Jefferson Elementary

Upcoming Dates:

October 28 - November 1 - Red Ribbon Week - Details below

October 30 - Half Day 11:30am Dismissal

October 31 - Halloween at Jefferson! Come dressed up and enjoy the day filled with festivities.

November 5 - Election Day - No School!

November 11 - Thank you, Veterans! We WILL be at school today!

November 12 - PTO Fundraiser Pick Up @ Jefferson 4-6pm

November 18 - 22 - Scholastic Book Fair

November 19 - Picture Re-Take Day at Jefferson

November 19 - Family Reading and Math Night 6-7pm

November 25 - 29 - Fall Break - No School!

December 20 - Last day of 2nd Quarter

December 23 - January 5 - Winter Break - No School!

Return to School on January 6th

January 20 - No School MLK Jr. Day!

January 23 and January 30 - Winter Parent/Teacher Conferences

February 26 - 11:30am Half Day Dismissal

March 7 - Last Day of 3rd Quarter

March 10 - 14 - Spring Break - No School

April 18 - 21 - Good Friday and Easter Monday - No School

May 23 - Last Day of School! Quarter 4 Ends today!

Memorial Day - May 26th

PLC Wednesday Dismissal will continue with K-2 dismissing at 2:05 and PreK following their PM dismissal schedule of 2:15pm. This will take place every Wednesday unless it is a District Half Day and we will dismiss at 11:30am on those occasions.

Red Ribbon Week kicked off this week with with special grade level assemblies for our students. All students received their wrist bands to remind us all what we are focused on this week! Students talked about how they can limit screen time as something that kids these days tend to be "addicted" to and we all pledged to spend more time outdoors playing and getting fresh air rather than in front of a screen or device. Thank you for your support this week.

Jefferson Staff are eager to celebrate a fun-filled day with all our students on October 31st. There will be fun woven into the entire day, rather than one set time for a party event. Staff have found that the sheer excitement of the Holiday sometimes creates undue stress to students wondering when the party will happen. Instead, we dress up and celebrate throughout the day. Each grade level follows a similar plan with the building celebrating in our school parade in the morning Prek-2, and PM PreK parading for the building in the afternoon.

If you want to plan on sending your child to school dressed up, we would be thrilled to see them! We do our best to ensure that students do not terribly destroy their costumes at recess or with Halloween treats, but there are no promises. If you do not want your child to lose a part of the costume, or worry that it may get dirty, please keep special accessories at home. Additionally, no weapons or terribly frightening costumes are allowed. We keep things rated PG so not to scare anyone at school.

If you have questions about the festivities, please reach out directly to your child's teacher.

Students increased their attendance goals to 90% on average for the last few weeks and we are doing very well! With cold and flu season around the corner, we continue to remind students and families that unless students have a fever, are vomiting, or experiencing diarrhea, we truly want them at school. We practice good hand washing and use sanitizer frequently at school to assist in keeping the germs away.

On top of collecting class "gum balls", students with the top 3 participation each week are recognized with real gum balls to be eaten at school! This has been highly motivating for students both to see their class excel as a group and for individual class recognition too. We have had several classrooms who have had 100% attendance several weeks in a row. Classrooms participate in our "wish you well" program and help children feel like a school family by knowing who is absent and wishing them well when not at school. Students celebrate when all of their class friends are present!

Help us to continue to support attendance which goes hand in hand with academic success, even at the earliest ages!

The Fundraiser provided Jefferson with one gigantic stuffy and two smaller stuffies that they used as incentives for selling items for the fundraiser. The company notified us on Friday of the winners of the Big and Little Tuckers! (stuffies)

Winner of the Gigantic Stuffy - Alastor Cameron

Winners of the Little Tucker Stuffies - Ava LeFevre and Oliver Johnson

Thank you, Jefferson Families, for selling items for our PTO!

