Our first month of school is nearing completion and we have had a fantastic start to our 23-24 school year. We have started to develop a rhythm and routine and our students and staff members are working hard to make this the best year possible. I have some updates and reminders for you:

1. Please make sure that you have "paired" with your child's teacher in CANVAS (a pairing code was provided, if you were new to SJES at the beginning of the year) so that you are "in the know" about all things happening in your child's classroom. This is our main source of communication between the teachers and caregivers.

2. Please consider downloading the Jefferson County Schools' app so that you are aware of any school or PTO events at SJES, any changes in your child's schedule, any school closures, etc.

3. Thank you to everyone who is using the "submit an absence" link for attendance (on our school webpage). This helps streamline the attendance process for us and is greatly appreciated! You can also upload doctor's notes on that link, if needed.

4. Thank you to everyone who attended our Outdoor Movie Night and helped support our Faculty Senate scholarship for a deserving WHS senior. Your support was generous and we are grateful!

5. As always, if you have questions, concerns, suggestions or positive feedback, we are always here to listen and take notes. Part of our success is directly a result of the relationships that we establish between home and school. We are in a partnership and want to work together for the success of all of our students.

Happy Fall, everyone!

Ms. Mahoney

Principal

*Kindergarten is off to a great start! ☺ The children have been working hard to learn all the rules and routines that come along with being in a classroom and being in a school setting. Please continue to discuss and review these rules and procedures at home with your child. We also need your help in helping your child learn how to open all their snack food packets and/or lunchbox items and containers.

*As the chilly days start to approach, please make sure your child has a light jacket to wear and please make sure that you put your child's name in his or her coats, jackets, sweatshirts, etc.

*Please have your child practice writing their first name, cutting on a line, and coloring in the lines.

*During the month of October Kindergarten will learn about our 5 senses! We will also continue to work on line formations to help us with learning how to write our letters. We will blend sounds to make words and change sounds in words to make new words. They will learn about compound words. In math we will continue to sort and compare objects and numbers and will continue to learn about numbers 0-5.

*Our Kindergarten students did a great job with their AIMSweb benchmark assessments in Early Literacy and Early Numeracy!

*Kindergarten is excited about upcoming visits from the Middleway Fire Department and our Field Trip to Orr’s Farm!

*Thanks for playing an active part in your child’s development and education thus far! Our hopes are to make your child’s first year of school a successful and memorable one! ☺

The Kindergarten Team

Happy FALL! The students are adjusting to their new routines. Please discuss school expectations with your child. Our primary means of communication this year are email and CANVAS. If you have not already done so, please log in using the code sent via your child’s teacher. If you need any additional help, please let us know and we will do our best to help you set up your account. We continue to use the CKLA Language Arts curriculum your child started in kindergarten, if they attended kindergarten in JCS. In the skills component, we have been working on consonant and short vowel sounds and word patterns (spelling and reading) associated with these sounds. We are incorporating new sight words (tricky words that don’t follow the sound patterns we have learned) weekly. In our knowledge component, we are learning about the five systems of the human body and how they work. The kids are very interested in this! In math, we have been working on gathering, graphing, and interpreting data (graphing), learning automatic recognition (subitizing) of numbers 1-20 expressed different ways (dots, tally marks, words, numerals, fingers, etc.), and recognizing 2dimensional and 3 dimensional shapes and their properties. We will begin adding and subtracting numbers within 20, and solving story problems using these skills. Fall has arrived so please make sure your child has a jacket or coat, as we go outside every day. Please make sure to write your child's name inside coats and sweatshirts/sweaters.

These are some helpful things your child may need daily/occasionally:

• Water bottle • Snack for the end of the day • Headphones • Change of clothes • Art shirt

Thank you for your continued support!

