Dear Families,I have always loved the month of February due to it beginning with my oldest daughter's birthday, followed up with loving memories surrounding Valentine's Day, Random Acts of Kindness Day, Super Bowl half-time shows, and usually 1 or 2 beautiful snowy days, but this month is extra special this year to me because Shepherdstown Elementary has finally been blessed with an assistant principal! Mrs. Furgason joins us with 22 years of educational experience, and says, "I am very excited to join the Shepherdstown Elementary staff and work with such great teachers, students and families." Her two children already attend S.E.S. and we are very fortunate to have such an enthusiastic and knowledgeable leader to help guide our school's future success!
To add to this incredible month's celebrations, we will enjoy showering our school counselor with extra kindness and appreciation each day of the week from February 5th - 9th, National School Counselor Week. Mrs. Colbert has been at S.E.S. for 17 of her 22 years as being a counselor!
She is a crucial part of not only supporting our school through her leadership, but our students' day- to-day joys and pains. She is one of the first adults to greet every child walking through our doors every morning ready to accept hugs, smiles and appointments! Our school is very blessed with her counsel, presence, and humongous heart!
Also, this month we will recognize the 100th day of school, in which I am surely not alone in awe of how time is flying by! During these past 100 days days, our teachers have built relationships to support our students' character and success and it can easily be seen and heard in every classroom!
As we journey on through this 2nd semester of the 2023-24 school year, I look forward to sharing the accomplishments and commitments of everyone in the Shepherdstown Elementary family!
Mrs. Jodi Payne
2/5 - 100th day of school for grades 1-5
2/6 - 100th day of school for kindergarten
2/6 - S.E.A. Staff Lunch (thank you!)
2/7 - S.M.S. band performs for grades 3-5
2/7 - 2/8 Mountaineer Popcorn Co. S.E.S. fundraiser 12:00 p.m.- 7:00 p.m.
2/8 - Parent Teacher Conferences 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
2/9- Club Shep 6:30 -8:30 p.m.
2/14 - Valentine's Day!
2/16 - 2 Hr. Early Release
2/17 - Random Acts of Kindness Day!
2/24 - BINGO fundraiser 2:00 p.m. at Shepherdstown Fire Hall
Mrs. Adam's 2nd grade class was our leading fundraising class this year and they were able to decide how Mrs. Payne would dress for the day and they chose for her to dress as a FROG! Feeling so hoppy that our school raised the most money in all WV schools for the National Heart Association, Mrs. Payne served the class who raised the most money ice-cream sundaes! All 150 students who participated in signing up and or raised money for the heart association were eligible to win many raffle prizes and enjoy an afternoon of Minute-to-Win-It Games on February 2nd! We had many wonderful community members volunteer to help run all of the games available for the children to pick and play. A toad-ally awesome way to end a fundraiser for a great cause!
NOTES FROM THE FRONT OFFICE
Dismissal
We kindly ask parents to help keep our students safe at dismissal. Once picking up children and leaving the school, we ask that playground equipment not be used in unsafe ways such as sitting ON TOP of swing set or climbing the trees. Children are to not run to the back of the school as well. Our teachers work hard teaching positive behaviors during recess in order to be safe while playing, and your support will go a long way in reinforcing our playground policies! Thank you.
Excuses
Our attendance secretary would like to remind families who send in notes regarding their child to always include the child's first and last name please. You can email her changes regarding your child's day at kristin.ainsworth@k12.wv.us
Thank you for using the school or JCS website to submit your absences within 3 days of your child's absence. This simple step removes the possibility of the child not turning in a handwritten note. Remember, you get 10 parent notes a year to excuse your child and after that they will be unexcused. You can submit as many doctor's notes as needed without any penalty. Lastly, if you are submitting an educational leave due to a vacation, you can find the paperwork on the JCS (Menu, students & families, parents & caregivers, Leave of Ed. Value Request Form) and you turn it in 5 days prior to the absence. You then have to turn in final project within 5 days after return to school. You may contact Mrs. Payne for any further clarification on absences.
Lunch Reservations
Due to the lack of space available within our building, we are now asking that parents/guardians make a reservation if you will be bringing outside food to eat along with your student so we have a space prepared for you during these colder months that you cannot eat outside at the picnic tables. Reservations can be made by calling the office at (304) 876-6270. Thank you!
Snow Days!
We have enjoyed 4 free snow days at school, and we still have 1 to use before moving into the next plan of events for inclement weather. If we have more cancellations after the 5th snow day, we will have asynchronous learning for days 6-10 out of school due to weather conditions. Your child's teacher is preparing Choice Boards and/or packets that will be distributed if weather conditions look like they could keep us out of school. Grades 3-5 will have the use of their laptops as well as we would send them home to use CANVAS for assignments as well. More information will be coming to you from the county!
