Welcome to  the Lewis-Palmer Middle School Patriots Learning Community.  During the 2008-09 school year, LPMS continued to demonstrate increased achievement in a variety of areas.  We are pleased that our CSAP scores continued their upward climb.  Our eighth grade class achieved at remarkable levels on the ACT/Explore test last fall.  It is also important to note that we made strong gains in bridging the "gender gap," and we also received an indication that we are providing quality academic opportunities for all students as evidenced by a significant increase in the number of students scoring advanced as well as meeting our AYP targets for our special education students for the fifth year in a row.  Beyond just the test scores, here is a list of some of our other accomplishments.   

 

• Been recognized as a John Irwin School of Excellence two years in a row
• Has the highest use of technology in the district
• Initiated Geometry for eighth grade students
• Implemented the Welcome EveryBody Transition Program for sixth grade students
• Revamped the Gifted and Talented Program
• Started a Robotics Club
• Started Destination Imagination
• Revamped the ELL program
• Started National Junior Honor Society
• Begun several new interdisciplinary units
• Researched and implemented gender gap and brain-based learning strategies
• Supported parent initiation of our Parent Ambassador program
• Piloted the RTI program
• Initiated clubs for students one day a week during the school day
• Implemented Achievement Plans designed to hold students accountable for their learning
• Started Career Awareness information for Eighth Grade students
• Started several community involvement programs such as Veteran’s Day, Blood Drive, Heifer Project, Pennies for Patients, etc., and improved other community efforts, such as donating more than 10 times the amount of food (26,900 lbs) to our local food center (Tri-Lakes Cares) than was donated five years ago
• The LPMS library has been designated a “Power Library” seven years in a row
• Placed students in the National Speech Meet
• Received Parent Survey Results indicating our parents feel welcome at LPMS and are in a partnership with us to provide their children with a quality educatio
• Reading Totals – Averaged 17.5 books per student from the library

We are also pleased in how we are measured by the new CSAP Growth Model Data. 

• LPMS led the district or tied district percentiles in the following areas: seventh grade reading, eighth grade reading, and sixth grade writing.
• LPMS improved in the number of students scoring proficient and/or advanced from last year in the following categories: seventh grade reading; sixth and seventh grade writing; and sixth, seventh, and eighth grade math
• LPMS led the district in student growth percentiles in sixth grade writing and seventh grade reading; and tied the district percentiles in sixth and eighth grade reading, seventh grade writing, and sixth grade math.  

LPSD led the state in numerous CSAP categories for districts who have at least 100 students test on a single test.  LPSD is number one in the state in five tests, second in three, third in one, and fifth in one.  Our students are truly bright, goal-oriented, achieving students.

We are also extremely proud of LPTV, our opportunity for students to script, film, edit, and televise not only current events around the school, but to create their own "episodes."  LPMS is the only middle school in the country that has videos of veterans in the community relating their experiences that have been accepted by the U.S. Library of Congress for their archives!

LPMS has several challenges for the upcoming 2009-10 school year.  We were very fortunate to hire some very positive, experienced, highly qualified teachers, to mesh with our strong, veteran staff, and I feel very good about the direction of LPMS instructionally for the next few years.  We are truly a middle school in action.  We have some outstanding interdisciplinary interactions; some strong community service projects; a beneficial transition program; and a variety of programs designed to meet the academic, social, and emotional needs of our students.

But, there is much more work to be done, and LPMS will continue to strive to achieve many more goals. We aspire to be a true professional learning community (PLC).  What is a learning community? It means having parents, students, and staff working together to meet student needs.