Lesher Middle School

Testing days can be a strain on staff and students. We want to make sure the staff is well fed and taken care of during this time. Feel free to coordinate with friends, or handle a slot yourself, whichever you prefer. Treats can be homemade or store bought anything you can give is appreciated. Feel free to contact me with any questions. nichirschfield@gmail.com

To sign up, click here https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090B4FA4A822A2F94-feed

Please mark your calendars! The 2023 CMAS Assessment window is March 27th – April 28th. All students will take 3 English Language Arts assessments and 3 Mathematics assessments. Additionally, 8th graders will take 3 Science assessments.

Please see the tentative calendar below for when each of these assessments will occur. As you plan ahead, we would greatly appreciate you doing your best to avoid morning appointments or other student absences on these days. With some limited individual student exceptions, we will generally be done testing by lunchtime each day.

The state assessment system, Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS), is designed to measure student mastery of Colorado’s academic content standards. Colorado’s academic content standards indicate skills and knowledge necessary to prepare students for success from early school readiness to postsecondary competencies, reflective of both workforce readiness and 21st century skills. Student progress toward these outcomes is measured through CMAS, which provides information to teachers as they incorporate the content standards in their daily instruction. CMAS results are also used for school and district accountability.

We will send a more detailed and specific calendar of testing days as we get closer to our testing dates. If you have questions about the CMAS assessments, please contact Deana Kochis, School Assessment Coordinator, at dkochis@psdschools.org or (970) 472-3854.

CMAS testing begins March 28th and continues through the first few weeks of April. For a detailed schedules, see the links below.

CMAS scores indicate the degree to which students have mastered the expectations of the Colorado Academic Standards and provide one measure of a student’s academic progress. This helps students and teachers measure academic growth, helps administrators determine the effectiveness of a program, offers a progress point for course placement, and more.

At Lesher, we believe this is a low-stake opportunity for students to practice taking a standardized test, something that will prepare them for future tests such as the SAT, ACT, and more. And while some students may feel anxious about testing, to dispel this myth, this test is an achievement test and helps us measure and celebrate our students’ academic growth in Language Arts, Math, and Science. This is a small data point on our students and does not measure the other important skills they may possess and be proud of; such as work ethic, curiosity, people skills, creativity, collaboration skills, and other talents. Still, this is one of the final data points we use to place students in the correct courses the following year.

Lesher has historically done very well on their CMAS tests*, and we have no doubt that our students will carry out this tradition of strong academics and participation. However, if you wish to opt your student out, please follow this link for directions of how to opt out through ParentVue. Doing the opt-out process as soon as possible will help us with grouping and proctoring assignments. For more information about excusing students, head to the district website located here.

* Lesher’s Performance Framework for scores and participation: https://www.cde.state.co.us/schoolview/frameworks/official/1550/5068

Calendars and Schedules:

Calendar at a Glance

Daily Bell Schedule

Science Schedule (coming soon)

Congratulations to our Science Olympiad teams. Last Saturday they competed in the regional event that included the entire Northern Half of Colorado. 18 students made it to the podium.

Bronze Medal Winners include 8th graders Ansel Lignon, Owen Atadero, and Jackson Raine, 7th Graders Ronak Patel, Maya Leisz, Eden Kleier, and Yash Karan, and 6th grader Lars Egenhoff.

Silver Medal Winners include 8th Graders Ansel Lignon, Libby Broeckling, Lev Achter-Pries, and Terran Klein-Ames, 7th Graders Levi Hayward, Eden Kleier, Evan Hutchinson and Josh Follet.

Gold Medal Winners from the competition on Saturday are Owen Atadero and Rowan Christiansen.

Congratulations teams and good luck at the state competition!

LESHER MIDDLE SCHOOL WRESTLING IS 5X IN A ROW DISTRICT CHAMPIONS

FINAL TEAM SCORES

• In 4th place with 180.5 points, Webber Middle School
• In 3rd place with 195.5 points, Boltz Middle School
• In 2nd place with 345.5 points, Wellington Middle School
• And, in first place with 397.5 points, LESHER MIDDLE SCHOOL

INDIVIDUAL PLACE WINNERS FROM THE DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

• 70lbs - Casey Fontana (24-2) placed 1st
• 75lbs - Bryan Cram (17-5) placed 2nd
• 80lbs - Cash Helgerson (24-7) placed 2nd
• 90lbs - Grant Glaser (7-6) placed 4th
• 95lbs - Emmet Brennan (16-13) placed 2nd
• 100lbs - A`miyah McGee (25-7) placed 2nd
• 105lbs - Evan Dirvonas (18-6) placed 2nd
• 110lbs - Vicente Romero (24-2) placed 1st
• 115lbs - Matteo Costanegro (18-3) placed 2nd
• 120lbs - Diego Romero (25-6) placed 2nd
• 125lbs - Cooper Thompson (23-7) placed 2nd
• 130lbs - D`Angelo Sanchez-Ferguson (22-8) placed 1st
• 135lbs - Joshua Space (22-3) placed 1st
• 140lbs - Finley Epling (14-8) placed 4th
• 145lbs - Ben Stenger (21-4) placed 1st
• 155lbs - Charles Swanson (26-2) placed 1st
• 165lbs - Marcellus Garcia (19-9) placed 3rd
• 180lbs - Dalton Ridgeway (18-8) placed 2nd
• 200lbs - Truitt Boothe (22-3) placed 1st

Thank you to all of the individuals who competed this season and for everyone that supported us throughout this season! Go Vikings!

