Hello families! We are really settling in here at JLD. Drop off and dismissal is going smoothly. The car rider has sped up dramatically and is ending earlier and earlier. Please make sure you are in line by 3:45 at the latest. We have been running out of cars to load with students still here so that means everything is running efficiently! Kiddos are doing a great job with their procedures as well.

Unfortunately, we are still in the middle of a pandemic that has stretched on longer than any of us want. Your kiddos' teachers love teaching and being in person with kiddos. At some point we will be on the other side of this pandemic. So I am certainly hopeful that there are less stressful days ahead of us. In the meantime we are continuing our mitigation. We make every attempt to keep them with their same small group in the classroom, at lunch, and at specials. Students are keeping up with their own lunchboxes and water bottles instead of throwing them in a communal germ collecting basket. So if they are missing something we can help them find it. At recess we have continued our cohort groups and have the playground divided into areas they take turns playing on so that the whole grade is not all squished together. We also have a continued focus on cleaning and sanitizing our surfaces and our air is constantly being turned over and cleaned by the fancy system that the district installed in all of our vents (needlepoint bi-polar ionization). Finally, lots of students are coming in the door with masks on in the morning but I am noticing that they are taking them off throughout the day. If you would like for your student to keep their mask on throughout the day please stress this with them at home and let their teacher know if you would like help reinforcing this practice. Masks get REAL dirty at school. Little guys sneeze directly in them or take them off to eat leaving them on the cafeteria table or dropping them on the floor. If you have a lanyard you may want to hook one to their mask to help them keep it cleaner and you may want to always pack extras in their backpacks.

I am loving getting to know all of our new families and students. It is my goal to know every kiddos name! I am working really hard on this! They are all so very precious to me. Have a great weekend and please see info below on when to keep kiddos home from school. As always if a family member is sick or if you are awaiting test results it is always safest to keep kiddos home and report it to the hotline.

We are a responsive classroom school. Lots of our teachers have been trained in the responsive classroom approach. Morning meeting is an important part of RC. Every classroom, every morning holds a morning meeting. It builds community, helps children get to know each other and is a positive way to start the day.

During morning meeting this week students are sharing their hopes and dreams for the school year. These hopes and dreams develop into classroom rules that maintain community and help them set and reach their goals!