August 2018 Panther Press
Dear JCS Families,
I hope that the first Panther Press of the school year finds you doing well! The first day of school is just around the corner. On Friday, August 24 at 1:00 the class lists will be posted outside of the school office and sent via email for you to find out your child’s class placement for the school year. We are looking forward to seeing all of our JCS students on Monday, August 27th at 8:25!!
The JCS Panther Press will be delivered to families monthly via email this school year. It will also available on our website at jcsk8.org. The goal of the Panther Press is to keep JCS families informed about all of the monthly activities here at school. Please be sure to let me know if you would like to see any information added to this newsletter.
The Jacoby Creek School PTO will be hosting a Welcome Back Social for parents in the library at 8:30 on the first day of school. This is a great chance to meet other JCS families and to catch up with people that you have not seen over the summer. We hope to see you there!
There will be a Welcome Back to School Assembly for students on Friday, August 31st. The students are encouraged to wear their school colors to show their JCS spirit on this day! The list of class colors in included in the Panther Press.
We have added a Grab and Go Breakfast program and an Activity Center After School Snack program this school year. Grab and Go Breakfast will be available to students during their morning recess. Just like the school lunch, students will need to order the breakfast before school. The cost will be $2.40. Students that qualify for free lunch will receive the breakfast free of charge and students qualifying for reduced cost meals will be charged $0.30. After school snacks will cost $1.20. Students that qualify for free lunch will receive snack free of charge and students qualifying for a reduced cost meal will be charged $0.15. More information about ordering will come in an email soon!
I am looking forward to seeing everyone on August 27th. I am very excited and proud to be the superintendent/principal at Jacoby Creek School.
Sincerely,
Melanie Nannizzi
Class Colors
TK-Pink – Mrs. Dominick
K –Black – Mrs. Ritter & Mr. FitzMaurice
1st –Red – Mrs. Hatchett & Mrs. McDowall
2nd –Orange – Mrs. Dean & Mrs. Long
3rd –Yellow – Mrs. Girard & Mrs. Pierce
4th –Green – Mrs. Walsh & Ms. Jackson
5th –Turquoise – Mr. Trewartha & Mrs. Nugent
6th –Blue – Mrs. Day & Ms. Couling
7th –Purple – Mr. Barsanti & Mr. Dedini
Voicemail and Website
The voicemail system that is connected to our (707) 822-4896 phone number does not work. Please add the voicemail number, (707) 633-9090, to your contact list. We encourage families to use this phone number for all attendance related messages and non-urgent communication. The voicemail is checked multiple times every hour and using this number really helps to free up the secretaries’ time for helping the students.
I would also like to encourage families to use our website as a resource. The website, jcsk8.org offers up to date menus, calendars, teacher websites, and announcements.
Emergency Supplies
Each year students are asked to bring a ziplock bag filled with three bottles of water and three non-perishable food items in case we were to encounter an emergency at school and needed supplies. This year the Athletic Department will be selling the emergency supply bags as a fundraiser at Back to School Night. Plan on buying your emergency bags at BTSN if you would like to skip dealing with creating the disaster pack and support the Athletic Department. The emergency supply bags will be $10.
Classroom Supplies
Below is the link to the fourth through eighth grade lists of recommended supplies for students to bring to school. Please let your child’s teacher know if you would like for the school to provide these supplies. Students in grades TK-3 do not need to bring any supplies.
http://jacobycreekschool.org/supply-lists/
Music Info and Sign-up Meetings
Students and Parents, grades 4th – 8th who are new to the JCS Music Program are invited to come sign-up for the Orchestra and/or Choir program. You may choose one of the two options–Thursday, August 23, or Thursday, August 30, 6:00 pm in the Activity Center. This is your opportunity to speak to Ms. Arrington in person and ask questions about the program. You will receive a weekly schedule and a schedule of events which includes dates of school concerts and off-campus events. You may also check out instruments for the year, on a first-come first-serve basis.
Fall Sports Night
I am pleased to announce that Davita McGoldrick will be returning as JCS’s Athletic Director! We are so fortunate to have such a dedicated, enthusiastic, and organized person to run our program.
There is a mandatory meeting on Wednesday August 29, at 6:00 pm for parents of students who are interested in participating in a fall sport (cross country, golf, volleyball). This is the night for parents to find out about the sport, meet the coach, get a schedule, and to sign up to help in some way. Without parent support, we aren’t able to field our teams!
REMINDER: All student athletes must have their sport physical paperwork turned into the office prior to participating in sports. The deadline to turn in all required paperwork is Tuesday, September 4th.
Cross Country: Students in grades K-8 can participate in cross country. Parent participation is required for younger students/grades. There are twice weekly practice runs plus meets scheduled during the season at a variety of sites. More information will be available at the Fall Sports Night.
Golf: Students in grades 5-8 are invited to participate in golf. There are two practice days during the week, more details will be available at the Fall Sports Night.
Girls Volleyball: This is open to girls in 7th & 8th grades. More information will be available at the Fall Sports Night.
SPONSORING AN ATHLETICS BANNER is a great way to support JCS athletics. Please contact our Athletic Director, Davita McGoldrick, if you are interested in sponsoring a banner for the gym.
