Life In The Middle Young Playwrights For Change Walt Gaines, MS Drama Teacher Congratulations to Hannah C. for winning the Hawaii state AATE "Young Playwrights for Change" 10-minute playwriting contest. Her play "Silent" was selected as the Hawaii representative for the annual contest, with the 2021 theme as No One is Alone. Hannah's play, as described by her, is "a fantasy with a basis in real-world issues such as discrimination and cancel culture and the indoctrination of the disenfranchised". We are very proud of Hannah and her accomplishments!
6th Grade MYP1Science Students Work Hard On Their Soil Erosion Lab
Message From The Principal
Hello Parents, It was our hope to release today the I-Term selection forms for students, however we had a couple minor planning issues come up so we will be holding off on the student selections until next week's Advisory meetings. In the interim below is a quick peek at some of the learning engagements that will be part of the selections for each grade level this session. Please note this year as part of our social distancing practices, we will not be offering mixed-grade level. However we will, as in years past, prioritize the 8th graders selections where possible. We will send home a copy of the students' grade level options on the day that we release the form.
Below find a reprinting of the information we listed last week regarding I-Term changes for this year. Please also note that we will have an early release time of 2:30 on both days with the usual after school library & 6th grade homework club supervision available. As always, please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
Some of our Mini I-Term Offerings: Hawaiian Legends Comic Booking Publishing for Young Authors My Inner Yogi (meditation, yoga) Scrapbooking KawaiNui Marsh Masters Sew Cute! Sew What? Rock Band Art Advocacy Food Science Shark Week in a Day Golf Language of Mythology 52 Anywhere
Last Week's I-Term Information I-Term this year for middle school will be March 11-12. Students completed a survey on their top five choices earlier this week, and we will try to place students in their preferred choices once final selections are made. Students will receive a notice of their placement(s) later this month. Some options are two day courses. If a student has a one day course, they will have a second course the next day. We will also offer mini sessions for students to participate in a variety of grade-level activities. Stay tuned for more details to come!
Chinese New Year Celebrated In Mandarin Classes Calligraphy by MYP1 and paper cutting by MYP2 to honor the Year of the Ox!
Gong Xi Fa Cai! 恭喜发财!
LJA Junior Thespians This past weekend, the LJA Junior Thespians participated in the annual Hawaii Thespians Festival, where they took workshops by industry theatre professionals in playwriting, mime, technical theatre, auditioning, and improvisation. This was a wonderful opportunity for our students to network with thespians from various island schools. Participants included: Norah D., Cooper F., and Hannah C. Good job, thespians!
Keep Up The Hard Work Current NJHS Members!
Mardi Gras Spirit Comes To LJA With Student Gigi B
Tech Corner Teen Tech Talk: Recovered Gaming Addict Shares Insights
Some people take their challenging life experiences and use those hard experiences to do something positive for the world. Cam Adair is one of those people. He had not planned to start a major movement, but his viral post was the catalyst for his starting Game Quitters, an online platform, where he shares resources to help people dealing with excessive gaming along with helping their families.
In this week's Teen Tech Talk, we meet Cam who tells the story of his youth when gaming took over and how he eventually changed things. His story is powerful, it's highly recommended you listen to it with any youth you have in your life — girl, boy, gamer, non-gamer. It is a true empathy-building episode and a wonderful way to supplement learning during these suboptimal school & social days. Click here to access the article and podcast, where Screenagers director and pediatrician Delany Ruston highlights some tactics that Cam shares with struggling youth and advice he gives to parents.
Le Jardin Academy's Robotics Impact Academy is extending our series of free STEM workshops for K-6 students on Windward Oahu thanks to generous funding from Hawai'i Friends of Robotics. Due to COVID, we'll be offering this STEM fun virtually, and led by our middle and high school students. Choose from 4 live sessions on February 27 and March 6 or a a variety or pre-recorded sessions from the fall. We will provide every student with a materials kit for each activity that they sign up for, and these free supply kits will be available for pick-up at Le Jardin*. Please invite your friends from area schools by providing the link below. *Other schools, such as Kailua Elementary, have agreed to allow free kits to be picked up at their campus as well. More information will be shared via email to registrants.
