Lowrey School

Many families are planning to visit overseas during the summer months.  Summer is a great time to travel and spend time enjoying and bonding with friends and family. Although we encourage this family time, we would like to make sure that you are planning  your vacation around your children’s school schedule.

When children leave school before the semester ends and return after the new school year begins, it creates a problem for the school and causes a negative impact on students’ learning and their readiness in the fall.  In addition, at the end of May and at the beginning of June, teachers are administering exit/district exams.  Not only do these exams assess your child’s learning for the current year, but they also help determine appropriate placement for the upcoming school year.  We are unable to accommodate you by administering these tests at an earlier date.

Your child’s presence at the beginning of the school year is equally important!  At this critical time, teachers are preparing and reviewing important material for the state exam that the students will be taking.

We are confident that you will continue to work with us during these last few months to ensure that you are taking these dates into consideration when booking your summer vacation.

For your planning purposes, Summer vacations starts June 15, 2012 and ends first week of September 2012.

Rosie and Bella joined students to celebrate March Is Reading Month.

The dogs made good listeners and modeled an appreciation for reading good books for relaxation. Click on the video to see Mrs. Younes and Bella.

bella and rosie

We have had an AMAZING and SUCCESSFUL YEAR Thus far! Our school has been recognized for the second year in a row for “Beating the Odds!” This award is given to honor schools that are outperforming schools with similar risk factors and demographics! Factors that were credited for this great success included strong building leadership; common vision; highly qualified and dedicated staff; high academic and behavioral expectations, a collaborative school culture; commitment to technology; strong community and parental involvement; and staff commitment to do whatever it takes in order to help students succeed. Our State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mr. Mike Flanagan stated, “These Beating the Odds schools are helping students make progress and finding ways to overcome traditional barriers to academic achievement.  They have good leaders, knowledgeable and prepared teachers who engage students, and a commitment to involve and embrace parents and the community.”

In addition to receiving this distinguished award, our middle school MEAP scores are the highest in the district! Congratulations!! This is a direct reflection of your continued commitment and support!! As always, we are proud of all the wonderful things that are happening at Lowrey School!

Elementary School of Choice applications for school year 2012/2013 are due to Student Services Office no later than May 1, 2012.

Middle School Parent Teacher Conferences on Thursday, March 29 from 3:30 until 6:30 p.m.

Elementary School Parent Teacher Conferences on Wednesday, April 18 from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday, March 28, April 4 and April 25 are late arrival days. 

Elementary school starts at 9:40 a.m. and Middle school at 9:00 a.m.

No School for Kindergarten students on Wednesday, April 25, 2012.

Come one, Come all to the Scholastic Spring Book Fair located in the Media Center from Monday, March 19^th– Friday, March 23^rd.  Hours for the book fair are Monday-Thursday 8:00a.m.-3:00p.m. and Friday, 8:00 a.m.- 1:30p.m. 

Look forward to seeing you there!

Ms. Navarre and Mrs. Harvey (Media Center Staff)

It’s time for our yearly fundraiser to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society . This is our 4^th year participating in “Pasta for Pennies” program, a friendly competition between A2 classes. As you all know, we kicked this off with an assembly on March 8. Our speakers, former Lowrey students, Enas and Madina spoke to 7^th and 8^th graders about their experiences with Hodgkin’s disease . It was an educational and emotional assembly that got the attention of all students and drew tears from some.

Click here to watch the half hour presentation: assembly Streaming

Click here to watch or download the Keynote Speaker, Enas: Enas

Language Arts

-Students will be reading a short story and focusing on the theme “Respect”.  There level of comprehension will be demonstrated through multiple small projects such as:  1) short skits; 2) power point presentations; 3) story boards; and 4) writing letters.

-6^th grade students writing an essay reflecting on bullying; this will be a PROBLEM/ SOLUTION essay.

-7^th grade students will be focusing on Argumentative/ Persuasive essays while learning multiple reading strategies such as using direct quotes, paraphrasing, and citation.

-My class is focusing on incorporating VOICE into their writing and adding descriptive words to convince and persuade the audience to buy their product—(The World’s Greatest Product)

Science

-7^th grade has been focusing on sound waves.  Flip charts have been created to illustrate and describe the vocabulary terms

-8^th graders have been introduced to the rock cycle and three types of rock that are found in crust.  Foldables are being created to organize the three types of rocks, and processes they transform through.

-6^th graders are learning about potential and kinetic energy.  We designed and created balloon powered cars and raced them down the hallway.  We are now writing an 6+1 Trait essay describing how to make a balloon powered car, how to get it to run, and explaining what could go wrong with the car.

Social Studies

-This month my 6^th graders started a new theme in our Early Migration Unit. We will be reading and discussing the Early Hunter-Gatherer Societies Article and work on a vocabulary activity with words such as hunter-gatherer societies, Stone Age, hominids, nomads, stone-tipped spears and more.

The office staff has been directed not to interrupt classes
for items brought in for students. It is the responsibility of
the student to pick up their items from the office.

The office cannot transfer telephone
calls to classrooms while school is in session. We will be
happy to take a message and forward it to your child’s
teacher.

For the safety of your child, you MUST call
the office if your child is going to be absent from
school for any reason. You can call the
attendance line 24 hours at 313-827-1801 or the
main phone number is 313-827-1800.

If you plan to check out your child,
you must come in to sign him/her out from
school.

The district has a new calling system for the
parents of Dearborn school students. The system
will call and inform you about your children’s
absences if they were not excused, it will also
call you about emergencies at the school or
school closings such as snow days, as well as
informing you about important events, vacations
and late arrival dates.

PBIS
For the month of February, our middle school
students had a PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention
& Support), end of the semester celebration. Those
students that were invited were the ones that had few
infractions and tardies on their cards the whole
semester. Our students did an outstanding job
adjusting to the PBIS program and they fully
embraced positive behavior. Way to go Lowrey
students! The new semester has begun and all of
the students were given new Focus and Tardy cards to
start over from a clean slate. Please speak to your
children and continue to remind them to always be
open, flexible, and positive towards any and all
situations.

Thank You, Mr. Saleh
Lowrey Middle School