Week of April 22

WYTOPP is here!  We are excited to take the reading and math tests this week.  Our students and teachers have been working hard all year mastering important concepts and learning together.  Testing is the easy part where students get to show what they have learned.  We will follow a modified block schedule on Tuesday and Wednesday this week to accommodate testing.  Please have your students in school well-rested and ready to do their best. It is also very important that students bring their fully charged Chromebooks each day but especially on testing days.  

We understand that testing can be stressful.  All we ask our students is to do their best.  If they try hard, take their time, and relax, the results will take care of themselves.  We use WYTOPP as one data point to assess instructional effectiveness and student progress. It’s important, but it’s not the most important thing.  Students are so much  more than any one test can measure. Let’s work together to rock this test and move on to finishing the year strong. 

Congratulations to Mrs. Jamie Simmons the 2024 LMS Teacher of the Year.  Mrs. Simmons is an amazing physical education teacher at LMS. In addition to teaching, Mrs. Simmons coaches multiple sports and is an advisor for the archery club.  Mrs. Simmons has been instrumental in adding opportunities for our students such as our mountain bikes and bike trail as well as new archery equipment.  She’s a great teacher and colleague. Bravo Mrs. Simmons!

Don’t wait to order your copy of the award winning LMS yearbook.  Visit yearbookforever.com to reserve your copy today.  Yearbooks sell out every year.  Don’t miss out on your chance to own a piece of history.

It’s going to be another great week at LMS.  Twelve week grade reports will be out on Monday, track has two meets scheduled, and we get the opportunity to rock the WYTOPP. Thank you for your continued support and feedback.  The last six weeks of this school season are going to be amazing!

Upcoming Events

• April 23                    WYTOPP begins

• April 23                    Bus Driver Appreciation Day 

• April 24                    Administrative Assistants Day

• April 24                    Special ACSD1 Board meeting

• May 6-10                 Educator Appreciation Week 

• May 13                     UW 2024 Women in STEM Conference 

• May 18                     Hapi-ness 5k 

• May 27                     No school-Memorial Day

Week of April 8

Spring conferences will be held this Thursday from 3:30-7:30.  Teachers are available by appointment and we hope to see as many families as possible on Thursday night.  Please use this link to schedule conferences with your student’s teachers if you have not done so already.  Thursday is a normal day of school for students with a standard 3:05 dismissal.  There will be no Scout Learning Lab, late bus, or after school activities on Thursday due to conferences. 

There is no school on Friday for students.  Our staff will be engaging in professional development. School will resume on Monday.  We hope everyone enjoys an extra day together.  

We are excited to open the nomination process for the 2024 Laramie Middle School Teacher of the year.  There are so many deserving teachers, it’s unfortunate that we can only choose one.  Please use this link to nominate one or more deserving teachers.  Nominations will be accepted through the end of the day on April 16th. The winner will be announced later this month and considered for Albany County School District Teacher of the Year. 

We are hosting a public hearing related to the potential consolidation of Beitel and Spring Creek Elementary Schools on Wednesday at 6:00 in the LMS cafeteria.  The April Board of Trustees meeting will follow at 7:00 pm.  The meetings will also be streamed online. 

Learn more about the 2024 Hapi-ness 5k:

It’s going to be yet another action packed week at Laramie Middle School.  We have accomplished so much this year.  Thank you for your continued support and feedback.  We are looking forward to finishing strong.  Make it a great week!

Upcoming Events

• April 11                     Spring Conferences

• April 12                     No School-Professional Development 

• April 16                     Teacher of the Year nominations close 

• May 13                     UW 2024 Women in STEM Conference 

• May 18                     Hapi-ness 5k

Week of April 1

April is here and we are busy preparing for spring conferences on Thursday, April 11th from 3:30-7:30.  Students will have a normal school day on the 11th prior to conferences. Teachers are currently reaching out to families of students who are struggling to schedule conferences.  We will open registration to everyone at 3:30 on Friday.  We hope to see as many families as possible at conferences.  It’s a great time to collaborate in support of our students as we work together to finish strong. 

In addition to conferences, there are a couple other exciting events on the horizon.  The 2024 UW Women in STEM Conference is Tuesday, May 14th.  This conference is a gathering of young women from across Wyoming.  Participants will learn first hand about careers in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology for accomplished professionals. This opportunity is open to 7th and 8th grade students.  Interested students must  apply by Friday, April 12th using this link or the QR code posted around our school. 

