SJLES Updates 12/10/21
Fri, 12/10/2021 - 2:57pm|
SJLES Updates 12/10/21
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Greetings SJLES Families, Happy Friday! We have enjoyed celebrating Inclusive Schools Week here at The Lane this week. Our students and staff have engaged in activities and discussions to celebrate the inclusive culture of our school and the importance of creating a sense of belonging for each and every Jaguar. A clear favorite this week is watching the Jaguar spots grow in our main hallway. Every student decorated a Jaguar Spot with something to represent them. I have truly enjoyed watching the students stop and stare at the spots all throughout the day. Additionally, our students are enjoying time with their Jaguar Buddies. Our Kindergarten and third graders, first and fourth graders, and second and fifth graders are getting to know each other, writing letters to each other, and expanding community and friendships beyond their grade level team’s walls. Thank you to the 42 families who have completed our most recent feedback form. Your insights are very important and helpful. Please consider taking a few moments to share your thoughts on this school year and our service to your students and family. More information can be found below and please click here to complete our SJLES Family Feedback form if you have not done so as of yet. Thank you and have a great weekend! Sincerely, Dan Notari SJLES Principal NEW NEWS Status of Outdoor Dining Tents during Winter Months This fall many students have elected to eat school meals in the outdoor dining tent that was put in place at each HCPSS elementary school as an additional health safeguard during the pandemic. Now that winter is on our doorstep, and we expect to have much colder temperatures and precipitation, our tent has been removed for the winter months of December through February. This is necessary to ensure the safety of our students and staff, because the tents are not designed to sustain heavy snow, wind or ice accumulation; they cannot be safely heated, and lowering the sides that are currently left open would not allow adequate outdoor air ventilation to occur. HCPSS plans to reinstall the tents outside all elementary schools at the beginning of March 2022, with the specific timing dependent on weather conditions. We will continue to designate outdoor spaces at our school throughout the winter months where students may choose to eat their meals as weather conditions allow. As a reminder, please send your child to school dressed appropriately for weather conditions, especially if they plan to eat lunch outdoors. Thank you for your support and collaboration in ensuring a safe and healthy learning environment for all students. Please don’t hesitate to contact Ms. Coleman if you have any questions. Schedule Change Reminder Mark your calendar! HCPSS will dismiss students three hours early on Wednesday, 12/15. SJLES will begin dismissal at 12:20pm. REMINDER: We want Your Feedback! 42 Submissions & Counting! It has undoubtedly been a very rewarding but busy school year. With more than 60 school days behind us, we find ourselves at a perfect time to seek additional input and reflect upon our work and service thus far. Our administrative and school leadership teams strive to bring our HCPSS vision and mission to life each day and do our best to serve as adaptable, intentional, responsive, & reflective leaders. Ms. Coleman and I are extremely proud of how our staff has worked diligently, collaboratively, and creatively to meet the differentiated needs of our students this school year. With that said, there are always blindspots we are not aware of, opportunities for our program to improve and for our staff to grow, and possible perceptions and/or misperceptions to discuss and learn from. Your insights and voice are critical to our work. By providing ANONYMOUS feedback you will allow us to make more informed decisions going forward this school year on behalf of our 645 Jaguars. We will share any and all survey themes with our staff and PTA. As always, we thank you for your time, insights, support, collaboration, and partnership! Federal Impact Aid Forms Due by Dec. 31, 2021 Parents/guardians who work on a federal property in Maryland and/or are a member of a uniformed service qualify HCPSS to receive additional federal funding. The Federal Impact Aid programs provide financial assistance to school districts that enroll federally connected children. At HCPSS, Impact Aid supplements the operating budget to enhance the teaching and learning that takes place in Howard County classrooms. In order to qualify for funding, parents who identified themselves in Family File as working on federal property in Maryland or as active duty military should log in via HCPSS Connect Synergy to complete the Impact Aid form by confirming the information and providing a digital signature before Dec. 31, 2021. If you did not complete Family File this year and work on federal property in Maryland or are active duty military, please log in and complete the Federal Impact Aid section of Family File prior to completing the Impact Aid form. For more information please click here. Community Academy this Saturday The Council of Elders of the Black Community in Howard County (TCOE) in collaboration with the Howard County Public School System will host a TCOE Community Academy on Social Emotional Well-Being on Saturday, December 11th, from 9-10:30 a.m. The session will identify behaviors that affect a child’s social emotional well-being and strategies to openly discuss suicide prevention and mental health awareness. Registration is required HERE. We Still Need You! SJLES is still in need of a Close Adult Support position.
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REPEATED NEWS Screener for Students with Reading Difficulties On Friday 12/3 our Kindergarten through Grade 5 students, except those who have Special Education IEP Goals for Reading, brought home a notice with the title: Screener for Students with Reading Difficulties. In accordance with Maryland's Ready to Read Act (2019), COMAR (2021) and the HCPSS Board of Education, SJLES Kindergarten through Grade 5 students were screened for specific reading foundational skills. The letter explains this screener more in depth. Please note that the DIBELS Screener is one point of data among many that are collected to assess a child's reading skills. The DIBELS screener is different from the MAP Assessment. If your child is identified as a student who will receive supplemental instruction, it is noted on the letter. The length of time of supplemental instruction will be determined by your child's successful demonstration of the skills being addressed. More information is available at this link. Please reach out to your child's teacher with questions. Do you love books? Do you enjoy keeping things in good order? The SJLES media center could use a few adult volunteers to help shelve books. Even an hour or two is a big help to us. All volunteers must adhere to Covid protocols and complete HCPSS volunteer training. Aside from that, we can teach you how to shelve books or complete any other library tasks. THANK YOU for considering this valuable service! Questions? Contact Maggie Fischer (margaret_fischer@hcpss.org) or Vicky Pauller (vicky_pauller@hcpss.org). Young Authors' Contest The Howard County Literacy Association invites students in grades 1-5 to submit their original poems and/or short stories to the annual writing contest called The Young Authors' Contest . Please see the attached YAC Flyer Announcing Contest for information about the rules and guidelines. All entries must have a completed YAC Cover Sheet sent as a PDF. Submissions may be emailed to Mrs. Taylor by January 21, 2022. Contact Mrs. Taylor with any questions at elizabeth_taylor@hcpss.org. Young Authors’ Contest information can be found on the HCLA website Howard County Literacy Association welcomes parents as members. Visit the HCLA Welcome Page for information about joining. Book Donations We have had several students ask about donating books from home. Yes! We do accept book donations. Our students especially love graphic novels! The books need to meet certain criteria: 1) Hardcover 2) Excellent Condition- no tears, stains, unidentified sticky areas, etc. 3) Recent copyright date- must be published in the last five years (2016-2021) Beyond that, the Media Staff must evaluate books to make sure they fit the criteria for being included in a Howard County Public School Library, including accuracy, positive professional reviews, and age-appropriateness. If a donated book doesn’t meet these criteria, we can return it to you. We do not expect anyone to buy books to donate; but if you have books at home and your students are finished with them, we can find new readers for them at the library. If you have any questions, please reach out to Maggie Fischer (margaret_fischer@hcpss.org) or Vicky Pauller (vicky_pauller@hcpss.org). Thank you! Daily Health Check Reminder Parents/guardians MUST perform a COVID-19 health check every day before your student leaves home. 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. |