Greetings SJLES Families,
We hope this communication finds you all well! We are grateful to all our families who attended our Back to School Nights in-person or virtually and/or our Back to School Picnic. It was great to connect with you all and we very much appreciate your continued collaboration and engagement! We hope the information presented provided a clear overview of the 2021-2022 school year, how we are working to implement the HCPSS Strategic Call to Action, and insights to various aspects of your child’s day. We are always here for any questions!
Our Jaguars continue to settle in nicely to the school year. Our students, especially in our primary grades, have demonstrated so much growth learning our routines, structures, and expectations throughout the various aspects of the school day. They have learned the floor plan of the building, are taking turns, sharing, raising their hands, engaging in discussions, and building relationships. All critical building blocks to a successful school year! Our 4th and 5th graders are giving a great effort while participating in the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) this week and our intermediate students are also doing a great job modeling what it means to be an SJLES Jaguar for our primary students.
Now that we are about a month into the school year it is a great time to intentionally check in with your child to discuss how school is going, where he/she is finding success and joy throughout the day, what aspects of school are bringing a degree of challenge, what new friendships are forming, how he/she is contributing to make SJLES the best school we can be, and if any additional support or encouragement from family, teachers, staff, and administration could help. As always, please don't hesitate to reach out if we can be of any service to your student or family. Happy Friday and we hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Dan Notari
SJLES Principal
NEW NEWS
Picture Day is Coming!
We are excited to welcome back Strawbridge Studios to SJLES on Friday 10/8 to photograph portraits of our Jaguars. These portraits are not only a great keepsake for your family but an important fundraiser for our school.
Please click here to sign up to receive updates via email regarding their child's school portraits. These updates include promotions, additional deals and the ability to order more pictures at a later time. When entering student information, parents should be sure to enter the student's name as it is on file at the school.
Area 3 Listen and Learn Sessions for Students
All middle and high school students in our HCPSS Area 3 cluster are invited to join other students from Area 3 schools in a Listen and Learn Session with our Community Superintendent Dr. Kendra Johnson and students from the Howard County Association of Student Councils. This Zoom session will take place on Wednesday 9/29 at 7:00 PM. This is a great opportunity for students to share thoughts, ideas, & feedback with school system leaders.
HCPSS schools are clustered into areas. SJLES and our feeder schools are Area 3 schools. Click here to learn more about the HCPSS Areas.
HCPSS Educational Partnerships for 2020-2021
The HCPSS Educational Partnerships 2020-2021 Annual Report has just been released. Each school’s partners are listed, as well as system wide (at-large), curricular and program office partnerships. The report demonstrates how partners work to make Howard County a thriving community that cares for all of its members. SJLES is grateful to partner with the following groups: China Taste, Glory Days Grill, Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center, Howard County Library Miller Branch, Salazar Catering Services Boardroom Café, & Vocelli Pizza.
Breakfast
We are so happy to see so many students eating breakfast here at SJLES! If your child eats breakfast at school, please remind them that they are to go directly to breakfast when they arrive. Since instruction begins at 8:45, we are working with students to finish their breakfast on time for class. Going right to the cafeteria helps in this effort. Thank you!
Instructional Supports During Quarantine
HCPSS has implemented additional health and safety measures in schools to provide a safe learning environment; however, there are times when students and staff must quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 or being identified as a close contact. Parents/guardians will be notified by their child’s school when that child must quarantine after being identified as a close contact, or if there is a confirmed outbreak and the Howard County Health Department has instructed HCPSS to have a full class quarantine.
Comprehensive information about students in quarantine and the instructional supports available, as well as answers to many frequently asked questions on this, and other related topics are provided online at:
New HCPSS Students in Quarantine website
HCPSS Help site FAQs on:
Please note that students in quarantine will be provided with robust asynchronous instructional materials, which will differ from packets previously provided to students. The packets sent home earlier this year are an additional resource that may be used immediately after a student is told to quarantine and until they receive a device and robust instructional material packet.