Davita McGoldrick: dmcgoldrick@jcsk8.org
Back to School Night
Remember this is an informative night for parents only, please do not bring children. Daycare will be open for the TK/K and 1st-6th Back to School Nights for $5 per child. If you are interested in child care during Back to School Night, please email me to reserve a daycare spot. mnannizzi@jcsk8.org
- TK and Kindergarten Back to School Night: Thursday, August 23 @6:00 GYM
- 1st through 6th Grade Back to School Night: Thursday, September 6th
Note: There will be two gym presentations this year because the gym has been too crowded the last couple of years. Families can choose which to attend.
5:40 Gym Presentation
6:00 4th-6th Grade Presentation
6:45 Gym Presentation
7:00 1st-3rd Presentation
- 7th and 8th Grade Back to School Night: Thursday, September 13 @ 6:30
After School Enrichment and Academic Support Classes
Jacoby Creek School offers a wide variety of after school enrichment and academic support classes. Information about registration and classes will come home in the Tuesday Notes and will be on the website.
We are looking for After School Enrichment instructors! Please contact Abby Proulx if you are interested in teaching a class. aproulx@jcsk8.org
Panther Pentathlon- October 5th
Our goal this year is to raise $50,000 to support the following five programs at JCS:
Music ~ Drama ~ Athletics ~ Foreign Language ~ Technology
It is the money raised by the Panther Pentathlon that funds a lot of the things that makes a JCS education wonderful including; the primary grade music program, music concerts, class plays, school play, athletic program, Spanish lessons for the middle-school grades, as well as significant yearly technology updates.
The Panther Pentathlon Pledge Packet will be sent home with the kids then, throughout the first month of school, we ask kids and families to collect donations to support these five programs. As this is our own “homegrown” fundraiser, we have an incredibly low overhead with usually greater than 95% of the money donated going directly to the school. All of the kids’ fundraising efforts to support Jacoby Creek School culminate with the celebration event on the morning of October 8th.
Harvest Carnival – Friday, October 12
Annual PTO event with cotton candy, games, music and a legendary cakewalk. A fun time for kids and adults! This event takes a lot of parent volunteers, so if you can help with the planning or volunteer for even just one booth for 30 minutes, please contact the PTO (mnannizzi@jcsk8.org) your classroom teacher, or sign up on any of the sheets when they are posted. The kids thank you!
8th Grade Spaghetti Feed – during the Harvest Carnival
This is a great way to get dinner on the night of the carnival and all profits go to the 8th grade class year-end celebration. Since I’m putting this in the newsletter so far ahead of the event, the details are not known, but it is always helpful to get volunteers organizing this event early on, so please, if you are an 8th grade parent, contact your classroom teacher to get a jump on the planning.
Foundation Notes:
The Foundation is the main fundraising organization for JCS. This group of parents and teachers is responsible for the Panther Pentathlon in October and the auction that is held in February. They can always use more help; their events are fun and big, so please consider joining if you can.
PTO Notes:
The PTO is responsible for so many of the fun events of our school. This is a group of parents, teachers and staff that come together to organize things such as the sweatshirt sales, Annual Harvest Carnival, and staff appreciation luncheon. They, too, can always use more parents; both at the meetings to help with planning and at the events, so consider joining and helping with some of the fun things they do.
School Site Council Notes:
The School Site Council serves as the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) advisory committee and is charged with updating the school’s Single Plan for Student Achievement and School Safety Plan annually. This important committee works hard to ensure that our school’s policies reflect our philosophies. School Site Council is also looking for new members to offer guidance and perspective to the administration. The group meets once monthly for about an hour and there are occasional focus group meetings to attend in the evenings.
Board Notes:
I am pleased to announce that Danielle Witten-Lehman and Vickie Thornburg have been appointed to the Jacoby Creek School Board. Thank you to all of our board members for serving our school. JCS Board members can be reached by email.
Board President: Shari Lovett board@jcsk8.org
Tuan Luu tluu@jcsk8.org
JR Renteria jrenteria@jcsk8.org
Vickie Thornburg vthornburg@jcsk8.org
Danielle Witten-Lehman dwitten@jcsk8.org
Many important things are discussed at the School Board meetings, such as budget, school calendar, staffing, curriculum materials and school facilities maintenance. Attending these meetings is one way to stay informed about our school; Board meetings are held on the second Monday of the month at 7:15 pm, usually in the school library. Anyone is welcome to attend.
More information specific to JCS’s Board, including agendas and minutes can be found here: jcsk8.org
This month at a glance:
August 23 TK and Kindergarten Back To School Night at 6:00 in the GYM
August 29 Fall Sports Night at 6:00 in the GYM
September 3 Labor Day – No School
September 6 1st through 6th Back to School Night
September 10 Music classes start (7:50 a.m.)
September 11 7th/8th grade Spanish classes start
September 13 7th and 8th grade Back to School Night
September 26 Girls Basketball Parent Meeting
Next month at a glance:
October 1 Early Success Conferences 1:15 Dismissal
October 5 Panther Pentathlon (daytime event, at school)
October 12 Annual Harvest Carnival
October 26 7th/8th Grade Dance
Meeting dates:
JCCEF : Tuesday, August 28@ 5:30 at Baywood
PTO: Tuesday, August 14 @ 5:00 in Room 11
School Site Council: Tuesday, September 18 @ 3:30 in Room 1
School Board : Monday, August 13 @ 7:15 in the library
Monday, September 10 @ 7:15