Hello Greenbrook Gator Parents!

Greenbrook Back to School Night is called Take Your Parent to School Night. It will be held on

September 30, Back to School Night, 6 PM-7:30 PM and is OPEN HOUSE style where you come with your students as your guides. Be sure to visit the cafeteria where the PTO, Music Teachers, Food Services, Before/After-School and After-School Club vendors will be. Stay tuned for a welcome video coming soon.

A flyer about this event was sent home with your students this week.

Next week is the BOOK FAIR and SPIRIT DAYS. See information on both later in the newsletter.

See you soon,

Dr. Jodi Mahoney

Principal

Missed our PTO Meeting? Here are our slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wcNzBNgZcRoPxzPKEJOzDc1J58NJk67hni8DyGrNapA/edit?usp=sharing

• Want to volunteer to staff the book fair (9/23-9/30)? Sign up here

• Create an eWALLET for your child(ren) here (this is so much easier than sending in $)

• Shop the evening event on 9/30 during Take Your Parent to School Night

Our PTO is amazing and does so much to support our community! From Author visits to recess equipment to furniture to funds for the classrooms. They do it all! See below for all of the ways that our PTO supported our school last year. To date, 50 families of 329 have joined. We are looking for close to 100% participation. All of the $ goes right back to supporting the students and teachers.

Please join our PTO! https://parents-pto-membership-dues.cheddarup.com

Want to SKIP THE FEE? Write a check to the PTO and send it in to school with your child c/o Vanessa Ortiz. Be sure to have your child's name and your name on the envelope.

October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. South Brunswick is committed to being a “dyslexia friendly district” with the ability to embrace and support the strengths and talents of our students with dyslexia.

Did you know that 1 in 5 people may have indicators of dyslexia? Or that 40% of entrepreneurs are dyslexic? On October 15th, you may see educators wearing red shirts to bring attention to the 1 in 5 statistic. Did you know that Dyslexia runs in families? Often it is undiagnosed because “dyslexia masks intelligence and intelligence masks dyslexia.” However, it is much more common than you may think!

Some history:

In September of 2014, NJ passed three laws related to dyslexia. The law requires two hours of mandated training related to dyslexia for appropriate school personnel; screening for any child who shows indicators of dyslexia or other reading disabilities early - by the end of the first semester of second grade with further comprehensive assessment and interventions to follow; and finally, dyslexia is now identified in the New Jersey Special Education Code of Law under the classification category of Specific Learning Disability.

Those who are dyslexic may experience difficulty with: learning letters and their sounds, decoding words, reading comprehension, written expression, grammar/mechanics, spelling, and rapid word retrieval. Early intervention can greatly increase success for these students.

Strengths for these students may include: verbal communication, visual arts, computer science, design, drama, electronics, mathematics, mechanics, music and/or sports.

If dyslexia runs in your family or you have concerns about dyslexia and your child, reach out to your child’s teacher or administrator.

Our district is very proud of our commitment to being a dyslexia friendly district. A few years ago, our teachers created this video to showcase our commitment to supporting students with dyslexia and other learning differences. You can see the video here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_Cpni_wZZynNkp2R0RUVTBSWGM/view?usp=sharing

In addition, our district was featured in New Jersey Family magazine (August 2017) in an article entitled, “Help! My Child Has Dyslexia” http://www.njfamily.com/Help-My-Child-Has-Dyslexia/

If you are looking for some resources about Dyslexia for yourself or your child, here are some good places to start:

Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz (Book)

The Gift of Dyslexia by Ronald Davis

On Social Media follow:

• Decoding Dyslexia NJ @DDNJ

• Dyslexia Advantage (FB)

• International Dyslexia Association (FB)

• Made By Dyslexia (FB)

• Bright Solutions for Dyslexia (FB)

Helpful Websites:

• https://dyslexiaida.org/ (NJ Branch of the International Dyslexia Association)

• Learning Ally https://learningally.org/

• Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity: https://www.dyslexia.yale.edu/

Field Trips will be starting in October. Each grade level will let you know when the trip is coming up, In order for your child to go, you'll need to pay via MySchoolBucks.com.

In addition, if you child has any medical condition that warrants them to have medication on the field trip, please be sure to give Nurse Bethany their action plan and medication by Oct. 7. Otherwise, your child may not be able to go on the trip.

Firefly Tennis and GymGuyz (new this year) are offering after school activities at Greenbrook this year. Flyers were sent home. Not only are these great offerings, but our PTO benefits by receiving part of the enrollment fees. Additionally, both programs offer scholarships to families who cannot afford the fees. If you are interested in being considered for a scholarship, please contact Aileen Beck at aileen.beck@sbschools.org

Firefly Clubs offering Basketball (Tuesdays) and Tennis Club (Wednesdays). Go to Fireflyclubs.com for session dates and prices.