Daily Health Check Reminder
Parents/guardians MUST perform a COVID-19 health check every day before your student leaves home. A student or staff member should NOT come to school with any of these symptoms:
fever of 100.4 degrees or higher
sore throat
cough
difficulty breathing
diarrhea or vomiting
new onset of severe headache (especially with fever), or
new loss of taste or smell
BSAP Saturday Math Academy
The HCPSS Black Student Achievement Program Saturday Math Academy Fall Session is approaching. This year, the BSAP Saturday Math Academy will offer a virtual enrichment program for Howard County Public School System students in all levels of math for grades 3-12. Registration will take place online September 25 from 9:00 a.m.- until capacity is reached. Class space is limited. Families can register by accessing the HCPSS Connect Website. For more information please click here.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
9/24 - Spirit Day: Superhero Day! Dress up as your favorite superhero to celebrate our super first month of school at SJLES!
9/27-9/29 - MCAP Make Up Window
9/29 @ 7:00 - Area 3 Listen 7 Learn Zoom
10/1 - Spirit Day- #JaguarPride: Wear your SJLES Spirit Wear or blue & yellow
10/6 - Walk/Bike to School Day
10/6 @ 8:00 PM - PTA Zoom Meeting
10/8 - Picture Day! Fall Portraits
10/8 - No Spirit Day due to Fall Portraits
10/15 - Professional Work Day - No School for Students
10/22 - Rainbow Day - Wear as many colors as you can today!
10/25 - 10/29 - Quarter 1 PBIS Celebration Pumped Up Recess
10/29 - Spirit Day- #JaguarPride: Wear your SJLES Spirit Wear or blue & yellow
REPEATED NEWS
Lunch Volunteers
SJLES is ready for lunch volunteers! Our wonderful PTA has organized a way for parents to sign up to help us support our outdoor lunch location this year. Lunch Times at SJLES are as follows:
Kindergarten: 11:15 - 11:45
2nd grade: 11:45 - 12:15
1st grade: 12:15 - 12:45
3rd grade: 12:45 - 1:15
4th grade: 1:15 - 1:45
5th grade: 1:45 - 2:15
Some specific lunch tasks that we need help with are:
Helping students in the cafeteria open lunch item packaging, refilling water cups, obtaining spoons when needed
Responding to students when they raise their hand for a need (utensil, restroom, etc).
“Traffic control” in our hallway intersection when outdoor lunch students transition back into the building
Assisting school staff in wiping down tables in the outdoor tent in between lunch shifts
All volunteers must complete an online training prior to serving as a volunteer. This year, there are additional requirements for HCPSS volunteers related to vaccination status. Please find all of this information here.
If you are still interested in volunteering with us for lunch, please sign up using this Sign-Up Genius link. Please indicate if you will volunteer for outdoor (tent and picnic tables), indoor, hallway (to help with transitions), or “no preference” (and we will ask you to help where it’s most needed that shift. Thank you! You can also email Jane Fisher at jane.gribble@gmail.com with any questions.
Text Message Access
HCPSS & SJLES often communicate important information that we need parents to know immediately via text messages. If you receive our texts, then you do not need to do anything else! If you do not, we highly recommend that you opt-in. Here are the instructions on how to opt-in to text messaging...
Text the word “YES” to 67587 from the wireless device you wish to receive texts on.
You will receive an "opt in" message from HCPSS sent from SchoolMessenger.
Text Y and hit send.
You will now begin receiving text alerts from SJLES and HCPSS.
Consider having a close relative or family friend sign up for HCPSSNews alerts. This is a helpful safeguard on unexpected early dismissal days. Community members or any non-HCPSS can sign up to receive messages by visiting this sign-up page.
Umbrellas / Dress For the Weather / Dismissal Impact
Thanks for always sending your child dressed for the day’s weather conditions. When students have umbrellas and clothes to keep dry in the rain it expedites our entire dismissal process. Our goal this year is for students to dress appropriately for the weather and use their umbrellas to stay dry while waiting outside for cars, vans, and buses. Depending on the severity of the weather, we may have to dismiss student by student in the car loop, which creates a potential for additional long delays. This is only a last resort if the weather is unsafe due to the impact it has on St. John’s Lane in both directions.
We Need You!
SJLES is still in need of a Lunch/Recess monitor and a Close Adult Support position. Please email Erin Coleman (erin_coleman@hcpss.org) if you are interested in joining our outstanding staff!
Community News and Programs
Please visit the Community News and Programs page at http://www.hcpss.org/community-news-and-programs/ for announcements of upcoming events and programs sponsored by non-profit organizations.