Cougar Tracks
Jarrell Elementary Newsletter - January 9, 2023
A message from the Principal!
We have a beautiful and quiet week ahead full of new goals and exciting learning!
I love this time of year when we can settle into our routines. This is such an important time of the year because this is when we see significant growth in our students! For that reason and so many others, it is critical that our students are not only in school but that they arrive on time and stay the entire day. We teach bell to bell at JES and every minute counts! Please help us support your child to reach their maximum potential! As always, if your child has a fever, diarrhea or vomiting, staying home for 24 hours is required!
We are so excited about the spring semester and all that our students will accomplish. We are here to help in whatever way your family may need. Please do not hesitate to reach out with your questions or suggestions.
With gratitude,
Lara Hutchinson
This week!
Upcoming Dates!
Staff and Student Holiday
Wednesday, January 18, 2023
School Board Meeting 6:30
IMPORTANT Daily Deadlines!
7:30 a.m. The back doors automatically lock, and you will need to drive around and walk your child in to the building. PLEASE DO NOT DROP-OFF STUDENTS AFTER 7:30. They must be signed in by a parent or guardian.
1:30 p.m. ALL transportation changes must be made by 1:30 by emailing or calling Stephanie Garcia at (512)-746-2170 or stephanie.garcia@jarrellisd.org.
2:30 p.m. Any student checking out early for an appointment, must be picked up prior to 2:30. Our dismissal processes are already in place by that time making it very difficult to change.
At Jarrell Elementary, we are constantly assessing our systems to make improvements for safety, convenience, and time. Observing these cut-off times helps us ensure the smoothest possible processes! Thank you!
BUS Transportation Changes Begin on Monday!
Please check your SMART TAG for changes to BUS transportation routes.
Transportation has sent communication as well as updating SMART TAG.
Please let us know if you have any questions!
Parent Pick-up Line ProTip!
Thank you so much for all you do to make this process smooth! We are always thinking of ways to safely improve our time on this process!
UIL Academic Contest Season is HERE!
The academic programs of the University Interscholastic League motivate students
- to find new excitement in learning;
- to work with others in a competitive atmosphere;
- to achieve mastery of essential knowledge and skills;
- to test their skills and knowledge;
- to know the satisfaction of a successful performance; and
- to achieve recognition for academic excellence.
If your child is interested in participating in any one of the events below, please reach out to your child's teacher!
We will update you when our district meet will be as soon as we get more details!
U.I.L. Elementary Events
Art (grades 4-8)
The art contest involves the study of paintings from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and paintings from Texas art galleries and museums. Students will demonstrate an understanding of art history, interpret ideas and moods in original artworks and make informed judgments about the artwork. The contest consists of multiple choice and true/false questions and an identification section.
Chess Puzzle (grades 2-8)
Chess teaches problem solving, hones concentration and encourages analytical and strategic thinking. Chess can be a lifelong pursuit. Contestants in chess puzzle receive a paper-and-pencil test that includes a series of chess boards with pieces in particular positions; questions are based on analysis of material or possible moves in each given diagram. The contest is a 30-minute, 20-problem, multiple choice test, plus a tiebreaker.
Creative Writing (grade 2)
Creative writing is designed to promote creativity in an academic format and to encourage writing skills at an early grade level. Through preparation for the contest, students will be able to evaluate their own writing and the writing of others. Students are given five captioned pictures and 30 minutes to write their story about one or more of those pictures.
Dictionary Skills (grades 5-8)
Thorough knowledge of the dictionary is a way to increase a student’s ability to find the information that is needed for classwork as well as everyday living. The subject matter of all tests is taken from Merriam Webster’s Intermediate Dictionary. Students are given 20 minutes to answer 40 objective and short-answer questions.
Listening (grades 5-8)
The listening contest helps students recognize the importance of effective listening skills and to identify problems they may have in listening effectively, a skill they will need throughout their lives. Students are read a script 7-10 minutes long and then must answer 25 objective questions.
Ready Writing (grades 3-8)
Given up to two hours to write an essay on one of two topics, ready writing helps students refine their writing abilities. This contest helps them to learn to write clearly and correctly a
paper that is interesting and original, regardless of the topic area. participation in Ready Writing provides excellent preparation for the writing components of state-mandated testing.
Spelling (grades 3-8)
The spelling contest is designed to give students exposure to a wide variety of vocabulary words. it is not a contest of memorization. for the most educational value, preparation for this contest should include instruction in the rules of the English language, meanings and definitions, and root words. Depending on their grade level, students must spell between 65 and 140 words in 30-60 minutes.
Storytelling (grades 2-3)
To tell a story, the participant must develop skills in listening, interpretative thinking and speaking. Students are read a story, which they must then tell back to the judges. preparing for this contest also allows for the development of creative expression and self-confidence.
Maps, Graphs & Charts (grades 5-8)
The maps, graphs & charts contest is designed to help students learn to get information from world maps, pie charts, bar charts and local area maps. The 75-question objective test that students must complete in 45 minutes measures skills such as using a reference book to locate information, making comparisons, estimating and approximating, using scale and interpreting legends and keys.
Music MeMory (grades 2-8)
The focus of the music memory contest is an in-depth study of fine pieces of music literature taken from a wide spectrum of music genres. Students listen to a portion of each selection on the music list and must list or recognize the composer, the name of the major work and the name of the selection.
