Greetings and happy Friday, SJLES families! There are just a few new items to share as we wrap up another great week of learning here at The Lane. Hope this communication finds you and your family well and have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Dan Notari
SJLES Principal
NEW NEWS
Turkey Trot Update
Thank you SJLES community! The Virtual Turkey Trot was a great success with nearly 50 families getting active over Thanksgiving. That’s an incredible effort and one that the whole PTA is super proud of. Mr Notari will be drawing the raffle prize winners (1 per grade!) and every single participant will be rewarded with some super-cool SJLES merch. Thank you for all the wonderful pictures of our awesome Jaguars getting active. Don’t forget to look out for your name in the up-coming Virtual Announcements!
Raffle winners will be contacted via email and ALL participants are invited to collect their awards (contact-free) from the school foyer area next week (12/14-12/18) from 8:15-3:45.
Principals’ Lunch Bunch: 4th & 5th Grade
Mr. Notari, Mrs. Redd, and our special guests have enjoyed our December Principals’ Lunch Bunches thus far. We are looking forward to our upcoming lunch bunch with our 4th and 5th graders this Wednesday 12/16 at Noon!
4th & 5th Grade Virtual Lunch Bunch Details:
Wednesday, 12/16 @ 12:00 / Google Meet Code: PrincipalBunch45
ATTN Students Attending Burleigh Manor Middle School Next Year!
ATTN Students Attending Patapsco Middle School Next Year!
On this night we welcome our rising 6th grade parents to attend our Virtual Orientation to learn about middle school, the 6th grade schedule, and answer any questions about the transition to middle school. We will be meeting at the code PMS-Orientation. Please use your student's username and password (credentials) to access the Google Meet. We look forward to seeing you at orientation! Go Knights!
Winter Break Meals Adjustments
Schools will be closed for winter break from Thursday, December 24, through Friday, January 1. To ensure children have access to essential nutrition during the holiday period, families may pick up additional meals in advance of the break. Pre-ordering will not be available for meals picked up December 21-23 or January 4-6.
2020-2021 Inclement Weather Protocols
For the 2020-2021 school year, while in virtual, small groups or hybrid instructional models, HCPSS will transition to fully virtual instruction during inclement weather days.
FINAL DAY TO DONATE!
The saying, “It takes a village,” could not be truer during these times of uncertainty. We can’t thank you all enough for your support of the Howard County Food Bank. Because of donors like YOU we have been able to continue supporting our most in need neighbors.
In a few short weeks, the St. John’s Lane Elementary School community raised nearly $950 to support the Howard County Food Bank. THANK YOU! This holiday season it cost $50 to provide a Thanksgiving turkey and meal kit to a family …that means you all are directly responsible for making sure 19 families had a Thanksgiving meal!
Thank you for your continued support and being champions of our mission. SJLES has extended the window to donate through 12/11/2020. Please consider donating to this great cause in our school’s name. Thank you for supporting our efforts to help those in need right here in our community!
Stay healthy! We Are Stronger, Together! Thank you so much for your support!
Rachel, Community Outreach Coordinator, Community Action Council of Howard County
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Access our SJLES Public Calendar at https://sjles.hcpss.org/calendar
12/11 - When I Grow Up Day: Dress up as an occupation you would like to be when you grow up
12/16 @ 12:00 -4th & 5th Grade Principal Lunch Bunch
12/18 - Sweater Day: Wear your ugliest, most interesting or favorite sweater
12/22 - PJ Day: Wear your favorite pjs to celebrate the last day of school before Winter Break
12/24-1/3 - Winter Break: Schools and Offices Closed
1/4 - HCPSS Schools Reopen
1/6 @ 6:30 - Virtual PTA meeting
1/12 @ 6:00 - Burleigh Manor MS Orientation
1/14 @ 6:30 - Patapsco MS Orientation
1/18 - MLK Birthday Observed: Schools and Offices Closed
1/19 @ 6:00 - The Council of Elders Celebration of Academic Achievement
1/28 - Quarter 2 Ends
1/29 - Professional Work Day: Schools Closed for Students
REPEATED NEWS
Live Wednesday Support for Students
Starting December 9, 2020, our awesome paraeducators and student assistants will provide LIVE support sessions for asynchronous content assignments for grades K - 5 every Wednesday. These sessions are OPTIONAL and they do not count toward attendance. The purpose of the sessions is to help students with organizing and understanding asynchronous assignments for science, social studies and health.