Please save the date for the 39th annual Hapi-ness 5K hosted by our Student Leadership Team.  This year’s race will be held on Saturday, May 18th. This event was created in 1987, by the LJHS 9th grade class to raise money for Hapi Patterson, a student who unfortunately passed away that year from Leukemia.  In addition to the proceeds from race registrations, It has been a long-established mission of the Student Leadership Team to collaborate with our community to raise money for families confronted by financial and medical hardships. In the past few years, we have raised thousands of dollars to support families in need from our amazing town. 

Our recipient this year is a student from Harmony School, Wyatt Haas. Wyatt has been diagnosed with Medulloblastoma. This is a life threatening cancer that is located in the lower back part of the brain, which affects, and can even collapse, the nervous system. Wyatt has relapsed from this cancer twice before, and has made two incredible comebacks. The Student Leadership Team has been inspired by Wyatt’s journey. It is our goal to support Wyatt and his family in this time of need.  We invite everyone to come out and participate in this year’s Hapi-ness 5K.  Registration information is coming soon.

The University of Wyoming is conducting a research study that you and your child may want to participate in. The study is focused on the impact of exercise on middle/high school students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The study is in need of middle school students who do not have ADHD for comparisons. Participating students complete three in-person sessions at Laramie Middle or the University of Wyoming in which they will be receiving an ECG and exercising on an exercise bike for 16 minutes. Students will also complete some verbal and computer tasks during their visits. Parents/guardians will be asked to fill out a few questionnaires at three various time points throughout the study. Financial compensation will be awarded to participants and their families. Please click here to learn more about this study.

We are in the fourth quarter of this school season. It is important that we continue to collaborate and communicate in support of our students.  We have accomplished much this year, but how we finish is crucial.  Thank you for continuing to monitor your student’s progress, sending them to school each day ready to learn, and for communicating with us as we partner in support of our students.  Make it a great week!

Upcoming Events

• April 1                       First Day of Track 

• April 11                     Spring Conferences

• April 12                     No School-Professional Development 

• May 13                     UW 2024 Women in STEM Conference 

• May 18                     Hapi-ness 5k

Week of March 18

Welcome back!  It is exciting to have our students back in the building.  I hope everyone had a restful and safe break.  We are back at it full steam with an action packed week ahead of us.  One upcoming highlight is the 2024 LMS Chilli Cook Off.  This year’s event is on Wednesday from 5:30-7:00 in our cafeteria.  There will be prizes for the spiciest, most unique, best overall, and best staff chilies.   Bring a crockpot of your best creation if you’d like to enter, or just come to sample and vote for your favorites.  There will be plenty of games and activities for students and families to enjoy along with chips and salsa courtesy of Corona Village.  We hope to see everyone on Wednesday night. 

Our March CKH focus area is courage. We are working on helping students understand that courage is not a magical remedy for fear. Instead, courage is a choice to push through fear, self-doubt, and anxiety to do things that feel hard or frightening. Courage equips students to make a positive impact at home, at school, and in the community. One way to develop courage is to ask each family member to share something positive they want to do but have been afraid to try. Discuss what fears are getting in the way and steps to overcome those fears. Encourage everyone to try something new this month. Don’t forget to celebrate each family member when they do. Read more about courage in this month’s CKH newsletter. 

We are quickly approaching the last quarter of this school season.  I’m not sure where the time goes, but it’s going quickly.  Thank you for your continued support and feedback.  We appreciate the opportunity to work alongside you in support of your student. Make it a great week!

Upcoming Events

• March 19                  National Let’s Laugh Day 

• March 20                  Chili Cook Off

• April 11                     Spring Conferences

• April 12                     No School-Professional Development 

Week of March 4

We will be taking the first WYTOPP test of the year on Monday.  The Wyoming Department of Education has moved the WYTOPP writing test window up this year.  All Wyoming fifth, seventh, and ninth grade students take the writing WYTOPP.  We will be following a modified ‘Even’ schedule on Monday to accommodate testing.  All students will report to their S4S classes on Monday morning.  Seventh graders will test in their S4S classes.  Sixth and eighth grade students will complete other activities during the testing period.  Following testing, students will attend their even classes.  Our schedule this week will be: Even/Testing, Odd, Even, Odd, All. Students will start their day in S4S each day Monday-Thursday.  All students should bring a book to read on Monday to S4S.  We’re looking forward to showing the fruits of the hard work our seventh graders and teachers have been putting in on the writing WYTOPP.

We also have a modified Scout Learning Lab (SLL) schedule this week.  We will have SLL Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  There will not be SLL, any after school clubs, or a late bus on Thursday due to a staff meeting.  We encourage all students who need additional time and support to demonstrate their learning to attend SLL and get caught up before spring break.