At the September meeting it was decided that future meetings would be held the first Tuesday of each month at 6:30 PM in the Jefferson School Library. For convenience, attendees also have the option to join via Zoom at the link below. Any and everyone is welcome to attend! We're always open to new ideas!

October Meeting Agenda

Zoom Link

The PTO has started a new Facebook group. You can join using the following link.

Jefferson/Lincoln PTO

Meeting Dates

• October 1, 2024

• November 12, 2024 (2nd Tuesday)

• December 3, 2024

• January 7, 2025

• February 4, 2025

• March 4, 2025

• April 1, 2025

• May 6, 2025

Historically, the PTO has fundraised for our schools to assist with the following:

• purchase playground equipment
• contribute to the cost of field trips
• provide classroom and school grants
• fund a Teacher Appreciation luncheon at each building
• host family events, such as Movie Night and the Fun Fair
• host an End-of-Year Party for the Lincoln Students
• assist with Field Day for Jefferson Students
• assist with the Book Fair
• and much more

Students will be able to participate in Re-Take day on November 19th. If you wish your child to have a re-take, it may be wise to reach out to your child's teacher in order to ensure that your child goes to take his/her picture.

Jefferson School Faculty and Students want to wish all those who served, a Happy Veterans Day! Each day, we are thankful and proud to be Americans. We WILL be at school on Veterans Day this year and students and staff will discuss the importance of this day through individual classroom activities. We are happy to be together to recognize the importance of this day. We will NOT be at school on Election Day, November 5th. Make sure to do your civic duty and VOTE on or before Election Day! ✅

Schedule (Mon., Tues., Thurs., and Fri.)

• 7:50 School Doors Open - Breakfast line first to get kids to their lockers and then to the gym for breakfast quickly. Then non-breakfast eaters are allowed entrance to wait by their lockers.

• 8:05 Classroom Doors Open/End of Breakfast Line Bell

• 8:15 Tardy Bell Rings/Breakfast is Over

• 2:55 Dismissal

Schedule (Wed.)

• 7:50 School Doors Open - Breakfast line first to get kids to their lockers and then to the gym for breakfast quickly. Then non-breakfast eaters are allowed entrance to wait by their lockers.
  

• 8:05 Classroom Doors Open/End of Breakfast Line Bell

• 8:15 Tardy Bell Rings/Breakfast is Over

• 2:05 Dismissal (Kindergarten may dismiss at 2pm to avoid congestion)
  

Please do not drop off your child earlier than 7:40 as there is no supervision available until this time. The YMCA offers a before-school program for those in need. They have a sliding fee scale and will transport your child from the YMCA to any of the four elementary schools.

Students are outside as long as it is not raining and temps are at or above 15 degrees.

Is your family struggling and in need of additional support? Nexus is a support program offered by the Regional Office of Education #47 for participating school districts in Lee, Ogle, and Whiteside Counties, including Sterling Public Schools. Nexus supports the whole child/children by supporting the whole family. Through personal, respectful, and confidential interactions with a trained Family Support Staff, families create goals geared towards social-emotional needs, school readiness, and overall family well-being. The Family Support Staff connects and helps families navigate local community resources, thus creating a stronger community.

Please reach out to any office staff member to be referred to the Nexus program.

Being a Community School has so many benefits. One of these benefits is being surrounded by a friendly neighborhood. Jefferson is fortunate to have neighbors who are understanding of the traffic flow, the noises from playing children, and parents and children walking to and from the school. As you are dropping off students, waiting to pick up students, parking along the side streets, or walking the sidewalks, please remember to respect our neighbors and their personal property. Do not to block driveways, park in peoples' yards, or disrupt their personal property. Kindly pick up any trash or items that belong to you. We want to continue to have good relationships with our neighbors, so please help by doing your part.

Heather Wittenauer, Principal

Email: hwittenauer@sps5.org
Website: http://www.sterlingpublicschools.org
Location: 806 East Le Fevre Road, Sterling, IL, USA
Phone: 815-625-6402