Volume: 2020-2021 ● Number: 27 ● Lebanon, NH

March 19, 2021

Email: jdentremont@sau88.net
Website: https://lms.sau88.net/
Location: 3 Moulton Avenue, Lebanon, NH, USA
Phone: 603-448-3056
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LMSLebNH/
Twitter: @LMSLebNH

Dear LMS Families,

After a brief stint of frigid temperatures, the warm weather returned for a comeback Friday with a little rain on Thursday. Next week looks to be back to those consistent warmer temperatures with the arrival of our spring on Saturday.

It was a year ago, in response to the pandemic, that the Lebanon School District launched a fully remote learning model. Today, we carry on with the work necessary for our students to continue their learning and grow. We look ahead to finishing our year on a positive note. We will celebrate our milestones in different ways but celebrate them all the same.

Tomorrow, many of the staff will be vaccinated. This is an additional layer of protection for them and many are looking forward to it.

This week, DHHS revised their quarantine and travel guidance We will review the new recommendations and inform you of any changes.

We hope you enjoy this week's Scoop!

Regards,

John P. D'Entremont, Principal

Starting on Monday, March 22nd, the Birch, Maple, and Oak team students (7th & 8th graders) will no longer have access to Google Hangouts on their school device or school account. This does not impact access to their academics, but it will limit their distractions and help improve their focus during classes.

LMS will be administering the NH SAS assessments on the following dates:

Monday, May 3 - Reading

Tuesday, May 4 - Writing

Thursday, May 6 - Math

Tuesday, May 25 - Science (for grades 5 and 8 only)

A superintendent update included information about testing in the District. Students in person will be taking the NHSAS assessments on these dates. Students who are fully remote have a choice to take the assessments or opt out. If you would like to take the assessments or opt out, please contact Synthia Liska, our Student Services Director, at sliska@sau88.net to make arrangements.

Rainbow/St. Patrick was the last day!

Coming up:

Friday, 3/26 Sports Teams Day

The first day of Spring is Saturday, March 20th, and I am ready for it !!

Spring sports sign up is happening now for baseball and softball. Please make sure to provide a copy of your child’s current physical(done in 2020-21) to the nurse if your child plans to participate. We want to make sure that your child is able to start practices when the time comes, without a current physical, they will not be able to start.

This is also a good time for 8th grade students to start scheduling their physicals for LHS. All immunizations need to be up to date and a current physical (within the last year) provided to either the LMS nurse ( if done before the end of this school year) or LHS nurse when completed.

LMS current 6th graders will need to have a physical done for entry to 7th grade. Please make sure that all NH required immunizations have been given according to schedule. If you have any questions, please reach out to the school nurse.

This week, NH DHHS has updated its Covid-19 Travel Guidelines and Quarantine Guidelines for Schools. The district is currently reviewing those guidelines and I will provide more information in next week’s Middle Scoop.

Please keep your school nurse informed regarding any changes in your child’s health, medications or new diagnoses. This helps me when assessing your child as they visit the nurse.

Thank you again for continuing to do the morning pikmykid health screenings!

Happy Spring!

Nancy Pageau

npageau@sau88.net

603-727-9817 (direct line)

603-448-3056 (LMS)

The OLD NEWS, FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS & COVID HOTLINES information has been moved to the OLD NEWS SECTION at the end of the Scoop in case you still need to reference.

Positive Cases - 5

Current Active Cases - 0

Students/Staff Currently Isolated/Quarantined - 2

Number of Students/Staff Tested (since September) - 286*

*Includes students/staff who have been tested multiple times.

Number of Students/Staff with Pending Test Results - 0

Carolynn Stockwell, 5/6

cstockwell@sau88.net

Stephanie Allard, 7/8

sallard@sau88.net

Elena VanZandt, Student Assistance Provider

evanzandt@sau88.net

Please reach out to the LHS Counselors if you have questions. Please see Welcome Video from LHS below.

Counselor Students with last name Email

Beth Sprague: Ahern-Covell bsprague@sau88.net

Marcea Eckhardt: Dannehy- Kodiweera meckhardt@sau88.net

Margaret Grigsby: LaBelle- Rose mgrigsby@sau88.net

Marceny Bourne: Salls-Zhou mbourne@sau88.net

Still taking baseball and softball sign-ups! Any 7th or 8th grader interested in playing either sport this year please be sure to sign up NOW via FamilyID HERE.

It is time to order your LMS YEARBOOK! The early bird gets 50% off!

Spring is here and you can buy your yearbook online for $10 from now until April 4th. After the 4th, the price will go up.