The First Grade Team

The second graders are off to a fantastic start so far, and we are looking forward to a wonderful year ahead! We have already been hard at work learning classroom and school expectations. We have also been diving right into our CKLA Skills and Knowledge Units, reading “The Cat Bandit” and various Fairy Tales and Tall Tales. We have even had a few spelling tests and reading assessments. In math, we have been enjoying our Geometry unit by exploring and creating 2-D and 3-D shapes. As a reminder, please check your child’s agenda every week for the spelling list and other important events. It is also important to check your child’s purple communication folder every evening for notices, forms, or homework. You can also place notes to the teacher in the purple folder, or you can send a message in CANVAS. If you have not already signed on to CANVAS, please do so. We will be sending important CANVAS messages about classroom activities, field trips, and other information throughout the year. The second grade team would like to thank everyone for all the generous classroom donations that we have already received. We truly appreciate everything that you do to support us. The 2nd Grade Team

Hello families! We are having a wonderful start to the school year with your child. Routines and expectations are in place. We are working on several skills that you can help support and reinforce at home. In Math we are learning about multiplication as equal groups. In Science we are studying weather and cloud types. In Social Studies we have been learning our location and various map skills. In Reading our students have been reading Classic Tales and practicing skills such as sequencing, themes and building stamina to read on our own for longer periods of time. Finally, in Writing we are starting to learn about giving our opinion on a topic and supporting that opinion with detailed reasons. These skills are ones you can talk to your child about and practice at home. Please encourage your child to read each evening. We would also recommend that you encourage your child to practice math addition and subtraction facts to build fluency. Reach out to your child’s teacher if you have any questions or concerns!

Sincerely, Ms. Cox, Mrs. Mangum and Ms. Potts

Fourth grade has had a wonderful start to the school year! As the year progresses, the fourth-grade content will become more challenging and expectations will increase,. Please help us remind your children to utilize a growth mindset. In English Language Arts, students are learning to write descriptive sentences and five or more sentence paragraphs with a clear topic sentence, supporting details, and a clear, memorable conclusion. Students have also been learning about character traits, cause and effect, sensory details, and punctuating dialogue. In math, students have been reviewing mental math strategies, multi-digit addition and subtraction, and multiplication facts. Next up will be a unit about fractions. Great ways to practice at home include cooking using measurements and measuring length using whole units, halves, fourths, eighths, thirds, and sixths. There are many other ways you can help your child at home including having them practice addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts daily, learning typing skills, working on writing skills, and having your child read every day.

The 2023-2024 school year has started off great. The 5th grade students are adjusting to the daily schedule and going to their lockers. In math, most students are adjusting well to the challenges of 5th grade math. Please take advantage of the math video resources on Canvas as well as the weekly Cool-Downs to help prepare for graded assignments. To access the videos, students will need to log in to their student account. Looking ahead in math, we will be working with fractions. We will investigate fractions as quotients (division), multiply fractions by whole numbers, and multiply fractions by fractions. All with visual representations. By the end of October, we may be ready to divide fractions as well. Thank you for your continued support at home. We know that the adjustment to fifth grade can be stressful at times, especially with regards to math. In ELA, we are moving through the first unit on personal narratives. We have been busy reading and writing our own personal narratives using the TIDE & POWER writing process. Looking ahead, we will begin studying ancient Mayan Civilizations. In science, students will investigate matter, learning that matter is anything that has mass and takes up space, ways that matter can be measured, and what the three states of matter commonly found on Earth are: solid, liquid and gas. Social studies will have the students dividing the United States into regions, knowing the location of all 50 states, and the geographical features, vegetation and climate of each region

