Jackson eNews

Hello Jackson Families!

The 2023-2024 school year has gotten off to a great start! Our students were so excited to see their teachers, reconnect with friends from last year, and start making new friends this year! The first few days were spent getting to know each other, grade level expectations and daily routines. Our Jackson Jaguars are ready to rock!!

It has been wonderful to see so many of our families at the grade level information nights! This week, Fourth Grade's Parent Information Night will be held on Wednesday, August 23, and 5th Grade's Parent Information Night will be held on Thursday, August 24. For our families who may not be able to attend these informational meetings, we will be including links to the presentations in the eNews (see below). We hope that all of our families will come away from these meetings with a better understanding of grade level expectations and what their child will be learning this year.

Kindergarten through 5th grade will start MAP testing next week. MAP tests are achievement measures in mathematics, reading, language usage and science that students take on the computer. The MAP testing system is able to accommodate and accurately assess students at a variety of achievement levels because the test adjusts to each student's performance. This testing will help our teachers provide more focused and individualized instruction. I know our Jaguars will do great!

Our Jackson PTA has some exciting things happening now too! Please see the Jackson PTA section of the eNews below for more information about the limited time Jackson Spirit Wear sale, a great fundraiser with products that will help keep your belongings organized, and volunteer opportunities to assist at Jackson during lunch/recess times. If you haven't already done so, please take this opportunity to join our amazing PTA. Your PTA membership helps to provide programs such as: field trips, Field Day refreshments and games, Bookfairs, school supplies, author visits and other enrichment programs for our students. By supporting our PTA, you are giving back to the students at Jackson.

We have included several helpful Back-to-School links below and we also encourage all of our families to stay connected this year utilizing Plano ISD's platforms and resources as well as Jackson's communication sources--our school eNews, Jackson's website, PTA's website, and classroom communications through SeeSaw.

Thank you!

Dr. Crystal Roach

Principal

Jackson Elementary

AUGUST 2023

• Wednesday, August 23 - Grade Level Informational Meeting, 4th Grade, 5:30 - 6:15 p.m.
  
• Wednesday, August 23 - Boy Scout Recruiting Event, 7:00 p.m., Cafeteria
• Thursday, August 24 - Grade Level Informational Meeting, 5th Grade, 5:30 - 6:15 p.m.

SEPTEMBER 2023

• Friday, September 1 - Spirit Assembly (K-5), 2:05 pm
• Monday, September 4 - Student/Teacher Holiday - NO SCHOOL!
• Monday, September 11 - Progress Reports
• Tuesday, September 12 - Fall Pictures
• 9/19 - 9/29: CogAT Testing Window, 1st, 3rd, 5th grades

Click HERE for 2023-24 PISD Calendar

Jackson Elementary will be utilizing Seesaw to communicate with our families this year. Please watch for an invitation link or QR code from your child's teacher.

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Spring 2023 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) Grades 3-8 results will be available for Plano ISD students beginning August 16. For more details about the STAAR and how to access your student's results, please click the link for the parent letter below.

Parent Communication - Spring 2023 STAAR Results - English

Parent Communication - Spring 2023 STAAR Results _Spanish

To ensure the safety of our students and families, please read and be familiar with the guidelines below.

Arrival:

• Students must arrive between 7:00-7:30 a.m. in order to be prepared for the day.
• The cafeteria will serve breakfast from 7:00-7:30 a.m.
• Families who may qualify for meal benefits are encouraged to complete a federal meal application for the 2023-24 school year as soon as possible. Applications may be completed through School Cafe by logging in to your account or by creating a new account.

• Due to District-wide security changes, parents are only allowed to walk their child to their classroom on the 1st day of school and all parents must exit the building so we can start our school day at 7:40.
• After the first day, any parent who enters the building must get a visitor badge after presenting their license.

Carpool:

• PreK students in carpool must be dropped off in the morning in the back of the building at the bus loop door. They are picked up in the afternoon in the front of the building in the car loop.
• If a child needs help getting in/out of the car, parents must park in a parking spot and get them out and them walk them to the door.
• All carpool students will need a carpool tag from the teacher to put in the windshield for pick up. They must display it for us to call the child and leave it in the window until the child is in the car.
• Do not get out of your car in the carpool loop. We move fast and need to keep everyone safe. Please do not park across the street and cross traffic and carpool. If you need to park, use the parking lot.

• Dismissal is at 2:55 pm. Please be on time to pick up your child.