If you order your yearbook online now, you ensure that you will get a yearbook and get a good deal at the same time.

8th graders do not need to order. All 8th graders will get a yearbook this year.

To order online go to:

http://jostensyearbooks.com/?REF=A05041040

If you have any questions or want to help with the yearbook, please email Mr. Masi: dmasi@sau88.net.

Have an idea for the student council? Find out who your team's members are and stay up to date with everything student council here:

https://sites.google.com/edu.sau88.net/lmssc/home?authuser=0

Is there a staff member who has helped you during your time at LMS? Maybe a teacher who has made learning fun? A staff member who always brightens your day? Complete this Google Form to let me know how much you appreciate them! (You can remain anonymous if you choose to do so, just state that in the Name box) The student council will be doing something with them so please complete the form as soon as possible.

https://forms.gle/8Nk2GAR414d3vNx37

March Spirit Days:

Friday, 3/26 Sports Teams Day

Next Meeting:

Monday, 3/22 Full Council Meeting 2:30 via Google Classroom

Questions, please contact Mrs. McFarland.

Remote Learners...if you have pictures of your remote learning, send them to lmsspirit@sau88.net. We will include them in the Scoop too!

When: Wed, April 7 , 7:00pm - 8:00pm

Location: https://zoom.us/j/94660181992?pwd=UElPek9IanV5YmQ3Wjc5R3hpeDF2Zz09

Meeting ID: 946 6018 1992
Passcode: 965891
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When: Wed, March 24 , 6:30pm - 10:30pm

Location: Lebanon Middle School, 3 Moulton Ave, Lebanon, NH 03766, USA

Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device:

Please click this URL to join. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86295258129?pwd=Y2F6WllMWHM2TXk4K09pZ1VVOTRWUT09

Passcode: 890005

Click the button below for the latest newsletters from our Superintendent. Other letters can be found on the District website.

Registration has begun for the North Country Young Writers' Festival, happening (online this year) on May 14-May 15th, 2021. This fun-filled, free educational event is designed for 7th-12th graders from New Hampshire, with workshops for students on a range of creative writing topics, a special workshop for teachers, a keynote delivered by a New York Times Bestselling Young Adult novelist, a teen Submit-a-thon, and much more! The festival can be found at https://www.wmcc.edu/north-country-young-writers-festival/

Priority registration has begun for students from Coos County; registration will open to students, teachers, and community members from the rest of New Hampshire on March 24. I'd be grateful if you could relay this opportunity to your school community.

If you have a student returning in person to LMS for the first time this year, please review the video tutorials to understand our processes and procedures while at school. We strongly encourage families to watch these together. Although some of our spaces now look a bit different than in the videos, we will still be using these procedures.

Here is the link to the Lebanon Middle School COVID Procedures. The button below titled LMS COVID Procedures takes you to the module and the LMS website too.

NH COVID related information can be found on the nh.gov/covid19 website.

Vaccines

NH DHHS has shared their vaccine allocation plan (always subject to change): https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/cdcs/covid19/documents/covid19-vaccine-allocation-plan-summary.pdf

Common Questions:

Can I get a rapid COVID test instead of a PCR test?

One can get a rapid test if symptomatic. If one has no symptoms, then a PCR test should be done for accurate results.

Can I come to work/send my kids to school if someone in my house is getting a COVID test and waiting for results?

Yes. As long as you/they are asymptomatic, then you may come to work and the kids may come to school. If the individual in your house tests positive, then you would need to remain home.

How long do I need to stay home if I test positive for COVID?

You will need to remain home in isolation for 10 days since the start of your symptoms, or 10 days from the test collection date if you are asymptomatic. You can return to school on the 11th day.

Someone in my house tests positive for COVID. How long do I need to remain home?

You will remain home for 20 days (10 days for the person who tested positive, and then you are home an additional 10 days for your quarantine after the period of isolation ends).

What is the definition of close contact?

Close contact is defined as being less than 6 feet from a positive COVID individual for a cumulative 10 minutes or more during the person’s infectious period. What is the infectious period? It is based on the 2 days before the person becomes symptomatic or 2 days before the test collection date if the person is asymptomatic.

Please continue to be in contact with your school nurse if your child is being tested for COVID-19 either due to symptoms or if they have been exposed to a person determined to have COVID. Please contact the school nurse for any positive test results.

People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear anytime from 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. All of the following are symptoms of COVID-19:

• Fever(over 100.o F) or chills

• Cough

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

• Fatigue

• Muscle or body aches

• Headache

• New loss of taste or smell

• Sore throat

• Congestion or runny nose

• Nausea or vomiting

• Diarrhea

In order for your child to return to school if they exhibit any of the symptoms listed above, they should either get a COVID PCR based test and produce a negative test result, OR choose to quarantine for 10 days since onset and improvement of symptoms.

