LTES Families:

Thank you all for a great start to the school-year!  Only three days in, we seem to have had a very smooth opening (knock on wood), even with a solar eclipse thrown into day one.  We are looking forward to welcoming in our early childhood students tomorrow.  

Weekly Communication:
As was started last year, there will continue to be school correspondence every Wednesday evening, rotating between your child’s teacher and me.  Principal updates will focus around school-wide policies and events, and can always be found at http://www.ludlowtaylor.org/principal-update; they will also be emailed out from the teachers.  Teacher updates will be more closely tied to the day-to-day curriculum and content and sent via a grade-level chosen platform.  These updates will be our primary sources of information, so please make sure that your teacher has the most updated family contact information.

ECE Drop-Off:
August 24 and 25: During the first two days of school, we ask that parents bring students directly to their classrooms to familiarize themselves with the room and teacher between 8:15 am–8:45 am. On August 24 at 9:15 am, Principal Smith will call all parents to the cafeteria for a brief introduction and question session—please join! 

Beginning Monday, August 28th: For students arriving between 8:15 am–8:40 am, parents and students will drop backpacks in the classroom and sign students in.  When the weather is nice, all students will be directed outside to play before the school day starts.  When there is inclement weather, students will remain in the classrooms (no dance room this year)

(Positive) Playground News:
The playground is open and our students are loving it! I know last year was frustrating as we waited for construction to begin, but our outdoor area has definitely been worth the wait. For the safety of our students, the playground is closed to the public while students are at school (8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.), however, the playground will be open from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. during the week and all weekend. I am waiting for a little further guidance from DC on this, but these are the hours until further notice.

Upcoming Events:

• Sept. 4 - Labor Day – No School
• Sept. 6 - (ECE – K) Back to School Night
• Sept. 7 - (1-5) Back to School Night
• Sept. 22 – Professional Development Day – No School for Students
• Oct. 9 – Columbus Day – No School
• Oct 13 – Hispanic Heritage Celebration
• October 31 - Costume Parade
• November 17 – LT Thanksgiving

Please reach out with any questions and/or feedback. 

Sincerely,
 
A. Smith

Great news! We have secured solar glasses for our entire K-5 student body to take in the historic eclipse, this coming Monday, August 21st.

I first want to thank Ms. Gerrell Dodson (superstar LT parent!) for working all possible leads put us in touch with two fantastic partners: K&L Gates Law Firm (http://www.klgates.com/) and the Museum of Science Fiction (http://www.museumofsciencefiction.org/).  Ms. Claudette Mills and Mr. Paul Stimers from K&L Gates, along with Mr. Greg Viggiano, from the Museum of Science Fiction, truly made this event possible for our entire K-5 student body, nearly 300 students, to take part in.

With the solar glasses, all students will be heading to our field from about 2:25 – 3:00. With it being the first day of school, all students will be returning back to the building for dismissal, as was done last year (K-2 from the classroom and 3-5 from the cafeteria). For any parents that are looking to support, please contact your homeroom teacher (firstname.lastname@dc.gov) prior to the event and be sure to check in with the security guard at the 7th street entrance.

Furthermore, the Museum of Science Fiction would also like to invite the LT community to an exciting event over Labor Day Weekend. Further information below:

This Labor Day Weekend, do something really fun in Washington, DC!
Check out Escape Velocity – a major event by the Museum of Science Fiction and NASA.  Come celebrate the genre with unique panel topics from hard science to pop culture; over-the-horizon technology; hands-on STEAM activities for kids; and amazing cosplay! Enjoy this year's film festival featuring “Metropolis” and evening events including “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” merch vendors, astronauts, authors, and so much more!

September 1-3, 2017
For free tickets, use promo code: DCFOG

https://escapevelocity.events/registration-tickets

Both the Museum of Science Fiction and Escape Velocity are nonprofit 501c3 educational organizations.

I want to sincerely thank all of our community for making this happen.

Best,

A. Smith

Below are a few updates and follow-ups from the letter and class lists that were sent out last week.  Please feel free to reach out with any questions.

1st/3rd Grade:
We have been granted an extra teacher from DCPS! Ms. Addison and I are now in the process of interviewing multiple candidates for the best possible fit.  Depending on the hired candidate, will determine the placement of the 1st and 3rd grade teams as a whole.  We hope to have all teacher placements finalized by Friday afternoon.  I apologize for the delay, but am confident we made the right decision in ensuring small class sizes.

Playground Update:
The playground is completed and ready for school opening!  Our official kick-off day is going to be August 13that 10:00 a.m., which will also be our New Family Welcome and Beautification Day, so please stop by!  In the meantime, the playground will be open from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. starting tomorrow, Thursday, August 3rd.  Once school gets started, we will update the community on weekend and evening playground hours.  We hope to make the playground accessible while also maintaining the beauty and cleanliness of the space.

2nd Grade Departmentalization:
Not mentioned in the summer letter was the fact that we will be departmentalizing 2nd grade this year, as we have done with Grades 3-5 in years past.  With that being said, all students in 2nd Grade will have Mr. Kerrigan for math instruction and Ms. Cooper for reading/writing instruction.  Students will rotate with their homerooms to the opposite classroom for the 2nd block of the day.
 
Supply Lists:
We will be adding grade level supply lists to the classroom lists (https://goo.gl/gvJBda) by the end of the week.  Supplies are not required the first few weeks of school, and we have plenty to begin the year, so please do not feel the need to rush out immediately.