Ireland Elementary School

In an effort to minimize illness due to seasonal flu and guard against confusion with similar COVID-19 symptoms, the Dubois County Health Department will be holding flu shot clinics for all students and staff who wish to participate.

Thursday, October 15 Ireland Elementary 9:00-11:00 a.m.

Parents that want their students to participate will need to register each individual using the registration form below. (If you have insurance, please attach a copy of your card to the registration form.) Registrations are due to the school nurse by 8:00 a.m. Monday, September 28. We cannot accept late registrations or walk-ins.

If you have any questions or concerns, please call the Dubois County Health Department at 812-481-7056 prior to the clinic date.

GJCS is pleased to announce that ALL students will be offered free breakfast and lunch! This USDA program will begin Monday, September 14, 2020 and run through December 18, 2020 OR until the federal funding is depleted.

Students wishing to purchase a second meal, extra entree, extra milk, or anything ala carte, will need to have funds in their lunch accounts. Free meals do not apply to adults.

Households who wish to receive other benefits, such as textbook assistance should still complete a Free and Reduced Meal Application (https://www.gjcs.k12.in.us/parent-information/free-and-reduced-lunch).

Social Emotional Competency #1: Sensory-Motor Integration

Here are some additional observed behaviors that should alert one to the presence of a problem:

• Avoids writing tasks or assignments

• Difficulty with hand-eye coordination, difficulty hitting a ball, copying from the blackboard

• Appears to be clumsy, has difficulty running, bumps into things, poor at sports, moving all the time;

• Has difficulty with directionality, confuses right and left, etc.

• Has difficulty getting dressed, does not know which article of clothing to put on first

• Has not developed a dominant right or left hand or foot

• Has difficulty crossing the midline of the body

• Difficulty balancing, hopping or standing on one foot

(Excerpts from https://www.understanding-learning-disabilities.com/sensory-motor-integration.html)

Grades K-5: www.gonoodle.com

Grades 6-8: Figure 8 walking pattern watch video and practice with your student.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjKQeVFJVvk&t=17s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrYNUKybkuc

Grades 9-12: Figure 8 walking pattern watch video and practice with your student.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjKQeVFJVvk&t=17s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrYNUKybkuc

Send a letter to a friend or family member who lives far away..

Every week, your child will be receiving a kindness challenge! If they complete the challenge, they get to put up a sticker on our kindness challenge board!

Jump in on the fun at home too! Help us promote kindness to all - at school, home, and community!

When you think of parent involvement, do you picture parents volunteering in classrooms? That is certainly one way to help in non-covid days, however, research shows that supporting your child's education at home is even more important. Here are conversation starters that will help you stay involved.

"Let's see what you worked on today". Look at completed work to find out what your child is learning and how well he/she is doing. You could comment on the math work or social studies project, such as "you know a lot about our state's history!" Also respond to notes or emails from the teacher and make sure to sign the tests, assignment notebook, or anything else required.

"Show me what you have for homework." It's your child's responsibility to do homework, but you also play a role, too. Make sure your child knows what is supposed to be completed and have them explain their assignment notebook to you. After homework is finished, glance over the work to see that it is complete.

"Describe a book you enjoyed." This gives you an idea of what your child prefers to read. Then, build daily reading habits by asking what they would like to read tonight. Encourage your child's reading and listening skills by reading aloud to them and letting them read to you.

"Tell me what you learned that you'd like to know more about/". Use your child's interest as jumping-off points for activities to share. If your child likes geometry, you might hunt for shapes together. If your child is fascinated by how animals adapt to winter, read a book or observe animals outside.

Wednesday, September 30th or October 7th - Parent/Teacher Conferences

Oct. 9th - End of 1st Quarter

Oct. 19-23 - Fall Break - No School

Nov. 25-27 - Thanksgiving Break - No School

Dec. 18th - End 2nd Quarter; End 1st Semester

Jan. 4th - School Resumes

Jan. 18th - Professional Development - No School

Feb. 15th - Snow Make-Up Day - No School

Mar. 12th - End of 3rd Quarter

Mar. 22-26th - Spring Break - No School

April 2nd - Good Friday - No School

April 5th -Snow Make-Up Day - No School

May 28th - End 4th Quarter; End 2nd Semester

• Tardy = Students who arrive at school from 7:50 am - 8:05am
• 1/2 Day Absence = Students who arrive after 8:05 am or leave before 2:00 pm

• School hours are 7:50 a.m. -2:50 p.m. Students can arrive starting at 7:15 a.m. Students may not be dropped off prior to 7:15 AM. If you bring your child to school after 7:50 AM, you must escort them to the front doors. We are highly encouraging parents who are bringing their child to school to use the car drop-off drive.

• No visitors at this time.

• VERY IMPORTANT- If your child's transportation changes, please notify the office with a note ASAP.