You can access the schedule and google codes below. The two blocks of time on Wednesdays that this support will be available are 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM. This will allow you to select a time that best fits your schedule. We hope that this support will help your child complete asynchronous assignments in a timely manner. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email alexcia_redd@hcpss.org.
|
Grade |
Paraeducator & Time |
AM Time |
PM Time |
Google NickName |
|
K |
Jane Derro Nancy Carter |
9:00 - 9:45 AM |
2:00 - 2:45 PM |
SJLES-Support-grK |
|
1 |
Joann Chen Jean Austin |
9:00 - 9:45 AM |
2:00 - 2:45 PM |
SJLES-Support-gr1 |
|
2 |
Erin Fowler Cindy Chen |
9:00 - 9:45 AM |
2:00 - 2:45 PM |
SJLES-Support-gr2 |
|
3 |
Jeanne Deboy Jean Williams |
9:00 - 9:45 AM |
2:00 - 2:45 PM |
SJLES-Support-gr3 |
|
4 |
Vanessa Litchliter Carol Ann Stein Jane |
9:00 - 9:45 AM |
2:00 - 2:45 PM |
SJLES-Support-gr4 |
|
5 |
Jeemin Lee Deepa Gazula |
9:00 - 9:45 AM |
2:00 - 2:45 PM |
SJLES-Support-gr5 |
Preferred Name Rollout
A new process will be enabled in January 2021 to allow students to show a preferred name in Synergy, Canvas and Google. Students can follow this process.
Go to hcpss.me
Go to Synergy
Click on “Student Info” in the lower left
Look for the “Preferred First Name” field to see what is there now.
This name will show in Canvas and Google beginning the first week of January, 2021.
If you do not want this name to show or would like something else to show, contact your administrator by December 21, 2020.
If you do want this name to show, you don’t need to do anything.
Note: The preferred name will carry over from year to year unless a change is requested. Once a requested change is made, that preferred name will remain for the student’s HCPSS career unless another change is requested through the school secretary/administrator.
For students who are transgender or gender non-binary, there is an additional procedure to mask their legal name and/or gender assigned at birth, providing additional confidentiality. If you think this may apply to you, please reach out to your school counselor to discuss. Let your counselor know that you are interested in learning about the presenting name option/masking process.
SJLES Technology Help
If you experience any technology issues, remember to fill out our SJLES Technology Form and a member of our team will help you. Additional details can be found on sjles.hcpss.org
Attn Grade 5 Families: 5th Grade T-Shirt Orders
Attached is a form to purchase the traditional 5th grade SJLES t-shirt. Although traditions are altered this academic year, we want to still provide the opportunity for our 5th graders to feel special. Each 5th grader's name appears on the back of the shirt and every order will also include a special SJLES face mask.
Orders must be received by December 17, 2020 and we can only accept payment by cash (exact change) or check (made payable to SJLES PTA). Since we are not able to invite you to drop off payment, you must mail payment to the school.
St. John's Lane Elementary School
Attn: 5th Grade Committee
2960 St Johns Lane
Ellicott City, MD 21042
In January (date TBD) you will receive information about a pick up day at SJLES to receive your t-shirts. All pertinent information is provided on the form.
Elementary Student Workload during Virtual Instruction
Families, particularly of primary students, have expressed concerns about the virtual elementary workload including the complexity of asynchronous lessons, the number of content areas taught, and the number of weekly asynchronous assignments. In order to support elementary students with successfully navigating during virtual instruction, the following adjustments have been made:
Students will only have asynchronous assignments in social studies, science, or health during a given week. There will not be an overlap of instruction or assignments for these content areas.
Health lessons will be taught for one week during the marking period and include two synchronous lessons and two asynchronous lessons instead of five asynchronous lessons as assigned in the first quarter.
The length and complexity of social studies, science, and health asynchronous assignments have been reduced.
Related arts asynchronous assignments have been streamlined.
What happens if I/my child has a connectivity or other issue logging on to class?
We recognize there may be times the applications HCPSS is using for virtual learning may not work as anticipated. This may be due to the nationwide increase in demand on these services or an issue with your local internet provider. HCPSS teachers will be understanding and flexible if interruptions to technology services cause delays in assignment submissions and missed virtual learning sessions.
Additionally, if there is a power outage or other situation out of the student’s control that would prevent them from completing an assignment, the student or parent/guardian should contact the teacher as soon as possible to alert them to the issue and determine if the due date can be extended. More information is available online.