Greetings SJLES Families,
To everyone in our community who has served our country, who is actively serving now, and who are committed to serve in the future, thank you for your service and Happy Veterans Day!
Our Fall Parent Teacher Conferences are right around the corner. These conferences provide another outstanding opportunity for our teachers and families to share insights, celebrations, and growth opportunities regarding our Jaguars’ academic success and social-emotional well-being. Our SJLES Fall Conference Overview is below. If you have any additional questions about conferences, please feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher via email.
Thanks to all of our families and staff members who attended today’s Coffee and Conversation with Administration. It was great catching up with you all and we very much appreciate your questions, feedback, and support. We will hold another session soon. Until then, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Mrs. Redd or me if we can be of any service to your family. Here’s to a great rest of the week!
Sincerely,
Dan Notari
SJLES Principal
NEW NEWS
SJLES Virtual Parent Teacher Conference Overview: Fall 2020
Conference Structure
Fall Conferences can be scheduled with your child's English Language Arts teacher.
GT Math Teachers are available for conferencing with the families of their 4th grade students.
Related Arts teachers have a limited number of conference times available in comparison to the large number of students they teach. We encourage you to schedule a conference only if you have a concern or if there are assignments you would like to discuss with the teacher. Parents of students making satisfactory progress should not feel as though they need to schedule a related arts conference.
Conference blocks are scheduled in 20 minute windows...
15 minutes dedicated to the parent teacher conference.
5 minute buffer for teachers to thoughtfully conclude their conference and prepare for their next conference.
Conferences will need to begin and end on time.
Scheduling a Virtual Parent Conference
Conference scheduling will open on Friday 11/13 and close on Thursday 11/19 so that teachers will have an appropriate amount of time to prepare for their conferences.
Any additional conferences beyond the times offered must be scheduled after the window has closed through direct contact with your child’s teacher.
To sign up for an ELA, 4th Grade GT Math, or Related Arts conference, please login to HCPSS Connect and click on "Conferences" in the navigation pane.
Refer to the Quick Reference Guide for more information and detailed steps to sign up for a conference.
Virtual Parent Conference Schedule
Monday, 11/23 from 1:20-7:20 p.m.
Tuesday, 11/24 from 1:20-7:20 p.m.
Wednesday, 11/25 from 8:20 a.m.-3:40 p.m.
Most teachers will host conferences on the evenings of 11/23 and 11/24.
Teachers who do not host evening conferences will offer conferences on 11/25.
There is no school for students on 11/25.
Logging onto Google Meet for your Conference
You will use your child’s HCPSS credentials to join the conference.
Google Meet Codes: You will see the meeting code for your conference in Synergy when you sign up for a conference. You will receive a reminder email with the room code from the Synergy system a few days before your conference.
To prevent “overlap” of conferences, teachers will be using Google Meet room joining security features.
You may have to wait to be admitted into the Google Meet room.
Quarter One Report Cards
Report cards will be available online via Synergy beginning at 4 p.m. on Monday November 16. Printed report cards will not be issued.
Parents/guardians may view/download report cards by taking the following steps:
Select More Options from the left panel
Select Report Cards from the middle
Select the report card you wish to access
HCPSS Grading Updates
Learning Behaviors will not be graded for SY20-21.
Related Arts courses will be graded only twice per year, during Quarter 2 and Quarter 4.
Health will be graded only twice per year, during Quarter 2 and Quarter 4.
Students in primary grades will earn an I (Independent) or W (With assistance) if they have engaged in synchronous instruction. Students in intermediate grades will receive A, B or C grades if they have engaged in synchronous instruction. As a result, Canvas grades may not align with quarter 1 report card grades.
These changes are in place for 1st quarter report card grades only. Asynchronous assignments complement and support synchronous learning, please support your child with task completion and with attending support sessions as needed.
American Education Week
American Education Week presents an opportunity to celebrate public education and honor individuals who are making a difference in ensuring that every student receives a quality education. This year, we honor our entire learning community for our collective efforts to engage and support our students during this time of virtual learning. We invite our parents to join our Jaguars for morning meeting at 9:00 on Tuesday 11/17. Just a reminder that outside email addresses cannot be allowed into our Google Meet sessions in order to ensure everyone's safety. Thank you again SJLES Families for all of the extra time, collaboration, and support you have provided our students and staff this school year!
