Find our URL too long? Well we certainly do! Now there's a quicker way to access the site! Simply go to http://littlepa.ws and you'll be taken straight to the home page. We also have future plans for this little domain, but we're not telling!

Sincerely yours,
Principal Tusks

We're still looking for individuals to participate in our beta advertisement program. All you have to do is tell us about what you offer and, once approved, send is a 300x90 banner! It's just that easy. You get to take advantage of the free advertising for two months with absolutely no obligation to continue! Our ads have already received 8,884 unique impressions in less than one week. How's that for getting your name around?

You may notice that things are rapidly changing around the Classroom Matrix! As promised, our coder is hard at work making sure that everything is good to go. While we still don't have an estimated time to completion, it's definitely getting closer!

I also am proud to announce that coding began on our notes system today. So hopefully that will be fully developed and released very soon. Then you'll be able to contact your fellow students, teachers, admins, and others in private! Plus it'll be an awfully nifty way to send you your report cards.

I hope you're all having an excellent Tuesday!

1. Why isn't "" working?

Because unfortunately it hasn't been integrated yet.

2. Why aren't you making this go faster?

While I did spend fifteen and a half hours yesterday styling it, unfortunately I only have a limited knowledge of CakePHP so further implementations are a tad over my head.

3. When is it going to be finished?

As much as I truly wish I could provide a date, I can't. At the moment the start of term is delayed indefinitely. Our primary coder is going to be working on what she can tonight and the Classroom Matrix coder stated that he would work on it when he got off work today. So, hopefully, not very much longer.

4. Is this going to affect the length of the term?

Absolutely not! You will still have six weeks to get everything done. I put vacations in between terms for a reason, and some of the summer camp sessions are MUCH longer than six weeks. So fixing the calendar will be easy.

5. The classrooms are up, why can't we start?

The issue is that none of the extracurricular classes are up, which means you'd have a very short time period in which to complete those assignments. While boards such as the Nurse's Office, Tutoring, and Cafeteria are "semi" unneeded, and they are currently lowest priority, we need to make sure that all classes/comments are up and running. We also need to make sure that your comments cascade as they are intended to, that you can receive notifications, and that you can upload pictures (especially for the Art Studio.)

6. Is this going to happen every term?

Thankfully no. Once the Classroom Matrix is done, it's done. We aren't replacing it.

7. I hate you!

Unfortunately I can't say as I blame you, but I promise I'm doing everything in my power to get this up as quickly as possible. Please know that I've tried my hardest to get everything done in time. There are just, unfortunately, somethings that are out of my hands. Once it IS up, I hope that you'll love me again. I do love you ^^.

Sincerely yours,
Principal Tusks

As of right now, the major portion of the Classroom Matrix is up. Unfortunately, our coder for the Classroom Matrix wasn't able to finish everything due to technical difficulties, so there are still some outstanding issues that need to be addressed. I spent the last fifteen and a half hours integrating needed PHP functions and styling the pages that everyone can publicly see, so at this juncture at least you can play around with it. The following are the improvements that need to take place before the term can officially begin...

1. There is an error for students when more than one assignment is posted that causes the DIVs to stack on top of one another. (This one is actually my fault.)

2. The comment system as it stands should tile much in the same manner that replies do on FurAffinity journals.

3. Your picture will appear next to your comments.

4. The notification system still needs to be implemented.

5. The ability to upload files still needs to be implemented.

6. The Art Studio, Gymnasium, Music Room, Tutoring, Nurse's Office, Cafeteria, and Teacher's Lounge still need to be finished.

7. Deleting some posts causes an error even if the function is actually performed.

I will keep you abreast of things as they happen.

Apologetically yours,
Principal Tusks

It was something that many of you had asked for, and while it took awhile to implement it's finally done! If you click 'Edit' above you will see a WIDE array of social networks/websites/instant messengers that you can list if you'd like for people to be able to get in contact with you! Although I think, for the most part, you'll find something for everyone.

Thanks!
Principal Tusks

We recently created a Wikifur entry for Little Paws Elementary School. While we attempted to be as detailed and conformant as possible, it was still flagged as needing to be cleaned up to conform to WikiFur style and standards and needing to be wikified (formatted according to the Furry Book of Style). So with that said, we admit defeat. If you are, yourself, a Wikifur expert or know of someone that is, we'd appreciate the help in conforming to their requirements!

