Greetings SJLES Families,
Happy Friday to you all and I hope this communication finds you and your family well! We have a few new items and several important reminders to share with you today. The reminders are so important and useful that they are spotlighted in the NEW NEWS section. As always, thanks for taking the time to read through our communications and keeping up with all things SJLES. We hope you all have a great weekend and please reach out to Ms. Coleman, our staff, and me if we can be of any service to your Jaguar!
Sincerely,
Dan Notari
SJLES Principal
NEW NEWS
School Closed for Students on Tuesday 2/1
Please note that all HCPSS schools are closed for students this Tuesday 2/1, for a Countywide Professional Learning Day.
Congratulations to The Council of Elders Award Recipients
Last week The Council of Elders of the Black Community of Howard County honored several 4th and 5th grade SJLES Jaguars during the annual Celebration of Academic Achievement. These students demonstrated outstanding academic success throughout the 2020-2021 school year. Congratulations to each of the following students…
Abena A., Emerson B., Rhema D., Olanna E., Bryn M., Lerryn W., Justine N., Mmasinachi U.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: Optional Student Vaccination Status Survey for SJLES
The SJLES Health Room Staff are asking for your help to streamline our process of contact tracing by sharing your child's vaccination status. This will help us generate a central document that allows us to quickly organize and look up student vaccination status when needed.
Participation in this survey is optional. Please click this link to complete the survey.
Please submit one form per child that attends SJLES, even if you have already submitted your child's/childrens' vaccination cards to our health room staff. This information will ONLY be used by health room staff to confirm vaccination status as it relates to the HCPSS guidelines for COVID-19 quarantine and/or isolation. Please direct questions to Ms. Erin Coleman. Thank you!
IMPORTANT REMINDER: SJLES Daily Outdoor Lunch Status
For interested families, we will communicate our Outdoor Lunch Status on our SJLES website landing page daily. Please be sure to check our website for our daily outdoor lunch status.
As previously shared, we remain committed to providing an outdoor lunch option as an additional mitigation effort when weather and staff coverage permit.
SJLES parents and guardians can complete this form to indicate their request to have their child eat lunch outdoors for the months of January, February, and March. This request will override all previous outdoor requests.
Please only complete the survey if you wish for your child to eat outdoors January-March, regardless of your previous preference in the fall. Otherwise, your child will eat indoors.
Please complete one form for each child that attends SJLES.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: Parent Teacher Conference Window OPENS TODAY!
On Friday, 1/28, HCPSS Connect will open for parents and guardians to sign up for winter conferences. The scheduling window closes on Friday, 2/4. Any additional conferences beyond the times offered must be scheduled after the window has closed through direct contact with your child’s teacher.
Please click here to find step-by-step scheduling instructions.
Please note that you will need to be logged in through your parent credentials in order to access the conference availability schedule.
Winter conferences with Mathematics teachers, 5th Grade GT Math teachers, and related arts teachers as necessary and will take place on Thursday, 2/10, and Friday, 2/11, following 3-hour early dismissals for students each day.
Please note that our Related Arts teachers have a very limited number of conference times available in comparison to the number of students they teach. You are not required to schedule a related arts conference; however we encourage you to schedule a conference if you have a concern you would like to discuss with the teacher. If you would like to schedule a conference with a related arts teacher, please email the teacher to schedule with them directly. Please visit our SJLES staff page at https://sjles.hcpss.org/school-staff for contact information.
Conferences will be held virtually via Google Meet & be scheduled in 15-minute blocks.
The HCPSS Family Engagement Committee has developed a Parent-Teacher Conference Tip Sheet to support families preparing for conferences.
Parents needing assistance should contact our front office staff at 410-313-2813.
Accessing Quarter 2 Report Cards
Report cards will be accessible via HCPSS Connect Synergy after 5 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 31. Parents/guardians may access them following the instructions for accessing report cards online. Answers to frequently asked questions on grades and testing can be found online.
5 to 11-year-old clinic : Pfizer vaccine 1st & 2nd doses
Date: Saturday, January 29, 2022
Time: 10:00am to 4:00pm
Where: Florence Bain Center (5470 Ruth Keeton Way, Columbia, MD 21044)
Registration preferred, link below. Will also accept walk-ins.\
Robinson Nature Center Sensory-Friendly Sundays
Join Robinson Nature Center, Therapeutic Recreation, and Park Ranger staff in enjoying outdoor, self-paced activities designed for families with kids, teens, and adults with sensory-processing differences, autism spectrum disorder, or developmental disabilities. Activities include sensory bins and pathways, scavenger hunts, and crafts or games. The center opens early, allowing visitors to enjoy a calm environment. Sensory alert maps, quiet areas, and sensory backpacks, which include headphones and various fidgets, are available. Be sure to preregister to receive additional information prior to the event. Please see the Sensory-Friendly Sundays flyer for further information and how to register.