Learn more and sign up here: www.lejardinacademy.org/robotics
Wild Kids Montana Trip Applications Wild Kids Montana Trip Applications are now open for High School and Middle School students. Middle School trips will take place July 4th-18th. High School trips will run from July 21st to August 1st. Applications close February 28th. You can learn more on our website: Wild Kids Montana Trips.
Travel Policy Student travel procedure--approved by the Medical Hui--is in effect as long as the State allows a pre-travel COVID test for Mainland or International* travelers:
This procedure is intended to shorten the amount of time that students must learn remotely following travel relative to the 14-day quarantine alternative. If you have any questions, please email school.nurse@lejardinacademy.org.
*Neighbor island travelers will be expected to comply with current County and State regulations for travel and testing, and procedures may vary by island. Visit https://hidot.hawaii.gov/coronavirus/ for details.
Big mahalo to LJA students, Wild Kids team, faculty, staff, and DLNR/DOFAW crew for your support, hard work, and dedication to this 'aina-stewardship project. If interested in learning more about the project you can email Ka'ai Sempio at Kaai.sempio@lejardinacademy.org
LJA Blood Drive This year's LJA blood drive is right around the corner and we need YOU to help donate! Only 2% of people in Hawaii donate while 60% are in need of blood during their lifetime. During the pandemic, even fewer people have been able to donate so, more than ever, every person counts. We can't stress enough how vital these blood drives are to our community and we appreciate any flexibility from our teachers in allowing students to go give blood. Now is your chance to give back to your community!
In order to ensure everyone's safety, there have been some changes made to the blood drive. This year's blood drive will take place at Castle Medical Center over the course of 4 days from 2/28 to 3/3. Feel free to sign up on whichever day works best for you but be sure to communicate with your teachers. There are a limited number of spots so sign up now to make sure you get the time and date you want!
To sign up, click on this sign-up link. Using the search bar, search for Castle Medical Center and scroll through until you get to find the dates 2/28 to 3/3. Click "Make appointment" and follow the steps to sign up. On the day of, when you arrive at Castle Medical Center, please let them know that you are from LJA and give them the code '1719.' This is to make sure LJA gets credit for your blood donations and can help us organize more blood drives in the future.
Requirements 1) Must be 16 years old 2) If you are under 18 you must bring this parental consent form 3) For more information about eligibility visit this link
Other people outside of LJA may also come and give blood so PLEASE SHARE/FORWARD THIS TO YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!! Even if you aren't able to give blood you can still help out by recruiting others.
Attendance
Please notify Lizbeth Smith at lizbeth.smith@lejardinacademy.org and Kim McDonald at kim.mcdonald@lejardinacademy.org if you know your child will be absent, arriving late, or leaving school early.
School Links
Reminder to please call or email attendance if you will be picking up your child early.
Find all of these items and more in the MS Parent Portal
Sick policy If a student needs to stay home sick for a day or two they need to rest, email their teachers and get well. Please only have them join a class Zoom session with prior permission from their teachers. If they are going to be out longer than a couple of days, you will need to contact the MS Office to request the Distance Learning option.
Tech Support
All tech questions should be directed to helpdesk@lejardinacademy.org or to the chat forum at https://www.lejardinacademy.org/parent-portal. Please do not email teachers regarding tech related questions.
Having trouble with your device? Please contact helpdesk@lejardinacademy.org
Important Dates
March 11-12 MS I-Term March 15 - 19 Spring Break March 26 - Prince Kuhio Day Holiday No School April 2 - Holiday No School April 30 - May Day
Middle School Contacts Attendance Hotline 261-0707 x7004
Lizbeth Smith MS/HS Registrar 261-0707 x3070 lizbeth.smith@lejardinacademy.org
Kim McDonald MS Admin Assistant 261-0707 x1160 kim.mcdonald@lejardinacademy.org
Juniper Richardson Learning Support Coordinator juniper.richardson@lejardinacademy.org
Jessica Osborne MS/HS Counselor jessica.osborne@lejardinacademy.org
Sean Landau
Rachel Domenic MS Dean of Academics, MYP Coordinator Rachel.Domenic@lejardinacademy.org
Vicki McNeill Dean of Students 6-12 vicki.mcneill@lejardinacademy.org
Julie Do Middle School Principal julie.do@lejardinacademy.org
Middle School Information
Please visit the Middle School Portal frequently to view additional information, important events, changes, and forms at https://www.lejardinacademy.org/parent-portal/middle-school-portal or Click HERE |