Greetings SJLES Families,
Thank you to our 77 families who completed our SJLES Family Feedback Survey. Your insights are greatly appreciated and very helpful. We will provide differentiated opportunities to share and discuss the results of the survey with our community in January.
During the Principal’s Report portion of the monthly PTA Zoom Meeting on January 11th at 8:00 PM, I will present a condensed version of the survey results and facilitate a conversation with our attending families regarding the current state of our school.
On Friday, January 13th at 9:00 AM, we will host an in-person Coffee and Conversation with Administration here at SJLES to discuss the results and insights to our school’s current state and practices in greater detail. Thank you to our PTA for providing light refreshments. If you are interested in attending please RSVP by emailing our principal’s secretary Mrs. Newberry at kathleen_newberry@hcpss.org. An RSVP is not necessary but will allow us to purchase the just right amount of refreshments for our attendees.
If you are still interested in providing feedback for our survey, it is never too late and always very much appreciated. Please click here to complete the survey.
Our staff, Ms. Coleman, and I sincerely hope that your family enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving break and here’s to a happy, healthy, and warm December!
Sincerely,
Dan Notari
SJLES Principal
NEW NEWS
Inclusive School Week
During the week of December 5th, students and staff will be celebrating Inclusive Schools Week here at SJLES! The purpose of Inclusive Schools Week is to celebrate the progress that schools have made in providing a supportive and quality education to an increasingly diverse student population. The Week also provides an important opportunity to discuss what else needs to be done in order to ensure that schools continue to improve their ability to successfully educate all children. This year's theme is "Unity Within Our Community" and we encourage you to ask your child about the activities happening at school!
Upcoming HCPSS Calendar Reminders
12/14 - Professional Work and Wellness Day: Schools Close 3 Hours Early
SJLES Dismissal Begins at 12:20
12/24 - 1/2 - Winter Break
SJLES CogAT TESTING INFORMATION
This year, the Howard County Public School System will be administering the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) to all students in grades 3 and 5. The CogAT is a group-administered abilities test that measures students’ reasoning abilities, which they develop through in-school and out-of-school experiences. It is not designed to test a student’s academic achievement, but their potential.
The test is made of three batteries – Verbal, Quantitative, and Nonverbal. Each battery takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. The CogAT helps educators understand a student’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses and assists with adapting instruction to meet the needs and abilities of each student.
All students in Grades 3 and 5 will participate in the testing. The CogAT will be administered at SJLES on the following dates:
3rd grade: Dec 6, 7
5th Grade: Dec 12, 13, 15
Make-up testing will be conducted on December 19.
The Gifted and Talented Education Program will use the data from the CogAT as one criterion for placement into fourth grade Gifted/Talented mathematics classes and middle school Gifted/Talented content classes. Students’ individual scores will be reported to parents in late February/early March.
No special preparation is required. Just send your child to school ready to learn as you do daily. Please contact Erin Coleman if you have any questions about your child’s involvement with the CogAT assessment.
Dressing for the Weather
December is here and the temperatures are getting colder. Please be sure your child is dressed warm enough for outdoor recess every day. This can include coats, gloves, and hats. Consider labeling your child's belongings as we already have many items in our Lost and Found. Please note that students will be outside for recess when the temperature combined with the wind chill is not less than 20 degrees. You can read more about weather guidelines/recess in the HCPSS Student Handbook under the heading Weather Guidelines/Recess.
Animals on HCPSS Property
Animals in schools or offices, whether leashed or not, present safety, environmental, and liability issues. Students and staff may be exposed to potential physical hazards, such as bites, and/or allergy- related health problems. As a result, animals are prohibited within Howard County Public School (HCPSS) buildings. Animals are also prohibited on school system property during arrival, dismissal, recess, and other HCPSS-sponsored outdoor activities.
Service animals or service animals in training, per MD Annotated Code Section 7-705 (Service Animals) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), are exempt from this prohibition.
Service animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered, unless these devices interfere with the service animal’s work or if the individual’s disability prevents using these devices. In that case, the individual must maintain control of the animal through voice, signal, or other effective controls.
Family Read the Rainbow Book Club
Registration for the next FAMILY Read the Rainbow book club is now open. This virtual book club will feature the title, When Aidan Became a Brother written by Kyle Lukoff and illustrated by Kaylani Juanita and will take place on Saturday, January 7th @ 1:30pm. Both Kyle and Kaylani will be present at the meeting! Kyle will do a read-aloud of his book and Kaylani will talk a little about what it was like to illustrate Kyle's story. Both will answer questions from the audience.
This is a FREE LGBTQIA+ focused book club and open to ALL (families, students, parents, staff, and community). The first 50 families who register will receive a free copy of When Aidan Became a Brother mailed to their home. Learn more about the book and this author/illustrator team.
