September 20, 2024
What a great week...Start With Hello!
I wanted to take a moment to celebrate the success and importance of Start with Hello Week. This initiative has helped our students understand the significance of reaching out to others, creating a culture of inclusion, and making a positive difference in the lives of their peers. It's inspiring to see our children embrace kindness and empathy, and we are grateful for your support in reinforcing these values at home. Let's continue to encourage our children to spread kindness and build meaningful connections with others. Thank you to all the high school student-athletes, district personnel, and parents who helped start each day this week with special hellos! Spiderman's visit today was definitely a highlight of the week for many kids!
The Jefferson Elementary community is an awesome place to grow and learn. We know your primary-age child has most likely come home talking about their new friends. We would like to invite our primary students and their families(siblings welcome) to meet and play on the playground and have a Pop Ice courtesy of the PTO! This is an informal opportunity to meet and socialize with other families. Mr. Schmidt will be on the playground that night as well. Please note that this is a family, and staff members will not necessarily be present. We will have a separate night for each grade level.
1st Grade: Friday, September 20 6:00- 7:00
2nd Grade: Friday, September 27 6:00- 7:00
Supporting Your Child's Educational Journey
Many times, as parents, we look for ways to support our students academically. We recently held a curriculum night to provide a brief introduction to our English Language Arts and Math curriculums. In next week's Journal, we will provide a short video recapping the presentation. (Thank you for your understanding of the delay in getting this distributed.)
Our Language Arts curriculum is Wit & Wisdom. Below are links for each grade level's family letter. Take a moment to read the letter, and don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions or comments.
As a reminder, GJPS provides our families access to ClassLink, which is the students’ dashboard of apps, allowing them to access their apps at home throughout the school year and summer. Through this access, parents can support the growth of their students in Math and English Language Arts. Remember that Dreambox and Lexia are adaptive and adjust to the user, so parent participation should be only in helping their child log on to a device at home and being a cheerleader along the way. If your child is confused about the content, then reach out to your child's classroom teacher and ask him/her to check in with your child on the specific lesson. 10-15 minutes a day on one or both of our digital platforms will go a long way toward building confidence and a solid foundation for your student.
Here are the directions on how to log onto a personal device at home. Please feel free to reach out to Mrs. VanHorssen at vanhorssenj@gjps.org . She is always happy to help families.
Hi Jefferson families! I am excited to share that our first book fair of the year is fast approaching. We have two book fairs a year, and they help to encourage excitement for reading. The fairs also raise money to purchase new books in our library. Students come and shop during their regular library day. If you would not like your child to purchase books, we will have other activities for them to do. It will take place during conference week (October 1-4th). This is always such an exciting time for the students, but it takes a lot of time, preparation, and help. I would be so grateful if you’d take the time to consider signing up to volunteer. Below is the signup genius link and also a schedule explaining the days each class will be coming. I know most adults like to sign up when their child is coming!
Thank you and please email me at hoare@gjps.org with any questions!
-Mrs. Hoar
School librarian
Office Volunteer Sign-up
You will be using the office copy machine to make copies of various classroom papers, collating materials for teachers, and any other office-type activities that may be needed to support classroom instruction.
Instructions will be provided, so no experience is necessary!
Lunch Helpers Volunteer Sign-up
Our school is in need of volunteers in the cafeteria to help students open food containers, help with general cleanup, and wipe off tables for others.
Playground Helpers- Volunteer Sign-up
Help the staff at Jefferson have extra eyes on the playground. Walk around the playground, monitoring activities, talking with students, or join in and play a game with them!
Mark Your Calendar...
September 20 1st Grade Pop Ice & Playground 6:00- 7:00 pm
September 23 Teacher Professional Learning Day, No School for Students
September 27 Jog for Jefferson
September 27 2nd Grade Pop Ice & Playground 6:00- 7:00 pm
October 1& 3 Parent-Teacher Conferences
October 11 Jog Awards Assembly 1:45
October 15 & 16 3rd Grade Ohio State Test in Reading
October 21 & 22 No School
October 25 Reports available in Parent Portal
October 29 Picture Retake Day
ical Link to add Jefferson Calendar to your phone
Heart and Pride Nominations
The Heart and Pride Award recognizes two outstanding staff members each month who make a profound impact on our students and Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools. Families are encourage to nominate a staff member today! The Heart & Pride Nomination Form will remain available year-round and is open to any member of our staff, regardless of position.