Dear Parent/Guardian,

With the start of the 2023-2024 school year, Transportation Services is providing color-coded Bus Badges and corresponding color-coded Bus Placards for all Prekindergarten, Kindergarten, and 1st grade students who are eligible to ride Gen Ed buses. These badges provide the student’s name, grade, campus, bus route and bus stop information. The official bus placard to be used for student pickup at the bus stop has the PISD logo with the student’s name printed boldly on them.

The colors represent the grade level: red for prekindergarten, yellow for kindergarten and green for 1st grade. The badges are placed inside plastic badge holders along with color-coded zip ties. Your student's teacher will attach the badges to the student's backpack for easy access. This will allow the bus driver to be certain that the student is being released at the correct bus stop and with the correct level of required parent/guardian/designee/sibling supervision.

The parent/guardian/designee must have the corresponding color-coded carpool tag for pickup daily. A Sibling Authorization form must be completed (https://forms.gle/idVTTs74SaNaPucW6) for a 3rd grade or older sibling to be responsible for and released with a Prekindergarten, Kindergarten, or 1st grade student. Upon completion of the Sibling Authorization form, an additional badge will be created for the older sibling to show to the driver daily when disembarking the bus with their younger sibling.

Second grade students cannot be responsible for or released with a Prekindergarten, Kindergarten, or 1st grade student.

Please note: Prekindergarten, Kindergarten, and 1st grade students will not be allowed to ride the bus without the bus badge and parent/guardian/designee will not be able to pick up at the bus stop without the color-coded bus placard.

Please read the letter below for more details:

2023-2024 Bus Badge and Bus Placard Letter - English

2023-2024 Bus Badge and Bus Placard Letter - Spanish

Welcome back to school! I wanted to share the Back to School Checklist below and a few reminders on ways we can keep our students healthy all year.

Back-to-School Checklist

• All controlled substances must be brought in by the parent or guardian.
• Advise the nurse of your child's health concerns.

• Make sure all immunizations are up-to-date.
• Complete and return all required medical paperwork.
• Review hygiene tips to prevent the spread of infection.
• Establish a bedtime and wake-up routine to ensure adequate and consistent sleep.
• Develop a routine for homework and after school activities.
• Eat breakfast every morning. Do not forget to send a snack and water bottle.
• Help make appropriate clothing choices (for example, wear safe and comfortable shoes).

Talk to your children about covering their mouths with a tissue when they cough or sneeze. We encourage coughing and sneezing into our elbows at school.

When should you keep your child home from school?

• If your child has a temperature over 100 degrees, keep them home until they are fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medication.
• If your child is vomiting or having diarrhea, they should remain home until they are symptom free for 24 hours without the use of medication and they are able to successfully eat 2 meals.
• If you do not think your child is sick, but may be acting a little "off", please let me and the teacher know. Once I am aware, I will be able to more closely monitor your child throughout the day.

Let's make this a safe and healthy school year!

Thank you,

Jill Wheeler, Nurse

Jackson Elementary

Plano Academic and Creative Education (PACE) is a program for students who require academically gifted enrichment services and have demonstrated the need for advanced, differentiated instruction. PACE at the elementary level is a weekly pull-out program that removes students from the general education classroom to work under the guidance of a gifted specialist. If you have a child you believe may need PACE services, please click on the links below for more information, or contact Jackson’s Advanced Academics/PACE Specialist: Betty Fancher at Betty.fancher@pisd.edu.

PACE Program - English

PACE Program - Spanish

PISD PACE Website

K-5 PACE Referrals are due online by October 20, 2023, at 5:00 PM

If you missed ordering EPI school supply packs or just love the excitement of back-to-school shopping and the Texas Sales Tax Holiday, click on the link below for a list of Jackson's teacher-preferred school supplies by grade level.

2023-2024 Jackson Elementary School Supply List_All Grades

2023-2024 Jackson Elementary School Supply List_All Grades_Spanish

Hi Jackson Families!

The Jackson School Spiritwear Sale has begun! This year you have two ways to order;

1. Fill out and send in the paper order form that will be sent home with your child on Thursday, August 17th, OR

2. Order your Spiritwear online at https://jackson23.itemorder.com/

Please forward this email to any family or friends you think would like to help support Jackson Elementary and show their School Spirit!

The sale will only be open for two weeks so don’t wait, order TODAY. Once the sale ends, it’s over and you will NOT be able to order again this year.

Thank you & have a great day!

