Jaguar Tracks
May 9th, 2022
Dear JE Families,
I wanted to share a huge thank you on behalf of the entire JE staff for the incredible Staff Appreciation Week! In all of my years I have never seen such a vibrant week planned for our incredible JE staff. From the pictures to the messages and daily treats, our staff felt extremely appreciated each and every day!
We are excited to display our learning at Open House! Please see the times listed below. This event is open to all. Please note that we are seeing an increase in our COVID, flu, and respiratory cases. Although we are mask-optional, we'd encourage people to wear masks during large gatherings at school and be respectful of each other's choices. If you are experiencing symptoms, please think about the greater community and make the choice to stay home. Any families who would like test kits, please reach out to the health office. At JE, we aim to be a welcoming, safe, and healthy community. Thank you for supporting us.
Please note that the book fair will be open from 5:00-6:30 if you are interested in browsing. Classes will all have the option to go to the book fair this week as well.
We need lots of helpers to make this fair successful so if you are available, please signup! You must have an up to date CORI on file with the office. (Signup will be edited as teachers signup). Scholastic Book Fair Volunteer Signup
Upcoming Dates:
May 10th and 11th: 3rd Grade Math MCAS
Book Fair: May 12th, 13th and 16th
May 12th: Open House K-2 (5:30-6:15) 3-5 (6:15-7:00). The book fair will be open on this night from 5:00-6:30.
May 17th and 18th: Grade 5 Science MCAS
Kite & Bike Festival May 14th 12-4pm-Franklin Park Zoo
Joshua Eaton Variety Show- May 20th
Memorial Day (no school for students and staff)- Monday, May 30th
K-5 Field Day- June 2nd
Fun Run Fundraiser- (New Date) 6/6
Grade 5 Promotion Ceremony: 9:00am on 6/17
JE Night at Fenway- 6/20
Caitlin Shelburne
First grade had a wonderful performance of "The Fairy Circus" by the Tanglewood Marionettes! Thank you PTO!
A huge thank you to the Reading Fire Department for teaching our K&1 students about fire safety today!
Kite & Bike Festival May 14th noon-4pm
Please join Reading METCO for a fun afternoon at the Franklin Park Zoo Playstead Field (Back Entrance). Free Pizza, Drinks & face painting. Bring your own blankets and chairs.
We are excited to kick off our Fun Run on May 26th.
We had to move the date, but we are even more excited to have warm weather for this fun run! Our goal is to raise $20,000 for enrichment funds and to strengthen our school community. Teachers will be emailing home once a week as we move closer to the big event.
Our school has always relied on fundraising to provide exceptional opportunities to enhance student learning. And this year, we have more needs than we’ve ever had before, which means we need your support more than ever.
We completely understand if your family is not in a position to financially support the school right now. You can still be involved by simply SHARING about our fundraiser with friends and extended family online at MYBOOSTER.COM. Sharing IS supporting!
Just as we worked to safely begin school this year, we are also safely hosting this essential fundraiser based on our school’s current guidelines. We’ll send more details, as we get closer to our kick off.
We are grateful for our Joshua Eaton family! Thank you for your support this year. We all need it!News from Reading Public LIbrary
The Reading Public Library offers Mango, an online language learning tool for all ages. Learners can set up an account for lessons, practice, and progress reports in over 70 world languages. Find out more about all the great things the Reading Public Library has for you at readingpl.org!
You can reserve free and discount passes to area museums and attractions using your Reading Public Library card! Plan your family's visit to the Boston Children's Museum, the New England Aquarium, or one of more than a dozen other great places! Find out more about all the great things the Reading Public Library has for you at readingpl.org!
From the Health Office:
Hello Families,
We ask that you continue to monitor your children for illness symptoms each day before school. If your child shows COVID symptoms, please keep them home and do a home test. If symptoms persist for more than a few days, please retest and follow up with your pediatrician.
