A Note from the Principal:
Dear Jefferson Families,
I'm excited to invite you to our upcoming parent-teacher conferences, a cornerstone of our school community's collaborative approach to education. These conferences are not just meetings; they're a celebration of our partnership in nurturing your child's growth and learning. By joining us, you're taking an active role in shaping your child's educational journey, and we couldn't be more thrilled to have you on board.
These conferences offer a unique opportunity for us to come together – you, your child's teacher, and even your child – to share insights, celebrate successes, and plan for future growth. Your perspective is invaluable; you know your child best, and your input helps us tailor our approach to meet their individual needs. Together, we can create a supportive, enriching environment that spans both home and school. This is an opportunity for us to gain insights from you about your child's home life and interests, while also providing you with a detailed view of their classroom experiences and academic development. Your participation strengthens our school community and sends a powerful message to your child about the importance of their education. We look forward to partnering with you at these conferences and throughout the school year!
Mrs. Ziemer
Calling all first grade families! If you have a student in 1st grade, you are invited to come enjoy breakfast and books together. Cinnamon rolls, coffee and juice are served. Your first grade student gets a free book to keep and read with you at home. Stay tuned...there will be one for every grade level before the year is out!
Welcome to Fall, Jefferson Eagles!
We have an exciting month with our biggest event of the year, the Fall Festival on Friday, Oct 25th from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
- Trunk or Treat
- Classroom Games
- Raffle
- Halloween Dance
- Wingz & Thingz food truck
& More!
Making this event a success requires many hands and help from the community. Our next JPG meeting on Thursday, October 10th, at 6 p.m. in the Library will be discussing the final details, and we invite you to join us to make your voice heard and volunteer.
If you would like to volunteer before, during, or after the Fall Festival, fill out this Survey.
We are collecting candy for the event and if you remember from last year, it takes TONS of candy to run all the games and Trunk or Treat. If you would like to donate candy, bring it to the school and place it in the bin in the lobby, or purchase it through our Amazon Wishlist and it will be shipped directly to us.
Lastly, our first Restaurant Fundraiser of the year will be at Burgermaster on Wednesday, Oct 30th. More details to come soon, but mark your calendars for an easy dinner that supports your Jefferson Parent Group!
See you soon!
-JPG Officers
Attendance Competition Oct. 7th-Oct. 25th
We are excited to announce our upcoming "Owl WHO is Here" themed Attendance Celebration! At
Jefferson Elementary, we believe that regular attendance is crucial for student success, and we want to
make it fun and rewarding for our students to come to school every day.
1. Competition Period: October 7th - October 25th
2. What We're Tracking: We'll be monitoring each class's daily attendance percentage (the number of
students present each day).
3. Weekly Recognition: At the end of each week, the class with the highest attendance percentage will:-
Have their picture taken with our special attendance trophy- Receive a certificate of achievement- Be
highlighted during daily announcements by the Principal
4. Prizes! Students in the class that wins the weekly best attendance will be entered into a raffle drawing
and the family of the winning student will receive a GIFT CARD to a local Grocery Store. The gift card will
be given to the winning family at Fall Conferences.
*Excused and unexcused absences result in too much time lost in the classroom.
*One in 10 kindergarten and 1st grade students nationally are chronically absent.
*Only 17% of students considered chronically absent in kindergarten and 1st grade were
*reading proficiently in the 3rd grade. Compared to 64% attendance. of those students with
good
Hello Families!
Jefferson classrooms have calm down corners. They are locations where students can self select to go to reset themselves. It is for a short period of time. There are posters, fidgets and other tools to help self regulate. Students have been taught how to use the tools and have even shared if they have a spot at home! Calm down corners are special places to go when feelings are too overwhelming.
Some items for a calm down corner could include: a squishy ball, a spinner, coloring pages, posters, stuffies, favorite books, playdoh, etc.
I have also started lunches with students! This gives me an opportunity to help facilitate a sense of belonging and community with the students. Each class picks 2 students and this gives them a chance to connect with students that are in their same grade level.
It is wonderful to help build a positive social skill set for all our students!
Welcome back! It has been a pleasure to see the smiling faces of our Jefferson Eagles. We are starting the year off with science.
