LEP students and families and to communicate information related to the education of all students. All services needed to comply with this policy will be provided for students and their families in need of such assistance free of charge. For assistance, please call 614-835-2083 or email deepak_dhakal@plsd.us.

Nepali Notice of Language Assistance

Spanish Notice of Language Assistance

French Notice of Language Assistance

We are happy to announce that the new North/Lakeview Athletics website is live! Be sure to bookmark the new website so you can watch for announcements, register through Final Forms, check schedules, and buy tickets. All coaches will be using this website for updates and announcements, so please check here if you have any questions.

When you go to the new site, you will need to hover over "Inside Athletics" at the top of the page and then click on the Final Forms links to begin registration for sports your child is interested in.

Don’t Miss Out! Support and Celebrate Pickerington’s Lacrosse Programs at the upcoming LAX ON THE LINKS event, October 24 at Homestead Springs Golf Course.

Gather your foursome and register today!
https://events.golfstatus.com/event/lax-on-the-links/

The family also shared a concern about teachers/staff falling short on responding to emails or sending short responses that may not fully answer the question or address the concern. If any family ever has trouble getting communication back from a staff member, please reach out directly to Ben Baptist (ben_baptist@plsd.us) so he can address it with the staff member and ensure you get a response.

Office Hours: 6:45 am - 3:15 pm

Email: ben_baptist@plsd.us
Website: https://ljhs.plsd.us/
Location: 12445 Ault Road, Pickerington, OH, USA
Phone: (614) 830-2200
Facebook: Lakeview_JH_PLSD

Instagram: @lakeviewjuniorhigh