October 2024 Rocket Messenger
Principal's Message
I can hardly believe that we are nearing the end of quarter one.
It has been a busy and fun first quarter! Students are doing great work in the classrooms with a number of our students being involved in extracurricular activities as well. School Improvement Goal: We will work to increase the graduation rate to 76% by 2025. To support this work we have subcategories on which to focus:
- Academic
- Behavior
- Climate
District Strategic Plan
As a reminder, the district’s goals are as follows:
- Student wellbeing and outcomes
- Staff wellbeing and outcomes
- Family and community engagement
- District systems and operations
Keri Applebee
Principal
kapple@lps.org
News and Notes
Rocket House
What is Rocket House? Rocket House is a structured after school study zone that is staffed by some of our Core (Math, Science, Social Studies and English) teachers. This will begin after Fall Break.
When: Tuesday and Thursdays, 3:15-4:00 p.m.
Who: Our focus will be on 9th graders.
How: Data will be run weekly. Should a 9th grader have 3 F’s they will be assigned to Rocket House for a 2 week cycle. Students and Families will receive an email notifying them that Rocket House has been assigned. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, students will receive an email reminder to report to Rocket House after school on that day.
What happens if Students don’t attend? During that time students will be allowed to miss 1 afternoon of Rocket House prior to consequences going into effect.
Students will at first serve lunch detention. Repeated skips may result in different consequences.
Restorative Practices
This is the first I’ve written about Restorative Practices this year. The underlying philosophy is that Humans are happier, more cooperative and productive and more likely to make positive changes in their behavior when those in positions of authority do things WITH them instead of TO them or FOR them. (Watchel, 2005). Ultimately, RP are practices that aim to improve relationships and repair harm through dialogue and connections. (Anti Bullying Alliance, 2024) Below is a visual to help illustrate the purpose of restorative practices. Take a look:
FAFSA (Free Application for Student Aide)
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is an online form by the U.S. Department of Education to help colleges and career schools determine what federal money they can give you to help pay for school. The application must be completed every school year.
The types of financial aid that you could receive from the FAFSA include grants like the Pell Grant, scholarships, work-study funds and student loans.
For additional information, check out the link below:
https://home.lps.org/counseling/fafsa/
Counselors will meet with students during quarter 2.