Panther Paw Prints
May Newsletter
Dear WJES Families,
Thank you so much for your continued partnership and support to make it a great year, despite unusual circumstances! We have the best students, and we are so proud of their growth and achievement this year! As we head into May, we look forward to continuing with our Mindset, “100% Accountable!” as we finish the year strong! We look forward to a more typical school year ahead and we are already planning!
Do you have a rising Kindergarten or know someone in the community who does? Be sure to contact the school to be a part of Kindergarten Registration for the upcoming school year!
Would you like to be a part of our Innovation/ Career Day on May 14? Feel free to fill out the interest form or contact Ms. Isa Martinez @ imartinez@jcss.us or Ms. Brooks @ mbrooks@jcss.us.
As we wrap up the year, we look forward to celebrating all of our students’ accomplishments and wonderful year of learning at WJES! We will be celebrating and showcasing all our students have learned through their year-long STEAM units on May 20 when we host the GaDOE STEAM coordinators and team. If you would like to partner with us to support our students or if you have any questions or input, please feel free to contact me by phone or email ahardegree@jcss.us or (706)654-2044.
Stay safe, and go Panthers!
Dr. Amity Hardegree
Vision, Mission, and Guiding Principles
Vision-
West Jackson Elementary School seeks to inspire and empower all students to engage and excel in the opportunities of a global society.
Mission-
WJES students can ask questions, think critically and creatively, and work with others to solve problems in their lives, in our community, and in the world.
Guiding Principles-
Students’ learning needs are the focus of all decision making to support academics and the whole child.
WJES provides a highly effective, committed staff and the resources for all students to achieve excellence and reach their full potential.
Through Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), we ensure and celebrate a nurturing, student centered, and respectful environment for learning, where every student is valued and known.
WJES offers a rigorous, authentic, standards-based curriculum, guided by data and research-based, best instructional practices through STEAM based learning experiences.
WJES is a community school, where all stakeholders work collaboratively to support one another to inspire and engage students in connected learning.
At WJES, we embrace a growth mindset and encourage one another to reach challenging goals, while having fun on the journey!
Upcoming Events:
May 3rd: Beach Day - dress up in appropriate beach attire
May 4th: May the 4th Be With You - Star Wars dress up day
May 6th: 5th Grade Science Milestones
May 6th: School Council Meeting 3:30 meet.google.com/xpn-uvka-zse
May 7th: 3rd and 5th Grade ELA Section 1 Milestones
May 10th: 3rd and 5th Grade ELA Sections 1 and 2 Milestones
May 11th: 3rd and 5th Grade Math Milestones
May 12th: 4th Grade ELA Section 1 Milestones
May 13th: 4th Grade ELA Sections 1 and 2 Milestones
May 17th: 4th Grade Math Milestones
May 21st: Pre K, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade Field Day
May 24th: 2nd and 3rd Grade Field Day
May 25th: 4th and 5th Grade Field Day
May 25th and 26th: End of the Year Awards (your child's teachers will stay in touch with date and time)
May 26th: last day of school
Parent University
Here at WJES, we want to help support our students and their families in the best ways we can. In order to do that, we have decided to launch "Parent Universities" which will be short, prerecorded videos published throughout the year with relevant topics to help inform, educate, and guide families on how to best assist their student(s) as well as provide families a chance to learn more about WJES. We would love your feedback on what topics you would like to see discussed in these videos. (Examples include: social and emotional learning/mental health strategies, academics, PBIS/7 Mindsets, our STEAM journey, school vision, distance learning, etc).
If you would like to learn more about specific topics on how you can help your child, feel free to complete the
Parent University Survey. We will create video recordings based on your questions, needs, and feedback and include them on our
launch pad. Please note, we welcome all your feedback and potential topics. We are excited to partner with our families in this new way to learn and grow together.
COVID
We appreciate our open lines of communications with our families. Please help us by notifying us if your child will be absent due to quarantine due to close contact outside of school, or because they have tested positive for COVID -19. We want to ensure that your child is not counted absent during that time, as well as ensure that they have access to their work or digital learning during the time they are at home.
Breakfast and Lunch Menus
Click
here to access the breakfast and lunch menus for May.
2020 - 2021 School Year
Click
here to view the 2020 - 2021 school calendar.
2021 - 2022 School Year
Click
here to view the 2021 - 2022 school calendar. The elementary school hours for next year will be 7:40 - 2:35. The school doors open at 7:15 AM each day
. Any student arriving after 7:40 AM is tardy and will need to report to the office accompanied by a parent/guardian to sign in and get a tardy permit before going to class. Regular and punctual attendance is essential if students are to receive the maximum benefits from the instructional program.
7 Mindsets:
This year we are continuing to focus on the 7 Mindsets, which is our social and emotional learning (SEL) curriculum. During the month of May, WJES is focusing on the mindset "The Time is Now." The Time is Now teaches us the importance of harnessing the power of the moment and taking purposeful action. The simple fact is that all of our power to act and make an impact exists at this moment. We cannot change the past, and the future hasn’t happened, so we must recognize that our only path to happiness, fulfillment, and meaning is to take purposeful action in the present toward creating the lives of our dreams.
Below is the link for the parent newsletter for the current "7 Mindset" - The Time is Now. At the bottom of the second page are cool activities that you can do with your children.
The Time is Now Parent Newsletter-English
The Time is Now Parent Newsletter-Spanish
PBIS Rewards Parent App
Dear WJES Families,
Families and caregivers are key in the implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) in their homes on a daily basis. It is especially helpful when events disrupt normal routines – events like worldwide health pandemics. This practice provides recommendations for families and caregivers on how to use PBIS to continue to support their students’ social and emotional growth and minimize behavioral disruptions in the home. If you need a PBIS code for your student, feel free to reach out to your child's teacher.
Please click here for Parent Information & Resources in English.
Favor de hacer clic Aqui para obtener Información y Recursos de ayuda para promover conducta positiva en el hogar.
Kind regards,
Your PBIS Team