Spring Spirit Week is here!  Each day this week has a dress up theme.  Students are encouraged to show their Scout Pride by participating.  There will also be activities at lunch each day and a dance after school on Wednesday.  Admission to the dance is $5 and concessions will be available.  All students are encouraged to attend the dance.  Students who attend the dance must stay until the end unless they are picked up by their family and cannot ride the late bus.  Students who attend the dance must be picked up by 5:15. 

It’s going to be an exciting week of celebration, testing, concerts, field trips, and learning.  We are all looking forward to spring break.  Please help us make this a productive week of learning by having your student in school each day this week.  Every day really does count.  Let’s make it a great week!

Upcoming Events

• March 4-8                 Spring Spirit Week

• March 4                    7th Grade WYTOPP Writing Test

• March 4                    Beginning and Modern Orchestra Concert

• March 5                    All City Choir Concert

• March 6                    Spring dance 

• March 11-14             Spring Break

• March 14                  Pi Day 

• April 11                     Spring Conference

Week of February 26

Scheduling for the 2024-2025 school year has begun.  Rising freshmen should have turned their LHS course selection forms into the LMS main office last week.  Rising 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students should use the appropriate link to complete their schedule choices for next year if they haven’t already done so.  LMS course descriptions can be found in our curriculum guide.  When scheduling, we try our best to place students in the classes they have selected.  However, that’s not always possible so it’s very important that students select alternative courses that they are interested in.  If students do not complete the course request form, or fail to select alternative courses, they will be placed in whatever classes are available. 

Our 7th grade students will be taking the writing portion of WYTOPP next Monday, March 4th.  All other WYTOPP tests will take place at the end of April. We will follow a modified 'even' day schedule next Monday to accommodate testing.  All students will report to S4S on Monday.  Seventh grade students will take the writing test during a two hour testing block.  Sixth and eighth grade students will complete other activities in their S4S classes.  Due to testing, our schedule next week will be Even, Odd, Even, Odd, All.  We are looking forward to our students rocking the WYTOPP writing test next week. 

We are celebrating Kindness Week this week. Our Student Leadership Team has a variety of activities planned to encourage kindness in our school and community.  Please talk to your student about ways they can show kindness to themselves and others this week and beyond.

Spring break is quickly approaching.  We have a number of exciting activities between now and then including music contests and festivals, swim meets, a school dance, and Spring Spirit Week. Every day matters.  Please support your student by having them in school every day, on time, and ready to learn between now and Spring Break.  Make it a great week. 

Upcoming Events

• February 27              Rising 6th Grade Information Night 

• February 29              LMS Festival Concert

• March 1                     Make up NAEP Testing

• March 4                    7th Grade WYTOPP Writing Test

• March 5                    All City Choir Concert

• March 6                    Spring dance 

• March 11-14             Spring Break

Week of February 12

 The Student Leadership Team and PE department have organized a variety of activities this week to support the American Heart Association.  We kick off on Monday with penny wars. Penny wars is a competition between each grade and teachers. Each grade level and staff have a bucket.  Adding  pennies to your bucket increases your group’s total value. However, you may also sabotage other groups by adding larger currencies (nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar bills) to subtract points from their total.  The winning grade level will receive a prize at lunch. You can also donate by bringing a dollar to wear a hat on Tuesday. On Wednesday if you donate any money towards penny wars, you will receive a Hershey's kiss.

We are continuing the scheduling process for the coming school year.  There is an informational night for rising freshmen at Laramie High School Monday at 6:30.  All current 8th graders and their families should attend to learn about the scheduling process and course options for next year.  The meeting will be held in the LHS theater.  Rising freshmen should turn in their course selection sheets to the LMS main office by the end of the week.

Rising 7th and 8th graders will be making their elective selections in S4S on Tuesday.  Students should have brought home a list of electives last week to review with their families.  Detailed course descriptions can be found in the 24- 25 draft curriculum guide posted on our website.  We make every effort to place students in their desired courses, however this is not always possible.  The best way for students to get the classes they want is to complete the course selection form and choose alternatives in case they are not able to get their first choices.  

Valentine’s Day falls on a school day this year.  While we are always spreading love and happiness at LMS, please remember that students are not to receive deliveries during the school day.  It is disruptive and there isn’t room in classrooms, lockers, or on buses for delivered items.  Anything that is delivered will be held in the attendance office until the end of the school day. We will make our best effort to inform students of any deliveries, but we can’t guarantee they will be received.  Please save all of your special gifts for home. Make it a great week! 

Upcoming Events

• February 12              Rising Freshman Information Night (at LHS)

• February 15              NAEP Testing

• February 16              Early Release

• February 19              No School 

• February 27              Rising 6th Grade Information Night