DHMC Covid hotline (603) 650-1818. Hotline hours: Monday through Friday, 6:00 am to 6:00 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 am to 1:00 pm. This is for DHMC patients only (unless you are deemed a close contact to a positive case) and you do not need a referral from your Pediatrician before testing. Appointment only. https://www.dartmouth-hitchcock.org/patient-education/covid19-testing.html

Alice Peck Day- (603)-442-5665 Hotline hours 8:30am-4:00pm on weekdays. Official State testing site therefore will test anyone regardless if your doctor is at APD or if you do not have a doctor. Do not need a referral. Appointment only. Must live within the Community of Alice Peck Day. https://www.alicepeckday.org/services/covid19communitytesting/

The school day begins at 7:45 - 7:50 AM.

The PikMyKid Check-in Health Screening is required each day. Students who do not complete the check-in before arriving will have to be screened at the door before entering the building. We continue to average 20-30 check-ins daily which is still slowing down the process. Please complete the check-in health screening before leaving home in the morning.

Students will be expected to arrive at the following times, as we stagger our arrival in order to process students into our building:

Bus Riders - 7:22 AM

Band/Chorus Students - 7:22 AM - Please follow directions from Ms. Garnham and Mr. Terry. If your child has a sibling that is not in the band or chorus, please drop them together at the same time.

Car drop offs need to plan to start at 7:30 AM or after. There is no early drop off.

Students should be sitting in a seat on the right side of the vehicle to exit on the sidewalk side. Students should also be prepared to get out before the car stops so they can do so quickly and the car line can keep moving.

If your child has to exit from the left side of the vehicle, please park and we will help them cross the crosswalk.

5th & 7th Grade Car Riders - Begins @ 7:30 AM

6th & 8th Grade Car Riders - Begins @ 7:38 AM

***If you have students in 5th and 8th for example you can choose the earlier or later time.***

Students will be dismissed at the following times:

Please park if your child is not along the curb when you enter the loop to keep the flow of traffic moving.

Bus Riders - 1:55 PM

5th & 7th Grade Car Riders Starting at 2 PM (please try not to arrive before 2PM)

6th & 8th Grade Car Riders after 2:05 PM

***If you have students in 5th and 8th for example you can choose the earlier or later time.***

We have changed our School's PikMyKid settings. Parents can no longer change the default pick-up mode of their students. If you have a student who will be picked up by car permanently and not taking the bus for example, you will have to contact the school. To change your child's afternoon plans temporarily, use the calendar feature in order to delegate someone else to pick up for example.

Tutorials are found below in the Scoop.

OBJECTIVE:

On Wednesdays, LMS students may elect to learn remotely. This option is being offered to support students who are in need of a mid-week respite from COVID protocols.

Teams will continue to present curriculum and address the academic and social emotional needs of middle school students. Classes will look like a “typical” day, supporting students’ academic and social/emotional needs.

EXPECTATIONS FOR ALTERNATIVE WEDNESDAYS:

• Students, who are in school or elect to learn remotely, will continue to engage with the day’s curriculum.

• Students’ daily class schedules will remain the same.

• Pine Team, 5th grade, may structure remote learning individually for each classroom. If interested, please contact your child's teacher directly.

PARTICIPATION:

• Students are welcome and supported in attending school all five days in person.

• Students who participate in alternative Wednesdays may choose to learn remotely on a week-to-week basis.

• If a student is participating remotely, attendance will be taken in Advisory by 7:45 AM.

• LMS will communicate with families of students who are participating remotely if the model is not supporting the student’s needs.

All students are expected to attend school each day it is in session if they selected to be in school, and must be in Advisory by 7:45am for attendance.

All students arriving to Advisory after 7:45am will be considered late to school.

Parents must complete the PikMyKid App Check-In Health Survey each morning for each student to attend in person learning.

Parents must contact the school office each day their student (in person or fully remote) will be absent or late. [On Alternative Wednesdays, students should show up remotely at 7:45 to advisory for attendance. No call to the school is necessary.]

In person learners who have symptoms keeping them from in person learning, will be marked absent and do not need to access their teachers remotely. Our nurse will contact the family to discuss if COVID testing is necessary and what date the student may return to school.

All students who are called out absent for 1 to 2 days, for any reason, will be marked absent and do not need to access their teachers remotely. Student may make up missing work upon their return to school.

In person learners who are absent for 3 or more days due to illness or quarantine may learn remotely at their teachers’ discretion; however, they will continue to be marked absent.