Thanks,
Principal Tusks

First of all, I hope you cubs didn't stay up TOO late last night. I know with the promise of seeing a great big shiny ball drop a lot of you probably did! Plus it's always exciting to greet a new year. 2014 definitely promises to be a great one! So while I always do my best to bring you all good news, and I plan to, I also must occasionally deliver the bad.

The start of Winter Term is being pushed back by a few days.

Our coder for the Classroom Matrix has stated that there are still some things he'd like to do to make sure that it functions perfectly. To quote him directly, "quality is better than speed." I can't agree with him more about that, and while it pains me that it came down to this, I DO promise that you won't have to wait very much longer. I imagine the start of term will be sometime around Saturday or Sunday, perhaps even sooner! Once we have a definitive date I'll change the calender a bit so you get the extra time to do assignments and nobody gets rushed.

As far as the good news goes, we are on track to see the following things implemented this month or in February...

1. The launch of our note system! You'll finally be able to send each other, your teachers, and other staff members notes right on Little Paws!
2. The plans for extracurricular clubs have been made! All we have to do is develop the application and put up the page all about it.
3. Many of the suggestions that were made in the Town Hall Meeting have been implemented, such as some rule changes, the creation of #OOC as opposed to #Discourse, the new (old) definition of #Playground, descriptions of what every channel is for, a list of artists you can commission that give money to LPES on our Donate page, and we are now COPPA compliant. There are also many more coming! These include, but are not limited to, a display of the newest signups, a joined on date on your profile, an RP guide, a fix to the formatting issues with names for IRC registration, further security measures so we can delete the password and you can use an external client, a search function for students, and much more!

So while I always hate to be the barer of bad news, and I know a lot of you will be sad about it, please just be patient with us for a few days more. I take full responsibility for the start of term not taking place on time, but I assure you that this will be the last time that a start of term is delayed. Know that I have been working very hard, 12 hours yesterday and 15 hours the day before in addition to my regular hours, to make sure that you have the experience that you want. So please try not to be too upset.

Sincerely and apologetically yours,
Principal Tusks

All the staff at Little Paws would like to extend a deep and sincere Happy New Years to each of you; anthro, kemonomimi, human, kid, teen, adult, or whatever you may be! We hope that you have a great 2014 and we look forward to bringing you a lot of new and fun stuff this year!

Sincerely yours,
LPES

We had two Town Hall Meetings scheduled for today but because of the amount of participation they ended up running together. All in all I would say that it was extremely successful! We learned more about what you guys would like to see, and we saw the site improvements that you'd like to have. As soon as the meeting was over I went straight to work and took care of some of the more pressing, and easily fixed, issues...

1. Added channel descriptions to the IRC page.
2. Made sure that we were COPPA compliant by creating a real life minimum age of 13 for registration.
3. Wrote the "Terms and Conditions" which will be added to the registration page soon. They are also included on the FAQ page if you'd like to see them.
4. Added/updated some rules and administrator directives to The Spot Info page.
5. Created channel #OOC. Tomorrow #Discourse will be deleted and admin privileges moved over to the new OOC channel.
6. Updated Donations Page for January financial goals and added a list of artists that do commissions with proceeds going to the site.
7. Rehired Katrina for further site improvements and implementations mentioned. Including tweaks to the current IRC infrastructure.
8. Sent our Classroom Matrix coder new parameters so that Nursery School students can interact with tutors and teachers can see ALL classrooms and post in them.
9. Ms. Aura Nicholson wrote up the Extracurricular Club proposal and we will get on creating a form for that soon.
10. Defined the purpose of #Playground based off of majority opinion.

So to say the least, it was a busy but productive day. I hope you enjoy all the changes and what's to come! By the way if you didn't get a chance to participate and have any questions/ideas/thoughts/etc., then please feel free to email me, reply here, or send us a note!

Alright everyone. Monday December 30th. BIG School Meeting for all Staff and Students of LPES. You wanna tell us something? Now's your chance. Join in and let your opinions be heard! Just join TheAuditorium on the Spot.

Meeting Times:
12pm PST (3pm EST)
2pm PST (5pm EST)

BE THERE!

Are you interested in teaching at LPES? Do you have what it takes to make a fun, exciting, and vibrant environment for littles of all ages? Then check out our Career Opportunity page at http://www.littlepawselementaryscho.....es/application today!

It's amazing how fast the time flies! There is now less than one week until Winter Term! I hope you've all purchased your supplies and are ready to learn! Of course for those of you who are new, you'll be experiencing all of this for the first time! For you veterans, however, the arrival of the Classroom Matrix is going to change everything for you. Please remember that if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know! I can't wait to see you all in the classroom, learning brand new and important things!

