Jaguar Tracks
September 16th
Dear JE community,
It was so wonderful to see you all at Back to School night! We had nearly perfect attendance--it was great to see so many families in our student's desks. The energy was contagious as you experienced Heggarty or other curriculum, took quizzes about your students and engaged with each other. At the night's end, I was smiling from ear to ear and feeling incredibly grateful to be a part of this community.
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. The celebration starts mid-month because Sept. 15 marks the independence anniversary of five countries: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. It is followed by Mexico's Independence Day on Sept. 16 and Chile's on Sept. 18. At Joshua Eaton, we celebrate the diversity of our community and look forward to bringing this month to life through music, reading and art. As you walk our halls you will see images of notable Hispanic and Latin American people, affirmations in Spanish and representation of flags. Over announcements, our students will be sharing fun facts and music. Please find a couple of read alouds linked to the bottom of this newsletter.
Stay tuned for an email early next week with a presentation that includes key school wide initiatives and curriculum! I will be sharing this via video.
Have a wonderful weekend. Go Jaguars!
Caitlin Shelburne
Portal Forms to be updated by September 23rd
There are two forms:
Pupil Information Form -sent to the primary contact only to update any student information, including medical info, student permissions -including photos, Acceptable Use Policy, etc., emergency childcare and Connect Ed emergency notification info. Please submit BOTH forms.
Contact Update Form – each contact associated with a student will see this form. It includes, name, address, home/mobile/office phone, primary and alternate email address. Contacts are instructed to notify the office with changes to primary email addresses because this will impact your portal login and will have to be sent another activation code. You are not able to change this on the form, it is read only. Each contact will need to log into the portal to see this form.
To recap:
Primary Contact will see both forms in the portal to update pupil information and update their own contact info.
All other contacts will only see only the Contact Update form to update their own contact info.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Mark Your Calendars!
September
16th: 2:45 dismissal
19th - 23rd: Scholastic Book fair
20th: Back to School Picnic 5:30-7:00 (Rain date 9/21)
Reminders:
Portals: If you have not activated your portal, please do so as soon as possible. Feel free to direct any questions to Amy Greco. You will need to activate your portal to complete the Contact Update Forms.
Reminder Arrival/Dismissal: The parking lot is a staff only parking lot. Please do not drive through it as it presents a safety issue for students. Additionally, bikes and scooters must be walked once you reach JE property.
Absences & Tardies:
Please note that if your child is going to be absent or tardy, for any reason, you must notify the OFFICE before 8:30 a.m. You can call the absentee phone line at 781-942-9161 or email us at jeeabsences@reading.k12.ma.us. If you email your child’s teacher, you must still notify the office, as well.
Scholastic Book Fair
Book Fair Week Monday, Sept 19 - Thursday, Sept 23 | Room 19
The Scholastic Book Fair is here next week and students will have these 3 opportunities to shop loads of book titles:
1) a dedicated 1/2 hour to shop with their class during school hours
2) family time during the Back-to-School Picnic on Tuesday, Sep. 20th (rain date 9/21)
3) online
Visit the Joshua Eaton Book Fair Fall 2022 page and set up your child’s e-wallet now.
Click on “get started” and then click “create e-wallet”. Login, and load your funds.
Volunteers Needed: Please consider signing up for classroom shopping times and/or during the picnic. Volunteering is easy and there are lots of time slots: Book Fair Parent Volunteer Signup. Note that you must have an updated CORI on file in order to volunteer.
Throughout the fair, there will be a wishlist board with entries filled out by the staff. This is a great way to contribute to classroom libraries. There will also be a wishlist for the school library so please take a look! There will also be blank gift certificates where you can select any amount to donate to a teacher or the library.
We also have 2 pre-sales this year:
1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Diper Överlöde (release date 10/25)
2. Two Degrees by Alan Gratz (release date 10/4)
There will be order forms for both of these available at the sale :)
PTO's Corner
PTO NEWS:
It was great to see so many caregivers at Curriculum Night! We look forward to seeing families at the Back to School Picnic next week! There is a lot of PTO news this week. Please read on :)
Back to School Family Picnic
The picnic will take place from 5:30-7:00pm on Tuesday, September 20th (rain date Wednesday the 21st).
Sign up to hand out slush! We have individual Richardson's slush cups again this year so no scooping! We just need a few people to hand out the slush and spoons.
Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080B44A5A82DA4F94-back2
Cal’s Brick Oven Pizza will donate 20% of all sales placed between 4:30-7:30pm back to the PTO! Don’t forget to mention Joshua Eaton when ordering!
The Scholastic Book Fair will be open during the picnic!
The PTO is collecting new and gently used children’s books to be donated to the Mission of Deeds again this year. Please consider bringing a book or two to the Back-to-School Picnic to donate. Books may be in English or Spanish and appropriate for children ages infant to middle school. The collection bin will be near the slush table. Thank you in advance for your contributions!
Volunteer Opportunities
The PTO could use YOUR support! Please fill out the SOS form (Support Our School) by 9/23 to let us know where you can help. https://forms.gle/j3ycHqUgBm2dpAnb7
Direct Donation
In order to maintain a balanced budget throughout the year, we ask families that are able to donate $30 per child to the PTO. The requested donation amount is lower than in previous years due to the success of recent fundraisers. Please see the Direct Donation form in your child’s folder for details and payment options. We greatly appreciate your support!!
Thank you!
Meredith Yoder & Jessie Tran
PTO Co-Presidents
Military Status Reporting
Reading Public Schools is a METCO District
"Since its founding during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement, the METCO program has enrolled tens of thousands of Boston students of color in predominately white school districts, creating the opportunity for those districts to experience the advantages of learning and working in a racially and ethnically diverse setting."
Found Family Program
Please take a look at the attached document detailing our “Found Family” Program. With the collaboration of 8th grade students from Parker Middle School and all Elementary PTO’s we produced the name “Found Family,” and this document for our district Found Family program. What does Found Family mean? “A group of people who find themselves united in a family-bond based on shared experiences, mutual understanding, and interpersonal connection. Found Family is not biological but found when placed in a new place.”
If you are interested in participating, please sign up HERE.