Guidance lessons for the month of September focused on harassment. Kindergarten through second-grade were read picture books and participated in a discussion using a Power Point slide show. Students learned that they have the right to not be touched or bothered while they are in school and they also learned/reviewed the actions they can take to find help if they need it. Grades three and four also viewed and discussed the Harassment Power Point. After the discussion they watched a brief video and worked on an art therapy paper that reinforced some of the actions they can take if they need support. Grade 5 lessons focused on sexual harassment; this lesson is meant to build confidence and empower students, as they are reassured that their personal boundaries must be respected, and if they are not, there are adults around them who can help. These lessons used an informative booklet and art therapy paper, as well as the Power Point. If you have questions, please call me anytime at 304-728- 9216.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I greatly appreciate all the art donations this year. Students have thus far made a collaborative mural for the hallway as our first project. It’s an optical artwork made up of cubes in the style of artist “Thank You X.” I am so impressed how much the students have grown as artists over the summer. Upcoming this quarter Kindergarteners are learning about different types of artworks such as: self-portraits, collages, and sculptures. First graders are drawing self-portraits about how they help out at home. They are also discussing the life and art of Yayoi Kusama and her patterned creations. Second graders are using their names as works of art and reviewing patterns as seen in Gustav Klimt’s paintings. Third graders are reviewing the color wheel and working on painting skills. Fourth graders are adding value to their color wheels and introducing intermediate colors. Fifth grade is discussing color theory and the variety of color schemes available to choose from for their radial symmetry project. I look forward to seeing what is to come this year!

Thank you so much to those that stopped in during Back to School night. We have had an awesome start to the school year! I wanted to thank you for your timely response with permission slips and signing your children up for the Birthday Book Club! The July, August, and September birthday babies just recently picked out their books to be donated and they were so very proud. Your donations are going to help us get over 100 new books in the library! Fourth graders have worked hard to earn their National Park Passes through the Every Kid Outdoor Program. Can’t wait to hear about their fun adventures! The students at SJES will be coming home with lots of animal facts, so be ready! We are starting a nonfiction unit where we will be doing some animal sizing comparisons using Steve Jenkins books. Really excited to see how we all size up! Thanks again for all of your support and keep reading! 💜Mrs. Moody

Physical Education classes are well underway, and I would like to thank everyone for remembering their sneakers for P.E. Day. The safety of your children in my class is my number one concern! This year I am starting to use a positive behavior system that focuses on catching the students being kind, helpful, wearing the proper shoes, participating and giving a best effort. As students are held accountable for the usual rules, they will score extra points for going above what is expected. I have already seen an increase in friends helping friends and students volunteering to help, even if not asked. I am excited to see how this new system shapes our students into polite, responsible young students. The fifth grade decided to start a unit on throwing and catching along with teamwork and cooperation and it is going very well. We will be dividing into teams and learning about the techniques of throwing and catching as well as building our hand-eye coordination. The fourth grade will be starting their soccer unit after their “try-outs” and will also be on a team with student coaches, fitness trainers and players. Third grade will continue to develop teamwork and cooperation through our Team building unit. Our focus is not on winning, but playing with integrity, honor, and sportsmanship. Second grade has already started throwing and catching activities and will be playing games that focus on these skills. First grade is in the beginning phases of throwing, working on stepping in opposition, proper hand movement and releasing toward their target and will play games that develop these skills. Lastly, kindergarten has been working on balancing, spatial awareness, listening for cues and of course…parachute!

The Healthy Choice Ambassadors is starting for 5th grade students on day 1 for specials during lunch. Fourth grade will have an opportunity later in the year to learn about HCA, what we do, and how to make a difference. We are going to do everything in our power to ensure that each student understands the value of healthy decisions and lifestyle choices. A major focus of our group is to provide suggestions and activities for the students to gain a better understanding of what Health means and how to make the right choices when it comes to health. We will begin the year with our Treats for Troops campaign and that will be the week after Halloween. In the years past, we have donated over 2,000 pounds of candy to troops worldwide and have expanded the campaign to two schools. Please feel free to donate candy, toothbrushes (to help prevent cavities from all that candy) and other essentials during this campaign. We would love to involve more schools and businesses, so if you would like to get involved please email, Mr. Atkins at catkins@k12.wv.us. I am looking forward to another great showing!

Welcome back to the 2023-2024 school year! I am excited to work and care for our students this year! I hope you all had a great summer!