Time: 11am - 12:30pm
General operating hours begin at noon and guests of this program are welcome to stay after 12:30pm.
Cost: $5, adult; $3, child; Free, members & children under 3 yrs
Programs:
Spring in Here - March 27, 2022
Natural Art - May 29, 2022
River Romp - July 24, 2022
Fantastic Fall - September 11, 2022
Nature's Harvest - November 13, 2022
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
1/28 - Spirit Day - Inside Out Day: Wear your clothes inside out!!
1/28 - HCPSS Connect opens to sign up for winter conferences
1/31 - Report Cards Issued
2/1 - Schools Closed for Students - Countywide Professional Learning Day
2/2 @ 8:00 PM - PTA Zoom Meeting
2/4 - #JaguarPride Spirit Day: Celebrate our SJLES Pride & wear your Spirit Wear or school colors
2/11 - Storybook Character Day: Celebrate Reading Month by dressing up as your favorite character from a book
2/16 - Schools Close 3 hours early
2/18 - 100th Day! Dress up like you're 100 years old to celebrate 100 days of hard work at SJLES!
2/21 - Presidents’ Day - Schools & Offices Closed
2/25 - Stuffed Animal Day
REPEATED NEWS
Celebrating our Friendships
We will be celebrating the wonderful friendships our students’ have built this year at SJLES on Monday, February 14th. Classroom teachers will send home the first names of each student in your child’s homeroom class if students would like to exchange cards. Please note that this is an optional activity. Should your child choose to participate, your Jaguar should bring a card for each student in the homeroom class. Our teams are also planning for an engaging classroom activity focused on friendship. Please do not send any treats or goodie bags for this event, as we will be unable to distribute them to students. Any food products sent to school will be returned home. Thanks for your cooperation!
HCPSS Family & Community Resource Pages
Our SJLES families are often looking for ways to learn more about our HCPSS curriculum and for additional resources they can access to support their Jaguar at home. A great starting point is our HCPSS Family & Community Resource Pages. We wanted to uplift these pages to our families at this midpoint of the school year and hope you find the information and resources helpful. Please click on the goldenrod-colored tab on the top right corner to each page to learn more about each grade level content area. Links to each K-5 page are below…
HCPSS Summer Programs Preview
Families can now view/download the 2022 Summer Programs Preview, which includes descriptions of HCPSS’ four summer programs and enrollment information. Online enrollment requests for current HCPSS students will open on Tuesday, 2/1, at 6:00 PM.
SJLES MLK Dream Makers Contest: Honoring the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Students in grades K-5 are invited to enter an original essay, poem, or art piece into our February 2022 MLK Dream Makers Contest! All entries should be submitted by February 18th, 2022 (see information below on how to submit). Entries will be judged by a panel of SJLES staff. Participating students from each grade could win first place for one of the two categories (essay/poem or artwork). All participating students will receive acknowledgement for their participation.
Essay or Poem Category
Students are asked to submit an original essay or poem (250 words max) using the following writing prompt:
On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shared his dream of what the world should be like. In his famous speech, he said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Dr. King’s dream was to have a fair, peaceful world where everyone if equal. What would your dream for our world today look like?
Art Category
Artists in grades K-5 may scan images or photos of their original work depicting their dream for our world today. Submitted artwork can include drawings, paintings or mixed media creations.
Please submit your entries by February 18th by completing this Google Form:
SJLES February 2022 MLK Dream Makers Contest Submission Form
Questions? Please email Mrs. Blake at Natalie_Blake@hcpss.org
SJLES Lunch and Recess Sign up Open for January & February
SJLES is ready for volunteers again and as you know they are super appreciative of our help. If you want to sign up to volunteer for lunch or recess please click here. To help in your planning or just a fun fact, when the "feels like" temperature is below 20 degrees, SJLES will hold lunch and recess indoors. And just a reminder, there is no recess on half days! Please email jane.gribble@gmail.com if you have any questions!!
Volunteer reminders
Please read the volunteer requirements carefully as you need to complete the PinPoint vaccination verification 5 days prior to your volunteering shift. Complete this requirement by clicking here.
All volunteers must complete a Confidentiality Training Course about protecting the privacy of our students, staff, and schools, and the Child Abuse and Neglect Training about reporting any suspicion of child abuse or neglect to Howard County Department of Social Services.
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.