Pepper Goes To FLYNN School
In 1962 Look magazine featured a photo spread titled “Pepper Goes to School”.
In 1957 Ricky Millhouse of Burlington started attending kindergarten at the John J. Flynn School. His dog Pepper accompanied him. Ricky’s teacher, Dorothy Murphy allowed Pepper to stay in class, finding the pup’s interactions with the kids to be a positive. Time passed, and in the fall of 1958 Ricky moved on to first grade. Pepper still accompanied him to school, but instead of following him to first grade, Pepper continued to line up with the kids for Miss Murphy’s next kindergarten class. Pepper continued doing this each year, at least until 1962 when the Look feature ran.
Attached are all of the photos and captions from that Look feature.
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Principal's Corner
Greetings Flynn Families,
We're wrapping up our first full week of school here at JJ Flynn, and the year is off to a positive start!
Next week, JJ Flynn will hold its Open House on Thursday, September 22nd from 5-7pm. The two main goals of Open House are to learn a little bit from teachers about what will be happening in their classrooms this year and to build collaborative and reciprocal partnerships between families and staff. Families are experts when it comes to supporting their own children, and at JJ Flynn, we want to make sure that family expertise is honored in how we support all students in their learning and development.
Open House will be a casual time for families and staff to start building collaborative relationships which will be foundational to supporting all JJ Flynn students throughout the school year.
Our hope is that families and staff have a chance to connect by talking to each other and engaging in activities. Play and joy are foundational to trusting relationships, and the goal is for there to be space for joy/play at our Open House.
We look forward to welcoming families to the building, so we can all get to know each other better!
In partnership,
Nikki
Counselor's Corner
Hello Flynn Families!
Happy Friday!! It has been so much fun hopping into classrooms and getting acquainted with students as the school year has begun. As the mental health supports at school, we would like to introduce our roles so that you are aware of the services we offer here at Flynn!
The role of a school counselor: Your school counselors this year are Jill Everett (K-2) and Emily Russen (3-5)! School counselors work to maximize student social/emotional/educational
success, promoting access and equity for all students. School counselors assist students by
helping to apply academic achievement strategies, manage emotions and apply interpersonal skills. This is seen through providing:
★ Classroom instruction
★ Small group intervention
★ Short-term (6-8 weekly sessions) individual counseling/check ins
★ School counselors can also provide parental support, support home/school liaisons, and
provide referrals to outpatient services
★ School counselors respond to any crisis situations that arise
★ School counselors respond as behavioral support as needed
★ School counselors participate in the Educational Support Team process for students in need of additional educational and/or behavioral intervention support
The role of a school psychologist: Flynn’s school psychologist is Laura Ellis! She has worked at Flynn for six years and loves making positive connections with students and families. Laura is passionate about restorative practices and teaching students how to empower positive change in their lives and promote student voice at school. The role of the school psychologist includes (and is not limited to):
★ Conducting initial special education evaluations as well as re-evaluations
★ Facilitating the Educational Support Team process for students in need of additional
educational and/or behavioral intervention support
★ Consultation regarding behavioral programming for students
★ Teaming and consultation for students with IEP and 504 Accommodation Plans
★ Small group intervention
★ Short-term (6-8 weekly sessions) individual counseling/check ins
★ Conducting assessments where a threat may be present in the school community
★ Providing support for restorative practices work in the school community
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the services we provide, please feel free to reach out!
Enjoy your weekend!! 🌞
PTO CORNER stay informed
Interested in the Flynn PTO? If you are an adult in the life of a Flynn student,
you are already a member! We invite you to participate in the PTO in a way that
works for you!
Here is the link to our meeting minutes from our meetings this year:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1k6WbpEDxIqqodGc3S8gLqxHVymVG2aZI?usp=sharing
Below are a few ways to get involved:
- Come to a meeting! Our next meeting is October 6th. In-person and online attendance options are available, and if you come in-person, childcare is available.
Shout out to the wonderful Ms. Wanda!!
Google meet link:
https://meet.google.com/fuj-omkp-bnv
Sign up to help at an event! We can always use people to set-up, clean-up, add some sparkle, etc. Here are some of the events you can look forward to this year:
- Back to School BBQ
- Outerwear Swap
- Skate Night
- Family Dance
- Fifth Grade Graduation Ceremony
- Family Traditions Night
- Teacher Appreciation Luncheon
- Apparel/ Logo Store
Speaking of events...if you have a passion for the stage and want to get involved, look no further! The PTO is looking for a volunteer to spearhead the production of the Flynn play. It is put on by the 3rd , 4th , & 5th grade students in conjunction with the Very Merry Theater. If you are interested in hearing more, please reach out to us via email (flynnschoolpto@gmail.com).
Choose J.J. Flynn as your AmazonSmile beneficiary. When you shop on Amazon, a percentage of what you spend gets donated to the PTO at NO cost to you!
How to sign up for AmazonSmile
How to use AmazonSmile on a web browser:
1. Visit smile.amazon.com
2. Sign in with the same account you use for Amazon.com
3. Select your charity
4. Start shopping! Remember to checkout at smile.amazon.com to generate donations for your chosen charity.
Tip: Add a bookmark to make it easier to shop at smile.amazon.com.
