The Wildcat

• Dates to Know
• Monthly Attendance Award
• Top 3 Staff
• Henry Frogs
• PTO Updates
• SUN bucks
• Extracurricular
• Learning Lab
• Absences/Sick Days
• Arrival and Dismissal
• Extracurricular Activities
• Wellness Calendar

Book Fair all Week

Wednesday, May 15th-LifeSkills 5th graders to HMS

Thursday, May 16th-4th grade field trip

-PTO meeting 5-6pm

Friday, May 17th-2nd grade field trip

Mrs. Polites's class get a chance to win a Henry Frog if they are picked from the Star Jar at the end of each week. Our 3rd graders love them!

Lunch with a staff member raffle! Ends Thursday, May 16th (see below)

Meeting Thursday, May 16th @ 5pm

Book Fair-May 13th-17th. Everything will be "buy one get one free".

Please sign-up here to volunteer: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4CACAF2FAAF4C61-49265031-bogo

Monday, May 20th-Fun in the Sun (rain date May 22nd)

Extra yearbooks will be sold starting Monday, 5/13. Cash only $20.00. First come first serve in Main office.

The Johnston K-Kids finished their year enjoying ice cream sundaes and talking about their awesome service projects they worked on this school year. Thank you for all of your hard work !!

Eight students from Mrs. Kitchell’s class completed all six months of their Book-It! They were rewarded with ice cream sundaes and drinks. Congratulations and keep up the great reading.

The state of Indiana today announced that applications for the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (SEBT) program, also known as SUN Bucks, are now open.

SUN Bucks is a new benefits program that provides families a one-time payment of $120 for each eligible school-aged child to help purchase groceries during the summer. This ensures that students continue to have access to healthy meals beyond the school year.

Children are eligible for the program if:

• The household already participates in SNAP, TANF, or income-based Medicaid, or
• The student has been identified as a ward of the state (foster child), homeless, or migrant, or
• The student attends a school that offers the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and the household income meets the requirements for free or reduced-price school meals.

The benefits will be provided to eligible families on a separate EBT card and mailed directly to their home. Benefits can be used at authorized retailers, like grocery stores and farmers markets, to purchase healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, meats and other protein sources, whole grains and dairy. These benefits are available in addition to free meals that children of all ages can get at SUN Meals sites in their communities.

Most eligible families will receive these benefits automatically and local schools will communicate eligibility to parents and families. Some parents will need to apply. The following households need to complete the online SUN Bucks application:

• Households with children attending a school operating the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), where all meals are free to students, and who have not been notified of automatic SUN Bucks eligibility.
• Households with children attending a school operating NSLP who were not approved for free or reduced meals during the school year.
• Households with children that do not attend a school operating NSLP and who receive SNAP, TANF, certain levels of income-based Medicaid, or are foster, migrant, or homeless.

SUN Bucks is funded by the state of Indiana and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Visit the Indiana SUN Bucks webpage to learn more about this new program and apply today.

Here is a list of all our food pantries in our area.

For their own safety and the safety of our community, pre-high school students can attend STOH events ONLY if accompanied by a paying parent or adult chaperone. The parent/chaperone will be responsible for the supervision of the student(s) throughout the duration of the event. All students may be required to show proper STOH identification at the ticketing window prior to entering STOH events. STOH reserves the right to deny entry to any individual 18 and under who cannot provide proper identification and demonstrate they are of high school age.

Here is a link to the full policy.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTkKU2kYoUp_qq5Vb-W4oyCnJVxYHAgfKLmILeiLfmdS5_AQf9LtJwWM9zgmIhIsfSuRv7CaeZGpvHV/pub

The state of Indiana has a resource that is a wealth of information and resources on all types of topics. It is called the Indiana Learning Lab. Please use this resource to help your child make learning easier. Indiana Learning Lab

If your child is going to be absent, please call our office at 219-923-2428 by 8am to let us know. If a student calls off ill with a persistent cough, vomiting, diarrhea, or fever, they must be out and return after being symptom-free for 24 hours. If they call off Monday, they return on Wednesday, etc.

Our COVID procedures are the same this year as they were last year. They are as follows:

• Positive students and staff will be out for 5 days.

• Day 0 is the symptom onset date or positive test date (whichever comes first).

• Days 6-10 the student may be back in the building (if symptom-free) but must wear a mask unless participating in an athletic or P.E. activity.

• Students must eat isolated on days 6-10.

• These students will be tracked on the COVID trackers at each school.

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Students are considered tardy after 7:50 a.m. Each tardy results in missed educational opportunities for a child and results in a substantial disruption to the classroom environment when the student enters. As a result, for every 10 tardies accrued during an academic calendar year, a child will be charged with one unexcused absence.

Please let us know if you have any questions. We hope to keep everyone safe and healthy as best we can. You can find more detailed information in our student handbook.

We have rotating "Specials" times. Please check your classroom teacher's agenda daily to see what additional class you must attend.

Here is a link to a calendar that lists the rotations.

Breakfast is $1.50

Lunch is $2.00

You can find both menus here: https://www.schoolnutritionandfitness.com/index.php?sid=2809100435083594&page=menus

• Doors open for students at 7:35 a.m. daily. Students who eat breakfast at school will be allowed entry beginning at 7:20 a.m. Anyone arriving after 7:50 a.m. will need to buzz and come into the main office to sign in.

• Cars will enter the parking lot off Duluth Street (right turn only) and follow the curve to drop off students. Please pull up as far as you can and drop all your students off at one time. Have your children ready with their backpacks, lunch money, hugs, and kisses, so that when you stop they may exit the car quickly, and we can keep the drop-off line moving. The line can become backed up onto Duluth Street very quickly which causes safety issues for our parents, as well as other drivers.

• Please drop off curbside only. Avoid dropping children off where they have to cross the street, this is extremely dangerous. It will be your responsibility to cross them if you choose to do this.

• Please be mindful of other drivers and walkers. We know many of you have to get to work, and we want all children to be able to enter the building safely and on time.

• 1st, 2nd, and 5th grade should be dropped off at Door C.

• Kindergarten, 3rd, and 4th grade should be dropped off at Door B.

• 5th graders and Mrs. Torres's class will use Door G.

At the end of the school day, the following doors will be used for dismissal:

• Grade K will exit through door J (at 2:15pm)

• Grade 1 will exit through door C (main doors)

• Grade 2 will exit through door B

• Grade 3 will exit through door J

• Grade 4 will exit through door I

• Grade 5 and Mrs. Torres's class will exit through door G

• Bus riders will exit through door J (a few minutes prior to the remainder of the school being dismissed where the buses will be waiting).

Cars may enter the parking lot off Duluth Street and follow the curve to pick up or park in the parking lot to walk up to get students.

PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN THE BUS LANE ON GRAND STREET.

We would like to thank you in advance for your cooperation as we strive to keep our Johnston families safe.

Please don't hesitate to contact us in the office for any ideas, thoughts, concerns, or words of encouragement! We are all part of this large extended mix of wonderful people we affectionately refer to as our Johnston Family.

Email: aharring@highland.k12.in.us
Website: https://www.highland.k12.in.us/o/jes
Location: 8220 5th Street, Highland, IN, United States
Phone: 219.923.2428
Facebook: facebook.com/johnstonpto
Twitter: @harrington_jn