COVID/ Flu If your student tests COVID or Flu positive, I ask that you report it to the school as I keep track of SJES positive cases. I do ask any students who do test COVID positive to quarantine for five days from symptoms start date; please give the school a call and we can work out their date to return to school together. Students do not have to quarantine based on another member in the house being COVID positive although I do recommend carefully monitoring children for symptoms. If your student tests Flu positive the doctor will advise you on what to do and when it is safe for them to return to school.

Medications Allergy and asthma medications, rescue inhaler and Epi-pens can save a life! If your child needs one of these rescue medications, it requires an updated doctor order every school year and for an adult to drop off the medication to the nurse. Any emergency medication present in the clinic for your student will be sent with the teacher on field trips and the teachers will be trained to administer them, if necessary, during the field trip. If needed, I strongly recommend getting the paperwork from your doctor and dropping off your child’s rescue medication. All medication that was not collected from the previous school year has been disposed of per school policy. Please reach out to me if you need me to send home a Medication Order Form with your child. Most doctor’s offices already have this form on file and can fax the completed form to the school. SJES’s fax number is (304)725-6052. Safety PLEASE be sure that the school has a current and working phone number of a parent or guardian in the in the event your child needs your attention. If your child has a health condition or needs special care while at school, for example, medications, treatments, or monitoring, please inform the school nurse or office.

Dietary needs If your student has special dietary needs a new form has to be completed and signed by a guardian/ parent and a doctor every school year. The cafeteria can accommodate but we must have the proper forms completed before they are able to make purchases to provide the appropriate food. The cafeteria does not serve peanuts or tree nuts in its menu. The form does need to be signed by a physician. If you need a dietary form, please reach out to the school and I will send one home with your student. I look forward to another great school year. If you have any questions, you can reach me on the school’s office number at 304-728-9216.

Danielle Tuitele, RN School Nurse

What is the PTO?

Our Parent Teacher Organization's mission is to enthusiastically work in partnership with parents, students, and community members to challenge and motivate our students to become caring, responsible and productive citizens in a global society. We will inspire our students to believe in themselves and their ability to achieve their dreams. We will empower each student with the skills, knowledge and desire necessary for continued learning within a safe, positive, and nurturing environment by supporting enrichment opportunities such as STEAM, assemblies and field trips. We have public meetings monthly, on the second Tuesday. Our next meeting will be on October 10th at 7 pm, in the SJES cafeteria. Please join us to learn more about the upcoming events, progress toward fundraising goals, and volunteer opportunities!

Save The Dates!

● Tuesday, October 10 through Thursday, October 12 - The School Store returns! Grade levels have a designated day each month to shop at the school store; most items cost between $0.25 to $4.00; children are responsible for their own money, and we’ll have volunteers to assist with money counting

● Saturday, October 21 - Trunk or Treat event at SJES, 6 pm; sign up for car decorating competition via Sign-Up Genius

● Friday, November 3 - Chuck E. Cheese (Winchester, VA) fundraiser, 3-9 pm

● Sunday, December 10 - Winter Event - this may seem like a long time away, but we need several adult volunteers to make this successful. Please save this date! The Sign Up Genius will be coming soon.

Contacts: President: Karisma Neely; Vice President: April Davis; Secretary: Jessica McIntosh; Treasurer: Amber Fuller

Contact us at SJESPTO@gmail.com or on Facebook at South Jefferson Elementary PTO

SJES PTO Approved Budget 2023-2024

$1200 - Teacher Appreciation

$2500 - STEAM

$200 - Start Up

$180 - Insurance

$700 - Water

$250 - Paper (For Newsletters etc.)

$450 - Field Day

$750 - Parent Teacher Conf.

$2500 - Assembly/Arts

$150 - Postage

$3000 - Specialist's Fund

$3000 - Special Events

$7,500 - Funds for each grade level

$300 - Kindergarten Recognition

$300 Fifth Grade Recognition

Total Expenses = $22,980

Principal's Email: kmahoney@k12.wv.us

Assistant Principal's Email: lajenkins@k12.wv.us
Jefferson County Schools: jcswv.org

Download the JCS App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/jefferson-county-school-dist/id1571165975

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