This Week at Jackson
Welcome Back , August 6th
Welcome to the 2021-2022 School Year
It's almost time for the school year to begin! Welcome to the first full-length edition of our weekly updates for the 2021-2022 school year. Please read this over carefully, as it will contain answers about things you may have been wondering about.
We look forward to seeing the students on Wednesday, August 11th!
2021-2022 School Hours
We begin our internal dismissal procedures at approximately 2:15pm, with buses set to leave by 2:25pm and our car line procedure to follow immediately afterward. Please refer to later in this update for more detailed information.
Classroom Placement
Jackson Elementary School Open House
As our returning families know, parking can be tight at Jackson. Please be considerate of others who would also like to get a parking space in order to visit the building. When possible, we encourage you to follow these time suggestions:
5:00-6:00pm, kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade
6:00pm-7:00pm, 3rd grade, 4th grade
We encourage you to bring any school supplies with you this night to make arrival procedures easier for the students the following morning.
During Open House: Popsicles on the Playground
Kindergarten Arrival on the First Day
We know that the first day can be a monumental moment for you and for your child, and that sending your child to school is the first of what will be many milestone moments in Duneland, from now until graduation. But the more you build up the moment of arriving at school and saying goodbye, the more difficult the separation can be for students if they see you becoming emotional or acting out of the norm. The staff at Jackson will take care of your child.
We recommend attendance at the Open House to allow students to quiet any nerves they may have about their first day. We can tell you that most students, once they're a few yards from their parents, get caught up in the excitement of the day and have a blast. It may be hard for the parents, but the kids always do a great job.
Kindergarten Kickoff
Our purpose last year in beginning the Kickoff event was to help acclimate families/students to device usage and navigation as quickly as possible given the challenges we expected to face at that time. Under current conditions, there is not an urgent need to get devices into the hands of our youngest students. We would like to first help students become acclimated to kindergarten before issuing and using devices.
On Tuesday August 17th and Wednesday August 18th, families of kindergarten students will have an opportunity to visit the building to meet with our teachers for a short tutorial on using student devices and navigating the apps commonly used in kindergarten. Teachers will also discuss keys to helping your student succeed in kindergarten this year. There will be two sessions each night, 3:30-5:30pm and 5:30-7:30pm.
Staff Changes for the 2021-2022 School Year
Departures
Mrs. Wheeler, high-ability aide, resigned from her position to spend more time with her family.
Mrs. Fronczak has resigned her position as a 1st grade teacher to spend more time with her daughter, Wavelyn, and her husband. We wish her all the best!
Miss Washo, who filled in during Mrs. Fronczak's leave last school year, accepted a position teaching 2nd grade in South Bend. Best of luck to her as she starts her new school year!
Moves
Introductions
Miss Rekitzke
She will be teaching kindergarten and is in the classroom previously occupied by Mrs. Ridley.
Miss Plinovich
She will be teaching 1st grade and is in the classroom previously occupied by Mrs. Fronczak.
Miss Trunick
Miss Trunick will be teaching 1st grade and is in the classroom previously occupied by Mrs. Urban.
Mrs. Guest
Mrs. Guest will be teaching 2nd grade; we have been lucky to add a section to accommodate the large size of our 2nd grade cohort. She will occupy the previously empty room behind Mrs. Caudle's classroom.
Mrs. Fairbairn
This is the first Jackson has had an instructional coach. Mrs. Fairbairn will be in many of our classrooms helping our teachers further hone their lessons to help our students. She will also be working closely with Mrs. Martin, Mrs. Urban, and Mr. Marshall in a variety of capacities outside of the classroom.
Classified Staff
Mrs. Dondlinger will be moving from lunch/recess aide to instructional aide.
Mrs. Snyder and Mrs. Harris will be new additions to our lunch/recess team.
The School Day
Focus on Interventions
One positive aspect of last year was that we, as educators, learned a great deal about collaboration. Because of the challenges we faced, teachers were having new conversations and experimenting with new methods. In addition to this, many students had different teachers throughout the year as we reorganized the school to meet emerging needs. Although we'd like to avoid reassigning classroom teachers, we love the idea of students benefiting from the expertise of the entire team of teachers.
One of our major focuses as a staff this year is improving as a Professional Learning Community. As part of this, we are learning together by trying new things. Based on the lessons we learned during last year, we intend to experiment with more grouping across classroom lines. We want to move from viewing students as belonging to a single classroom toward belonging to a community of educators, all of whom take responsibility for ensuring students achieve success.
Related Arts Rotations
We will return to rotating related arts classes every three school days. We will also be adding an additional 5 minutes to related arts each day to give students more time to engage in activities within each subject area.
The teachers will handle the rotation details with the students, but if you'd like to know your child's schedule, the calendar and rotation schedule are below. The calendar is color-coded for each rotation: Maroon, Gold, White, Black. It will always repeat in order. To find out which related arts class your child has, you would identify the color for the date and then consult the rotation schedule.
(Example: Your child has Mr. Conway. You want to know what related art your child will have on Monday, August 16. You see that is a gold date. You refer to the chart and see that Mr. Conway's students are in media that day.)
Lunch/Recess
For families new to Jackson, we send students to recess before they eat lunch. Research indicates--which our experience last year supports--that students eat more and are better behaved when they are allowed to play before eating lunch. In turn, they are more ready to learn when they return to class. Recess and lunch periods remain 20 minutes each.
Although the lunch period may feel short compared to a meal at home, students will quickly adjust to it. Please encourage your child to focus on consuming their food rather than socializing. We love to see students having fun with their friends, but it is frustrating when students waste their food by forgetting to eat it.
Arrival and Dismissal Procedures
Bus Stop Times
Do not Park by Building Curbs
Student Devices
Student Device Exchange
2021-2022 School Year and COVID-19
Jackson Elementary School
Email: smarshall@duneland.k12.in.us
Website: https://www.duneland.k12.in.us/Domain/10
Location: 811 N 400 E, Valparaiso, IN 46383, USA
Phone: (219) 983-3680
Facebook: facebook.com/JacksonElementaryDSC