Number Sense (grades 4-8)
Being able to perform quick mathematical calculations is the premise behind this contest. the test covers functions appropriate for the grade level, including algebra and geometry. Students are given 10 minutes to complete the fill-in-the-blank test.
Oral Reading (grades 4-9)
As students prepare a piece of prose or poetry to read out loud, they learn to analyze the text\ as a literary critic, to grow and to develop as a performer, to communicate a message to an audience and to perform an artistic creation. all of these apply to the oral reading competition, which should be an extension of the classroom literary and language arts activities in poetry, short stories and childrens’ fiction.
New Year's Resolutions for Kids!
2023-2024 Attendance Zones
As we prepare to open Double Creek Elementary School in the Fall of 2023, we must update our attendance zones. At the start of this process,
our Attendance Zone Committee developed parameters based on enrollment numbers, safety, and other essential factors. Then, our consultants from Zonda Education used that information to draft three proposals to realign our attendance zones.
Your input is critical as we enter the next phase of this process. Click on the link to view the three plans and vote for the one you believe is the most efficient for our community.
We appreciate your time and partnership in this important matter.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with Laura.Buckley@jarrellisd.org for more information.
Parent Partnership Websites
Attached you will find a "how to" to log into Classlink in English and Spanish. We have noticed that parents are having a hard time logging into online apps. Parents must go the Jarrell's Classlink or you might have issues logging in.
If you have any trouble at all, please give us a call. We are happy to help! Your child's classroom teacher can help as well as our Assistant Principals and Principal.
iReady Math Home Resources
Pre-K
This week, Pre-K will review measurements for length and height. We will continue to practice writing sentences that begin with a capital letter and end with a period. Students will be able to recognize that letters have names and sounds and we will focus on the letters Cc, Ii and Rr. Finally, we will review the important role community helpers play in our society.
Esta semana, Pre-K repasará las medidas de longitud y altura. Continuaremos practicando escribir oraciones que comienzan con una letra mayúscula y terminan con un punto. Los estudiantes podrán reconocer que las letras tienen nombres y sonidos y nos enfocaremos en las letras Qq, Tt y Dd. Finalmente, repasaremos el importante papel que juegan los ayudantes comunitarios en nuestra sociedad.
Kindergarten
Please practice sight words and reading at home!
In language arts, we will be talking about kings and queens, your student may get to be king or queen for a day! In science we will begin our life cycle unit and will continue it throughout the 9 weeks and in math we will begin composing and decomposing numbers aka subtraction and addition. Please don't forget to work on sight words and ABCs at home!
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
This is our first full week back this semester, and it will be filled with lots of learning. We will be working on our middle of the year assessments and also making sure that we are preparing for all the learning the spring has in store for us. This week in reading we will be coming to the end of our human body unit, and preparing for our unit assessment. In math, we will still be focusing on multiplication and division word problems and the different strategies we can use to solve these problems. Multiplication fluency practice will begin going home this week, so keep an eye out for this in the backpacks. In science we will be working on life cycles, and we are hoping that we will receive our caterpillars so we can watch them turn into butterflies. Although we rotate science and social studies, we will be documenting this process the entire way until they become butterflies.
4th Grade
Fourth grade is looking forward to seeing all the smiling faces ready to learn! In reading, we begin a new fiction unit where we will review characters and start reading Treasure Island. For math we start working with equivalent fractions. Friction will be our focus in science and in social studies we begin learning about the Texas Revolution. It is going to be an exciting week.
5th Grade
In reading we will be finishing up unit 4 and taking the pretest for unit 5. In science we will be taking a closer look at animals and the ecosystem through food webs. In math we will be focusing on our orders of operations units using the PEMDAS strategy.
LIBRARY
In the library we will be reviewing library expectations and how to pick a "just right" book. We will also be discussing proper book etiquette and how to care for our library books so that everyone can enjoy them.
GT
In January, the GT students will begin investigating careers of their choice and preparing presentations on the chosen careers.
PE
Students will begin the skills of basketball - dribbling, passing, and shooting. They will also continue to add miles to their running totals.
ART
4th &5th Grade - Cubism inspired paintings
2nd & 3rd Grade - 3D Portraits
1st Grade - Cubism inspired color wheel projects
Kindergarten - Coffee Filter Bowls
We are still working on future goals and career exploration. Also, we are talking about the holiday spirit and the traits of giving and kindness for all. In the spirit of giving, we encourage donations of socks for our kids and towels and small blankets for our furry friends at the animal shelter. We will continue our Towels and Tootsies campaign through the end of January.
Guidance Lesson Focus
Jarrell ISD Academic Calendar 22-23
Jarrell Elementary School
Lara Hutchinson, Principal
Jaclynne Bizzell, Assistant Principal (Pre-K/1st/3rd/5th)
Lupita Luna, Assistant Principal (Kinder/2nd/4th)
Allison Tillotson, Counselor (Kinder/2nd/4th)
Laura Lake, Counselor (Pre-K/1st/3rd/5th)
Erika Fuentes, Registrar
Teresa Kurtz, Administrative Assistant
Stephanie Garcia, Receptionist
Website: jes.jarrellisd.org
Location: Jarrell Elementary School, County Road 313, Jarrell, TX, USA
Phone: 512-746-2170
Facebook: facebook.com/JarrellElementarySchool
Twitter: @MrsHutch_JES