February 25, 2024

Subscribe to the Lakeridge PTA Calendar

Dates to Remember

Lakeridge Events: Mark Your Calendar!

Mar 1 Lakeridge Bingo Night and Steel Drum Performance
Mar 4 Reflections Art Contest Awards Ceremony
Mar 15 Half Day
Mar 21 Culture Night (Formerly Known as Heritage Night)
Mar 22 General PTA Meeting | 9:30am | Location TBD

PTA

General PTA Meeting | March 22

Mark your calendar, grab a friend, and plan to attend the March PTA General Meeting on March 22, at 9:30am (location TBD). You will have an opportunity to learn more about the Lakeridge PTA and what's happening at Lakeridge.

BINGO NIGHT & STEEL DRUM PERFORMANCE | 6-8PM

BINGO Night! Sign up to Volunteer!

Get excited for Lakeridge Bingo & Steel Drum Performance night on March 1st from 6-8pm!

Please bring a new or gently used toy or game to donate to the prize table. Winners will be able to select their prize from the toys/game donated.

Free snacks will be available for participants!

We would love to have your help, please sign up to volunteer here.

Save the Date! Author Visit Coming Soon...

Reflections Art Contest Awards Ceremony March 4th

Congratulations to this year's Reflections Art Contest winners and thank you to all Lakeridge Lions that submitted their art.

This year's theme was "I am hopeful because..." and 22 entries across the district are going to the state level.

We will be celebrating all participants & winners at an awards ceremony on March 4, 5-7pm at IMS Commons. Come see the art submissions from across our district!

Film Production:
1st, Yuhan Sui

Literature:
1st, Kaira Reddy
2nd Amina Harper
3rd Taylor Hua

Music Composition:
1st (Primary), Adrit Pradeepkumar
1st (Intermediate), Vivian Luo

Photography:
2nd (Primary), Adrit Pradeepkumar
1st (Intermediate), Madison Janusson
3rd (Intermediate) Yuvl Gupta

Visual Arts:
3rd, Blaire Wang & Sri Vadlamannati

MISD

MISD Budget Webinar Recap

If you missed the MISD update on our budget, you can find it here at this link. Key takeaways:

Our student FTE enrollment is down across the district, especially at the elementary level. The state pays MISD per student FTE, so MISD is facing a budget shortfall.
In 2023-4, there is a $18M gap between what the state pays to MISD for salaries and benefits vs the actual costs of salaries and benefits. MISD has not been able to raise salaries to align with inflation, which creates risks for retention of our outstanding teachers and staff.
In good news, MISD has been able to rebuild our historical fund balance up to 3.7% but we have further to go to meet our 8% minimum goal. The fund balance acts as a vital operating reserve to continuing paying expenses and salaries when the state is delayed in their payments.
Despite budget shortfalls, MISD has worked very hard to maintain the staffing, programs, and services that make our district exceptional.

Lakeridge PTA is considering supporting key bills that will increase state and local funding for our schools. To share your opinion or learn how you can be part of the solution, please attend our next PTA general meeting or contact Advocacy Co-Chair Mar Brettmann (brettmannmar@gmail.com).

OPEN Enrollment:

In order to address our budget shortfalls and dropping student enrollment, MISD is considering a proposal to begin offering Open Enrollment for 8th-12th grade, which will enable children from other districts to attend MISD. The district will be hosting a public presentation after winter break to get feedback from the community.

PE CURRICULUM

Our district is conducting a curriculum review of the health and PE programs and offerings in middle school, high school, and summer school. At IMS, this includes a review of the current PE waiver system and the potential impacts this may have on fine arts, world language, and other electives. Many current and former students have used the PE waivers to pursue both world language and music or other electives in both 7th and 8th grade. At MIHS, this includes a review of in-building school-year programming, summer school offerings, and the directed athletics option that allows students to receive PE credit for after school sports participation, as well as the implications for student schedules if these options are changed or eliminated. Similar to IMS, these MIHS PE offerings have allowed many current and former students the opportunity to pursue elective interests such as band and extra science classes. Decisions have not been made, which makes this a great opportunity for families to learn more prior to when the district does make changes. Our administrators will be looking to hear from parents as part of the process.

You may join the webinar on 2/27 at 7pm here.

Volunteer Needed! The Nancy Schaps Memorial Grant

PTA Council is looking for a volunteer to chair the Nancy Schaps Memorial Grant.

This Grant recognizes MISD youth who have suffered the death of a parent, who are currently experiencing the terminal illness of a parent, or who have a parent serving on active military duty. Read more about the grant here.