Watch for order forms in. your child's backpack.

You can also ORDER ONLINE here:

http://werypc.hhimagehost.com/GreenbrookFall2024

Stay up to date with notes from our Health Center via Nurse Bethany's s'more: https://www.smore.com/5ajg0

Unfortunately we are already seeing COVID again and students being sent to school sick.

Please DO NOT send a sick child to school.

Also, please be ready to pick up (or have someone else pick up) your child within 30 minutes if you get called because they are sick. This is to ensure that your child is comfortable and to enable the health office to serve other students.

The South Brunswick Police Department will be providing free child emergency ID cards for interested parents on Saturday, September 21st, from 10am to 1pm. This event will take place at the South Brunswick Municipal Building, located at 540 Ridge Road, Monmouth Junction.

The ID card is the size of a credit card, and includes a photo, physical description, thumbprint, and emergency response procedures. The card is not considered a valid government identification card, but enables parents to immediately provide authorities with the identifying features of the child in a condensed format during an emergency, when other documents containing this information might not be readily available.

Anyone interested in obtaining an identification card for their child is asked to complete the attached pre-registration form and return it to the South Brunswick Police Department by September 18th. You MUST pre-register in order to receive a child ID card.

For more information call (732)329-4000 Ext. 7469.

Families need to apply every year to receive Free or Reduced Breakfast and Lunch Benefits. If you need to apply for FREE or REDUCED LUNCH, you can find the forms in GENESIS.

If you need assistance, please reach out to Mrs. Flint (pushpalatha.flint@sbschools.org) or Mrs. Beck (aileen.beck@sbschools.org)

We love to recognize children’s birthdays. However, NO FOOD, BALLOONS or GOODY BAGS are permitted for these celebrations. If you would like your child’s birthday to be recognized, please reach out to your child’s teacher at least one week in advance. Your child’s teacher will share the way(s) in which birthdays will be recognized in class. Most often this will be a read aloud book your child has chosen, a morning meeting activity of your child’s choice, or a free-choice activity of your child’s choice. Parents DO NOT come in to celebrate.

Invitations to birthday celebrations are not to be distributed at school.

If your student in Gr. 2-5 needs a device:

1. Fill out the Google Form.

2. Pay the annual insurance fee for your child's device on MySchoolBucks. Attach your receipt to the Google Form OR forward the receipt to the technology coordinators at meana.sodon@sbschools.org and jennifer.fruncillo@sbschools.org.

This fee is waived for those receiving free or reduced lunch.

If your Chromebook is damaged or not working properly at any time during the school year, please complete this form.

If you have lost the charger, you’ll need to purchase a replacement through MySchoolBucks.

The tech coordinators will give your child the requested tech at the earliest convenience.

All forms are now ONLINE via the GENESIS parent portal. You will not have access to class placements or bus information until these forms are complete. Therefore, please be sure to:

• Update your contact information
• Sign AUP form
• Update any Health Form
• Fill out all other forms that are on the "Forms" tab

The LOST and FOUND is located in the cafeteria at Greenbrook. Items will be donated at the end of EVERY MONTH!

LABEL, LABEL, LABEL. Please write your child's name in sweatshirts and jackets and on all water bottles.

Encourage your child to check the LOST and FOUND weekly.

Thank you in advance.

Champions is the program provider for Before and After School. Here is a link to register and find out more.

OPT in to TEXT MESSAGES from SCHOOL MESSENGER just by sending a text message of “Y” or “Yes” to our school’s short code number, 67587.

Ensure that in GENESIS that your number is listed as MOBILE.

Here are some ways to stay connected to our school:

1) District web page: www.sbschools.org and school webpage www.sbschools.org/gb (this will have a link to our school supplies, school hours, phone information, calendar and more!)

2) You are reading Principal's Newsletter via S'more. This contains valuable information to help you prepare your child for this school year and plan for upcoming important events. This newsletter is sent every 2 weeks or so via School Messenger.

3) Follow us at facebook.com/sbsdgb

4) Follow us on Twitter @sbsdgb

5) Also, often your child’s teacher will have a website, weebly or twitter page that they use to communicate and share with you.

Stay up to date on PTO and school news. To receive the PTO e-mail blasts, send an e-mail to: pto.gb@sbparents.org. Thank you.

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THANK YOU!

Here's how to follow us and reach us!

Instagram: Greenbrook Elementary School

Email: jodi.mahoney@sbschools.org
Website: https://gb.sbschools.org/
Location: 23 Roberts Street, Kendall Park, NJ, USA
Phone: 732-297-2480
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SBSDGB/
Twitter: @SBSDGB