Dolphin Update
Jones Dolphins Make a SPLASH!
The week of October 16th...
For Translation...
Click on "Translate Newsletter" and select language of choice to translate letter.
*Arriba de esta pagina haga click "Translate Newsletter" y seleccione el idioma "SPANISH"*
*Nhấp vào "dịch Newsletter " và chọn ngôn ngữ của sự lựa chọn để dịch thư "VIETNAMESE"*
*انقر فوق "ترجمة النشرة الإخبارية" وحدد اللغة التي تختارها لترجمة الرسالة. "ARABIC"*
Our Learning Community...
An important letter was sent home with your child on Friday. If you did not get a chance to read it, here is a copy...
Dear Dolphin Families,
Around this time every year, our district works with schools to balance staffing based on enrollment. Although as a district we do our best to forecast enrollment each spring, come fall student enrollment does not always match our projections. To ensure that our schools have staffing levels that are aligned with their enrollment, some schools must reorganize. In our case, enrollment is low and a teacher is being reassigned to a new school site where enrollment is high.
It is incredibly hard to say good-bye to our long time colleague Ms.Carson. She has been an integral part of our campus her entire teaching career and will be deeply missed! Our loss is another site’s gain and we will send Ms.Carson off with so much love as she embarks on a new exciting journey. With one of our teachers transferring, we must reorganize our kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms (all other grade levels will stay the same).
Beginning October 18th, Jones will have the following classrooms…
UTK - Mrs.Dungo/Mrs. Franco
Kindergarten - Ms. Graves
Kindergarten/1st Grade - Ms. Wolfe
1st Grade - Ms. Anderson
1st Grade - Mrs. Higdon
2nd Grade - Ms. Ruiz
2nd Grade - Ms. Colarusso
3rd Grade - Mrs. Leckner
3rd Grade - Ms. Webb
4th Grade - Ms. Sottile
4th Grade/5th Grade - Mrs. Elzien
5th Grade - Mrs. Petersen
We are committed to supporting students, families, and staff during this transition. The reorganization process is a team effort, please know that every effort will be made to cause the least amount of disruption to students. Change is not always easy, however, we have a systematic plan in place to make this transition as smooth as possible for all of our amazing students. If your child is impacted by the reorganization, a separate letter with their new classroom assignment will be included with this letter.
Timeline:
10/13 Reorganization Letter sent home to all families
10/13 Individual letter sent home to Kindergarten & 1st Grade students with a new classroom assignment
10/16 Classroom teachers will talk about the news of the reorganization with their students during their morning meeting
10/17 Students will meet their new teacher and classmates
10/18 Students will start in their new classroom
We understand that any level of transition requires care and compassion for our students and educators who are impacted. We sincerely appreciate your understanding and support as we make this transition.
Highlights from last week...
Ms. Ruiz, Ms. Sottile, and Mrs. Elzien's classes are currently in a weekly Art rotation with Mrs. Schwartz and Mr. Patrick.
All classrooms will participate in this incredible art opportunity fund by our Jones PTA.
Students are currently being inspired by the abstract expressionism of Alma Thomas and Dale Chihuly.
Ms. Carrie from the Serra Mesa-Kearny Mesa Public Library came to visit. She attended our Back-To-School Night creating library cards for our students and came back to make sure everyone received one! Now all of our students have a local library card!
Local San Diego Fire Fighters visited the Jones 2nd Graders. Students have been immersed in a unit reading and comparing text selections about the government and our community to understand what they do and why it is important.
Mrs. Higdon found John Paul Jones in Washington D.C. as she represents our school during the America's Healthiest Schools recognition ceremony.
Supporting Safe Learning Environments And Denouncing Violence
As our Superintendent, Dr. Lamont Jackson shared in his email on Wednesday, our hearts and thoughts are with our students, staff and families impacted by the horrific events and the loss of innocent civilians in Israel and the loss of innocent civilians in Gaza. We condemn violence of any kind, whether in our city, or around the world.
He called on all of us to ensure we provide safe spaces for all members of our community to learn about what is happening and to process their emotions. The following guide for educators, families and students was shared in his email and we would like to offer a few more resources that could be supportive to your family...
- Here is an article about How to Talk to Kids About What's Happening in Israel Right Now. The article is divided up by age-groups from preschool through high school.
- Jewish Resources for Coping with Acts of Terror and Violence offers guides for speaking to children about tragedies.
- This resource can help when talking to children who are newer to social media use about the positives and downsides of social media.
If your child is in need of additional support, please reach out to our school counselor Ms. Vu at nvu@sandi.net.
Looking Ahead...
October
16 - Make-Up Picture Day
16-20 - Red Ribbon/Healthy Habits Week
16-26 - PTA Spooky Gram Sales
18 - PTA Julian Pie Fundraiser Begins
24 - SSC/SGT Meeting
19 - California Shake-Out: Earthquake Drill
27 - Fall Festival
31 - Costume Parade
November
9 - Extra Minimum Day (UTK-5th)
10 - No School: Veterans Day
13 - Julian Pie Pick-Up (Orders due on or before Nov. 1)
13-17 - Conferences: Minimum days: Dismissal at 11:40/11:50 all Week
13-17 - Scholastic Book Fair
16 - Turkey Trot
20-24 - No School: Thanksgiving Break
28 - SSC/SGT Meeting
Upcoming Events...
Additional Resources for Families...
Xello
Xello for Elementary students helps spark curiosity about the future! San Diego Unified has emailed families access to the Xello Family Portal, so that you can help our youngest learners develop a solid foundation for future success. On the Xello platform, students can formulate the building blocks of meaningful life and career development, setting them up for smoother transitions in school and life.
Jones Elementary
Check out our school website for PeachJar Flyers, Counseling Resources, Family Handbook, Staff Contact Lists, After School Programs, Enrollment Information and so much more!
Email: contact@sandi.net
Website: https://jones.sandiegounified.org/
Location: 2751 Greyling Drive, San Diego, CA, USA
Phone: (619) 605-8800
Facebook: facebook.com/JonesElementary
Twitter: @JonesElemSDUSD
Jones Elementary PTA
Our Parent Teacher Association works with Jones Elementary to provide programs and support to benefit the students, their families, teachers, school administration and the community. Run entirely by volunteers, the PTA raises money to support enrichment programs, program instructors, educational assemblies and field trips, family events, and special classroom supplies.
As always, we need your membership, support and ability to volunteer. You can become a member using Totem, a respected membership management service. Please contact us with other thoughts on how we are doing, and your ideas on how you can become involved. We look forward to hearing from you.
Email: jonesdolphinspta@gmail.com
Website: https://jpjonespta.org/
Location: 2751 Greyling Drive, San Diego, CA, USA
Phone: (619)605-8800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JonesPTA/