From Principal Payne

We are falling into routines and academics here at SES in all areas of our building! As October begins, we will have many activities to keep us busy including concluding the 1st 9 weeks, an early dismissal, Columbus Day observance with no school, fieldtrips, Fall Fun Day, athletes from Shepherd University Women and Men's soccer team working with our students on soccer skills, walkthroughs from our county office, fall picture day, and many, many more! Be sure to look over our calendar below.

We had our first SEA meeting of the year and we happily filled more tables of involved parents, staff, and other stakeholders than all of last year! I was able to share pictures of our new school being built, bringing as much excitement for the benefits a new building offers, as well as a little emotion as our community will miss our little old building here on Church Street. I am excited for my first walk on the property with the county and builders this month to obtain more details on their progress. Ms. Herbert's 1st grade class won the prize for most participating parent/guardians at September's SEA meeting, and so the class gets to enjoy a popsicle party from their extra support!

Attendance matters in all areas of SES, whether it be at a SEA monthly meeting, daily student attendance, staff attendance, or participating in our spirit night or upcoming Fall Fun Day activities! This is an amazing school full of incredible people and groups who care about the social/emotional/academic needs of all students and respect all efforts from students, staff, and the community to make SES the BEST school in Jefferson County!

One of these special groups, SES's LSIC (Local School Improvement Council), met for the first time this school year and we have new members that SES will benefit from greatly, due to the individual skills and passions each member brings. You can now read our monthly minutes on our SES website under the LSIC tab on our homepage.

Knowing about the upcoming vote for the JCS school excess levy is very important for our community to be educated on and I encourage you to look for parent information and Q & A details shared on our county and school website. The Q & A section will be live and updated as more questions are asked. Members from our county will be presenting at our October SEA meeting to discuss the details of the levy and answer any questions from our supportive community.

I hope this month ahead gives many opportunities for your family to be involved with SES, appreciate all the good around our school, and stay safe, happy and healthy!

~Mrs. Payne

UPCOMING EVENTS!

Tuesday 10/2/2024 - Custodian Appreciation Day

Thursday 10/11/2024 - Grading Ends for 1st 9 weeks & 2 Hour Early Release Day

Monday 10/14/2024 - No School for Students. Professional Development day for Staff

Wednesday 10/16/2024 - SEA Meeting in Cafeteria 6-7:00 p.m. (special guest - county member will speak about the levy details to be knowledgeable about when voting on election day)

October 16 - 17, 2024 - Mountaineer Popcorn Spirit Nights (see flyer below)

Thursday 10/17/2024 - Fall Picture Day

Friday 10/18/2024 - Report Cards

Saturday 10/19/2024 - Fall Fun Day & Trunk or Treat at SES from 3 - 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday 10/22/2024 - 3rd Grade Field Trip to D.C. Zoo

Thursday 10/24/2024 - Parent Teacher Conferences from 5-7:00 p.m.

Tuesday 10/29/2024 - 1st Grade Field Trip to Sibert's Farm & Pumpkin Patch

Tuesday 11/5/2024 - Election Day - No School

Monday 11/11/2024 - Veteran's Day - No School

11/25/24 - 11/29/24 - Thanksgiving Break

PARENT'S CORNER!

LUNCH MENU:

https://ses.jcswv.org/o/ses/dining?filter=20741

Click MENU on our school website to see what's for lunch every week, knowing it is subject to change based on deliveries.

TRANSPORTATION:

Parents can visit the Jefferson County Schools website to learn more about student bus information: https://www.jcswv.org/page/find-my-school-and-bus-stop-information Parents can also view live updates on bus status each day by using the following link: https://www.jcswv.org/page/bus-tracker

JCS Newsletter, The Beacon:

https://jcs.edurooms.com/engage/jefferson-county-schools/newsletters/the-beacon-october-1-2024

SCHOOL HOURS:

Students who are riders/walkers and require breakfast can enter the school at 8:30. All other students and bused students will enter the school at 8:35 and can either eat breakfast or go to their classroom.

The tardy bell rings at 8:50 a.m.

Please do not pick up your child from school between 3:00-3:25, unless it is an emergency. Dismissal begins at 3:25 for walkers and riders. Bused students' dismissal begins at 3:30.

When you drop off your child or items for your child, you will remain outside without having to show your ID and we will come to the door to take your child/items. If you need to pick up your child early or come into the building during school hours because you are volunteering/attending a meeting, you will continue to show your ID at the door before entering. Thank you for your help in being prepared for these instances!

SUBMIT ABSENCE ON LINE:

https://app.droplet.io/form/0YPd5K

Every time your child is absent from school, it is very important to submit an excuse within 3 days of their return or it is counted as unexcused. Our preferred and easiest way of submitting an excuse is by using this link found on either our school or the county's front page of both websites. You can even submit doctor's notes by uploading them in the link. Please build this preferred way as your habit of sending in excuses.

Remember, you get 10 days of excused absences by sending in a parent note, but after those 10 are used, they become all unexcused.

SES STUDENT & FAMILY HANDBOOK:

Please take time and read our Family and Student Handbook for 2024-25. You will be given the last page of this handbook to sign and return by August 30th to show that you have read our information. You can check the box on the form if you need a printed copy of the handbook and we will send it home with your child for your convenience.