Jackson PTA

We are excited to announce that PTA is partnering again with Mabel's Labels for our first fundraiser of the 2023-2024 school year! You can purchase personalized labels, name stamps, tags and more to label clothing, school supplies, backpacks, lunch containers, water bottles, etc. What a great way to get everyone in your house organized and help your student keep track of their belongings! The best thing---20% of all purchases will come straight back to Jackson! Please see the flyer below for more details.

Whether giving of your time, your resources, or just providing a little encouragement to those in our Jackson Community, we LOVE our volunteers!

Jackson teachers and staff are looking for family volunteers to help during all Jackson lunch and recess periods. Beginning this school year, Plano ISD is requiring Cafeteria doors to remain locked during all lunch periods. This means a staff member has to supervise the cafeteria doors for students needing to step out for water or restroom breaks.

Your help will allow us to provide enough supervision to keep our students safe! Volunteer time slots are in 30 minute to 1 hour increments. Volunteers have the opportunity to monitor students for a 30 minute lunch and/or a 30 minute recess. While volunteering, you will not be able to eat with the children, but you will likely be helping with opening food/drink items & assisting in the lunch line.

All volunteers will need to create an account and complete an application, online orientation and background check through the Plano ISD volunteer management system, VOLY, to be eligible for district/school volunteer opportunities. Please visit plano.voly.org to create a volunteer account and begin this process. These items will need to be completed by volunteers each school year.

An email will be sent to the volunteer applicant communicating the status of their application and criminal history search within 3-5 business days of completing these steps. Volunteer approval status can also be viewed by the volunteer by logging into their account. Volunteers will need to complete the online orientation as well to be eligible to volunteer.

Once approved through VOLY, please sign-up at the link below.

2023 - 2024 Lunch Duty Volunteer signup:

We greatly appreciate your willingness to invest your time and efforts into supporting Jackson students, families and staff.

Thank you,

Brenda Arcibar

VP of Volunteers

Jackson Elementary PTA

Hello Jackson Families,

Support our students by joining the Jackson PTA! Your PTA membership helps to provide various programs such as: field trips, Bookfairs, school supplies, author visits and other educational programs for next year. We can't do this without your support! Please visit our website to become a member of the Jackson PTA.

The Jackson PTA website is also a great resource for you to find out about updated PISD, Jackson, and PTA events on the calendar, find ongoing and new volunteer opportunities, how you can help raise money for Jackson, and much more! Visit www.jacksonpta.com to explore our site!

Be sure you are also following us on social media for reminders of upcoming events! We are on Facebook "Jackson Elementary School PTA" and Instagram at "ptajacksonelem."

Thank you!

Your Jackson PTA Executive Board

You can also support our PTA by bringing any household donations (clothes, shoes, etc.) to the donation bin in the back parking lot. You will be helping our PTA and the environment by recycling!

The City of Plano Police School Crossing Guard Program is seeking 2 crossing guards for the Jackson attendance zone--one at Jackson/Jamar and one at Jackson/Forester. Please see the details of the flyer below if you are interested in learning more or would like to apply.

Plano ISD participates in the federal meal program, which provides free and reduced-price meals to students who qualify. Families who may qualify for meal benefits should complete a meal application for the 2023-2024 school year, available through Parent Portal or via the website at www.pisd.edu/mealprogram.

Families who already have a SchoolCafé account can sign in to complete the meal application. Families who do not have an account can create a new one by selecting that option on the SchoolCafé page. View this SchoolCafé information video for instructions on how to complete the meal application.

Applications will be processed within 10 business days. Eligibility notification letters will be sent via email. If you have not received the letter in your inbox, please check your junk and spam folders.

Chipotle is giving away $100,000 in schools supplies. Nominate a deserving K-12 teacher for their chance to get free school supplies for their classroom.

Plano ISD has unveiled the District's theme for the 2023-2024 school year--Level Up! This year's theme is meant to advance our future by spurring students on to greater heights. Just as in Super Mario Brothers, Pac-Man, The Legend of Zelda, The Sims, Minecraft, etc., leveling up means dreaming big, forging new paths, and using innovation to achieve at the highest levels. Below is a teaser video for the new 2023-24 theme! Our staff is already busy planning new ways to engage our students in the upcoming school year!

Make Sure Your Communication Preferences Are Up To Date!

Visit www.pisd.edu/schoolmessenger to choose how you prefer to receive communications from Jackson and Plano ISD.

Website: http://pisd.edu/jackson
Location: 1101 Jackson Drive, Plano, TX, United States
Phone: 469-752-2100
Twitter: @JacksonPlano