Since the decline in COVID cases has allowed for optional masking and less distancing, we are seeing more cases of flu, normal cold viruses, strep, and an increase in GI illnesses. Please remember to follow our general illness guidelines, and keep your child home if they have had a fever or vomiting in the past 24 hours.
As always, remind your children that handwashing is the best way to prevent illness from spreading at school. Please encourage your child to wear a mask at school if they have respiratory symptoms.
I will continue hearing screenings for 3rd grade this week. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out.
Mrs. Trevejo (elmy.trevejo@reading.k12.ma.us)
Book Fair
We need lots of helpers to make this fair successful so if you are available, please signup! You must have an up to date CORI on file with the office. (Signup will be edited as teachers signup). Scholastic Book Fair Volunteer Signup
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Scholastic Book Fair
When: May 12th-13th
Where: JE School Library
This is a BOGO (Buy 1 Get 1 Free) event and everything is included!
*Families will be able to shop during the Open House on Thursday May 12th 5 - 6:30 p.m.*
You can shop online from 5/6-5/19. BOGO pricing is in person only, not online. Visit Joshua Eaton Book Fair Spring 2022 page and set up your child’s e-wallet now. Click “get started”, “create e-wallet”, login, load your funds :) Any unused funds will be converted to a gift card on your Scholastic Book club account or you can donate them to the All For Books collection for the JE Library (just send a note in with your child).
You can send the Gift Certificate or All For Books slips in with your child along with cash/check/e-wallet. 100% of the All For Books donations will go to the JE Library.
Anyone wishing to contribute to the JE LIbrary may also do so by loading funds onto the e-wallet setup for Mrs. Ghirardi to select new titles to add to the library. The link is JE Library E-wallet
Attendance Matters!
We certainly understand that there is a potential increase in absences due to illness this year because of Covid. We appreciate your vigilance and support in helping to keep everyone safe. We also have seen an increase in unexcused absences, especially around extended vacations. We are required to share your children's' absences and tardy data. You will be receiving a letter in the coming weeks if your child has more than 5 unexcused absences and we are requesting communication on how we can work together to make sure your child is attending school regularly. It's important that we set your children up for success, especially as the past few years have been unpredictable, and attending school regularly is essential to student success. Please reach out with any questions.
From the Desk of the PTO
PTO NEWS
Hi everyone! Just another reminder that the Fun Run Fundraiser has been moved to 5/26-6/6.
BIG THANKS to our amazing teachers and staff who we honored last week during teacher appreciation week. Thanks to everyone who has pitched in to help make their week extra special with staff breakfast, daily treats, and a fun luncheon, especially our coordinators Brenna Westover and Julie Irwin.
We are starting to seek volunteers to join the PTO Executive Board for the 22-23 School Year. We meet once per month to cover PTO events/plans. It’s a great way to get involved in the Joshua Eaton community and to get to know school staff/admins and fellow parents. Positions we know will be open this coming year include: President, Secretary, Treasurer, Volunteer Coordinator, and Fundraiser Coordinator. Any and all positions can be done by two people! So, if you are interested, talk to a friend and consider running as a team! This can lighten the load and make the job more fun. Please reach out to us at JEPTOpresident@email.com to learn more about these positions. We can connect you to the people currently holding the position so you can talk more in detail about responsibilities. If we do not have President, Secretary and Treasurer roles filled we cannot have a PTO board, so these roles are of particularly important to fill ASAP!
Some Upcoming Dates:
5/11-5/12 Scholastic Book Fair (in person)
5/6-5/19 Scholastic Book Fair (online)
5/12 JE Open House (Thursday 12:45 dismissal, Friday is full day)
5/14 noon-4pm Metco Kite & Bike Festival at Franklin Park Zoo
5/18 JE Variety Show dress rehearsal at Parker
5/20 JE Variety Show
6/2 K-5 Field Day
6/6 (NEW DATE!) Fun Run Fundraiser
6/8 7-8pm General PTO a meeting (zoom)
6/20 JE Night at Fenway
6/21 last day of school 11am dismissal
Thanks!
Meredith and Natalie
Clothing Drive
Looking for a way to give back this spring? Consider donating new or gently used, children's spring or summer clothing to Solution at Work, an organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty and homelessness.
If you'd like to donate, please bring your new or gently used, children's spring or summer clothing to 113 Pine Ridge Road. Bins will be placed outside for collection from Monday, 5/16, through Friday, 5/20.
Staff Appreciation Breakfast
Staff Appreciation Breakfast
Staff Appreciation Breakfast
Staff Appreciation Breakfast
Staff Appreciation Breakfast
Staff Appreciation Breakfast
Happy Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week!
Happy Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week!
We would love for you to create a message on our digital greeting card on Kudoboard to celebrate and honor our awesome JE teachers and staff! Please post a note, photo, or short video by clicking on the link by Thursday at 12pm! We will share the messages as a slideshow to our teachers and staff at their catered lunch on Friday!
Thank you!
JE PTO
Variety Show
The Variety Show is planned for May 20th. We are looking for a few more volunteers to help in the planning and coordinating of the rehearsals and show. Please reach out to JEvolunteers@gmail.com
Library Volunteer Signup
There’s less than 2 months left of school! The end of the year can be very busy for the Joshua Eaton Library. If you did the training and have an up to date CORI on file, we would love to have your help! Click the link below to sigup for a slot :)
Updated PTO Calendar as of 3.28.22
SEPAC
SEPAC Information
First, we are canceling our March business meeting. There's not much new business to discuss, and we want to focus on exciting upcoming opportunities (see below). Were you hoping to connect with the board about something? Please email!
Next, here are those exciting upcoming opportunities!
- SEPAC movie night in April! Let's gather to watch This Is Not About Me: A story about growing up non-speaking. Thanks to SEPAC general member Karen Janowski for sponsoring this screening. We are hammering out the details but it's tentatively planned for Tuesday, April 12 at 7 pm at RCTV. Watch email, newsletters, and social media for details. Advanced registration will be required.
There are SO many other wonderful opportunities coming up. Registrations, workshops, events, etc. Please check social media for some of them!
Also, a few notes about last month's business meeting.
- We voted to revise our by-laws to remove language about open meeting law.
- We started a tradition of having parents/caregivers only stay behind after the business meeting to have informal conversation. It was enjoyable!
- We hope these changes help remove some of the formality of our meetings and introduce more opportunities for fellowship and support to our members.
- We could use some help putting together welcome packets/kits for newly registering RPS families. The tasks will be VERY manageable and could be done on your own time. It really won't be much--please email if you can help!
Be in touch with any questions!!
- The Reading in Reading Subcommittee created a resource list of books and podcasts that provide recommended information regarding reading. The resources are available here:. SEPAC_RinR_Subcommittee_Recommended_Book_List_v2 with cover April 7th.docx
All are welcome and ENCOURAGED to attend our meetings and events!
Connect with SEPAC by clicking these links:
Join SEPAC's mailing list by emailing SEPACREADING@gmail.com
Follow SEPAC on Facebook (please adjust settings so that you are sure to see our posts)
The mission of the Reading Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) is to work for the understanding of, respect for, and support of, all children with special needs in the community.
Thank you,
SEPAC BOARD
Comfort Dogs!
Reading Police Department will soon have two comfort dogs joining the force! These pups will work with our School Resource Officers to provide social and emotional support for members of the Reading community, most notably our students. SROs Brian Lewis and Matt Vatcher will be training and living with these new dogs as they are welcomed into our community. The Labrador retriever pups are from Boonefield Labs and will be arriving later this spring. They will be visiting our schools and working with students and staff once they complete their training. We are excited about this partnership with the Reading Police Department and the continued support of our SROs.
Families will receive more information once the dogs arrive, and have the option of opting out of interactions with their child for any reason (i.e., if they have allergies or are afraid of dogs). The opt out form can be found HERE and on our schools website and will be sent to all families. Forms only need to be returned for those families opting out of these interactions with our new four-legged friends.