On behalf of all the staff at Little Paws, we want to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays!

Sincerely yours,
Finn Tusks

Many of you have seen the journals asking for donations. Many of you donated, and we are very grateful for that. For the past week or so, things were starting to look pretty dark. It wasn't unexpected, coming up with any sort of money in December is very difficult. There are so many bills due, and most people don't have extra money on hand. Just a handful of minutes ago, we received an extremely generous donation. A donation so generous, in fact, that not only did we meet our goal for the month but we exceeded it! When we started out we wanted to raise $472.00. As of right now we have raised $490.73! That means that we made 103.97% of our goal!

To each and everyone one of you that donated, asked others for help, have contributed to this community in some way, or anything else, all I can say is thank you. Thank you SO much for everything. Without you this wouldn't be possible, and you truly are all angels.

Yours in happy tears,
Principal Tusks

It's something I've been meaning to do for awhile but kept putting on the back burner because the website was more important, but our profile information for this page has finally been updated! It includes important links, a list of administrators, teachers, and all kinds of neat stuff! Let me know whatcha think!

Sincerely yours,
Principal Tusks

Sometime in January, in order to increase our ability to offer new and exciting things to our students, LPES is going to start a trial advertisement program. This trail period will run for two months, and is absolutely free to the test subjects. What you will see are two banners on the footer of the website (that is, the black part) that dynamically change at random as you go from page to page, and from what I have been told this would be the least intrusive place to put them.

Of course starting an advertisement program is something that I don't take lightly. We are in need of a dependable revenue stream, and this is one of many ideas I have to accomplish that goal. With that in mind there are several things that I will be doing with this trial program. For one, I don't want it to impede the experience you kids have, so as it runs I'll be asking for your opinions. I want to make sure that is not intrusive, and doesn't detract from the overall experience. Two, I want the ads to be relevant to your interests. There's no point in advertising something that isn't interesting to a little because, well, it wouldn't fit with the site content and it would be odd, dontcha think? Three, I want to see how successful it is in gaining the test subjects traffic, clients, and how much you enjoy the new things you're discovering as a student. If all goes well, the program will become permanent. If it doesn't, then we will look for other possibilities to monetize the site.

So with all that said we currently have 4 committed individuals to the test period and two we are awaiting a decision from. So at this juncture we are looking for 14 more. There are some things that go along with this, so I'll make the list below...

1. Being in the test program is absolutely free. You have no obligation to continue advertising.
2. We will be keeping track of traffic that goes to your page and reporting it to you. We would also like to hear how your sales increase as a result of said traffic if you're able to.
3. We are not just taking the first fourteen people to respond. We will look through your profile/page/website to determine what you offer and how often you are available to offer it. It is absolutely essential that if you comment and show interest, that you are okay with the possibility of not being a part of this test group. If you become upset by not being selected then, if the advertisement test period proves successful, you will be barred from advertising on the website for six months.
4. Artists with very few watchers are definitely encouraged to apply. We would like to see how this would increase your overall watcher count.
5. You must provide us with a banner, static or animated, that is 300x90 px in size. It must be created relatively quickly after you have been sent a confirmation of acceptance into the test program.
6. We would LOVE to have individuals that offer items other than drawings. This can include fur suit makers, plushie makers, soap makers, or anything you can imagine that would be relevant to adult littles aged 1-15 IC.
7. If the program proves to be successful, then you will be able to purchase advertising, as a part of the test group, for $5 per month for a year after the test period ends. It would normally be $10 a month for those that are not a part of the test group.
8. Please bare in mind that even if you offer adult art, your advertisement must be G rated.

So with all that said, let's see what happens!

Sincerely yours,
Principal Tusks

I have to tell you, this has been an absolutely awesome last couple of weeks for Little Paws. Not only are we on target to get the last little puzzle pieces in place for the start of Winter Term, but as of this note we now have 176 students! We expected to have 200 on or around January 2nd, but at the rate we're going we'll likely be closer to 250 by then! On the financial front, we only have $181.17 left to raise! That means that we've met 61.66% of our December goal! If you would care to send a few dollars our way, just click the heart at the top of the website or go here: http://www.littlepawselementaryscho.....m/pages/donate

Thank you all SO much for making LPES such a success!
Principal Tusks

Hello students, both old and new!

