Dear Parents,


I hope you are enjoying the summer months and your family is doing what you are should do during this time: provide different healthy experiences for your children and allow for sharing significant and special family time together.  For those families who are new to Lake Forest Country Day School, I want to warmly welcome you, and we eagerly look forward to getting to know you and your children and working with your family.


It has been of considerable comfort to connect with individual faculty members, parents, and students over these past seven weeks after the tragic loss of Dave Genger. Even though, in Michael Robinson’s words, the shock of losing Dave took the “wind out of our collective sails”, you can be assured that all of the necessary planning continues in place to usher in a new year. Dave always reminded the faculty and the students that a community is built upon the notion of unity with a common purpose. We will steadfastly continue to build upon Dave’s vision of growing a strong, vibrant, student-centered, research-based, intentionally purposeful community. We will also continue to implement “Middle School Best Practices” as assessed by the on-going work of faculty committees.


In our work this summer, I cannot emphasize enough how supportive and helpful Andy Sperling and Lynn Beuttell have been in their new roles as interim assistant division heads. Their experience and expertise have been critical in covering all of the details related to devising schedules, planning faculty meetings during the week prior to the start of school and throughout the fall, and in general planning for the opening of school. We are forging a really strong administrative team. I would be remiss at this point if I did not acknowledge the work of Susan Murphy, who, as always, continues to be the glue that pulls the myriad of details together, and is the backbone which supports all the efforts of the administrative team and the faculty.


I do want to introduce to you our newest faculty member, Kristy Scher. We are thrilled to have Kristy joining us as our new art teacher! Kristy’s undergraduate work was done at Illinois Wesleyan University, and she holds a Master of Arts in teaching from the Rhode Island School of Design. Most recently, Kristy taught at the Gardner Pilot Academy in the Boston Public school system. She loves acrylic and watercolor painting, sketching and making small illustrations. In addition, Kristy is an avid walker and biker, loves the outdoors, and has a passion for nutrition and healthy eating. I know we will all welcome Kristy with open arms.


At this point, I would draw your attention to a list of pertinent reminders and information that you will not only find helpful, but will be essential in creating a smooth start to the 2010-2011 school year.


Program Reminders

  1. The link is: http://bookstore.mbsdirect.net/lfcds.htm or you can find the link on the Portal page under the “Parent Links” menu section.
  2. The Land’s End link is:  http://www.landsend.com/ix/school-uniforms/index.html?tab=13&seq=1&page=1&pageSize=12&store=le, LFCDS School Code: 900109026

 

Upper School Procedural Updates & Reminders
Students need not arrive prior to 7:30am. If your child has made arrangements to see a teacher, the school doors unlock at 7:00am. Students must otherwise report to the library.

At 7:30am, Upper School students may only be in one of the following locations:

  • In the Library
  • In one of the US commons areas or grade-level locker bays
  • With a classroom teacher
  • At this point, the gym will not be an optional before-school activity as it was in the past.

Please plan on picking up your child or children from the Green Bay parking lot no earlier than 3:30pm. Arriving early causes potentially dangerous back-ups onto Green Bay Rd. For the safety of everyone involved in dismissal, it is crucial that you follow these guidelines:

  • Do not leave your vehicle unattended
  • Place your name plate on your dash or visor for quick viewing by faculty(Your child will bring this name plate home on orientation day)
  • Pull as far forward as possible while following the guidance of faculty on-duty
  • Use only the designated south entrance & create 2 distinct lanes as you enter
Upper School Communication
We will continue to have grade level teams at all four grades in the Upper School. In addition to your child’s advisor, the team leader can often be a helpful contact person. The team leaders for each grade are:
  • Fifth Grade – Jessica Hill
  • Sixth Grade – Ty Stuckslager
  • Seventh Grade - Mark Arthur
  • Eighth Grade – Andy Sperling

Note: In most cases, contact regarding your child’s progress is best directed to your child’s individual classroom teachers.

 

Hopefully you will find all of the above informative and helpful in the spirit of building a strong bridge of communication between parents and the school. We look forward to hearing the chatter and laughter of middle schoolers once again filling these hallways and classrooms, and in the meantime I wish you all the best as you enjoy the rest of the summer with friends and family.


Sincerely,

Bob Bullard

Interim Head of Upper School