Planned absences for all students must follow our student handbook attendance policy. In this case the student may learn remotely at their teachers’ discretion; however, they will be marked absent.

Extended Absences/Vacations

Parents/Guardians are discouraged from planning family vacations while school is in session. Please make plans that coincide with school vacations and holidays because it is difficult for students to make up classroom learning activities when a child is absent for an extended period of time. Permission is granted by an administrator, and a written request to the main office for a student’s work two weeks in advance is required. It is the student’s responsibility to notify teachers and collect assignments. It is the student’s responsibility to submit the completed assignments upon his/her return to school. Failure to obtain permission and to request work two weeks in advance will result in absences being unexcused.

New Period Attendance – In an effort to improve communications, LMS teachers now have the ability to take class attendance each period via Powerschool for all students. Students will be notified if they are marked absent. Parents will be notified if they have created a parent portal account in Powerschool. This should help parents/guardians monitor attendance for their remote learners.

It is important to note that an in person learner, who is at school, could be marked absent for a class for a variety of reasons (early dismissal, student services, counseling, etc.).

Breakfast and Lunch

Students will be able to purchase breakfast or lunch ahead of time. More details to come soon as to how students will order meals ahead.

• Breakfast $1.75
• Lunch $3.15

Reduced price tentatively for breakfast is $0 and lunch is $.40.

Food service along with everything else looks a little different this year. In the morning, students may not enter the building early to get and eat breakfast. There will be a daily offering with a cereal option for the students to choose from between 7:25 and 7:40. Students, regardless of grade, should enter the front doors of the school in the morning and the students should go directly into the cafeteria and pick up and eat their breakfast. Breakfast will not be available once the school day begins at 7:45. There will not be a breakfast break period this year. Remember that a reduced pay student receives a free breakfast.

At lunch there will be two options available at lunch every day. A daily offering and an option that will be consistent for the week. We are also offering a breakfast and a lunch for remote learning days. A cohort students can order meals for Tuesday and Wednesday at Monday lunch and again on Thursday for Friday. B cohort students can order meals for Wednesday and Thursday at lunch on Tuesday and again on Friday for Monday. The meals will be available for pickup at the end of the day and the student will pick up the meals on the way out at dismissal time.

Just a reminder, Free and Reduced applications must be filled out every year. You can apply on line at https://www.lunchapplication.com/ or you can get the application on the district’s website. Applications are also available at the main office.

Dennis Samuel

Food Service Director

Fresh Picks Café

Each day when your child(ren) come to school, they will be required to complete the health screening before coming to school. This will be through the PikMyKid app (more information to follow).

It is imperative that students do stay home if they are sick or have COVID-19 symptoms (COVID symptoms). Students should not come to school if they are not feeling well or have any of the following symptoms:

• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

Students should have a water bottle and can use the bottle filling stations throughout the day.

Every student needs a backpack every day to carry their materials for the day.

Students also need to bring their chromebook to school every day they are in person. Parents/Guardians need to help students remember their device and help make sure it is charged. Students need to be reminded to be careful with their chromebooks to avoid breaking them. If you are having trouble with the Chromebook, email techsupport@sau88.net.

Students need their chromebooks every day they are at school! We continue to encourage students to take care of their machines and very much appreciate your help with this. We want to keep our machines in good working order at all times. We can troubleshoot functioning but we can't just replace due to breakage.

Please help your students with the following:

• Charging chromebooks every night.
• Making sure chromebook and charger get into backpack each night to and from school.
• Cleaning chromebook daily.
• Emphasizing taking care of your machine.
• Remembering passwords.

Need technology help?

Tech Support Hotline number: (603) 790-8501

This phone line will be open from 8am-4pm M-F. After hours, please leave a message and we will return your call.

Tech Support Hotline email: techsupport@sau88.net

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

The Lebanon Middle School community challenges and supports all learners in a

rigorous, stimulating, and developmentally appropriate environment.

To achieve our mission, we strive to foster curiosity, lifelong learning, and global citizenship while encouraging individual aptitudes, interests, and talents by underscoring our core values of LMS PRIDE:

Leadership

Motivation

Spirit

Perseverance

Respect

Integrity

Dependability

Excellence

John P. D’Entremont, Principal

Kim Ezen, Assistant Principal

Synthia Liska, Student Services Administrator

Brett Franklin, Director of Athletics & Co-Curriculars

Email: jdentremont@sau88.net
Website: lms.sau88.net
Location: 3 Moulton Avenue, Lebanon, NH, USA
Phone: 603-448-3056
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LMSLebNH
Twitter: @LMSLebNH