No Place Like Jones

Dear Ira B. Jones Elementary families,

I hope you are having a great week! Please take a few moments to read these important reminders and updates to help support your child’s success at school:

• School System Consolidation Feasibility Study Survey: If you haven’t already done so, please take a moment to complete the online survey. Your feedback is essential! The survey link is below, and you’ll also find a flyer with more details attached.
• Progress Reports: Progress reports will be sent home this week. Please take time to review them with your child, celebrate their achievements, and discuss areas for improvement.
• Parent-Teacher Conferences: Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for October 8. Be on the lookout for sign-up information so you can meet with your child’s teacher to get updates on their progress. Teachers will also share beginning-of-year reading and math assessment data during these meetings.
• Encouraging Learning at Home:
  • Reading: It’s crucial that all students read nightly at home. Developing strong reading habits is critical to academic growth, and your support makes a big difference!
  • For students in grades 3-5, in addition to reading, practicing multiplication facts up to 12 will help build math fluency.
  • For our younger students, working on making combinations of 10 is a great way to strengthen their foundational math skills.
  • Thank you for partnering with us to reinforce learning at home!
• Healthy Habits for School Success:
  • Sleep: Ensure your child gets plenty of rest at night to be refreshed and ready for the school day.
  • Attendance: Being on time and staying engaged throughout the day maximizes learning opportunities.
  • Positive Attitudes: We are encouraging students to accept redirection from adults without arguing or being difficult. We ask for your help in this area as well. Please discuss the importance of doing so with your children. Cooperation and respect are essential to a positive learning environment!

Thank you for your continued support in creating the best learning experience for all our students!

I believe in maintaining open and transparent communication with our families to ensure our students receive the best support possible. We share the responsibility for our student's success and will do our very best to fulfill our commitments. Please visit our school's website, Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/irabjones/, and follow us on Twitter @Principal_IBJ and Instagram @IraB.JonesElementary for upcoming events, important reminders and to keep up with all the wonderful things our students and teachers are doing. Also, I send out a weekly family newsletter, so please ensure we have your updated contact information.

As a school leader and a parent myself, I understand the importance of healthy communication between families and the school. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions, celebrations, or concerns. You can call the school at 828.350.6700 or email me at ruafika.cobb@acsgmail.net.

Thank you for being part of our school community!

In partnership,

Ruafika Cobb

Principal

Ira B. Jones Elementary School

#noplacelikejones

September 6 - 26: mClass Testing Window

September 18 - October 5: USNS Testing Window

October 2 - 19: Panorama Survey Window

October 7: Required Teacher Workday (No School for Students)

October 8: Fall Parent/Teacher Day (No School for Students)

The Growing Minds Afterschool Program registration will be live by Friday, September 6. An email will notify you when registration is open. You can also monitor jonespto.org/afterschool for updates. Below are the club options and dates for session 1 and 2 this Fall. The FTO is available for questions by emailing jonesafterschool@gmail.com. We look forward to having your children join us!

Thank you to all of the students in grades 3-5 who auditioned for our school musical last week! Just a few spots remain in our final session, this Thursday, September 26, from 2:35-4 pm.

If your student is interested in joining the play and hasn't yet signed up, please visit our Jones Drama website for complete registration, audition, and production details. Grades 3-5 registration will close Tuesday, September 24. Weekly rehearsals for this group begin Thursday, October 3.

Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade students should not attend auditions and may register for the play any time before November 22.

Parent volunteers, we need your help to make this production a success! Please use the links below to sign up.

• Donate snacks or help supervise students at auditions this week
• Help at rehearsals with students in grades 3-5
• Donate rehearsal snacks

We can't wait to work with you all on this amazing show!

We are excited to share that our school will be hosting a drop-in voter registration event on Friday, October 4, from 7:30 AM to 10:00 AM in the front lobby. This is a great opportunity for anyone who has not yet registered to vote to get it done conveniently!

If you're eligible and need to register, we encourage you to stop by. Your voice matters, and we want to help make sure you're ready to participate in upcoming elections.

Thank you for your involvement in our community, and we hope to see you there!

September 5th- National Cheese Pizza Day- Pizza day will be on Thursday instead of Friday to celebrate this poplar menu item

September 11- Wacky Wednesday- students will get a 100% juice frozen treat with lunch

September 16th- National Guacamole Day- We will have sides of guac available for students to try with our cheese quesadillas

September 19th- National Talk Like a Pirate Day- Our cafeteria lines will be decorated in a pirate theme with our staff participating in the occasion. This will also be pizza day because of the half day on the 20th, so it should be a fun day for students

9/25 & 9/27 are celebrating milk, a staple of school meals. We're going to post the cheesy jokes that are on the milk cartons all over the lines and just have fun with it. Students will get small prizes with lunch on these days.