Our little community isn't exactly so little anymore! Today we reached over 160 students and if we keep getting registrations at the rate we have been, we'll have well over 200 by the start of Winter Term! Not only is this very exciting, but it makes all of us incredibly happy. It's always wonderful to meet new kids and to be a part of your lives ^^.

Now for the good bit! Our coder has projected that the brand new Classroom Matrix will be up by the end of next week barring no unforeseen issues. If anything comes up it will definitely be done the week after. This new classroom experience is going to make participating much easier, and finding what you need to find much easier as well!

At any rate, thank you all again for being a part of this! We can't wait to show you what all is coming in the near future!

Sincerely yours,
Principal Tusks

While FA was down some pretty awesome things happened! Not only did Fall Term come to a close, but we also got some awesome stuff done with the website and even managed to send out all the report cards (or at least we're pretty sure we did.) If you DID NOT receive a report card please let us via note and we'll get it to you as soon as possible! Now, for the important announcements...

'A' Honor Roll

Angelcub, Ari
Blossom, Diamond
Drakon, Terara
Embers, Seloria
Ham, Bruan
Lansing, Hunter
Lion, Kota
Makoto, Terciel
Mouse, Squeeky
Otter, Seaweed
Petrova, Sonata
Roo, Jackie
Saber, Cerise
Sinclaire, Shido
Thomas, Nicholas
Tree, Aspen

'A' 'B' Honor Roll

Bunny, Sprout
Higitsune, Kurama
Kimble, Jake
Legrange, Miles
Lyrac, Dakota
Meerkat, Mucky
Scwibbles, Sasha
Wolf, Kiba

Student(s) of the Term!

While typically we try to keep our Students of the Term to one, Nursery School currently comprises over 50% of the student body, although that is rapidly changing. With that in mind, we decided to draw two kids, one from Nursery School and one from all the other grades. The lucky winners, and recipients of a free commission from any artist of their choice, are...





Please extend them your congratulations! While so many of you worked very hard, and all of the Honor Roll kids deserved it, I think that these two kids definitely earned it.

New Careers!

We are currently actively recruiting a Nursery School TA and Nurses. Neither of these positions require much of your time, but are very important to making LPES succeed! If you're at all interested please visit us at LittlePawsElementarySchool.com and check out the Opportunities page under the Careers headed.

We have a new grade!

We have recently added a Sixth Grade that will be starting with the rest of the classes in Winter Term! If you're are at all interested we are definitely accepting enrollments! There's even an amazing teacher, Mr. Kaz Hikari, leading it!

Financial Progress

So far we have managed to raise $282.83 of our December operating goal of $472.00; that's 59.92% of our goal! December is a hard time to raise funds especially due to the holidays, traveling, and other end of year expenses, so we extend a well deserved thanks and all of our gratitude to those who have contributed so far. With only $189.17 to go, let's pull together and get that money raised! We do still have 14 days in the month, after all! All donations can be made to principal[at]littlepawselementaryschool.com or by clicking the heart icon at the top of our website.

***************

So that was quite a long journal but there's been so much going on! To those who read it, thank you. To those who made Honor Roll, congratulations and thanks for your hard effort! For everything else, we look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely yours,
Principal Tusks

This is the last day of Fall Term! You have until 11:59 pm PST to finish any outstanding assignments!

Thanks to some very kind donations we have diminished the amount we need to meet our creditor obligations this month to $339.17! That means that we had eradicated almost $132.83 in debt! I cannot thank our donors enough, this truly means a lot. We are a small community, but we are a growing one, and the spirit of giving and love seems to be alive and well. I have no doubt that with your continued support we'll be able to take care of the rest of this in no time!

Thank you all SO much,
Principal Tusks

http://littlepawselementaryschool.com/pages/donate

The start of LPES has been a little crazy. We went through three designs in a relatively quick time frame, and then had all the issues with porting over old profiles. We've lost students, but we've gained some, and we are looking stronger and brighter than ever for the coming term! So there are some very exciting things to look forward to!

Winter Term

1. The Classroom Matrix will be launched by the start of the Winter Term! This matrix will delete the old separate forum, and replace it with something entirely site based. Instead of seeing a jumble of different and confusing boards, you will only see the classes that are pertinent to you! Plus when assignments are posted, you will receive a notification just like you do for a journal here on FurAffinity! Not only that, but when you respond to said assignment and your teacher responds to you, that response will be directly beneath your own, and you'll get a notification for that as well! It's all about simplicity and making things user friendly, and we are bringing it to you!

