Friday, March 21, 2014

National Geographic Bee Finalist Advances to State


Congratulations to Garrett Swain!! 


Garrett has qualified to represent Lorena Middle School and participate at the state level of the National Geographic Bee.  The state Bee will be held on Friday, April 4, 2014 at Pat May Center, HEB ISD in Bedford, Texas.

Garrett will compete against other students from across the state. The winner will have the opportunity to advance to the national competition, which will be held May 19 - 21 in Washington, D.C.

Congratulations to Garrett.  This is an AWESOME accomplishment.  We are very proud of him and wish him continued success as he competes at the state level.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

STAAR Testing at Lorena Middle School

In order to fulfill the requirements of House Bill 3 passed by the 81st Texas Legislature and incporated into the Texas Education Code (TEC) Chapter 39, the Texas Education Agency developed the STAAR (STate of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness), which will provide the foundation for the state of Texas public school accountability system.  STAAR is designed to more thoroughly assess the content of a course, including both concepts taught in previous grade levels and readiness for the next instructional level.  Questions will require higher order thinking skills and more complex through processes. A significant change from TAKS, which was untimed, is that the STAAR is limited to 4 hours.  Extended time accommodations for students with unique learning needs will continue to be offered. 

The STAAR program at grades 5 - 8 assesses the same subjects and grades previously assessed on TAKS.  
More details about STAAR can be found on this page (TEA - STAAR Resources).


Math
Reading
Writing
Science
Social Studies
Grade 5
April 1
April 2

April 24

Grade 6
April 22
April 23



Grade 7
April 22
April 23
April 1 & 2*


Grade 8
April 1
April 2

April 24
April 22
Grades 5 & 8 Retest**
May 13
May 14



Grades 5 & 8 Retest**
June 24
June 25




*The 7th grade writing assessment is a 2-day exam.
**The Student Success Initiative requires that students in grades 5 and 8 pass both the reading and math exams to be promoted to the next grade. 5th and 8th grade students not successful on the April administrations of math and reading will retest in May and /or June if needed.  

Eighth grade students enrolled in Algebra 1 will take the End of Course (EOC) exam in May.  Students will only be assessed in the subject for which they are enrolled. 

Please note that on the days students are testing, we request that parents and guests not join students during lunches.  We thank you in advance for your cooperation and support. 

Friday, March 7, 2014

One Act Play Wins 1st Place - AGAIN!

The Terezin Promise

On Saturday, March 1st, Lorena Middle School's One Act Play competed in District 17-AAA UIL One Act Play Competition in China Spring.  Lorena beat LaVega, Connally, West, Robinson and China Spring ISDs to take home 1st Place!!  This is the second year in a row that Lorena Middle School took the honors of 1st place show.  In addition to 1st place show, Bradyn Braziel received Best Actress and Ryan Kirby received Best Actor.  Jacob Goldstein won Outstanding Crew Member.  These students worked hard and it paid off!  Congratulations to Mrs. Peevey and the cast and crew of The Terezin Promise.  Thank you to everyone who helped support them along the way!  (A special thanks to Center Street Antiques, Jack Payne, Mr. Krobot, Mrs. Cookus, Mrs. Newman and The Goldstein Family)

The cast and crew are pictured to the left, showing off their medals and trophy.

The cast included:  Bradyn Braziel, Alesis Juntunen, Hayley Anderson, Lexi Kincaid, Mason Lewis, Bradley King, Cade Kilpatrick, Ryan Kirby, Hunter Isham, Trey Busby, Kenlly Fieseler, Caleb Nyander and Brie Lomenzo.

The crew included:  Maddie Pitts, Jacob Goldstein, Isaac Romer, Taylor Gilliam, Emily Mosley, Sara Zawadzki and Megan Marshall.



March Teacher of the Month


Congratulations to Mrs. Laurie Bagby!  



Mrs. Bagby has been nominated and selected as the Lorena Middle School Teacher of the Month for March.  Mrs. Bagby serves as the Librarian for students in grades 5 - 8 at Lorena Middle School. She is in her 9th year in the Lorena ISD.

Below is a portion from the nomination letter Mrs. Bagby received:
Mrs. Bagby does a great job of teaching, guiding and instructing our students.  She listens to students and helps them find material that fits their interests. 


Mrs. Bagby is kind, understanding and helpful. She knew just the book series to recommend for our student.  Mrs. Bagby went the extra mile to engage our student and got to know her.  Our daughter beamed with pride when she told Mrs. Bagby about reading over the weekend and making a 100 on her AR test!  Mrs. Bagby even called us to share this positive story. This is only one example of how Mrs. Bagby goes above and beyond for students and parents. We are so thankful for her thoughtfulness and support.


Congratulations Mrs. Bagby!

If you are interested in nominating a teacher for Teacher of the Month, please go to the following link 
LMS Teacher of the Month Nomination Form or contact the front office at 254-857-4621.