If you haven't downloaded the Box Top APP yet, please do so! It is so easy to earn money for our school! Please spread the word to other community members. Just take a pic of your receipt using the app!

Click on the links below to see how easy it is to earn money for our school!

Shopping IN THE STORE!

Shopping ONLINE!

We have a school goal of $2,000. Let's do this!

So far, we have earned $174.50 this school year!

This year, we will continue our Character Education program! Each quarter, we will be focusing on 3 different character skills. Those skills will be taught and practiced within the school and classrooms. At the end of each quarter, students that exemplify those targeted skills will be selected to receive the Character Ed Award.

It is important to know that this is not an "everybody wins award." Students who are chosen are noticeably going above and beyond to model these skills. It is not to say other students do not. The intent of this program is to make kids consciously aware that their choices matter, and it isn't always easy to do the right thing. Many times in life doing the right thing is usually the hard thing!

1st Quarter Skills - Courage, Self-Control, & Tolerance

With the Covid-19 pandemic, we are working really hard making sure our school building is safe and all students stay healthy. This is a joint job - school faculty and parents.

If you or anyone in the household has ANY symptoms, please notify us immediately. We will assist you in determining if your child can or cannot come to school.

If the school is closed, you can email Mrs. Bauer sbauer@gjcs.k12.in.us or Brandi Stiles bstiles@gjcs.k12.in.us. We are happy to assist anytime!

REMINDER:

Please make sure your child is getting out of the vehicle on the passenger side.

Drivers should not be getting out of their cars in the morning. Please practice with your little kids on unbuckling their seatbelts.

TRAFFIC:

The Sheriff's department and the City of Jasper Police Department will be patrolling as much as they can. Please read carefully below what needs to take place to prohibit vehicles from getting landlocked and to keep traffic going.

- NO vehicles will be pulling into the car line from County Rd 500 W. if the street is full. All vehicles will wrap around the side streets and shoot across the county road to get to the car line.

- The county road 500W is for north and south traffic only, not for vehicles to pull into our car line.

- If you are heading south on 500 W, please turn right on West Center St. and wrap around to South Street to cross 500 W when traffic allows.

- If you are heading north on 500 W, please turn left onto Clay St. and wrap around to South Street to cross 500 W when traffic allows.

- If there is no backed up traffic, we will let you go straight up to South St to the car line.

- Per the Sheriff's Department, the road behind the Chicken Place is not part of our car line. Please avoid using the street to access our car line. To be quite honest, it is just rude to all the other parents that have followed the rules and are trying to help our situation.

Thanks for your help and PATIENCE!

Let the reading begin! We are super excited to have AR again this year! The Ireland PTO has purchased this program this year for all students, including the students online at this time.

Encourage your child to read and take AR quizzes! We will have some awesome opportunities and prizes at the end of the semester for the students to use their points!

Use this link to access AR - Ireland Accelerated Reading

HomeConnect - Parents will use their child's username and password to access it. It is a place where parents can see the progress their kids are making and even set it up to email them each time their kids take a test!

Do you want to know a little more about our staff members? Would you like to know their favorite snack or muffin? What about their favorite store or candy?

I have compiled a list at the beginning of the year for myself, and I thought it would be nice for you to know too!

Check out this link to view their favorites! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LNBa1DLyHFPSIUbk1jMurgLfXYtvefPnTIS6yKMLGPU/edit?usp=sharing

As we are beginning a new school year, please review the information in the parent handbook. It is attached below. The handbook is also accessible on our website. All information regarding Covid-19 can be found on the GJCS website.

Thanks!

GJCS has shared a lot of information regarding the reopening of our schools based on information from the CDC, Indiana Department of Health, Dubois County Health Department, Governor Holcomb, and others. We encourage you to go to our corporation website or social media pages to review that information before the start of school.

We also wanted to share with you some steps being taken specifically at Ireland Elementary School to ensure the health and safety of students and staff during this time. This information applies to the additional considerations being taken during the “Green Stage,” as identified by GJCS, and is certainly not an all-inclusive list. It is being provided to give students an opportunity to learn of some of the changes they will be encountering in order to be better prepared on the first day and for parents to get a better idea of the measures being taken at Ireland Elementary specifically.

See attachment below for more information - this was also sent out as an email a few weeks ago.

If your child's teacher DOES NOT send home monthly book orders, you can order books online from our school's account at this link - https://orders.scholastic.com/GNW96 .

Local enrollment for Boy Scouts is happening now! See pdf file attached for more information!

Email: sbauer@gjcs.k12.in.us
Website: https://www.gjcs.k12.in.us/3/home
Location: 2386 North 500 West, Jasper, IN, USA
Phone: (812)482-7751
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ireland-Elementary-School-482279435288092/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel&eid=ARAFiG3PHtLEmKAd5cDeCkiXQq9OSvT5IwdGN5thZayEwosa7K4OQKvDopYDB6ESEJzUS4NVtNa0lmoY