Links to information and registration for this book club.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Click here to access/subscribe to the updated HCPSS Calendar
Click here to access the HCPSS Related Arts Color Day Schedule
12/5-12/9: Inclusive Schools Week
12/5-12/11: 8th Annual HCPSS Hour of Code
12/9 - Celebrate our SJLES Pride and wear your Spirit Wear or school colors
12/12 @ 6:00 PM - Council of Elders Celebration
12/13 @ 7:00 PM - Band Winter Concert
12/14 - Professional Work and Wellness Day: Schools Close 3 Hours Early
SJLES Dismissal Begins at 12:20
12/14 @ 8:00 PM - Virtual PTA Meeting
12/15 @ 7:00 PM - Band Winter Concert (Snow Date)
12/16 - Sweater Day: Wear your ugliest, most interesting, or favorite sweater
12/23 PJ Day: Wear your favorite PJs to celebrate our final day before winter break
12/23 - PTA Cultural Arts: Prismatic Magic Laser Light Show
12/24 - 1/2 - Winter Break
1/3 - School Reopens
1/6 - Hat Day: Show off your favorite hat to your class!
1/9 - 1/27 - PTA Read-A-Thon
1/11 @ 8:00 - PTA Meeting on Zoom
Principal’s Report Focus: SJLES Family Feedback Survey Results
1/12 @ 6:00 PM - Read-A-Thon’s Cozy Reading Night
1/13 - #JaguarPride: Celebrate our SJLES pride & wear your spirit wear or school colors
1/13 @ 9:00 AM - Coffee & Conversation with Administration
RSVP by emailing Mrs. Newberry at kathleen_newberry@hcpss.org
1/16 - All HCPSS Schools and Offices Closed
1/17 @ 6:00 PM - Orchestra Winter Concert
1/18 - Professional Work & Wellness Day: Schools Close 3 Hours Early /12:20 Dismissal
1/18 @ 8:00 - Read-A-Thon’s Cozy Reading Night - SNOW DATE
1/20 - End of 2nd Marking Period
1/20 - Ocean of Blue Day - Wear as much blue as you can to celebrate Kindness Month
1/23 - All HCPSS Schools Closed for Students: Professional Work Day
1/24 @ 6:00 - Orchestra Winter Concert - New SNOW DATE
1/27 - Inside Out Day - Wear your clothes inside out!
1/30 - Report Cards Issued
REPEATED NEWS
Hour of Code
SJLES would like to announce our participation in Hour of Code, December 5-11, during Computer Science Education Week. We live in a world surrounded by technology, and we know that whatever field our students choose to go into as adults, their ability to succeed will increasingly hinge on understanding how technology works. Computing makes up two-thirds of the projected new jobs in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). Our participation in The Hour of Code is a statement that St. John’s Lane is ready to teach these foundational 21st century skills. We encourage you to visit Code.org for more information and activities.
For more information feel free to contact Ms. Kennedy or Ms. Jean-Louis – shannon_kennedy@hcpss.org or esther_jean-louis@hcpss.org.
Emergency Closure Procedures in Family File
At the start of each school year, families must complete a Family File for each child. HCPSS utilizes Family File for parents/guardians to complete important information including procedures families want us to follow in the event of an unscheduled early closing. These unscheduled early closings typically occur during the winter weather months that are approaching. Now is the perfect time to ensure that the procedures you entered in August are still current as these are the procedures we will follow during an unscheduled early closing.
Parents/guardians can verify and/or update information for each child by logging in to HCPSS Connect PARENT ACCOUNT and selecting the MORE OPTIONS tab on the left and then clicking on Family File. Once in the Family File please review Arrival/Departure Information where you will find your instructions for your child’s method of transportation for arrival, departure, and early closing. Families must pick one method for each situation. Please contact our front office at 410-313-2813 with any questions.
Helpful Family File Resources
HCPSS Family & Community Resource Pages
Our SJLES families are often looking for ways to learn more about our HCPSS curriculum and for additional resources to support their Jaguar at home. A great starting point is our HCPSS Family & Community Resource Pages. We wanted to once again uplift these pages to our families interested in digging deeper into the scope and sequence of the curriculum, looking for resources to support your child at home, and/or seeking pedagogical approaches to support how your child is engaging with standards throughout the school day via the parent video libraries.
We 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…
Mt. Hebron HS Canned Food Drive
Calling all students, staff, and families! Mount Hebron’s annual Canned Food Drive is underway. The High School is running this drive until December 22nd. They are collecting cans, money, and other canned food donations which go towards feeding those who struggle during the harsh winter months. Their goal is to help support our community, to ultimately collect over 75,000 cans county-wide! SJLES will be collecting cans in a designated box, which will be collected weekly until the 20th! The collection is being conducted by classes assigned to various regions of Howard County. For more information about the canned food drive, please email Jasmine Sonpar at jasminesonpar@gmail.com, and to learn more about neighborhood collection please email Mr. Tittsworth at Michael_Tittsworth@hcpss.org. Click here for the OSP link for digital donations. Please write “Period 4B” in the description box for the transaction to attribute the donations towards our class’s efforts!
COMMUNITY NEWS & PROGRAMS
Please click here to visit the Community News and Programs page for announcements of upcoming events and programs sponsored by non-profit organizations.