How to use AmazonSmile using the Amazon app on your mobile phone:
1. Open the Amazon Shopping app
2. Navigate to the main menu (≡)
3. Tap on Settings and then select “AmazonSmile”
4. Select your charity and then follow the on-screen instructions to turn ON AmazonSmile in the mobile app
5. Once AmazonSmile has been activated in your app, future eligible app purchases will generate a donation for the charity you have selected.
Note: The tablet app is not yet supported. Please visit smile.amazon.com/on the go to learn more.
Donate via Venmo. The PTO is a non-profit organization that relies on fundraising to continue its support of the Flynn community. If you are able to give a monetary donation to support the PTO programming, then it’s easy—send donations to @jjflynnpto
Scan those Box Tops! Remember Box Tops? Yes, they are still around but with a modern twist! Gone are the days of cutting out the Box Tops from your boxes and containers. Now there’s an app for that!
Click this link to download the app:
https://www.boxtops4education.com/s/get-the-app
When prompted to find a school, type in the zip code ‘05408’ and choose Flynn from the choices and you are ready to start scanning those receipts!
Greetings Fantastic Community!
Ms. DiMasi here from the PE department!
This Fall and Spring we have an amazing opportunity where Kids on the Ball will be joining PE classes to enhance the game of tennis in our school! Jake, the instructor, has been doing this for a very long time. He donates his time to the Burlington community as well as other communities in order to teach basic tennis skills and fun lead up games so that kids will continue to participate in learning the awesome game of Tennis!
“Mission statement: Changing lives…one ball at a time.
Our goal is to play the next ball, literally and figuratively, while being constantly aware of the opportunity to teach much more than tennis.
Daily time on a tennis court with youth provides us many teachable moments. The resulting relationships are the cornerstone of a happy, healthy and well-balanced life. Kids on the Ball is about relationships and respect. We’re teaching life lessons disguised as tennis.”
They will be coming September 12th - 16th
Library Corner
September 9, 2022
Dear Flynn Families,
This letter is to offer a few answers to some Frequently Asked Questions. If you have other questions, however, please don’t hesitate to reach out with a note or an email to me, Amy Cudney, Library Teacher: acudney@bsdvt.org.
When will library book circulation start?
Wednesday, Sept. 14th
Because of our three day and four day first weeks of school, some students will not have had their first library class until Monday, Sept. 12. We take a few classes to remind ourselves about book care and library routines before bringing library books home.
How many books can a student check out?
Our first week of library book check out, students will all be invited to choose 1 book!
After that first book is successfully returned to the library, students will be allowed to have as many books checked out as their grade in school.
Kindergarten and 1st grade - 1 book at a time
2nd grade - 2 books at a time
3rd grade - 3 books at a time
4th grade - 4 books at a time
5th grade - 5 books at a time
If you are interested in being able to have more library books at home than your child is able to check out, please stay tuned for more information about opening a Flynn School Family Library account.
When should library books be returned?
The computer checks out books to students for two weeks.
For Kindergarten and 1st grade students, however, please try to return your library book every week so that a student can always choose a new book during library class.
In 2nd grade it’s nice if at least one book comes back every week for the same reason.
If a student is at their checkout limit on their class library day, they will be invited to choose a new book that will be put on hold for them until the other book(s) comes back.
What if a library book gets lost?
Let’s start by assuming that will never happen! But if it does, it should not be the cause of stress. I usually just ask students to write an apology letter for forgetting to take care of their library book. No fines. No replacement costs. Just your best effort to keep track!
Thanks for your help in showing our young readers how great a good book can be!
Yours, Amy Cudney , Library Teacher acudney@bsdvt.org
When is my student’s library day?!
Mondays:
Campanelli’s 4th grade
Michalski’s 2nd grade
Peterson’s Kindergarten
Tuesdays:
Hodgson’s 1st grade
Brooks’ 1st grade
Wednesdays:
Asaro’s 5th grade
Mack’s 4th grade
Tinson’s 3rd grade
Tremblay’s Kindergarten
Thursdays:
Simmon’s 5th grade
Haggerty’s 2nd grade
Nido’s Kindergarten
Fridays:
Brown’s 5th grade
Giannoni’s 4th grade
Abbey’s 3rd grade
Bloomberg’s 2nd grade
Monahan’s 1st grade
Girls in Aviation Day
This event is free and open to elementary, middle, and high school age students and their family. Our goal is to inspire young students and provide opportunities for them to meet an array of female pilots, see and tour various aircraft, fly multiple flight simulators, and enjoy other fun aviation themed activities.
Event Location: Beta Technologies, 1150 Airport Drive, South Burlington, VT 05403
Parking Location: 1130 Airport Drive, South Burlington, VT 05403
Date: September 24th, 10am-2pm
Admissions: Free
Registration: Not Required
A fun, free opportunity to come check out all things aviation! Please see the attached flyer for more information!
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