Jaguar Tracks
September 13th
Dear JE families,
This week we celebrated the first day of Kindergarten and a successful curriculum night. For some, this was the first time to ever step foot in our building--we felt your excitement! It was so great to meet so many of you and watch you explore your students desks, lockers and classrooms. I continue to be impressed by the strength of our family community and the JE Staff's organization, professionalism and preparedness. As your students transition from home to school each morning, they are greeted by top notch staff each and every day. I was so glad that Curriculum Night provided a window into your student's experience.
It is hard to believe that this weekend, we acknowledged the 20th anniversary of September 11th. While I wasn't able to attend the events in Reading on Saturday, I heard from colleagues that sense of community was incredible. Today, we will host a moment of silence in recognition of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and in solidarity of the support of our first responders.
This Tracks aims to provide information on key upcoming events at JE as well as kid-friendly books and resources centered on some of the themes of this month. Additionally, in an effort to maintain open and transparent feedback and communication, feel free to share your input and ideas in this survey.
In community,
Caitlin Shelburne
Ms. Shelburne's Curriculum Night Presentation
Curriculum
Night
Memories
JE Quick Reminders:
Drop Off: Please do not park along Summer Ave and Oak Street as those spaces are designated for a rolling drop off.
Reporting Student Tardies & Absences: If your student will be be tardy or absent, this information MUST be reported to the school before 8:30 a.m. You can call our absentee phone line at 781-942-9161 and press “1” or email us at jeeabsences@reading.k12.ma.us. Please include your child’s name, teacher name, reason for absence and expected date of return. It is extremely important that we account for every child in a timely manner each day and your consistency is greatly appreciated.
Kindergarten Physical and Immunization Forms:
If you haven’t already done so, please submit a copy of your child’s most recent physical and immunization form. (State law requires that incoming kindergarteners have a physical completed within the past 12 months.) Also, if you have any other health related concerns or issues regarding your child (e.g., food allergy/asthma), please reach out to Mrs. Trevejo as soon as possible. She can be reached by email at elmy.trevejo@reading.k12.ma.us or via telephone at 781-942-9161
- Portal Forms
21-22 Forms are now available in the portal for parents to view and update pupil and contact information. This information needs to be completed updated EVERY year. Here is a link for parent directions: How To Access and Fill out Portal Forms. ALL forms must be submitted no later than FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24TH.
FYI: There are two forms:
Pupil Information Form -sent to the primary contact only to update any student information, including medical info, student permissions -including photos, Acceptable Use Policy, etc., emergency childcare and Connect Ed emergency notification info.
Contact Update Form – each contact associated with a student will see this form. It includes, name, address, home/mobile/office phone, primary and alternate email address. Contacts are instructed to notify the office with changes to primary email addresses because this will impact your portal login and will have to be sent another activation code. You are not able to change this on the form, it is read only. Each contact will need to log into the portal to see this form.
To recap:
Primary Contact will see both forms in the portal to update pupil information and update their own contact info.
All other contacts will only see only the Contact Update form to update their own contact info.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Upcoming Dates
- September 13th: JE Back to School Picnic
- Week of September 13th: Book Fair
- September 14th: SEPAC
- September 15th: Picture day for all JE students
- September 15/16 Yom Kippur - Begins at sundown on the 15th
- October 11th, no school
From the Desk of the PTO
PTO News
https://forms.gle/B6XPKZthbcSDhVNh7
We are so excited for our Back to School Picnic tonight, 5:30-7, on the playground. Bring a blanket and dinner, and have fun reconnecting with families and friends, or meeting new friends! Slush will be provided, and we will be raffling off a giant stuffed Jaguar as well as selling JE magnets, t-shirts and stuffies. Raffle tickets will need to be purchased with cash, and spirit gear can be purchased with cash or via Venmo/Paypal QR codes that will be at the table for scanning at the time of checkout.
Hope to see you all there!
Book Donation at Back-to-School Picnic
The PTO is collecting new and gently used children’s books to be donated to the Mission of Deeds. Please consider bringing a book or two to the Back-to-School Picnic on Monday, 9/13 to donate. Current authors appreciated. Books may be in English or Spanish and appropriate for children ages infant to middle school. The collection bin will be near the slush table. Thank you in advance for your contributions!
Wishing you a great 2nd week of school!
Best,
Alexis McDermott & Emily James
The SOS Volunteer Form and Room Parent Sign up!
The SOS Volunteer Form lists the different opportunities available for parents to help with PTO and school events. By checking the box for a particular event/activity, you will simply be included (among many others!) on our Volunteer Contact List so we can be in touch with details of how you can help with the event. Be sure to complete the entire form including if you are interested in being a room parent. Kindly complete the questionnaire and return via your child’s homework folder by Friday, Sept. 24. An online form is available here. With your help, we’re excited to start actively planning for the year.
Book Fair
Kick off the school year by encouraging a love of reading!
The Book Fair will run from the Monday through Thursday, and students will have these 3 opportunities to shop loads of book titles:
1) a dedicated 1/2 hour to shop with their class during school hours;
2) during the Back-to-School Family Picnic on Monday September 13th.
3) at the online fair
We also have 2 pre-sales this year:
1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Big Shot (release date 10/26)
2. Change Sings - A Children's Anthem (hardcover) (release date 9/21)
There will be order forms for both of these available at the sale :)
Families can shop our online fair from 9/8-9/21 at: Joshua Eaton Scholastic Book Fair - Fall 2021. They can also set up e-wallets for there child(ren) there. This helps to eliminate the worry of losing cash.
The Family Night will look a little different this year...We will be designating shopping times by grade levels as follows in order to keep the grow low(er) inside:
K and 1st: 5:30-6:00
2nd and 3rd: 6-6:30
4thd-5th: 6:30-7
If these times don't work for you/your family, please reach out and let us know and we will do our best to help.
At the entry on Family Night, there will be a pocket chart with wishlists filled out by the staff. This is a great way to contribute to the classroom and help grow the classroom library. There will also be one for the school library so please take a look! There will also be blank gift certificates available and you can pick any amount to donate to a teacher or the library. Lastly, there will be a box at the register that you can donate any amount to using the All for Books program. The funds will be added up at the end of the fair and used to buy books for our school!
For the 5th graders, there will be a cart with any of the MCBA books that are available. Some of them have already started reading them!
We can't make any of this happen without volunteers so please take a look here if you are interested in helping out: Book Fair Parent Volunteer Signup. **Please note that you must have an updated CORI on file in order to volunteer. Thank you everyone for your supporting our students and classrooms!
Hispanic Heritage Month
Hispanic Heritage Month is unique as it doesn't start and end within the same month. Instead, it starts on September 15th to honor the independence days of several Latin American countries and ends on October 15th. Consider ways to celebrate the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. At JE, we will do so by sharing contributions of Latino & Hispanic Americans and tidbits about culture during morning announcements.
Resource for talking to children about 9/11
September brings a sense of reflection and mourning. This year, we recognize the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. We remember the lives lost and the heartbreak and fear felt on this day. Feelings that we experienced, but that our elementary age students learn about through our stories. We also recognize acts of hatred targeted at Muslim American communities as a result of harmful stereotypes. Below are a couple of resources that you may choose to read or share with your children about Terrorism. Our thoughts are with all families who were impacted by the 9/11 attacks and the American people as we recognize this day each year.