Jaguar Tracks
February 14th
Dear JE families,
I hope you all enjoyed a restful vacation! Our jaguars returned to school today with vibrant energy and excitement to be back.
- As we move into our Mask Optional environment, we are facilitating circles with students to talk through decisions to keep masks on or to remove them. Students listened to this mask optional social story today in an Open Circle lesson. So far, our students seem to be acclimating well to the changes.
- March Madness: We are so excited to begin March Madness in connection with Read Across America. As shared, one of our goals is to gain a better understanding of our student's sense of belonging at JE and and implement a strategy to support our findings. We surveyed our students at the beginning of the year about how they feel at school and the book selections target a couple of themes around culture, food, family makeup and identity. Our staff worked collaboratively to identify the books and our student council and RSTAR are leading the charge moving forward! More to come in next week's tracks about the books and next steps!
- A Tremendous THANK YOU to our PTO!!!! Our PTO has funded 4 water stations, two of which were installed over vacation and two to be installed this Friday. We are so grateful to have fresh water to drink--our staff and students are excited! Another tremendous thank you for the welcome back snacks supplied by our PTO for our staff. Our staff is grateful!
Thank you all!
Caitlin
JE R-STAR and PTO Collaboration
Joshua Eaton R-STAR and the PTO recently collaborated to purchase Colors of the World coloring supplies for all learning spaces at JE. We are thrilled to offer multicultural representation for all skin colors in our school and to help everyone feel seen!
What is R-STAR? R-STAR stands for Reading Staff and Teachers Against Racism. We are a district wide group of school leaders committed to creating antiracist classrooms, communities, and cultures within our schools and in the town. Within our district group we created individual groups at the school level. At Joshua Eaton, we are calling ourselves R-STAR JE. We have been meeting monthly as a group to create action steps to support goals we have set for Joshua Eaton. We are working closely with Ms. Shelburne and the Building Leadership Team to work collectively to ensure that all students feel included here at Joshua Eaton.
Here is a photo from Ms. Smith’s class learning about how to use them and why we should have them!
Hello Prospective Kindergarten Families,
We hope that you and your families are doing well! We are reaching out with a reminder regarding Kindergarten registration. If you have not yet registered for Kindergarten, we ask that you share your registration materials by this Thursday, March 3rd. While there is no formal deadline for registration, having a better understanding of the enrollment numbers will allow us to better prepare for the spring kindergarten screening and also for fall classroom placements. A huge thanks to all of those who have already registered!
We are eager to welcome our newest Rockets to our school communities this fall. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our schools or central office if you have any questions as you prepare for the fall.
Best,
Tom Milaschewski
Superintendent – Reading Public Schools
Spelling Bee!
Read Across America Week March 7th-11th
We will be celebrating Read Across America with a Book Character Dress Up Day, Literacy Spirit Week and Guest Readers in the Library.
See the Read Across America flyer for the details.
From the Health Office:
In case you missed it, here is the link to opt in for the COVID antigen home tests.
Hearing Screening for 1st grade
I am planning to start hearing screenings for our first grade students when we return from vacation. (2/28/22-3/4/22) If you do not want your child participating in this screening, please send me an email letting me know, by 2/28/22. (elmy.trevejo@reading.k12.ma.us)
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.
Reporting Absences
From the Desk of the PTO
PTO NEWS
Welcome back from February Vacation! We are excited about everything we have planned for the Spring. Here are a few dates to add to the calendar:
Grade level field trips are being planned by the PTO enrichment coordinators and more information will be coming home shortly.
3/25 JE Spelling Bee
4/12 The Fun Run Fundraiser
4/13 PTO General Meeting (zoom)
4/29 Ice Cream Social & Basket Raffle
5/20 Variety Show
6/2 K-5 Field Day
Please reach out if you have any questions!
Meredith & Natalie