J.R. Ingram Parent News

📢 Stay Connected This September!

We’re excited to connect with you again this month through our school newsletter! It’s a great way to stay informed about events, programs, and resources that support your child’s success.

It has been wonderful to see so many parents joining us for lunch and spending time with their students—thank you for being involved! Be sure to look through this month’s newsletter for even more ways to engage with our school community.

From event highlights and special programs to helpful links and announcements, there’s something for every family to explore. If you’d like a printed copy, stop by our front office anytime.

We’d also love your input! If there’s something you’d like to see featured in future newsletters, let us know. Your ideas help make this newsletter an even more valuable resource for our school community.

Thank you for staying engaged and supporting your child’s journey at JR Ingram—together, we make a difference! 🌟

Sept 1~No School-Holiday

Sept 3~SIT Meeting 3:30 pm, Parents are invited to attend

Sept 9~No School for students-Optional Teacher workday

Sept 9~LCS Board of Education Meeting

Sept 11~Fall Curriculum Night 4:30-5:30

Sept 11~ESL Parent Night 5:30-6:30 pm

Sept 11~PTO General Meeting 6 -7 pm

Sept 15-Oct 15~Hispanic Heritage Month

Sept 16~Progress Reports

Sept 25~HWY 55 Spirit Night 5-8 pm

Oct 2~National Custodian Day

Oct 6~SIT meeting,Parents are invited to attend

Oct 7~Health-a-Rama, K and 3rd only

Oct 9~Cultural Night

Oct 13~ NCCI Science (Earth) 5th grade

Oct 14~NCCI Math Grades 3-5

Oct 15~NCCI Reading Grades 3-5

Oct 15~Last Day of 1st Quarter

Oct 16~Required Teacher Workday~No School for Students

Oct 17~Optional Teacher workday~No School for Students

Oct 21~3rd Grade Field Trip

Oct 22~Report Card Day

Oct 23~HWY 55 Spirit Night

Oct 23-Oct 31~Red Ribbon Week

Oct 27-Nov 25~Classroom Spelling Bees Held

Oct 28~RTA Test -4th Graders

Oct 31~PTO 99 Pledges Boo Run (during specials)

Free Meals for Students

We want to remind families that all students at JR Ingram are eligible for free breakfast and lunch this school year! This means your child can enjoy nutritious meals at school every day at no cost to you.

Breakfast: Served daily from 7:30–7:55 a.m.
Lunch: Served during scheduled lunch periods for each grade level.

Lunches

10:30-11:00 K

11:00-11:30 5th

11:35-12:05 1st 11:30-12:00 3rd

12:00-12:30 2nd

12:30-1:00 4th

We encourage all students to take advantage of this program to start their day fueled and ready to learn. For any questions about meals or special dietary needs, please contact our school cafeteria staff.

We’re excited to invite all families to Fall Curriculum Night at JR Ingram! This is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about your child’s classroom, meet their teachers, and discover how you can support learning at home.

During the evening, you’ll:

• Explore grade-level expectations, learning targets, and assessments

• Learn about classroom routines, homework, and tools

• Hear about special programs, intervention supports, and enrichment opportunities

• Participate in fun, interactive stations to “level up” your family’s understanding of learning

Then stay for our ESL Parent Night and/or our PTO General Meeting and learn how you can continue to help support JRI this school year!

Our mClass literacy assessments are continuing through Wednesday, September 11. These assessments help us understand each student’s reading progress and provide valuable information to guide instruction.

After all testing is complete, each child will receive a report showing their literacy progress and tips for how you can support learning at home.

If you have any questions after receiving your child’s report, please reach out to your child’s teacher—they’re happy to help explain the results and share ways you can support your student’s growth.

This year, our Specials teachers will be offering clubs during 5th grade recess! Each day, one of our Specials teachers will host a club for 12–15 students, giving them the chance to explore music, art, PE, media, and other areas in a deeper way.

Students will also have opportunities throughout the year to share their learning through special presentations—we can’t wait to see what they create!

👉 Permission slips are required, so please be sure to return them promptly if your child is interested in participating.

