Jeremiah Gray Kindergarten Academy

We have had the most fun with our Spirit Week! Students and staff enjoyed dressing up each day. We hope the Southport Cardinals bring home the win tonight against Bloomington South! GO CARDS!

This week we continued learning about our Cluster strategy of Standing Tall. This week, students learned how to STOP and think before they act. Rather than acting impulsively, students learned several strategies for staying in control!

Students learned how to breathe, count to 10, walk away, or use their words. They also discussed scenarios for when they might use these strategies to make good choices. OUR GOAL is to to build kind, confident learners. Teaching them to manage their impulses is one way to ensure we reach our goal!

At home, if you find your child acting impulsively, ask them if they're being disciplined or impulsive. Encourage them to STOP and think before they act.

Love,
Mrs. Hansell

This year all of our Kindergarten Academies will adopt a new report card and grading period timeline. We have also added a parent-teacher conference!

Our new grading periods are:

• July 25th through October 5th
  
• October 8th through February 8th
  
• February 11th through May 23rd

We will be distributing our first report card at a Parent-Teacher Conference at the end of October. We will be holding conferences when we come back from Fall Break. Please be on the look out for scheduling information to come home from your child's teacher.

Name: Hayley Terrell

Number of years: 14

Family Info: I live with my husband, Matt, my three kids, Max, Jasper, and Lola, and my 2 cats, Hazel and Hal.

Favorite Hobbies: Going to concerts, watching Marvel movies, reading, and playing with my kids.

Interesting fact: I have taught 5 different grade levels!

Name: Rachel Colburn

Number of years: 3 Years

Family Info: My husband, Mat

Favorite Hobbies: watching sports, reading, spending time with family

Interesting fact: My husband and I love Disney World and even went there for our honeymoon!

Name: Uk Lian

Number of years in the profession: 2 Years

Family Info: My Parent, one older Sister and two younger brothers

Favorite hobbies: Watching sports. Hiking.

Interesting fact: I can speak 3 language.

MR. UK IS OUR CURRENT SUPPORT STAFF OF THE YEAR for JGKA!!!!

Thanks to all families for your patience with buses this week. Our transportation department works so hard every year to create routes that are safe and efficient for our students. The first couple of weeks can seem a little hectic, but each day will get better and better!

Here are a few things that might help make the commute to and from school more understandable:

*Kindergartners will only be let off of the bus and released to a parent or designee. Drivers will NOT release your child without an adult present.

*Parents need to be out at the stop, visible to the driver.

*If you are not at the stop when the bus arrives in the afternoon, your child will be brought back to school and you will have to pick them up as soon as possible.

*Kindergartners work hard all day, and often can fall asleep on the bus. If the student is sleeping, they may not hear the driver call their name to get off at that stop. Our drivers are instructed to walk the bus at the end of their route. If a sleeping child is still on the bus, they will be returned to school and we will call you immediately.

*If you are concerned that your child might have missed their stop, you can call the transportation department at (317) 789-6221, or you may call the main office at school (317) 782-2240.

The main thing we want you to know is that we are not going to leave school until all children are safely home. So, if by chance your child misses the stop for any reason, please know we will be here to receive them and keep them safe until you can come get them. We LOVE our Little Giants, and keeping them safe is our number one priority!

A parent or guardian MUST be home to receive children in grades K-2 from the school bus at the end of the school day.

If no one is home upon the young student’s arrival, the child will be returned to the school where the parent will be required to pick up the student. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Also, please remember that Wednesdays are an early release day. Please be at the bus stop 30 minutes earlier on those days.

It is extremely important that your student arrive to school on time. We begin our day at 8:10. Our car-rider line begins unloading at 7:45. We have noticed students arriving as late as 8:45. This puts your child behind in their schedule and missing important academics in the classroom.

Each day we enjoy interacting with our families as they drop off their kids and pick them up. Thank you for your warm greetings and smiles.

We have a concern in the afternoon, and we need your help with it to keep our dismissal safe and efficient.

We have had a number of parents lining up early in front of our building. We prefer that we leave the drive open for parents that HAVE to come up and sign into the building. After 2:20 each day, we need to ask that ALL cars pull into the campus car line. We KNOW waiting is hard, but it really is in the best interest of all students on the Jeremiah Gray campus.

Our site has a preschool, Kindergarten Academy, and Elementary School. We need to have the car line procedures in place so we can swiftly move all three programs.

Thanks in advance for your assistance with this!

• Monday, September 24th - Team Incredibles Field Trip
  
• Wednesday, September 26th - Early Release
  
• Friday, September 28th - Picture Retake Day
• Monday, October 1st - Parent Meeting (6:00 p.m.)
• Wednesday, October 3rd - Bully Prevention Awareness Day (WEAR ORANGE)
• October 6th - October 21st - Fall Break

As part of our increased security measures, we will ask for a government-issued photo ID card (for example: driver’s license, green card) for adults visiting our students. Please be prepared to provide this each time you visit school.

In order to ensure safety of our students, all volunteers will need to complete a NEW background check yearly. This replaces the old version where parents only completed one background check during their child's elementary school career.

The new background check is only $5 and can be completed online. The link for the background check is included below. Please do this soon as it can take several days to process a background check! This background check will be good for the 2018-2019 school year. A new background check will need to be completed each school year.

Background Checks are Needed for:

• Volunteering in school and classroom
• Attending field trips
• Helping at class parties
• Working with other students
• Other times as deemed appropriate by school administration

http://www.perryschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/VOLUNTEER-POLICY-2018.pdf

Summer may be over, but we’re ready to continue the fun this school year! The YMCA of Greater Indianapolis is proud to be the before and after school provider in Perry Township. We provide enrichment programming for children in an environment where they can learn, grow, and thrive in a safe environment! For more information, or to register for the YMCA Before and After School Program, please visit us at www.indymca.org/youthdevelopment.

This week, INDOT is planning to begin construction on I-465 between I-70 and I-65 on the southwest side of Indianapolis. I-465 eastbound is scheduled to close at 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 14 and reopen by Monday, Sept. 24. Then, I-465 westbound is expected to be closed at 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 28 and will reopen by Monday, Oct. 8. While the project won’t directly impact our bus routes, we may experience delays as thousands of cars are rerouted onto the roads that many of our buses travel.

Website: http://www.perryschools.org/jk/
Location: 5225 Gray Road, Indianapolis, IN, United States
Phone: (317) 782-2240
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JGKALittleGiants/
Twitter: @JGKAPrincipal