Principal Update 02.23.17

LTES Families:
I apologize for the delay in getting this out to everyone.  My email has been down for about the past two days, so apologies if I have been unresponsive to any messages.  I am working with the technology team to get it back up as soon as possible.  In other news, we hope to see everyone at Pancakes and Literacy tonight!
Pancakes and Literacy: Thursday, February 23rd from 6pm-8pm
Pancakes and Literacy is tonight!  Come out and support Literacy Awareness month with a night filled with Pancakes and Literacy FUN.  This year, there will be PANCAKES, PANCAKES, and more PANCAKES, activities for younger and older readers, and some informative workshops for parents interested in learning how to support their young readers. More information coming soon in backpacks, on the LTES listserv and the LTES website. Tickets are $5 for families (up to 3 kids) and will go on sell Thursday, February 9th. If you would like to volunteer please email Melanie Moore (Teagen Chacon’s mom) at melanie@fetch-creative.com
LSAT Update:
Initial budgets were released last week (http://dcpsdatacenter.com/fy18_initial.html), and I am now in the process of working with our parent and teacher team to make adjustments for next school year. Initial allocations will look different than our current staff, and will look different than what we finalize, however, it can give a relatively close estimate to the funds we have received for next year.  All finalized budgets with LSAT recommendations, and my final decisions are due March 3rd.
Playground Update: 
Our playground equipment was officially ordered and has now arrived at a DGS warehouse as well! Construction should begin in the next few weeks, but we are still waiting on a start date.
Parent Teacher Conferences:
The next Parent-Teacher Conference Day will occur Friday, March 3rd. Similar to the last round, in hopes of making these conferences more practical and productive, most teachers are beginning to schedule them as soon as next week.  Last round, we had about 95% of families attend, and we hope to keep that up for this round.  While times still can be made available on the 3rd, our hope is that by creating a larger window, families can schedule a more convenient and useful time with teachers.  Please look for further scheduling information from your homeroom teacher.
Important Dates:
Thursday, February 23rd, 6pm-8pm - Pancakes and Literacy Friday, March 3rd – Parent-Teacher Conference Day, no school for students Saturday, March 25th   - Taste for the Arts Auction  
Please reach out with any feedback.
 
Andrew Smith
Principal, Ludlow-Taylor Elementary School