Fifth grade is learning about Earth’s spheres and how they interact together. They will start their final project soon. Please save (and flatten) cereal boxes for them to use on their project.
Fourth grade is learning about earth’s layers as well as the forces of weathering and erosion that shape the surface of our planet. For their final project, they will be using homemade playdough to create a three-dimensional map of Washington State. If you are willing to help make some playdough, please email me at rcarlson@mvsd320.org for more details.
Third grade is learning about ecosystems and human impact on our environment. They will also need a flattened cereal box for their final project.
First graders are collaborating on the construction of a castle, complete with a door that opens and two towers that can be entered from the bottom.
Kindergarteners and first and second graders are learning various engineering skills as they learn about plants and animals.
I can always use recyclables for projects. Ideas of items to save: paper tubes, cereal boxes, caps from dried up markers, and magazines with plant and animal pictures.
There are other supplies that we can always use and are running low on include balloons, pom poms, wiggle eyes, stickers, tacky glue, and construction paper. Please don’t feel compelled to go out and buy supplies. If you want and are able, it is always appreciated.
Roberta Carlson, M.Ed.
STEM Specialist, Jefferson Elementary School
SEEK Science Lead
360-428-6128 x22208
Reading with Children at Home
Tip #1
Don’t be afraid to be silly when you’re reading together! Use different voices for different characters, act out the noisy parts, gasp with surprise, and laugh out loud. Your child takes his or her cues from you and will love the fact that you’re enjoying the time too!
Tip #2
Stage a play based on your child’s favorite book! Use clothespins to attach a red blanket to a clothesline in a room to set the “stage” and encourage your child to enact the characters. Make sure you and the rest of your family are part of a very appreciative audience!
Tip #3
Start a dialogue with your child as you read a book together. Ask him or her, “What do you think will happen next?” or “Why do you think the prince did that?” Asking questions and summarizing the plot will help children build reading-comprehension skills as well as teach them to think creatively.
Tip #4
Always follow up a great book with something extra. For example, if you and your child were reading about a family of tigers, make a date to visit the zoo to see the striped creatures. Or download some interesting information off the Internet (“Did you know that the largest tiger weighed 1,000 pounds?”) The extra mile you go will make stories remain alive in your child’s head.
Tip #5
Help your child make his or her own book with some colored pieces of paper, staples, and some markers. First ask prompting questions: “Who is your book going to be about?” “What’s going to happen?” “How will your story end?” Then encourage your child to use the markers to illustrate each page of the story. Then he or she can “read” to you!
Dear Jefferson Families,
The Mount Vernon School District, and our staff at Jefferson Elementary, understand that our students' social, emotional and behavioral health are key to successful learning. We want to ensure that students have timely, responsive and effective social and emotional support available this school year. Across all content areas, educators use different types of assessments to determine the strengths and needs of their students so they can plan how to best teach and support their students. For example, students participate in screenings for hearing, vision, reading, and math. Similarly, social/emotional screening provides an indicator of whether a student’s social/emotional health is on track or if there might be a concern. Screening is for the purpose of prevention. Screening does not diagnose, but it does provide important information to guide our effort to help prevent problems from becoming major needs. The screening consists of a brief rating scale completed by your child’s classroom teacher. We will do this in October so that teachers have had time to get to know each student in their class. We will conduct this screening activity three times per year, just like we do for academic skills, in the Fall, Winter and Spring.
If your child’s teacher indicates any concern, we will reach out to you. If we recommend any additional social/emotional support above and beyond what classroom teachers do for all students, we will ask you for your permission first and explain what type of support could be provided. This is an important opportunity for us to learn more about your child and how we can partner with you to improve their social, emotional and academic well-being.
If you have any questions about screening, please contact our school office to speak with the Administrators or our School Counselor. If you are concerned about your child’s social/emotional well-being, please don’t hesitate to contact us right away.
Mrs. Ziemer, Principal
Mrs. Hixson, School Counselor
MVSD Strategic Planning Family Survey
The Mount Vernon School District is in the process of creating a new Strategic Plan. This important initiative will take several months and will include input from students, staff, parents, and the community. The final plan will shape our district’s direction for the next 5-6 years.
We want to hear from you! Please take a moment to complete the family survey below if you haven't already. Thanks!