Blog of Craig Smith: Beginning of Year Letter to LNC Families 2016

Dear Parents and Families of the LNC Community:

On behalf of the Lake Norman Charter High School faculty and staff, I would like to officially welcome you to the 2016-2017 school year. I am honored to serve as Principal of the High School and I genuinely believe I am even more excited to begin the 2016-2017 academic year than I was when I first joined our school community last summer. Your support, in addition to our collaborative efforts aligned with the LNC Strategic Plan, will continue instilling our students “with a life-long desire to learn, lead, and serve.”

This letter provides valuable information to assist in a fluid opening to the 2016-2017 school year. Please do not hesitate to contact me (csmith@lncharter.org) with any questions.

Schedule Distribution Day is Wednesday, August 10 from 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM in the High School Gym. Student schedules will be available for pick-up and our PTO will be stationed in the gym for you to purchase locks, pick up pre-ordered student agendas and shop LNC spirit gear. Students are only allowed to use school-issued locks. I will be circulating throughout the gym to welcome you and your student(s).

New this year, we will deploy student iPad’s during Schedule Distribution Day in the HS Multipurpose Room (MPR). Please note that the Pay Pal button is now available for you to pay the 2016-2017 technology usage fee for your student(s). The tech usage fee of $125/student can conveniently be paid on the school website under the Parents tab and Pay My Fees or by clicking here. This fee must be paid by Sunday, August 7. This is our third year as a 1:World school using the current iPads. As such, we will replace the devices for the 2017-2018 school year. To help determine what type of device we will employ, we are conducting a technology pilot this year. We look forward to sharing the information we learn from the pilot and our direction at the end of this school year. We appreciate your continued support of our technology initiatives.

Freshmen and New Student Orientation will take place on Tuesday, August 16 at 6:30 PM. If you have a 9th grader or a student new to LNC, please join us in the HS MPR for a brief welcome, followed by the opportunity to meet your students’ teachers and tour the school. Please make sure to bring your schedule with you to the orientation.

The Opening Day of school is Thursday, August 18. 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 will take some time for everyone to learn the new traffic pattern, resulting from the exciting addition of our rear entrance/exit. This capital improvement to our school was made possible through the generosity of many of our families and I’d like to take this opportunity to once again thank them for that support. The new carpool procedures will be communicated before the opening of school.

Two very important events transpire during the last week in August. The “Back-to-School” Night for the high school will occur on Tuesday, August 30 at 6 PM, giving all families the chance to visit classrooms, engage in critical conversations with the teachers, and simply tour the building. Parent Schoology Night will be Thursday, September 1 at 6 PM in the HS MPR. Schoology is LNC’s learning management system and a helpful tool for you as a parent to stay involved and apprised of your student’s academic progress. You will learn important tips on how to utilize Schoology to its fullest and receive notifications that will help you stay up-to-date.

The Principal’s Coffee Chat will continue and I cordially invite all parents to join us for the first occurrence on Tuesday, September 6 in the high school gym lobby at 8 AM. This will be the beginning of Spirit Week with the capstone Homecoming Game vs. Highland Tech at 7:30 PM on Friday, September 9.

As many of our returning families already have knowledge of, I am active on social media and encourage all families to connect with me through Twitter and my professional blog. I utilize both of these forums to communicate our successes, promote school-related events, share resources, and connect professionally with educational colleagues across the country.

I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce our new faculty members to our Community:

· Coach Jarrod Bell - Social Studies/Asst. Football Coach/JV Baseball Coach

· Ms. Jennifer Maskell - English

· Mrs. Angela Massingale - English

· Mr. Michael Peterson - Exceptional Children (shared HS & MS)

· Mr. Adam Phillips - Technology Coordinator/Teacher

· Mr. Jeff Wyant - Social Studies

In addition, Mrs. LeAnne Spann (formerly Ms. McFadden) has become a full-time Counselor at the high school. As a result, we have adjusted the student-counselor assignments to occur over a two-year transition:

9th - 11th Graders with Last Name A - G will be assigned to Ms. Faccone.

9th - 11th Graders with Last Name H - O will be assigned to Mrs. Spann.

9th - 11th Graders with Last Name P - Z will be assigned to Mr. Eastwood.

The Classes of 2018 - 2020 will remain with their Counselor throughout their advancement at LNC. The Class of 2017 will remain with their previously assigned Counselor (A - K: Faccone; L - Z: Eastwood).

The expectations of our students should always align with the expectations we have for ourselves as educators. This accountability begins with holding myself accountable every day and embracing the expectations. I look forward to continuing the partnership with all LNC families as “Together we learn, lead, and serve.” Thank you for entrusting Lake Norman Charter High School to educate your student. I hope you continue to enjoy these last few weeks of summer break and I look forward to the opening of school on August 18!

Yours in education,