Jaguar News Journal

October 14th - 18th

From Our Principal

Dear JWE Families,

Hello and happy Sunday! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! As a reminder for families, there is no school for students on Monday, October 14th. This is a dedicated Teacher Work Day for Rockingham County Public Schools!

Monday, October 14th is our monthly Spirit Night at Bridgewater Domino's! We invite all families to take the night off from cooking and order from Domino's. Please be sure to mention JWES and share this flyer with them when you order: JWES Domino's Spirit Night Flyer!

This coming Wednesday, October 16th is Unity Day! This is a specific day during which we call attention to Bullying Prevention. We of course regularly work through strategies and learning around this important topic but on Unity Day we intentionally honor and encourage continued efforts and education around it. We have turned this into a Spirit Day for JWES! We ask all students to wear orange to stand in unity agains bullying! See more information below from our amazing school counseling team!

On October 23rd, JWES will host our first Title I Family Engagement Event of the school year! Please mark your calendars and join us from 6:30-7:30 for some fun and snacks! We're excited to be collaborating with the Education Department at JMU this year on this event. JMU Math Education students will have numeracy/math-based stations with games and challenges set up in our gymnasium. The JWES Literacy Team will also be facilitating literacy based activities in our cafeteria. I hope we'll see you there!

An important FYI/Reminder: On October 31st, JWES has historically had a Book Character dress up day. This year, we are mixing it up and saving Book Character Day for Read Across America week in March! We will, however, have our PTO Sponsored Fun Run on October 31st this year. Each grade level is choosing a color theme and students and staff are invited to dress in as much of their theme color as possible for the day! The class who has the best participation/is designated as most spirited will be recognized and celebrated!!! The Fun Run is a fundraising event for our amazing PTO - thanks in advance for any support you can offer for this event!

As an on-going reminder, please be aware that RCPS has had some concerns and issues with younger students being unsupervised at high school games and events. All families are asked to be sure that if your child is at a football game that he/she is both accompanied by and actively supervised by a responsible adult. For elementary aged students, the preference is that your child sit with your family.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and thank you for your continued partnership and support!

Sincerely,

Sara Hammill

Principal

PTO News

During the school day on Thursday, October 31, 2024, each grade level will have 30 minutes allotted for students to complete as many laps as possible around the Fun Run course set up at our school (participants can walk or run)! K-2nd graders have a smaller track with 8 laps making a mile, while 3rd-5th graders have a bigger track with 6 laps making a mile. In partnership with our teachers, we are encouraging students to set personal goals - this is not a race! Each grade level will also be selecting its color theme to help students and teachers get excited about the event (more info will come from your child’s teacher) and after the run the grade level who is most spirited will win the Fun Run Trophy! Pledge sheets were sent home last week. If you have any questions email jwesptova@gmail.com

Counselor Corner

October is Bullying Prevention Month and we are excited to focus on defining and responding to bullying, including others, and how to be an upstander to prevent bullying.

Ms. K & Mrs. Strite are both incorporating these themes into regularly scheduled classroom guidance lessons for all students. We are encouraging all grade levels to "See Something, Say Something" to improve safety, belonging and kindness here at JWES. Thanks for your support of our messages at home! For more tips on how to talk about bullying with your student, visit:

https://www.kidsmentalhealthfoundation.org/mental-health-resources/bullying/combat-bullying-tips

Kindergarten Collaboratve Play w/ Mrs. Strite!

Virginia Quality Birth to Five System (VQB5) Info for Families

To prepare all children for kindergarten, Virginia’s early childhood system must ensure that all children have quality teaching and learning experiences that meet their unique needs. In response to state law, Virginia has developed the Unified Virginia Quality Birth to Five System (VQB5) to measure and help improve the quality of all publicly-funded birth-to-five classrooms and support families to choose quality programming across program types.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is a state agency that oversees birth-to-five early childhood programs including child care centers, pre-K or preschool in public schools, family day homes, and Head Start. This includes measuring the quality of programs.

Our goal is that all Virginia children have learning experiences that prepare them for kindergarten. Measuring the quality of these learning experiences helps strengthen programs and provide important information to families.

VQB5 helps families learn about different birth-to-five programs so they can choose a program that best meets their needs. Here are some informational flyers in both English and Spanish. Here is a link to information about VQB5 on the VDOE's website.