Week 9
Good Afternoon Jacques Families,
November is one of my favorite months of the year. The temperature is finally where it is cold in the morning and beautiful during the day. The fall colors are in full swing. And the holidays that are focused on family, gratitude and caring are upon us.
During the month of November we are focusing on gratitude as part of our Choose Love Program. Recent research indicates that when young students practice acts of gratitude it boosts feelings of satisfaction, joy, and enthusiasm and reduces stress, anxiety and depression. We hope that you can support our efforts in practicing gratitude with your son or daughter.
I am grateful for our incredible students at Jacques Memorial School, who challenge themselves every day to learn and be engaged as well as challenging us to become better people.
I am also grateful for the wonderful, caring staff at Jacques Memorial School from our custodian, our paraprofessionals, our office staff, our school counselors, our student service providers, and to all of our teachers. I am grateful every day for the opportunity to work with all of them and I know your children are in good hands with them.
I am grateful for the collaboration with our amazing community partners and parents and what we have already accomplished so far this school year to make Jacques Memorial School a special learning community.
Thank you all for reading this week’s update!
Parent Conferences: We will be hosting our annual fall parent conferences the week of November 14th through November 18th. Our goal is to have 100% of our parents participate in parent conferences. If you have not scheduled this important event with your child’s teacher please do so.
The success of our students comes from the team of parent, teacher and student working together to achieve the goals we want to reach. Teachers wish that they could give every parent unlimited time to discuss their child’s progress, however, it is just not possible. Teachers try to stay on schedule to respect parent’s busy schedules. They appreciate if you are on time as well as letting them know by a gentle knock on the door when it’s your scheduled time. It’s so easy to get off schedule when the conversation is about such important people as your children.
Although teachers have information they want to share with you, the best conferences are those where questions and comments come from both sides. It is appropriate to ask things like; What are my child’s academic, social and behavioral strengths? Where do they still need to grow? Where have you seen improvement since the beginning of school? What goals should we set for the next quarter?
Please let your child’s teacher know if you have seen changes in your child demeanor that worry you. After the conference, it’s important to discuss with your child his or her progress. It reminds your child that school and home work together for their benefit. Praise good news and encourage change in work habits if the news is not as enthusiastic. Help your child plan out a course of change if necessary.
Arrival Procedures: With the colder weather approaching, more families have been using the drop-off loop in front of the Bales School. Please follow these procedures when accessing the front driveway drop off loop.
-
The Drop-off Loop in front of Bales is for the drop-off of students, not for parking (there will be a staff person there to assist). The Drop-off Loop opens at 8:10.
-
Do not enter the loop until the large traffic cone is removed from the end of the driveway and a staff member is present. Please do not pass other cars in the loop. Parents must remain in their cars.
-
Only the first 5-6 cars along the front of the Bales School can unload at a time. Students should practice exiting the vehicle independently.
-
A staff member will monitor the Drop-off loop traffic. There is a yellow line painted on the driveway to indicate the maximum number of vehicles that will still allow school buses to enter. When the Drop-off loop is full and cannot accommodate any more vehicles, a staff member will indicate so with a large red LOOP IS FULL sign. If and when you see this sign please continue driving. Do not stop traffic on Elm Street. Parents can search for a parking spot and walk or drive around to try the drop-off loop again.
-
There is no left hand turn allowed into the drop-off loop.
November PTO Meeting: November PTO Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 11/2/22 via zoom. The link to the meeting has been included below. We look forward to seeing you there.
Topic: November PTO Time: Nov 2, 2022 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 815 8156 1127 Passcode: 640892
POPCORN Poppers Needed! We need volunteers to help with our Popcorn Fridays. If you are able to help please click the link below. No experience necessary!
No School - Teachers Workshop: There will be no school on Tuesday, November 8th.
No School - Veterans Day: There will be no school on Friday, November 11th in recognition of our Veterans. Thank you Veterans for your service to our country!
Gratefully,
Tim O’Connell
Principal