February 16th, 2018

Good Afternoon Parents and Guardians:

Parking Lot Safety

There are several reasons that I do duty before and after school each morning and require our staff to do outside duty each day, including my secretary Mrs. Rice, Mr. Wyckhuyse and Ms. Rahne our asst. principal's. The main reason is of course to ensure the safety and welfare of all of our students on their way to and from school. It also gives us an opportunity to greet students in the morning and wish them well on their way home. We should be the first people they see in the morning and the last people at school they see on their way home.

My concern is the safety of our students, as I am on the corner and observing traffic I notice that on many occasions the people that are either speeding through our intersection or turning into crosswalks as students are crossing or being unsafe in our parking lots are the parents of the students we are trying to keep safe.

This is a busy intersection and our parking lots are not ideal. My appeal is to our parents to be alert, respectful of our staff doing supervision in our lots and most of all to be paying close attention as you are in our school zone to our students.

Please help us ensure that our students are as safe as possible on their way to and from school. This is a wonderful community and our parents are very supportive. Please have a hyper sense of awareness as your are on or around our campus that is located on a very busy intersection.

Student Absences

We have noticed recently that we have students who have been absent due to family vacations, sports trips etc. Just a reminder that we will excuse these types of absences, however, you need to notify the grade level administrator ahead of time in order for the absence to be excused.

This is LPS district policy. The best manner to notify us is by e-mail. Ms. Rahne is the 6th grade level administrator, Mr. Wyckhuyse is the 7th grade level administrator and I am the 8th grade level administrator. If you have any questions at all regarding absences or attendance you can contact me or the specific grade level administrator.

Thanks to all of our parents and community for helping us keep Newton Middle School a great, safe school to attend.

Enjoy the three day weekend!

James O'Tremba

Principal, Newton Middle School​