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.  We are looking forward to seeing all of our JCS students on August 28^th at 8:25!!  Please keep in mind that all students are dismissed at2:15 on Mondays.  Primary students are dismissed at 2:15 all days, and 4th-8th grade students are dismissed at 3:00 on Tuesdays-Fridays.

We have been working hard this summer to get ready for a terrific school year. The class lists will be posted outside of the school office on Friday afternoon, August 25 at 1:00 for you to find out your child’s placement for this school year.

I am excited to announce that we have a new teacher joining our staff this year. Angie Pierce will be teaching third grade.  Mrs. Pierce has taught third grade at Freshwater School and we are thrilled to welcome her to JCS.  Also, Ms. Holly Couling will be teaching sixth grade and Mr. Dedini will be teaching seventh and eighth grade science.

It is important that families know that there has been a change to the bus service. There will no longer be a 2:15 bus run on Tuesday–Friday.  While we are aware that this causes an inconvenience for some of our primary families, too few students were using the bus to justify the environmental and fiscal impacts.  Students who would typically ride the 2:15 bus can attend the Activity Center free of charge until the 3:00bus leaves Jacoby Creek.  Please feel free to call the office with any questions you have about this change.

The JCS Panther Press will be delivered to families monthly via email this school year. It will also be available on our website at jcsk8.org. Please let the office know if you would prefer to receive a hard copy of the Panther Press.  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 a.m. 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, September 1^st.  The students are encouraged to wear their school colors to show their JCS spirit on this day!

I am looking forward to seeing everyone next week.  I am very excited and proud to be the principal at Jacoby Creek School.

Sincerely,

Melanie Nannizzi

 

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 fund raiser 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.

 

Back to School Night

Remember that this is an informative night for parents only, so please do not bring children. Times for each grade will come home from school in Tuesday notes from your classroom teacher.

• TK and Kindergarten:  Thursday, August 24 @ 6:00
• 1^stthrough 6^th grades:  Thursday, September 7, 1^st-3^rd @ 6:00 and 4^th -6^th @ 7:15
• 7^thand 8^th grades:        Thursday, September 14 @ 6:30

 

Supply Lists

Students in grades TK-3 do not need to bring any supplies.  Below are links 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.

• Fourth Grade: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dSSi7-Oe6JaOu3etCWH8ZF4Jfyu7K2yYBhx86j61L_U/edit?usp=sharing

 

• Fifth Grade: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yahru2dABX3vH5RHUWPkCi9YyRwSOZ69F1FdEo371XY/edit?usp=sharing

 

• Sixth Grade: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BgJwW6uu1FZAMzoCGAoIgZVnMMBRg62kcY7AtQ_Ql5o/pub

 

• Seventh and Eighth Grade: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17IH3gZxrjST8Hfk6-TXv7-CVmA6nkgvF7maxc8zbM6c/edit?usp=sharing

 

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 30, 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 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 in to the office prior to participating in sports.

 

Cross Country:  Students in grades K-8 can participate in cross country. Parent participation is required for younger students/grades. There are 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 or (707) 616-5964.

 

Panther Pentathlon- October 6th

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, and 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.  This year we will announce the classroom ice-cream party winners during the event!

 

Harvest Carnival – Friday, October 20

Annual PTO event with cotton candy, games, music and a legendary cake walk. 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 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!

 

8^th 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 8^th 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. Please, if you are an 8^th grade parent, contact your child’s 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.

 

 Board Notes:

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 24              TK and Kindergarten Back To School Night at 6:30 in the GYM

August 28              First Day of School—2:15 Dismissal on Mondays Grades TK-8

August 30              Fall Sports Night at 6:00 in the GYM

September 4         Labor Day – No School

September 7         1^st through 6^th Back to School Night

September 9         Music classes start (7:50 a.m.)

September 12      7^th/8^th grade Spanish classes start this week

September 14      7^th and 8^th grade Back to School Night

September 27      Girls Basketball Parent Meeting

 

Next month at a glance:

October 2             Early Success Conferences 1:15 Dismissal

October 6             Panther Pentathlon (daytime event, at school)

October 20           Annual Harvest Carnival

October 27          7^th/8^th Grade Dance

 

Meeting dates:

JCCEF                    TBA

PTO                         TBA

School Board       Monday, August 14 @ 7:15

Monday, September 11@ 7:15