Jefferson Elementary

Greetings Jefferson Families!

I hope you had a wonderful week! Our staff have been working hard to prepare for your student's arrival and we can't wait to see them next week!

We had a great turn out for our Popsicles in the Playground event this past week. It was magical to watch our Jefferson community come together and meet new people and enjoy our BRAND new playground...check out some of the moments captured below!

If you have not signed up for Entrance Conferences for next week on Tuesday Sept 5th or Wednesday Sept 6th please do so through your email invitation or call the office at 507.388.5480 to get your student a time to meet their teacher.

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!

Sincerely,

Melissa Brueske

Principal, Jefferson Elementary

Our first Wednesday Early Release will be Sept. 20th. Details around this process are listed below. The after school child care link has also been added.

• Students will be dismissed at 12:30 and follow their typical after school dismissal routines. Be sure to share any changes to pick up routines with your child's teacher in advance. Buses will run at 12:30 only on Early Release days.
• Students will all still be served school lunch. To maximize serving lunch at a reasonable time, students will be served a bag lunch and eat in their classrooms on these days. Of course, as always, if students prefer a home lunch they certainly can do so.
• Student Care will be offered in the afternoons. We will send out a monthly sign-up to pre-register for care should your student(s) need it. After School Child Care
• At 2:30, students will need to be picked up by their caregivers. There will not be a bussing option at 2:30.
• Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Here is a video on detailing the benefits of filling out the free and reduced lunch forms. This year lunch and breakfast are free to all students but we still encourage families who qualify for free and reduced lunch to fill out the form for the other benefits it can provide at school. When we fill out these forms it provide additional funding for our learning environment...including extra support staff, educational materials and resources as well as family and school connection opportunities.

Please watch this video for more details. Click on the x on the pop to view the video.

https://fb.watch/mFUS9uS0A0/?mibextid=cr9u03

We are excited to have a brand new parking lot at Jefferson. This lot is located off of Fairview Ave by door 3 on the south side of the building. The new drop off and pick up procedures are as follows:

* Vehicles dropping off their student(s) should take the outer lane labeled DROP OFF and proceed in a single file line to pull up as far ahead in the drop off lane as they can before letting your student out of the vehicle. We encourage ALL students to get out of the vehicle independently and for ALL drivers to stay in the vehicle during drop off and pick up. Thank you for you help in upholding these guidelines that are meant to keep traffic flowing and keep our students safe.

Once dropped off the students will need to take the path to the playground areas where our supervisors are waiting to greet them.

For pick up after school, FAMILIES MUST PICK UP FROM OUR PICK UP LOOP. Our upper lot is reserved for our busses. Have your family number displayed in the vehicle window. Our staff will have you pull up to a designated cone. Your student will then enter the vehicle when its has come to a complete stop.

Start & End times for our school day are as follows:

First Bell: 7:50 all students will enter the building

Second Bell: 8:00 students need to be in their classrooms or they will be marked absent /tardy

Dismissal: Students will start to stagger release at 2:25 our end of the day bell is at 2:30

The link below contains all these details. You may want to print it off to refer to as the school year goes on.

On November 7th Mankato Area Public Schools will be asking the community to vote on a bond referendum. There will be several informational meetings hosted from now until voting day. Please consider attending one or more of these sessions. It will be a great opportunity to hear details about the proposal and to ask any questions you may have on how this referendum will impact you, your student and our community. Listed below are the Jefferson along with the Community offered sessions. The image above details a rendition of what specific changes Jefferson will undergo if the referendum passes along with an outline of the other areas the referendum would fund. This is displayed in the front lobby at Jefferson~ be sure to take a peak at it when you come in for Entrance conferences next week!

Community Sessions:

• Friday Sept. 19th & 25th @ West High School 5:30-7:00

• Tuesday Oct. 26th @ East High School 5:30-7:00

• Virtual Session Oct 5th At 12:00

Jefferson Sessions:

• We will host three school community referendum information sessions this fall as well.

• The first session will be right after our first PTO meeting on Tuesday September 19th from 7:00-7:30

• The next two sessions will be held on Tuesday October 10th and coincide with our

Just Pop-In and Take a Spin Night @ Jefferson.

• The first session that evening will be from 5:45-6:15

• The second session that evening will be from 6:30-7:00. An announcement will be made reminding families about this opportunity.

FOCP Backpack are free programs providing students in grades K-8 with weekend food packs containing breakfast, lunch and a snack for each day off of school. As of right now, food packs will be delivered weekly directly to a students backpack while they are at lunch or on break. Sign up today to give your child an additional boost of nutrition.

Check out this cool video about them!

https://youtu.be/Yd3BFPtg93A?si=4vJpsPgGhxSJCtET

We are looking for people who would love to be a part of our students everyday experience here at Jefferson by volunteering in our cafeteria. As a cafeteria volunteer you would helping students to find their spots in the cafeteria, assisting with opening up milk and condiment packages and most importantly and best of all you would be another positive connection in our students day which we know is vital in creating an effective learning environment. Please fill out the google form if you are interested in this opportunity. There is flexibility in being a part of this so don't hesitate to reach out if you are interested. For those who reply I will be reaching out to you with further details! Thanks for considering!!

Sept 19th. PTO Meeting from 6:00-7:00 in the Media Center

Sept 19th Referendum Presentation 7:00-7:30 Media Center (following PTO meeting)

Sept. 20th: Early Release

Sept. 22nd Picture Day

Sept. 28th: Fall Bus Evacuation

Oct. 6th Jefferson Jog

Oct 10th: Book Fair at Jefferson & Pop in and Take a Spin Night 5:30-7:00

Oct 10th: Referendum Presentations for public at Jefferson Media Center 5:45-6:15 & 6:30-7:00

Oct. th Vision and Hearing Screening