Dear Parents/Guardians, 

LAUNCH Extended Learning will begin Tuesday, September 5, 2023. This is a FREE program designed to offer your child additional opportunities to help him/her be academically successful while providing a safe and fun environment.  LAUNCH will not be held if schools are closed.  

If your child should have a temperature of 100.4 or higher or symptoms of an infectious illness, you will be contacted and asked to pick up your child at that time.   

FLMS Behavior Policy 

Inappropriate or disruptive behavior will result in your child being removed from the program for the rest of the semester.  All school rules must be followed. You will be notified in writing if it is necessary to remove your child from the program. At FLMS, we have a 3 strikes out policy.   

• The first time the student comes to the office, the student will talk to the coordinator about their behavior, the student will go back to their clubs, and the parent will be notified when they pick up their child about what happened.   

• The second time the student comes to the office, the coordinator will talk to them about their behavior, and the parent will be called to pick them up at that time.  If they can’t be picked up right away, the student will stay in the office with the coordinator. 

• The final time, the student comes to the office, they will be talked to by the coordinator, the parent is called to pick them up, and they will be dismissed from LAUNCH for the remainder of the semester.  

• All school rules must be followed. Parents will be notified prior to the removal of their child from the program. Any serious offense could result in the immediate dismissal of your child from LAUNCH. 
   

Schedule 

LAUNCH typically is scheduled from after school (3:20 until 5:30 PM), Monday through Friday. The program offers tutoring, homework help, enrichment, physical activity, clubs, and a healthy afternoon snack. Physical activity, tutoring, homework help, and various clubs may also be offered before the school day begins. Morning LAUNCH runs from 7:00-7:45 am, if they would like to attend morning LAUNCH tutoring, they need to be at the school by 7:15 am. In the afternoons, we will have a snack and homework help from 3:30-4:00 for ALL LAUNCH students.  We will then have club time from 4:00-5:30.   

We will only have two dismissal times- 4:00 and 5:30.  We will not be dismissing at various times throughout the afternoon.  

This is due to the procedures we will need to follow to dismiss students safely. We also ask that students be picked up ONLY at the designated times.  This allows our teachers to focus on their clubs and not constantly be interrupted by students leaving. IF you have an emergency that needs you to pick up your child immediately, please call the school office 865-458-2026 and tell the coordinator.  We will get your child to the office ASAP. 

Last year we found the curbside service to be the most efficient for parents and students during dismissal for LAUNCH. 

Curbside Service Dismissal Plan 

• 4:00 Dismissal: 

  • when Homework Help is over and at the end of club time, we will bring the students who are leaving at that time, to the front of the school.  The coordinator that day will document the time the student left and who picked them up. Parents will NOT need to sign individual students out.  

• 5:30 Dismissal 

  • when club time is over, the teachers will walk their students up and we will dismiss them just as we do at the end of school for car riders.  The LAUNCH coordinator for the day will sign students out.  

 Communication Plans 

 Paper fliers handed out at dismissal 

• Skylert Phone messages 

• Facebook page  @Ft.Loudoun Middle School  

• Loudon County App notifications 

 Attendance Policy 

We ask that your child commit to attending a minimum of 30 days during the school year. Students should expect to spend a minimum of one hour each day attending LAUNCH.  Students who miss 10 days of LAUNCH during a semester, without contacting the program coordinator, may be dropped from the program unless the absences are excused.  They can be added back to the program if the parent writes a letter requesting them to attend once more. Students that are excused from school that day, will be excused from LAUNCH, if they normally attend that day of the week. 

We will follow the school and the district’s reopening plans. If it should be necessary to close schools, we will continue our programs with Virtual Launch. That information will be posted on our school’s website LAUNCH page. 

Please call the school if you have questions. All permission forms must be returned to the LAUNCH Coordinator at your school by September 1, 2023.  We will not be allowed to have students stay without a permission form on file, so please return them promptly.    

 Sincerely, 

Blake Harris, Principal 

Heather Watson, LAUNCH Site Coordinator  

The Loudon County LAUNCH Extended Learning Program offers exciting opportunities before and after school at Highland Park Elementary, Steekee Elementary, Loudon Elementary, Fort Loudoun Middle School, Philadelphia Elementary, and Greenback School. Primary funding is from the Tennessee Lottery for Education: Afterschool Programs [LEAPs] for the programs at Highland Park Elementary, Fort Loudoun Middle, Steekee School, and Loudon Elementary.  The 21st Century Community Learning Center [CCLC] provides funding for the programs at Philadelphia and Greenback.

LAUNCH is a free program that provides a healthy snack to participating students each afternoon before they start their LAUNCH activities. LAUNCH schedules sessions of sports and leisure, tutoring and enrichment activities. LAUNCH focuses on STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics] activities and compliments our school system's First To The Top Scope of Service. LAUNCH supports the daily classroom instructions and most activities are linked to Common Core State Standards. Through the LAUNCH program, we help our students reach their academic potential in a fun and safe environment.