LCIS Friday Afternoon Shout Out 1-9-26
Hello LCIS Families,
We’ve had a wonderful first week back at school! Students quickly fell back into their routines, and it’s been great to see them settle in so smoothly. Classrooms have been filled with focus, enthusiasm, and lots of meaningful learning taking place.
Our teachers have been reflecting on the reading progress made in our first semester as identified by our middle of year DIBELS benchmark. While we’ve seen lots of growth, we still have 40% of our students who are reading in the well-below benchmark range. Our teachers have been planning for increased reading opportunities in their language arts classes and planning for small targeted reading groups.


We need your help! Research shows that in order to maximize student reading growth, students need to read every day. Please insist that your child reads every day at home. If you need reading materials, your child can check out a book or two from the LCIS library and our public library would also love to match your child with a book that meets their interests. Together we can help all our students become independent readers!
Reminders:
Progress Reports: Semester 1 progress reports were sent home with students on Thursday this week. If your child was absent on Thursday, they will bring it home next week. The progress reports show an overall grade for each subject. Students are graded on individual standards that you are able to see through your child’s PowerHub account.
LCIS uses a 1-4 grading scale. A score of 1 means that your child is not yet showing an understanding of the skills . A 2 means that your child is developing these skills. A 3 means that your child is proficient or working at grade level on those skills. And a 4 means that your child is accurately working (and testing) above grade level.
Drop off: Please be patient with the drop off routine in the morning. Unless you are parking and walking your child to the building, you must wait in the drop off line. This helps keep our young Panthers safe! Please remember to pull all the way up to make space for multiple families to drop off their children at the same time.
Celebrations:
Congratulations to the 16 students who completed our Winter Break Homework Challenge! These students completed two- hours of both math and ELA practice on IXL and participated in fun activities with Ms. Cook, AKA The Rizzler. Thank you for encouraging your child to work on their skills!
Upcoming:
Awesome Attendance Reward
We have 35 students with perfect attendance from Aug 11-Dec 18! This dedicated group of scholars will be invited to a skating party at the Huck Finn Ice Rink on Jan. 15.
Multilingual Assessment: ACCESS during January
Students who are English Language Learners will begin Access testing next week. This is an exciting opportunity for students to demonstrate the English skills they’ve developed in the past year. The test consists of four domains: Listening, Reading, Speaking, and Writing. Each domain will be tested separately. Ask your multilingual scholar to show you the practice test online! They can open it from the home screen of their Chromebook, or you can use the WIDA website. Sample items for each grade level are here for students to practice. Students may also watch a test demo here so they know exactly what to expect. Watch out for more information next week, and reach out to the ELD teacher, Amanda Rogers (arogers@lakecountyschools.net ), if you have any questions.
IXL Homework Update-
Our IXL homework expectations will continue this year with each student being asked to complete one-hour of ELA and one-hour of Math each week. Please insist that your child prioritizes their homework before dropping into other online activities. 120 minutes of homework a week works out to less than 20 minutes a day. We know your child can do it!
LCIS Annual Scripps Spelling Bee:
On Tuesday, February 10th, LCIS will host its annual Scripps Spelling Bee. Students took home practice words over the winter break. Hopefully you’ve seen your child practicing their spelling words! Another way your child can practice is through the Word Club Spelling and Vocabulary app. Check it out! We will hold classroom competitions later this month to determine our finalists who will participate in our school-wide Bee.
Communications:
“Back to School? We’ve Got You!”
Coming back after the holidays can take some adjusting for parents and students alike! The School-Based Health Center is here to support your physical and emotional well-being. Not enrolled yet? No worries. Enrollment is open year-round!
Visit Lake County SBHC Enrollment (English), Lake County SBHC Enrollment (Spanish) to enroll and School Based Health Centers – Elevated Community Health to learn more.
Call (970) 710 – 5049 to schedule your appointment today!
We welcome all parent communication at LCIS!
Please feel free to contact us using any of these methods:
LCIS Office 719-486-6830
LCIS Cell Phone 719-293-0964
Julie Guzman – Bilingual Secretary and Registrar – jguzman@lakecountyschools.net
Tracy Vincent – Secretary tvincent@lakecountyschools.net
Do you need to change your child’s end of day plans? No problem! Simply call 719-293-6830, text 719-293-0964 or email our front office staff by 2pm.
Go Panthers!
Cheryl Talbot, LCIS Principal
PROJECT DREAM
- See our updated calendar on the LCIS Project Dream Information website.
Blanca Rodriguez
LCIS Site Supervisor
719-293-0115
brodriguez@lakecountyschools.net
ATHLETIC UPDATE:
Important information about Lake County Athleticics can be found using this link. You will find a link to the Lake County Sports website, fee information, a link to the current sports schedules and much more.
Please click this link for a calendar of sporting events. This calendar can also be accessed from the district website under the athletics tab.
If you have questions related to athletics, the best person to contact is:
Amy Peters, Athletic/Activities Director – 719-293-0105 apeters@lakecountyschools.net
Looking Ahead
| January 12-22 | ACCESS testing for Multilingual Learners |
| January 15 | Awesome Attendance Reward |
| January 19 | Attendance Reward: Pizza to a Family |
| January 22 | Fire Drill |
| January 28 | Rizzler Reward |
| January 28 | Community Meeting 6th grade led 8:05 LCIS Gym |
| January 29 | Class Attendance Reward |
| February 2 | Attendance Reward: Pizza to a Family |
| February 10 | LCIS Spelling Bee |
| February 16 | Attendance Reward: Pizza to a Family |
| February 19 | Fire Drill |
| February 25 | Community Meeting 5th grade led 8:05 LCIS Gym |
| March 2-5 | Dr. Seuss Week |
| March 9-13 | Spring Break |
| March 25-26 | Half Day for Students / Parent-Teacher Conferences |
| May 25 | No School – holiday |
| June 13 | LCHS Graduation |
| June 18 | Last Day Of School |







