Lesher Middle School
Community Communication: March 31, 2023
Principal's Message
Congratulations Kaiti Jones!
State Wrestlers!
Lesher Middle School was represented well at the Middle School State Wrestling Championship.
Congratulations to Charlie Swanson - 2nd Place 155lbs
Congratulations to Truitt Boothe - 3rd Place 200lbs
And to Emory Little & A'miyah McGee for their participation. Way to make Lesher Proud!
Nordic Fest Registration Is Open!
Nordic Fest Information
Please join us April 14th from 3:00pm to 7:00pm at Lesher Middle School for Nordic Fest.
Students and their families are all invited! Watch student teams participate in Ninja Nation's obstacle course. Winning student team will face staff team!
Food Trucks will be available on Ellis St. And the Snack Shack will be open!
Live DJ
Paid Activities ($10 Each)
-Ninja Nation Obstacle Course (Teams of 4)
-Rocket League and FIFA Gaming Tournament
-Art take home activity
*Press "View Performances" to pay
Waiver for Ninja Nation Obstacle Course
Once you pay your fee and complete the waiver please pick up a Gold card in the main office.
Gold cards will be available starting Monday 3/27/23 in the main office from Mrs. Klitch or Ms. Roth. For those interested in the Ninja course each member of your team will need their own gold card.
WEB Applications for 2023-24 School Year
7th graders, the wait is over! WEB applications are now available for next school year. The link can be found in any of your 7th grade classrooms! Don’t forget that you need two adult references, so don’t wait until the last minute!
Applications are due Friday, April 14! Please see Mrs. Wilson or Mrs. Summers with any questions.
Quarter 3 Report Cards
Upcoming Events!
4/1/23
Science Olympiad State Competition
4/3/23
3:30 Varsity Softball scrimmage vs. Boltz @ Spring Park
2:30/2:40/2:50 (Tee Times) Girls Golf vs. Timnath @ City Park
4/4/23
3:30 Varsity Softball vs. Kinard @ Kinard
2:30/2:40/2:50 (Tee Times) Boys Golf vs. Timnath @ City Park
4/5/23
3:30 JV Softball vs. Preston Purple @ Spring Park
4/7/23
3:30 JV Softball vs. Preston Black @ Spring Park
4/14/23
3:00-7:00 Nordic Fest
This Week's Prize Winners!
2023 CMAS Assessment Window
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 and Opt-Outs
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:
Science Schedule (coming soon)
Noche De Ciencias!
Genius Week Update!
National Poetry Month Writing Contest!
2023 PSD Summer Musical!
Dear PSD 8th-12th-grade students and parents/guardians,
We are writing to inform you of a brand-new, free opportunity for summer 2023 in PSD.
In memory of beloved musical director Barbara Lueck, and in the collaborative spirit of the historical Tri-High Musical, Poudre School District presents a summer musical production featuring talented student- actors and technicians from across the district. The inaugural production will be the hit musical “Mamma Mia!” featuring the music of ABBA.
Time commitment: Interested students need to be available for rehearsals and performances from June 29-July 23, 2023. If your student is interested in participating, please keep those dates available.
Rehearsals: June 29-July 19 at Fossil Ridge High School, 5400 Ziegler Road in Fort Collins. Rehearsals are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays at Fossil Ridge High School, (no rehearsals July 3 and 4). Limited conflicts can be listed on the application form.
Performances: July 20-23 at Fossil Ridge High School. Performance dates include weekends.
Auditions: These are 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. May 15 at Fossil Ridge High School (stage roles) and noon-4 p.m. May 15 at Fort Collins High School, 3400 Lambkin Way in Fort Collins (pit musicians).
Who is this for? All PSD students currently in grades 8-12 are eligible to participate. The deadlines to apply for each position are as follows:
Stage roles (actor/singer/dancer): Apply here and submit photos, sign up for an audition time, and link the backing track for your 1-minute audition song from a musical in the style of “Mamma Mia!” (but not actually from “Mamma Mia!”) by May 8.
Assistant choreographers: Apply here and submit materials by April 3.
Student designers: Apply here and submit materials by April 3. · Technicians and costumers: Apply here by May 8. · Pit musicians (bass, drums, guitar, keyboard, percussion): Apply here by May 8.
To read and respond to the Google Forms in a language other than English, paste the question text into Google Translate and select your language. You may answer the question in the form in your own language.
Questions? Please contact Melissa Flail, Teaching and Learning facilitator for Music and the Performing Arts, at mflail@psdschools.org or 970-222-8007.
For more information follow this link to visit the summer musical website at psdsummermusical.com
Sincerely,
The Barbara Lueck Musical Theatre Intensive Team
From Our Previous Newsletters...But Still Relevant!
Summer of Discovery
LAPTOP REMINDERS!
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.
Check out what's going on in Mr. Oldenburg's classroom!
High School Planning Guide
Lesher Community Business Directory
Lesher's 5th Grade Transition Events!
KLIB!
Crossing Guards Needed!
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!
Volunteers Needed!
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:
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!
Morning Fresh Cash for Caps Fundraiser
Be the Sunshine
Our Bell Schedule!
2022-2023 School Calendar
Please Visit us on Social Media
Lesher Middle School
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