JKES Cardinal Chronicle

National Hispanic Heritage Month is annually celebrated from September 15 to October 15 in the United States for recognizing the contributions and influence of Hispanic Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. This year's theme “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together,” signifies the diversity inherent within the Hispanic and Latino communities, as well as strength that comes with unity.

Below is a link to celebrations scheduled at Shenandoah University:

https://www.su.edu/diversity/hispanic-heritage-month/

Check the Winchester Star for information about what is happening around town to celebrate throughout October!

This year John Kerr will recognize Bullying Prevention Month and conduct Bullying Prevention Week from October 7th-11th. During this week students will have the opportunity to discuss and learn about the importance of demonstrating kindness, compassion, and acceptance of peers. As a school, we want to diminish the occurrence of bullying and increase the frequency of respect and friendship. To help reinforce the significance of Bullying Prevention, we will have a Bullying Prevention Spirit Week. We will share more information in the coming week regarding spirit week.

We are so proud of our students for winning the Kona Ice challenge the second week in September and this week! We also won best overall attendance for the month of September! It was great to celebrate with each grade level and so much fun watching them enjoying the delicious reward for coming to school regularly and on-time.

SEPTEMBER ATTEN’DANCE’ WINNER: GRADE 3 (date/time of event is TBD)

Grade 3 had a 93.6% overall attendance for the month of September… followed closely by Grade 2 at 93.4%. Keep up the great work, everyone, because there will be another opportunity for a grade level ATTEN’DANCE’ in October.

ATTENDANCE ACHIEVERS is a new attendance incentive starting at John Kerr beginning the end of the 1st quarter. We will recognize all our Cardinals who had 90% or better attendance throughout the quarter. Moving forward, we will recognize our Attendance Achievers at the end of Quarter 2, Quarter 3 and Quarter 4! Students will be celebrated, earn an Attendance Achiever certificate and enjoy a social- with some sort of special treat for all of their hard work!!!

Bus incidences of concern are continuing to come to administrative attention. Students are standing, moving in the aisles, yelling, and generally being unsafe for drivers to drive in a way that allows them to focus completely on the road/traffic and ensure that students are not injured during their ride to/from school. PLEASE, if your child is a bus rider, we ask that you partner with us to reinforce bus rider expectations/safe behavior with your child. We also ask that you encourage your child to share with the driver or a teacher if others on their bus are being unsafe or unkind. We want to ensure that everyone on the bus is able to ride without concern.

The Winchester Public Schools report card was updated with new Standards of Learning for the 2024-2025 school year. Standards-based report cards communicate student progress in grades K-4.

What is Standards-Based Grading? Students’ most recent work is used to determine the level on their report card. This level reflects what they know or are able to do rather than an average of their performance throughout the quarter. Students’ performance can be measured in many ways such as assessments, student writings, and teacher observations. Student work that is sent home may be only a portion of the evidence that teachers use to determine students’ performance levels.

What are the Benefits of Standards-Based Grading? Subject areas are broken down by skills/standards providing a more detailed and complete representation of what students can do at the time of reporting. The report card levels focus on individual student progress within the standards and assist the teachers with adjusting instruction for all students based on individual progress.

How are standards-based report cards different from traditional report cards?

Standards-based report cards:

• One mark for each standard within a subject area, providing specific indicators of student performance within a standard.

Traditional report cards:

• One mark for all standards within a subject area, providing general indicators of student performance.

How will behavior be measured? Behavior will be measured through Profile of a Graduate Skills. The term Profile of a Graduate refers to a broad set of knowledge, skills, work habits, and character traits that are critically important to success in today’s world. Generally speaking, Skills can be applied in all academic subject areas, and in all educational, career, and civic settings throughout a student’s life.

How will academic progress be measured? Student progress will be reported in relation to the grade level expectations for the standard at that quarter. The following key will be used to report progress:

1 - Developing Proficiency - Student demonstrates progress toward initial foundational skills of the standard.

2 - Approaching Proficiency - Student demonstrates proficiency on foundational skills of the standard.

3 - Meets Grade Level Standards - Student demonstrates proficiency on all grade level skills of the standard.

4 - Exceeds Grade Level Standards - Student demonstrates understanding and performance beyond proficiency and has exceeded the standard.

A key component of standards- based reporting is that students have the opportunity to demonstrate mastery through re-teaching.

K-4 Standards-Based Grading Family Guide (English)

K-4 Standards-Based Grading Family Guide (Spanish)

Hello Cardinal families,

This year our Friday Food Bags will begin during the week of September 16th-20th. Food Bag forms were sent home on Tuesday (August 13th). If you are in need of another form, please let your students' classroom teacher know. If you are in need of emergency food assistance, please contact one of our school counselors. Listed below is a link that is available for volunteers to help with Friday Food Bags. This includes coming into JKES on Fridays and delivering Food Bags to classrooms. Dates and times are included in the link below. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Davis, JKES School Counselor.

Sign-Up Genius

John Kerr is always looking for volunteers. There are opportunities throughout the building to include support in lunch, at recess, in the library and other areas of the school. If interested, please reach out to your child’s teacher and they can provide information on next steps.

Donations continue to be needed for the John Kerr clinic: boys and girls clothes in a variety of sizes and, as we approach cooler weather we are in need of jackets, sweaters, long pants, etc. We appreciate your kindness and generosity.

The Winchester Public Schools 2024-2025 PARENT/STUDENT HANDBOOK is a valuable resource to know and understand all things Winchester Public Schools, to include K-12 standards and instruction, the yearly calendar, discipline policies and more.

Annual Verification Forms MUST be completed for each WPS student using the PowerSchool Parent Portal prior to the first day of school.

Use this step-by-step guide for completing the online process: https://bit.ly/WPSAnnualFormGuide (English and Spanish)

Any change in a student's regular means of transportation in the afternoon must be by a written note from a parent/guardian or by email to mcnamara@wps.k12.va.us AND armistead@wps.k12.va.us by 1:30 PM Monday through Friday if there is a last minute change. We ask that you call the school to notify the office of your incoming email. Student safety is very important to us!

Between 2:15 PM and 2:40 PM, the office is open only to school personnel and volunteers. Students who are picked up by car will be dismissed to the car pick up line ONLY during dismissal.

Any questions, please call the school office.

No more waiting for a bus, transferring routes, or long walks to bus stops. WinReady is a point-to-point service that will pick you up when you need to be picked up and take you where you need to go within the City of Winchester within 30 minutes. You can request or schedule a ride directly from your phone, and WinReady will get you there. (click the link for additional information)

Not receiving school-related text messages? You must OPT-IN to receive messages. Text "Subscribe" to 67587. You should receive confirmation that you are registered. Don't forget to ensure all of your contact information is correct at your student's school, too!