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Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Beginning of Year Letter to LNC Families 2015









July 27, 2015

Dear High School Parents and Families of the LNC Community:

On behalf of the LNC High School faculty and staff, I would like to officially welcome you to the 2015-2016 school year. I am honored to serve as your Interim Principal of the high school. In my former school leadership positions at two large, diverse public high schools in North Carolina, I worked hard to cultivate strong relationships with my students and families. I enjoyed and valued the open rapport these relationships provided and am eager to establish similar connections at LNC. Your support, in addition to our collaborative efforts aligned with the LNC Strategic Plan, will continue preparing our students “with a life-long desire to learn, lead, and serve.”

This letter should provide valuable information to assist in a fluid opening to the 2015-2016 school year. Please do not hesitate to contact me (csmith@lncharter.org) with any questions.

Schedule Distribution Day will be held on Wednesday, August 5 from 11:30 - 1:30 PM in the High School Gymnasium.  Student schedules will be available for pick-up and our Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) will be stationed in the gym for you to purchase locks, pick up preordered student agendas and browse LNC spirit gear.  Students are only allowed to use school-issued locks.  I will be available in the gym lobby to introduce myself and welcome you and your student to a fantastic 2015-2016 school-year.
  
Freshmen and New Student Orientation will take place on Tuesday, August 11 at 6:30 PM. If you have a 9th grader this school year or a student new to LNC, please join us in the HS Multipurpose Room for a brief group meeting and opportunity to ask questions as your student transitions to high school. This will be followed by the opportunity to meet your student’s teachers and tour the school.

The opening day of school is Thursday, August 13. Please make sure your student(s) attends the first days of school, as the state uses student attendance to calculate school funding. Last year LNC lost thousands of dollars in educational funding due to excessive student absences at the opening of school. Our start time is 7:45 AM and our dismissal time is 2:45 PM. Thank you in advance for your patience during the first few weeks of carpool, as it takes time for new families and students to get used to the routine and for the process to run smoothly and efficiently. Please keep in mind that there are no left turns onto campus from Old Statesville Road (highway 115). Please DO NOT make U-turns at Next Level Readiness, Dr. Seay Road, Monteith Park or any other place. This is dangerous and we have had accidents resulting from drivers doing this. Click here for the map that shows the proper traffic flow.

Two very important events transpire during the second week of school in August. Back-to-School Night for the high school will occur on Tuesday, August 18 at 6 PM, giving all families the chance to visit classrooms, receive important information from your student’s teachers, and simply tour the building. Parent Schoology Night will be Thursday, August 20 at 6 PM. Schoology is LNC’s learning management system and a helpful tool for you as a parent to stay involved and abreast of your student’s academic life. You will learn important tips on how to utilize Schoology to its fullest and receive notifications that will help you stay up-to-date on your student’s progress.

We will deploy the students’ iPads within the first couple weeks of school. Please make sure you have paid the technology usage fee of $125 and resolved any damage or lost item fees by Friday, August 7 to ensure that your student receives his or her iPad during deployment. Payments can be made conveniently by visiting here. We are also highly encouraging that all of our students use a protective sleeve for their iPads. The Tech Team is recommending the roocase iPad Air Protective sleeve, which is available from various online retailers.  We are excited to continue our 1:World Program and appreciate our families support of this strategic area of focus. Please see the 1:World FAQs for additional information.
I will be continuing the Principal’s Coffee Chat this year and I cordially invite all parents to join us for the first installment on Tuesday, September 1 in the high school gym lobby at 8 AM.  For those families that are unable to attend or would just like to get more regular information about what is happening at the high school, I encourage all families to connect with me through Twitter and my blog.

I would also like to take the opportunity to introduce our fellow new faculty members to LNC High School, pending Board approval:
Ms. Alex Beeker (Social Studies)
Mrs. Robin Sealock (Spanish)
Mrs. Michelle Wiehl (Social Studies)
Mrs. Joanne Wilson (Science)
Ms. Natychia Young (Mathematics)
In addition, Mr. John Imburgia, former math teacher, has moved into a technology role. Mr. I. will be teaching our technology assistant courses, as well as providing network administration support and hardware/software issue resolution among administration, staff, and students.

The expectations of our students should always align with the expectations we have for ourselves as educators. Accountability begins with holding myself accountable every day. I look forward to partnering with all LNC families as “Together we learn, lead, and serve.” Thank you for entrusting Lake Norman Charter High School with the education of your son or daughter and we look forward to the opening of school on August 13!
Yours in education,
Craig Smith
Interim Principal, High School
704-875-3389

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