Eagle's Post - 5/22/26

Hello Middle School South Families,

As we approach the final days of the 2025-2026 school year, I want to take a moment to reflect on what an incredible year it has been. Our students, staff, and families have shown tremendous dedication, and the energy around Middle School South right now is truly electric.

We have so much to celebrate as we head into summer break! First, a massive congratulations to our Girls’ Soccer team, who are officially our Conference Champions! We are also incredibly proud of our talented student-athletes who are competing in the State Track & Field meet this very weekend. Please join me in wishing them the absolute best of luck!

Additionally, we recently celebrated our 8th graders as they promoted on to high school. Watching them grow during their time at MSS has been an honor, and we know they will do amazing things in their next chapter.

As a reminder, there is no school on Monday, May 25th in observance of Memorial Day, and our last day of school will be Wednesday, May 27th.

Please take a look through the rest of this newsletter for important updates regarding our transition to ParentSquare mass communication, 2026-2027 school year registration, summer reading opportunities, and upcoming August softball tryouts.

Thank you all for a fantastic school year and for your continued partnership. Have a safe, happy, and wonderful summer break!

Anthony

Please take a moment to send a note of appreciation to one of our incredible staff members here at MSS! Use the link below to access our form and we will present them with a physical note!

Monday, May 25, 2026

No School - Memorial Day

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Last Day of School!

District 95, in partnership with local police, fire, and hospital personnel, will conduct an Active Threat Exercise on the morning of June 3, 2026, at Middle School South and Isaac Fox School as part of our ongoing commitment to school safety and emergency preparedness.

During the exercise, the campus will be closed from 7:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. to everyone except authorized personnel. Community members near the area may notice increased emergency vehicle activity, loud noises, and emergency announcements as part of this planned and controlled training event. There is no real emergency.

Questions may be directed to Danielle Stevens, Director of Safety & Security, at Danielle.Stevens@lz95.org.

Over the past two years the district’s Communications Department has been working with stakeholder committees and survey feedback to understand how we can improve our communications in terms of district and principal mass communications, website content, social media, and more.

During the 25-26 school year the Communications Committee took a deeper look into mass communication platforms that are more family friendly, offering more of a “one stop location” for communications, with views by school or by student, in a digest format, in an app, etc. Committee members had an opportunity to trial those platforms from a sending and from a receiving perspective, and provide feedback.

We are pleased to share that over the course of the summer and into the fall, the district will transition to the ParentSquare platform for district and principal level communications, as well as for messaging that currently takes place through Remind. We look forward to this exciting transition and wanted to be sure you knew! As we begin a phased rollout this summer, more information will be shared about ParentSquare features, downloading the app, and other important details.

Thank you for your support as we move forward with this exciting transition!

Sora provides 24/7 access to digital books, enabling students to maintain reading habits throughout the year by offering easy access to ebooks and audiobooks. The platform supports engagement through curated collections, "always available" titles to eliminate waitlists, and resources for family reading. Scan the QR code with the student district issued iPad to access SORA.

Visit the Ela Library website for more details about their Teen Summer Reading Program

https://www.eapl.org/teen-summer-reading-program

"Plant a seed of curiosity,

Grow with every adventure,

Harvest a summer of fun at Ela!"

Please see the flyers below regarding free summer meals for children 18 years and under. To find a site or find more information, please find the phone and website information in the flyer.

For those families with returning District 95 students and for new-to-district students, please note that registration fees were added to the student’s PushCoin account on May 22nd. The first email notification from PushCoin will occur on the June 10th and will occur again on the 10th of each month. Fees are due prior to August 13, 2026, which is the first day of student attendance. For families with questions on payment plan options or other related inquiries, please contact the business office at businessoffice@lz95.org for assistance.

Attention players that are interested in LZ South softball tryouts for the 2026-2027 school year!

Please scan the QR code or click here to fill out the information to express interest in or intent to tryout for LZ South softball. Tryouts are before school starts and that is why it is important to sign up now. By signing up, the softball coaches can reach out in August and send reminders about tryout dates, physicals and registration on ParentVue.

Tryouts will be held on Tuesday, August 11, 2026 from 2:20 pm - 4:00 pm and Wednesday, August 12, 2026 from 3:15 pm - 4:45 pm.

Please email Coach Keegan or Coach Schmidt with any questions.

Looking for information on the clubs/activities available at MSS. You can find out seasons and contact information by clicking here.

Needed Forms Prior to First Day of Activity/Tryout:

For students interested in trying out and participating in a sport, students must have the following:

• Physical: All students participating in tryouts and a sport must have a current physical or sports physical on file. Physicals are good for one year and one month from the date the physical was conducted. Please check to make sure your physical is current prior to tryouts or the start of an athletic activity. The physical should be turned into the Nurse’s Office.

• Emergency Information Form: Students must have a completed and signed Emergency Information Form for each activity they are trying out for/participating in. They will need to turn this form in to the coach or sponsor at the time of tryouts. If try-outs are not required, then the form should be turned in at the first meeting of the sport or activity.

All registration for activities will be in ParentVUE and information about registration will be sent later this summer.