Jaguar News Journal
August 28 - September 1
From Our Principal
Hello and Happy Sunday! Our first three days of school last week were fantastic, it's so great to have our students in the building! I want to offer a special welcome to our families who are new to the JWE Jaguar Family! We're so glad you are here! As an FYI - this newsletter comes out to all families weekly on Sunday afternoons. It will feature information and photos from the previous week and also general information about what's happening here at school. It will also always have an upcoming events section at the bottom that you can reference for your calendar!
As we dig into a new school year, we would like to encourage families to label lunch boxes, water bottles, sweatshirts, jackets and any other items that could get lost of left during the school day. Putting your child's name on or in items helps us get lost items back to their rightful owners. Last year, we ended up having to donate so many items to charity as our Lost and Found would just get too full. This happened in spite of weeks of announcements and reminders to students and families. We appreciate any effort you can make to help with this!
As a reminder (this is in our handbook) toys, trading cards and lovies/stuffies are not allowed at school. These items can be distracting, can get lost, and sometimes create conflicts. Please communicate with your child's teacher if you have a special circumstance that should be considered. Thanks for your support and for your help ensuring your student leaves these items at home.
We are looking forward to our second week of school this week and hope your student is as well! We thank you for your partnership and support as we seek to promote the success of all students here at John Wayland! It's going to be a great year!
Sincerely,
Sara Hammill
Principal
Random Acts of Twinning in 5th Grade
Transportation Info/Reminders
Thanks for your patience and understanding as we work the kinks out of our bus and transportation routines. It typically takes a week or so to get things ironed out.
Below you'll find specific reminders and information on our pick-up and drop-off procedures Our goal is to keep these routines as safe and efficient as possible.Thanks for your help in doing so!
Drop-Off Reminders:
- Families are asked to say their goodbyes and have students ready with belongings in hand by the time you pull your vehicle up to our unloading zone.
- Our unloading zone is the first three cars back from our drop-off area crosswalk.
- We ask adults to remain in the vehicles so we can keep traffic moving. JWE Staff are happy to help students by opening vehicle doors, putting backpacks on, etc.
- If you have a child who needs help exiting your vehicle or who is in a car seat and cannot unbuckle themselves, please park and walk them up to our entry area.
- For safety reasons, we ask that students unload on the passenger-side of the vehicle whenever possible - this is the side closest to our building during both drop-off and pick-up.
- Please plan to be on campus for drop-off by 8:15 at the latest. Our drop-off doors close at 8:20 sharp.
Pick-Up Reminders:
- Please help your child learn/memorize the number assigned to them so they can respond when it is called. Pick-up numbers are in luggage tags attached to your child's backpack. You received the same number for your vehicle to display during afternoon pick-up.
- We ask you to help your child learn how to enter your vehicle and buckle-in as quickly as possible.
- It's best for students to load on the side of the vehicle closest to the side walks.
- Again, we ask adults to remain in the vehicle. If you have a child who needs assistance, let a staff member know and we will direct you to pull forward so we can keep the traffic flow moving.
Math Games in 2nd Grade
Jaguar Siblings!
Friendships & Outdoor Play!
Attendance Procedures
Regular attendance is such an important thing for our students. The patterns for school attendance start now and families play a huge role in building positive patterns and norms around it. Good school attendance promotes the success of your student(s) and our school. We thank you in advance for your help with this!
Please prioritize school attendance and plan appointments and family trips around our school calendar. If you must travel and your student will miss time at school, please let us know in advance by contacting Ms. Freeman in our office or by reaching out to Mrs. Secord, our Assistant Principal. In these cases it is your responsibility to communicate with both the office and your child's teacher to ensure he/she doesn't fall behind/arrangements are made for making up work and learning content missed.
JWE Student Ambassadors
John Wayland PTO News & Updates
Welcome back to school! In this section of the Jaguar News Journal the PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) will regularly share updates, requests, and meeting details. If you don’t already, consider following us on Facebook for more information. You can also complete this survey to give us your ideas and feedback and share your email if you want to be included on a direct email list. Please note - you do not have to formally “join” the PTO to contribute and support our school! We will regularly send out requests for help via Facebook, email, and during meetings, just follow along to stay plugged in!
This year our meetings will be on the first Wednesday of every month from 6-7 pm. Our meetings will be a mix of hybrid and online, this way during our in-person meetings we will have an option to join online! We hope this will make the meetings more accessible for all families. We will send out the Zoom link through the Jaguar Journal prior to the meeting. Our meeting schedule is pictured below.
Finally, we want to announce our first fundraiser for the year! Starting September 25th, we will be collecting gently used shoes - Men’s, Women’s, Kid’s, all styles and sizes! Over the next few months, we will collect the shoes at the school and in the community. All donated shoes will be redistributed to microenterprise partners through Funds2Orgs, a for-profit social enterprise, and used in developing nations for impoverished people to start their own businesses. So, please save your shoes to help the PTO support our students and teachers at JWES! Also, if you are interested in hearing more about the fundraiser and how you can help, join us at our first meeting on September 6th.
PTO Meeting Schedule for 2023-2024
For Your Calendar
August 29: Planned Fire Drill
September 4: No School - Labor Day Holiday
September 6: JWE Domino's Spirit Night - order from B'water Domino's to Support JWE!
September 22: No School for Students - Professional Learning Day for Staff
September 27: Fall Picture Day
John Wayland Elementary School
Assistant Principal: Diane Secord
Email: jwesattendance@rockingham.k12.va.us
Website: http://jwes.rockingham.k12.va.us/
Location: 801 N Main St, Bridgewater, VA, USA
Phone: 540-828-6081
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnWaylandElementary