JSE Tracks April 6th
We are Lil' BEARCATS!
Happy Wednesday JSE! As we wrap-up another week of eLearning, we take time as a staff to reflect, review, celebrate learning accomplishments, and make a plan for the days ahead. We want to provide you with that information going forward. If you have any questions regarding information below, please reach out to Mrs. Barnes!
We are here for you!
Greetings, JSE Families,
We hope your week is off to a good start with the sun shining, learning routines in place, and some fun family time scheduled to change up your week! I don't know about you but the daily family desert baking at my house has reached a new level! And I have a feeling the bunny will hide this year's eggs so it takes us all day long to find them:)
Our teachers THANK YOU for all you are doing to support your child's eLearning and understand this presents a challenge and an extra thing on your already full plates. We would like to extend gratitude to those of you whose careers deemed essential for our community to serve and operate; health care personnel are very near and dear to us and this week we come together as a JSE schoolhouse to create a gratitude picture quilt made by students. I have already received pictures of gratitude from many of our students from the news challenge on Monday's JSE News.
Please know we are all in this together, and we are here to support you and your children in any way we can. We appreciate your feedback and will continue to find ways to improve eLearning experiences for our students and families. Your feedback and insight is valuable to us, please continue to let us know how we are doing!
Please take a minute to read through the important headlines below.
As we say over the announcements each day, "You are loved at JSE!" Proud to be a Bearcat!
Very sincerely,
Leigh Barnes
New Information:
Chromebook Request Form LINK If you have realized a need for a chromebook, please complete the form by to night, Wednesday. evening. We will communicate pick-up information on Thursday.
Video Conferencing through Google: Smiling Faces, Amazing Kids!
Elementary Attendance, Curriculum, Assignments, Grading, and Summer School with extended eLearning
eLearning Curriculum: Our goal is to provide meaningful, connected learning experiences for your children focused on the most essential standards and foundation skills of each grade and subject area. We fully realize there is no way to replicate a full school day and the direct instruction your child would typically receive. With that being said, please be assured that next school year, we will prepare to adjust our classroom curriculum at each grade level to meet the needs of our students in regards to the missed direct instruction as a result of this pandemic. JSE will support students' successful transition back to in-person instruction.
Grades: Kindergarten is already utilizing a skills based report card and Kindergarten teachers will support families in accessing student 4th quarter benchmark skills, more information will be communicated. Students in 1st through 5th grade will continue to receive "grades" for their elearning assignments. We recognize the many factors that affect a student's performance during eLearning, therefore, we are focused on your child doing their personal best in completing their eLearning. Our teachers will continue to work with you and your child to reteach and support your child to achieve passing grades. In 1st through 5th grade, children have a broad range of independence and we understand and encourage you to help your child as much as needed in their learning. We all know that "grades" may not be an accurate level of your child's understanding of the skill or standard assessed and that is okay. We are more focused on your child's learning activity, exposure, and experience with the elearning activities and assignments. Our overall goal is for your child to be engaged in learning, thinking, and applying their knowledge at their level. Our goal is also for elearning not to create a high level of stress for your child or you. Again, please reach out to your child's teacher or Mrs. Barnes for support.
Assignments: Your child has the week and weekend to complete their eLearning work for that week. We know that your support is needed for your child to be successful depending on their grade level and ability, and we encourage you to help your child as much as needed. With that being said, we realize you didn't sign up to be a teacher and many of our families continue to work. If your child has difficulty or is unable to complete an assignment, please work with your child's teacher to make adjustments whenever needed. We are committed to partnering with you!
Progress Reports and Report Cards: Progress reports and report cards will occur through eLearning via Harmony, and your child's teacher will communicate this to you when they are available. You can always check Harmony weekly for grades and assignment completion checks and reach out to your child's teacher regarding their grades.For the 4th quarter, we want to ensure we provide you with a short summary of your child's strengths, areas of progress, and areas of growth. This will assist us all in concluding the school year.
Summer School: At this time, we do not have a plan for summer school, more information will be shared in a timely manner for you to prepare.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: You know your child best and how they are responding to the added stress and unusual situation we are all in. Please be patient and understanding with them. As parents, it is a healthy balance of holding them accountable, challenging them, nurturing and guiding them and also allowing them to pause. Online learning is hard on everyone: It's hard for our students to concentrate when feeling stressed, it's hard for students to stay focused on a screen for periods of time, and it's hard for learning to be engaging without the social interaction we have in classrooms.We are aware of the incredible stress that elearning can have on our students, staff and families. You and your child's emotional health comes first, we all have to do what is best for our family at a given time and on a given day. Each day is new and this situation is ever changing. I can't emphasize enough that we are stronger together and together we will get through this! We are here for you! Thank you for being our partners for your kids!
A message from Mrs. Morton: I am here for you too!
As Mrs. Barnes said, "As a schoolhouse, we want to be a source of strength, kindness, understanding, and assistance to you. We are committed to being there for you and your children. If there are any essential needs we can support you with or any questions or concerns that have not been addressed," please contact us directly via email, lbarnes@union.k12.in.us and Lisa Morton, lmorton@union.k12.in.us.
