Greetings SJLES Families,
I hope this rainy day finds you and your family well! As I have shared many times throughout distance learning, thank you for your ongoing support as we continue to provide instruction virtually. I am proud of the way our entire learning community has persevered and the levels of engagement you all have demonstrated. To maintain a positive, productive learning environment and assure confidentiality for students and teachers during virtual learning, students and parents/guardians are asked to continue following the guidelines and expectations detailed on the HCPSS and SJLES websites. Again, thank you for your partnership as we navigate this new virtual instructional model. Here’s to a great rest of the week!
Sincerely,
Dan Notari
SJLES Principal
NEW NEWS
Looking Ahead to Next Week's Schedule
11/3 - Election Day - HCPSS Schools and Offices Closed
11/6 - Schools Close 3 Hours Early / End of First Marking Period
The school day will end at 12:45 for students.
You can access your child’s schedule by clicking here.
HCPSS Halloween Reminder
As part of our school system’s commitment to equity and inclusion, we continue to focus on building community and creating welcoming environments for all students. While we recognize that Halloween activities held during the school day have been a long standing tradition at many HCPSS schools, including SJLES, a decision has been made to not offer Halloween activities during the virtual instructional day across HCPSS this school year. While Halloween is not part of our HCPSS curriculum, the greater concern is that the virtual environment does not easily allow students to refrain from Halloween-related activities and still be engaged in school.
PTA Pumpkin Decorating Contest Reminder
This year we’ve had to get (even more) creative in how we celebrate and enjoy Halloween as a school community. So, what better way than a spooky, festive, mucky, funny pumpkin decorating competition! Decorate a pumpkin and submit your photo by October 31st. Winners will be decided by our SJLES teachers and prizes will be awarded. Click HERE for details
4th & 5th Grade Principal Lunch Bunches
Mr. Notari and Mrs. Redd are excited to offer a Virtual Lunch Bunch to our fourth and fifth graders next week. We truly enjoyed our K-3 lunch bunches over the past two weeks and look forward to engaging with our “big kids” on Wednesday!
Schedule & Google Meet Times and Code
4th Grade: Wednesday. 11/4 @ 12:00 / Google Meet Code: PrincipalBunch4
5th Grade: Wednesday 11/4 @ 12:30 / Google Meet Code: PrincipalBunch5
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Access our SJLES Public Calendar at https://sjles.hcpss.org/calendar
10/31 - Submissions due for PTA Pumpkin Decorating Contest
11/1 - Daylight Saving Time Ends
11/3 - Election Day - Schools and Offices Closed
11/4@ 12:00 - Principal Lunch Bunch for Grade 4 (code: PrincipalBunch4)
11/4 @ 12:30 - Principal Lunch Bunch for Grade 5 (code: PrincipalBunch5)
11/4 @ 6:30 - Virtual PTA Meeting
11/6 - End of First Marking Period
11/6 - Schools Close 3 Hours Early / 12:45 Dismissal
11/8 - Final Day of Virtual Scholastic Book Fair
11/11 @ 12:00 PM - Virtual Coffee & Conversation with Administration
11/16 - Report Cards Issued
11/16 - 11/20 - American Education Week
11/23 & 11/24 - Schools Close 3 Hours Early - Parent/Teacher Conferences
11/25 - Schools Closed for Students - Parent/Teacher Conferences
11/26 & 11/27 - Thanksgiving Holiday - Schools Closed
12/2 @ 6:30 - Virtual PTA Meeting
REPEATED NEWS
Virtual Book Fair
Our school is hosting a Virtual Scholastic Book Fair from October 26th - November 8th, 2020. The Virtual Fair is a fantastic way to get books in the hands of your students now to keep them reading at home, AND orders placed over this period will be sent to you just in time for the Holidays! More details HERE
Updates on School Meals
Free school meals previously due to expire at the end of December, have been extended through the end of the 2020-2021 school year. Thus, HCPSS will be able to provide meals at no cost to any HCPSS student, and all children 18 and under, through the entire school year, assuming continued availability of USDA funding.
Poster Contest
The Howard County Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission is holding an elementary school poster contest. The contest is open to all Howard County elementary school students and the deadline to submit is October 30, 2020. Please see the attached flier for more information.
Coffee & Conversation with Administration
SJLES Families, please mark your calendars for our next Virtual Coffee & Conversation with Mr. Notari, Mrs. Redd, and several SJLES special guests on Wednesday 11/11 @ 12:00. During this time our families can ask questions and gain insights from Mr. Notari, Mrs. Redd, and guests regarding all aspects of our school community.
Click here to RSVP and provide us with insights to topics you would like to discuss. You do not have to RSVP to attend, but we appreciate you doing so to help us prepare for our time together. The Google Meet code is SJLESCoffeeWith. Looking forward to our next time together!
MAP Score Access
Thank you for supporting your child during MAP testing. To access your child’s MAP score, you will need to log in to HCPSS connect as a parent. Please click on the link below for directions. A more detailed home report will be available in Synergy by early November.
If you have any questions about MAP testing, please contact our assistant principal, Alexcia Redd, at alexcia_redd@hcpss.org.
Academic Supports for Elementary School Students through Evening School
Starting October 13, virtual academic support sessions for Elementary School students who are struggling with virtual attendance and/or finding academic success were made available through the Evening School Program. Sessions are grade level and content specific and home schools will have a primary role in recommending and monitoring student participation.
For students in grades K-5 with active HCPSS accounts, nightly sessions are available on Google Meet. Two one-hour sessions, starting at 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm respectively, will be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays beginning October 13. For these sessions, parents are invited and encouraged to attend with their children. Sessions will provide 20-30 minutes of direct support for mathematics and/or language arts to small groups (10-20) of students. After the provision of the instructional portion of the session, students/parents will have the opportunity to ask questions. Space will be limited per session, however all students recommended or opting to participate should have the opportunity to do so.
Should a student be recommended to participate, the parent(s)/guardian(s) of the recommended student will be contacted directly for agreement of participation and so that further logistical information may be provided.
For any parent/guardian who feels their student would benefit from participating in these additional academic supports and would like to request that they do so, please contact Mrs. Redd at alexcia_redd@hcpss.org