SES Family & Student Handbook 2024-25

ANY NOTE SENT TO SCHOOL:

Please include your child's first and last name on any note sent in to school. Thank you!

JCS APP:

If you have not downloaded the JCSWV App to your phone, please do so now! This is where you will receive important school information, bus changes during dismissal, newsletters, and emails in Rooms from your child's teacher.

HIGHLIGHTING AT SES: K, BAND & OUR OFFICE!

Hip Hip Hooray, Let's hear it for our K!

We have 42 kindergartners this year within the 2 phenomenal classrooms led by Mrs. Lewis/Mrs. Dillow & Mrs. Webb/Mrs. Rolin.

Kindergarten has been busy learning the routines of going to school, classrooms, and each of the specials classes.

They have been working on fine motor skills, drawing lines on chart paper to practice writing strokes.

K's first Knowledge unit was Nursery Rhymes and students thought of what they would wish for after learning "Star Light, Star Bright."

Their next unit will be The 5 Senses!

Band Begins at SES!

Our incredible music teacher, Mrs. Licea, has begun our own SES band class who meets once a week. It boasts 22 members in 5th grade who play a variety of instruments including the flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, trumpet, trombone, and percussion. We are so appreciative of the time she gives for this important skill in the arts as the program was dropped from the county supports.

SES FRONT OFFICE:

SES runs as a strong team starting with the foundational support given by our office staff, including Nurse Sandy, Kristin Ainsworth, Principal Payne and Shelley Schafer.

Nurse Sandy has been a nurse for 11 years, and graduated from Shepherd University with her BSN. This is her 2nd year at SES.

Attendance Clerk, Kristin Ainsworth is enjoying her 5th year at SES and she has been with JCS for 7 years in all. She also worked in Loudoun County Schools with children who have Autism for 15 years.

Principal Jodi Payne is loving her 2nd year at SES. Previously, Payne was an Assistant Principal at SJES for 5 years, and before that taught ELA, Read 180 and Gifted At South Middle School in Martinsburg throughout her 12 years there.

Finance Secretary, Shelley Schafer has been with JCS for 13 years and this is her 3rd year at SES.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS ALL DAY EVERY DAY!

As we are striving to achieve our Attendance Goals at SES, we are celebrating our successes! We had an overall positive monthly attendance rate of 94.5%! Our goal is to have up to a 2% increase in October!

At SES, attendance matters all day every day! We kicked off September with "NOT BEING A TARDY TATOR!" Mrs. Herbert's 3rd Grade Class won this competition by completing their Mr. Potato Head before anyone else in the school. Every class earned 1 piece for every perfect attendance day the class had! They completed their Tot on September 26th after their 12th day of perfect attendance! The class will be rewarded with a loaded French Fry party in honor of their super spud!

During the month of October we are having a chance for students to earn a LEAF to post on the wall to make a chain displaying our Learn Everything Attend Faithfully around our school! Only the students who are not tardy (arrive by 8:50 a.m.) will get to post a leaf to our wall. If a student is not tardy from Oct. 1 - 31st and present at school for what counts as a full day, will earn a Minute to Win It Game Event to attend on Friday, November 1st! If you are interested in supplying a snack/prize or monitoring a game, please email me at jpayne@k12.wv.us.

TAKE A PEEK OF ACTIVITIES IN OUR HALLS!

BUSINESS PARTNERS

Last spring we welcomed the Shepherdstown Public Library as our business partner, and this year its representative, Mrs. Christy Hagerty, is a new member of our LSIC (Local School Improvement Council)! Between our librarian, Mrs. Boyd, Ms. Hagerty, and Principal Payne, a lot of fun reading opportunities have been exchanged in which we support each other's community interests! We have found ways this semester to share resources that support 5th grader's bird study, seek grants together to bring authors in for student presentations, and support SES's Fall Fun Day.

If you are looking to establish a stronger partnership with SES and its future, or you know of someone who would like to be our business partner in education, please reach out to Mrs. Payne! There are so many ways to partner, collaborate and share our resources, and Mrs. Payne would love to discuss how we can affect more lives and lessons through this establishment! jpayne@k12.wv.us

S.E.A

The Executive Board of the Shepherdstown Elementary Association (SEA) would like to extend a huge THANK YOU to everyone who attended our first meeting of the year on September 18. We discussed the budget and calendar for the year and heard updates from Principal Payne. Our next meeting will be October 16 at 6 p.m. and the classroom teacher with most adults who attend will earn a prize/reward for their class! Congratulations to Mrs. Herbert's class for winning in September!

Right now we are gearing up for Fall Fun Day on Saturday, October 19 and are looking for folks who would like to participate in the trunk or treat, volunteer during the event, and donate candy and prizes. Please reach out to event chair Ashley Ware (ashleyware86@gmail.com) if you would like to help.

We also want to remind folks of the Box Tops Contest where we will be awarding a prize to the GRADE LEVEL with most box tops submitted through the 'Box Tops for Education" app. This contest will run August-December and January-April, with winners announced in January and May. Please make sure to scan your receipts within 14 days to help SES earn money and for your child’s grade level to earn a prize!

You can always find the latest information on the "Shepherdstown Elementary School SEA (PTO)" Facebook page, and are welcome to reach out to the SEA Executive Board at shepherdstownSEA2024@gmail.com with any questions, comments or ideas!

S.E.S. Family Newsletter