2. The Classroom Matrix isn't just about accessibility, it's also about expanding what we can provide you, the student. There will be a Cafeteria where you can post anything you'd like, easier access to tutors, as well as a Nurse's Office where you can have cuts and bruises taken care of, along with someone to change your diaper if you'd like! We presently have one nurse and are hiring many more.

3. We will hold our first Student Council election, which will be orchestrated by our Assistant Principal Melody Alders, that will give you the chance to represent the student body to the executive council! This way we can hear what's happening on a day by day basis, see what works and what doesn't, and make future plans with your desires in mind!

4. We have MANY new staff and faculty members starting in the Winter Term! Not limited to new Nursery School Co-teachers, a new secretary to the head of the teacher council that can better make sure your teachers are doing their job, new Kindergarten, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grade teachers, a new Music Teacher, and the aforementioned Nurses!

Additional Goals in 2014

1. We will have two session of Summer Camp instead of normal classes! This will give a chance for kids in all grades to come together, take part in fun adventures, and still get stat raises!

2. We will be adding a sixth grade sometime this year, although we aren't sure when.

3. We will begin advertising on FA, pending approval, very soon!

4. We hope to start extracurriculars this year. That is a number of clubs catering to anything you'd like to see! Some of the top suggestions have been drama and dance, but I'm sure there are a number of ones you'd like to see!

5. We hope to also get intramural sports started! This would be led by Coach Ayo Jakoby who could form teams for all sorts of sports, and determine victories and defeats based off of a similar system to what the FBA uses. Participation in intramural sports would likely give you a boost to your PE grade or overall PE stat!

6. We are hoping to open a Little Paws store where you can buy pens, pencils, notebooks, backpacks, shirts, and all sorts of fun supplies at reasonable prices! All proceeds would go toward improving the site and allowing future integrations and upgrades to take place.

*****************

So here is the list of things you can expect to see, and things we hope can happen! I hope that you enjoy the improvements that are coming your way, and are excited about what we hope to accomplish! May you all have a wonderful day, and don't forget, the end of term is only a little over a day away!

Sincerely yours,
Principal Tusks

I realize that I ask and encourage donations on this account quite a bit, but this month has turned into, "bills are due NOW" time. In fact, we need $472 very soon or we will default on a loan and several other financial obligations that are due. While defaulting would not affect LPES being up, it certainly wouldn't be good for our long term financial goals. The good news is that if we can come up with this money, we won't have any bills again for quite some time! The VPS is paid up for awhile, our coder is paid, and the coder creating the new Classroom Matrix is paid.

So while I hate asking again, if you could see it in your heart to donate even a little it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you sincerely,
Principal Tusks

http://littlepawselementaryschool.com/pages/donate

I have noticed that a surprising number of you never took notice of a few small paragraphs on the 'How this works' page that explain some pretty cool stuff about the school. The first one, and possibly the most mundane, is how you progress and become a better student over time. If you make 'A' and 'B' honor roll then you get a +1 to all of your stats. If you make 'A' honor roll however, you get a plus one to all of your stats, an additional +1 to a stat of your choice, and something TRULY amazing...

You get a free commission by an artist of your choice!

What's the catch you may ask? Well, they're really only logical ones.

1. The artist has to be open for commissions.
2. They must be willing to do a commission of what it is that you want.
3. They must be willing to take Little Paws Elementary School's precious money in exchange for said commission.

So now that I've gone down the master list and seen how few of you have made straight 'A's in developmental classes, that means that the competition will literally take place between only a handful of students. Of course that's good for them, less competition means a greater chance of victory, but I thought I'd explain how the selection process will go.

1. On December 9th at 11:59 pm PST, the term will have ended and the forum will be frozen.
2. On December 10th, your teachers will report their grades.
3. I will not sleep at all on December 10th as I manually create report cards for all of you.
4. I will apply the necessary +1 to all stats of 'A' and 'B' honor roll students.
5. I will personally note every 'A' honor roll student to ask where they want their additional +1 to go.
6. All 'A' honor roll kids will be placed in alphabetical order by last name. These kids will be given a number depending on their placement in the alphabetical chain. The child with the winning number becomes "Student of the Term" and the winner of the free commission.
7. Hunter will win no commission. No one loves Hunter.

Anyway, that's about all I have to say for the day!

Sincerely yours,
Principal Tusks

P.S. Nursery School students are considered to make straight 'A' honor roll if they receive all excellents!