Free Online Parenting Class: Love and Logic just announced today that during the month of April, their online parenting class (the one we hosted at JSE) is FREE!! You can visit their website at: https://www.loveandlogic.com/collections/classes-and-conferences/products/love-and-logic-parenting-online or here is the link to the YouTube announcement they made this morning:
Parent Resources:
- IDOE List of well-being Resources for Families
- 2020 COVID-19 IDOE list of Remote Learning Resources
Talking to Children About COVID-19: A Parent Resource - National Association of School Psychologists and National Association of School Nurses
Talking with Children about Coronavirus 2019: Messages for Parents, School Staff, and Others Working with Children - Center for Disease Control
HealthyChildren.org - American Academy of Pediatrics
Kindergarten Virtual Round-Up Information: Please share!
Kindergarten Information Presentation LINK: Please click the link to meet our Kindergarten Teachers, Office Staff, Reading Teacher and Principal. The presentation will also include needed August registration information, the daily Kindergarten routine for our students, and other pertinent information for you to support your child preparation for Kindergarten.
Complete the Kindergarten Pre-Registration Form at the LINK.This will save you time during the 2020-21 school-wide online registration in August and allow us to communicate with you via email and text message regarding upcoming school events.
Looking forward to meeting our new class of Lil' Bearcats!
How will we end the school year?
Student Belongings: As more information is relayed from our Governor with the stay-at-home order, we will work to address the need for students to gather their belongings from the year. We will devise a plan for this and communicate that with you as well by the end of the school year.
Nurse's Office: If your child has medication in the nurse's office that is needed, please reach out to Mrs. Barnes.
The "we need something new" techie highlight for this week:
In the google search bar on your iPhone or Android, type in an animal like "tiger" then scroll down a tiny bit and click 'View in 3D'. It brings up your camera and then 30 seconds later you have a tiger in your house! Point to the ground and your tiger will appear for your kids to pose with or walk around. Have fun!
You can find a: lion, tiger, cheetah, shark, hedgehog, duck, Emperor Penguin, wolf, Angler Fish, goat, rottweiler, snakes, eagle, Brown Bear, alligator, horse, Shetland pony, Macaw, pug, turtle, cat, octopus, dog and many more.
PTO News
- Thank you to all who were able to support our Spring Chocolate Fundraiser. Candy has been delivered, if you have not received your candy please email our PTO. Prizes will be delayed, more information to follow.
- Did you know you can email the PTO at johnsimatovichpto@gmail.com with any questions or volunteering information you need?
- All PTO events canceled, including Fun Fair.
- Canceled: PTO Meetings usually occur the first Tuesday of each month at 6PM. Please consider attending the meetings this year, every JSE parent is welcome and encouraged to attend!
Important Dates:
All events canceled, building and playground facilities closed for the safety of our school community.
April 6,8 eLearning Days
April 10 Good Friday, no eLearning
April 13,15,17,20,22,24,27,29 eLearning Days
April 23 Progress Report
May 4,6,8,11,13,15,18,20,22 eLearning Days
May 26 Chromebook Return Date To be Scheduled
May 27 Report Card Available in Harmony
eLearning and Canvas Website LINK information
UPDATE: Grab and Go Breakfast/Lunch Meals for UTSC families in need: Window Pick-Up Time Updated to 11am-12, Tuesday and Thursday only.
Union Township Schools will be providing breakfast and lunch to Union Township students on Tuesday and Thursday. You will be provided enough meal bags to last through the week. The pick-up for any child 18 or younger will be from 11:00-12:00 at the Circle Drive at Wheeler High School. The lunch menu is as follows and will be the same each week:
oTuesday
▪ Breakfast- Chocolate Donuts, Milk, Juice
▪ Lunch- Turkey Sub, Dippers, Fruit, Milk
o
▪ Breakfast- Pop Tarts, Juice, Milk
▪ Lunch- Ham Sub, Chips, Dippers, Fruit, Milk
o Thursday
▪ Breakfast- Chocolate Donuts, Milk, Juice
▪ Lunch- Turkey Sub, Dippers, Fruit, Milk
▪ Breakfast- Cereal, Juice, Milk
▪ Lunch- PBJ, Dippers, Fruit, Milk
o
▪ Breakfast- Pop Tarts, Juice, Milk
▪ Lunch- Chips/Cheese, Salsa, Dippers, Fruit, Milk
You are always welcome at JSE!
Please let us know how we can strengthen our partnership with you!
Leigh Barnes, Principal ext 3001 lbarnes@union.k12.in.us
Barb Rittel, Secretary ext 3000 brittel@union.k12.in.us
Lisa Morton, Home School Advisor ext 3003 lmorton@union.k12.in.us
Kathy Maniszko, School Nurse ext 3002 kmaniszko@union.k12.in.us
Email: lbarnes@union.k12.in.us
Website: http://jsimatovich.union.k12.in.us/
Location: 424 West 500 North, Valparaiso, IN, United States
Phone: (219)759-2508
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/JSEPTO/
Twitter: @JSimatovichElem