This is an excellent, low-time commitment/high-reward opportunity for an individual to contribute to the school district remotely. The timeline for this position is March-early June and involves the following:

Working with Communications chair to announce the Grant through newsletters and other district channels
Collecting and reviewing Grant submissions
Working with Treasurer to administer the Grants

Please indicate interest to PTA Council’s VP of Programs Aly Burks: alyryder@gmail.com.

Message from Superintendent Rundle

Please find Superintendent Rundle's February message on Recognitions and Student Celebrations here.

Kindergarten Enrollment for 2024-2025 School Year Now Open!

We encourage families to enroll as soon as possible. This helps forecast class sizes and staffing needs for the coming school year.

Children must be 5 years old by August 31, 2024, to register for kindergarten for the 2024-2025 school year.

For more information on kindergarten enrollment visit the Kindergarten Registration page.

MISF 2024 Spring for Schools Art Contest

The Mercer Island Schools Foundation invites all students currently enrolled in the Mercer Island School District to participate!

The theme this year is "Your favorite thing about school"

Discover the magic of expressing "Your favorite thing about school" through art! We invite students to unleash their creativity and showcase their exceptional talent by crafting artwork inspired by this year's Spring for Schools Art Contest theme.

Whether you choose to paint, sketch, color, or explore mixed media, make sure to present your masterpiece on a vertical 8.5" x 11" paper.

The first-place winner will earn the prestigious opportunity to grace the front cover of the MISF Breakfast of Champions program.

Additionally, the top three winners will be prominently featured at the Breakfast of Champions event, celebrating their artistic achievements. Let your imagination soar and captivate us with your unique perspective on the joy of learning!

The contest is open now, and entries are due by March 15. Please submit your art to the Mercer Island Schools Foundation office (in the Admin Building) at 4160 86th Ave SE, Mercer Island, WA.

REQUIRED: Artist's name, school, grade, and an email and phone number must be included on the back of artwork.

By entering this MISF art contest, you agree to allow the Foundation to use your art in all marketing materials.

Community Events

Registration here: https://forms.gle/qWCHczBL5xqkc6xM8

Community Programs

Mercer Island Lacrosse Club Spring 2024 Registration is OPEN!

Mercer Island Lacrosse is a boys youth lacrosse program for Mercer Island boys in Kindergarten through 8th grade.

For more information, visit www.mercerislandlacrosse.com, or email info@mercerislandlacrosse.com

Northwest Boy Choir Now Enrolling New Members!

Entry-level programs for boys ages 6-8 who enjoy music! No experience required.

For more information, visit nwboychoir.org

Mercer Island Boys & Girls Club 2024 Summer Camps

Dive into a summer of FUN with Boys & Girls Club! Make friends, explore Mercer Island parks, local events, hit the beach, and embark on epic field trips to the zoo, ballpark, aquarium, and so much more!

Grouped by grade: K/1, 2nd/3rd, 4th/5th)

Each week is a new adventure!

Preview of available camps:

Lego Building
Bakeshop
Athletic Camps (Basketball, cheer, volleyball, etc.)
Wild About Animals
Local Explorers
Carnival Extravaganza
..and many more!

Go to http://www.positiveplace.org for more details.

Summer with Wise Camps

Our camps and events are fun AND academic. Your campers will be reading, writing, and doing math every day of camp! We make learning fun!

Camps:

Week 1: July 15-19

Week 2: July 22-26

Special Events:

March 27: March Madness with Wise

May 1: Star Wars-Themed STEM Night

June 15: Pokemon-Themed STEM Night

Ages 4 years old through 8th grade.

Go to wisecamps.com for more details.

MIHS Kids Corps Tutoring

Pairing elementary students and high schoolers in a mentorship program! Free tutoring in any subject for elementary students and volunteer hours for high schoolers.

Fun and flexible meetings! Tutees can work with their paired tutors to schedule meetings based on availability and work on any subject you wish!

Sign up here.

GET CONNECTED

Submission to the ROAR

The Lions' ROAR is a communication from the Lakeridge PTA about school events and PTA programs and is distributed nearly every other Sunday. For inclusion in the next issue, pleaseemailactivity and event information to the Lions' ROAR Co-Editors by noon the Tuesday prior to the upcoming newsletter dates.
Submission guidelines available here.

Stay Connected:

Lakeridge PTA Website: Contains online registration, SpiritWear, room parent resources, and additional information on PTA programs and activities.

Lakeridge PTA Facebook: Like Lakeridge on Facebook to get reminders on upcoming events and stay in touch with your Lakeridge community!

Lakeridge Elementary Website: Contains Lakeridge specific information including school lunch menus, school calendar and other MISD information.

Qmlativ (Skyward) Family Access: This is the Mercer Island District student information service where you can view your child's report cards, parent contact information, food service purchase balances and online payment. This is a secure server and requires a unique login and password provided by MISD.

SUBJECT: THE ROAR | February 25, 2024