Please congratulate Esther Johnson and Evie Eslinger on a fantastic job presenting to a group of teachers at a district training! Evie and Esther were interviewed on the topic of “Students as Creators” to the whole group at the beginning of the training. Then the girls and I led a breakout session on the topic of Minecraft in the Classroom. The girls were articulate, knowledgeable, and captured their audience’s attention. Job Well Done!

Lesher’s Genius Week is officially open for registration! Go to Lesher homepage (https://sites.google.com/psdschools.org/leshersgeniusweek/home) and click on the Genius Week banner which will give you all the information! Email Lisa Crossland (lcrossla@psdschools.org) if you have questions! It is going to be THE BEST first week of summer! Go Vikings!

Spring Break

3/11 - 3/19

3/20

Last day to get Gold Cards for Softball

3/27

Last day to get Gold Cards for Track

Hi! My name is Becky Knips and I am our Educational Technology Coordinator at Lesher. I was our computer science teacher for 14 years and am excited to help integrate technology throughout our classrooms this year! All students attended a laptop expectations session at the beginning of the school year, however students may need a few reminders mid-year of what they can and can’t do on their school-issued laptop while they are at home. Here are a few things you can look for at home on their laptop:

Yes - you can...

• Check your grades, PSD email, or work on homework
• Use Microsoft Teams to chat with a classmate about an assignment
• Play an educational game that a teacher has specifically assigned

No - you can’t...

• Use Microsoft Teams/Google Hangouts/email to have personal conversations or chats with friends
• Play games (Roblox, Minecraft, or other online games - unless specifically assigned by a teacher)
• Watch videos on YouTube or listen to music

We emphasize that school-issued laptops are to be used as a tool to learn. If you are wondering if what your child is doing is school-related, ask them to show you where it’s assigned or follow up with an email or phone call to that teacher. Google Classroom and StudentVUE/ParentVUE are great places to check what is assigned. Having your child use the laptop in a visible location can help minimize distractions and get work done.

Lastly, we have noticed many students coming in without charging their laptops. Laptops should be fully charged every morning. Having a nightly routine of plugging the laptop into the charger is helpful. We don’t have enough outlets in the classroom to support students charging their laptops at school.

If you have any questions about your child’s laptop usage, please reach out to me at 970-472-3840 or rknips@psdschools.org.

Attention 7th & 8th grade girls interested in playing softball this spring.

Please complete the pre-season survey at the link: bit.ly/leshersb23

Our pre-season begins in March! Contact Mrs. Weiss with any questions!

Registration Resources and Information

8th grader families, if you are considering an alternative high school, come visit an orientation at Centennial High School.

In order to be accepted into Centennial High School's program, you MUST attend one of the orientations below (both guardian and student).

In the meantime, 8th graders are advised to still complete a registration card for the high school in their attendance area.

Centennial Orientation: https://chs.psdschools.org/about-us/admission

Tuesday, January 31st 1:30 & 5:30pm

Tuesday, March 21st 1:30 & 5:30pm

Another date in July will be announced soon

Reach out to your counselor if you have additional questions.

Please follow this link to access the PSD High School Planning Guide

We would like to compile a spreadsheet of Lesher Businesses for our school and community to utilize. If you own a business, work for a business, or simply want the community to know about services you offer please fill out this form.

Hey Lesher community!

We are in need of family volunteers to serve as crossing guards in the morning (7:30-7:50) and afternoons (2:45-3:00) in the intersections of Stover/Prospect and Stover/Lake. If you're willing to volunteer your time please email our principal Don Kotnik at dkotnik@psdschools.org.

Thank you!

Club Rush was a HUGE SUCCESS! Thank you to Natasha Wilson, Krista Summers, and our WEB leaders for organizing this event for each grade level.

Please click here for all club information!

If you are interested in volunteering, please use this link to register: Volunteer Application

If you are already a registered volunteer, please follow the steps below to view volunteer opportunities:

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1. Log in to your Volunteer Portal through this link: Raptor Volunteer Portal

2. When logged in, click on Events within the Navigation Menu

3. Review the details of the Event you wish to sign up for and click “Sign-Up”.

Thank you for contributing your time and talent to PSD!

If you are a Morning Fresh Dairy customer, please bring in your rinsed milk, juice, cream, or other caps to Mr. Mayer and we will raise money for our field trips to Catalina Island, California. That’s right, Lesher Middle School earns money for every cap that is returned. Please turn them in to the box in the front office or send them to Mr. Mayer’s classroom (room 12). If you are interested in Morning Fresh Dairy, every new household sign up raises $25 for Lesher. Click here or ask Mr. Mayer (bmayer@psdschools.org) for more information.

Know someone who has gone out of their way to help someone? See someone picking up trash, helping without being asked, or being a positive role model? Staff and students can nominate students who demonstrate kindness to be entered into a drawing for prizes. See link below!

Be the Sunshine Nomination Form

Updated Bell Schedule

Please Click Here

Instagram @leshervikings

Website: https://les.psdschools.org/
Location: Lesher Middle School, Stover Street, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Phone: 970-472-3800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LesherMiddleSchool
Twitter: @Lesher_MS