Accessing MAP Results
Fall 2020 MAP test results are entered in Synergy the Friday after a student takes the test. It can take up to 24 hours to become visible for an individual student.
To access previous test scores:
Log in to HCPSS Connect
Select More Options from the left panel
Select Standardized Test Scores from the middle
Detailed PDF home reports are available in Synergy. To access home reports:
Log in to HCPSS Connect
Select More Options from the left panel
Select Report Cards from the middle
Select the applicable report from the Student's MAP Reports section.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Access our SJLES Public Calendar at https://sjles.hcpss.org/calendar
11/13 - USA Day: Wear red, white and blue to honor our Veterans
11/16 - Report Cards Issued
11/16 - 11/20 - American Education Week
11/20 - #JaguarPride: Celebrate our SJLES Pride and wear your Spirit Wear or school colors
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
12/4 - Rainbow Day: Wear as many colors as possible!
REPEATED NEWS
IMPORTANT REMINDER: Google Play Information
In an effort to continue expanding our authorized set of digital tools for virtual instruction, HCPSS has curated a new set of supplemental digital tools that are available only through Google’s menu of additional services. These supplemental digital tools are approved by HCPSS and comply with federal, state and Howard County Board of Education student data privacy policies. Due to Google’s settings, students must access this set of tools by utilizing Google’s menu of additional services, which requires consent by a parent or guardian.
To provide consent:
Log in to HCPSS Connect.
Select More Options from the left panel.
Select HCPSS Google Menu from the middle of the page.
Click the check box to provide consent. Changes are saved automatically.
A parent or guardian must provide consent for each student by selecting the student’s name at the top of the page.
The digital tools currently included are: Book Room, Word Work, Scratch BluBot, Scratch JR, Sketch-Up, Collector Classic, JamBoard, Google Earth and Minecraft: Education. After a parent/guardian provides consent, students using a HCPSS Chromebook can access the tools through the Google Play Store icon on the Chromebook when logged in with an HCPSS account. There may be a delay of up to three days before the apps appear in the Google menu and some tools may automatically appear on the Chromebook once consent is provided by a parent or guardian without the need to install them. If your child has not been issued a Chromebook, please make the request following the information found online.
Please note:
HCPSS cannot guarantee that apps are available on devices other than HCPSS Chromebooks.
Teachers may or may not choose to use any or all of these apps during instruction. Students will be notified when a particular app will be used for instruction.
If you do not provide consent for your student’s access to these digital tools, your student’s teacher will provide alternative enrichment activities.
In addition to these Google tools, HCPSS has approved a robust set of supplemental digital tools. Your child’s teacher will notify you of the particular supplemental digital tools being used in each class via email or on their Canvas course page.
For more information, please contact Ms. Kennedy at shannon_kennedy@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 links below for information about the rules and guidelines. All entries must have a completed cover sheet sent as a PDF. Submissions must be emailed to Mrs. Taylor by December 2, 2020. (elizabeth_taylor@hcpss.org) Contact Mrs. Taylor with any questions.
Young Authors’ Contest information can be found at http://hocoreads.weebly.com/young-authors-contest.html. Howard County Literacy Association welcomes parents as members. Visit http://hocoreads.weebly.com/ for information about joining.
Residency Reminder
Even though HCPSS is currently operating in a virtual learning environment, families need to alert their school if they move, especially if they move to another attendance area. While in the spring transfers between schools were minimized, it is now the 2020-2021 school year and all students should be enrolled at the school for their assigned attendance area. Please visit our SJLES website at sjles.hcpss.org or contact Mrs. Wolfrey at robin_wolfrey@hcpss.org for more information.
Monitor Donations
Many teachers have discovered that using a second computer monitor can enhance their ability to teach virtually. If you have a computer monitor that you are not using and would like to donate to our staff, please feel free to drop it off at SJLES. You can do this by bringing it to our school Monday - Friday between 8:00 - 4:00 and leave it inside our front entrance vestibule. Please wear a mask and follow all social distancing protocols. Thank you very much!
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.