A big thank you to our Specials team for creating this opportunity—it’s a fun new way for our 5th graders to learn, grow, and shine! 🌟

We’re excited to offer some fun and enriching activities for students this year! Here’s what’s coming up:

• Chess Club –Open to 4th and 5th graders; Starts Tuesday, September 16th, 2:00–3:00 PM, every Tuesday after that. Tournament: January 23rd at 8:45 AM at Greenwood.

• Young Authors – Starting in September, giving students a chance to write and share their stories!

• Battle of the Books (BOB) – Open to 4th and 5th graders, Students will test for participation on September 12th and begin reading right after. Competition: March 12th at 8:45 AM at WB Wicker.

• Schoolwide Spelling Bee – December 12th at 9:00 AM in the Nest.

These activities are a great way for students to explore new interests, challenge themselves, and have fun learning! Encourage your child to get involved! ✨

For more information about these please reach out to Amanda Wilkinson at amandawilkinson@lee.k12.nc.us

🌟 Opportunities for Our 5th Graders!

This year, our 5th graders have some exciting ways to get involved and take on leadership roles at JR Ingram!

• Morning Announcements & News Stories – Students can help write and present the news, giving them a chance to practice public speaking and storytelling.

• Flag Duty – Raising and lowering the flag daily is a special responsibility that teaches respect and routine.

We’d also love to invite Eagle parents to share their expertise! If you have experience with flag etiquette or creating news stories/announcements, we’d love for you to come talk to our students.

These opportunities help our 5th graders grow as leaders and build school pride. Stay tuned for more ways for families to get involved this year!

Contact Principal Brewer if you can help melissabrewer@lee.k12.nc.us

At JR Ingram, we are excited to use Accelerated Reader (AR) to help students in grades 2–5 grow as independent readers and develop a love of reading. AR gives students choice, ownership, and support while they practice reading and work toward personal goals.

How AR Works for Students:

• Students choose books within their reading level (ZPD) or are assigned books.

• After reading, they take a short quiz to check comprehension, vocabulary, and literacy skills.

• AR provides instant feedback on quiz scores, points earned, and progress toward goals.

• Students track their own progress and celebrate milestones along the way.

Getting Started:

• Each student takes a STAR test at the beginning of each quarter to determine their ZPD (reading level).

• Goals are set based on this level and the expectation of 30 minutes of independent reading daily.

• Students keep a hard copy AR Reading Log to track books, points, and progress.

AR Goals for Students:

• Percent Correct: 85% or higher on quizzes

• Book Level Goal: Individualized for each student

• Point Goal: Encourages steady reading growth

Daily AR Time:

• Students have a designated time for sustained reading (not for taking quizzes or selecting books).

• Teachers check in and initial reading logs daily to ensure engagement.

Incentives:

• Each grade level/teacher sets fun incentives for participation.

• All students in Grades 2–5 are expected to participate.

AR is a great way for students to practice reading, track their progress, and celebrate success

Let’s work together to help every child grow as a reader this year! 📖✨

Dear Parent, Guardians, Students,

It is my wish for every child at J.R. Ingram Jr. Elementary school to have a wonderful and

exciting year in Physical Education class. To ensure your child’s safety they need to wear

sneakers / tennis shoes to Physical Education. Elementary age children tend to fall more than

older adolescents while doing engaging activities not only in the gymnasium (during physical

education) but at recess as well. Please help your child be safe and send them in tennis shoes ,i.e.

Sneaker.

I can’t believe we already have almost completed three full weeks of school for the 25/26 school

year. The children have been coming to the gymnasium excited with visions of tag and games

running through their heads and getting class rules as well as bus safety videos and training, ugh.

Well the not so fun part is over for this school year and hopefully the FUN is just beginning for

all grades.

Kindergarten will be focusing on spatial and body awareness through movement in the

gymnasium during Physical Education in September. They will do this by pretending to be

things like bubbles and animals who watch where they are going. Kindergarten will also be

practicing movement with the 1st and 2nd graders by practicing their locomotor movement skills

(skip. gallop, hop, jump, run, slide) through games and activities during Physical Education time.

3rd, 4th, 5th Graders will be starting basic soccer skills during physical education time in the

month of September. 5th grade will be a little behind the other two grades due to the 5th grade

track meet tryouts going on during Physical Education. Since 2017, the non-covid years have had

a track meet with our Ingram team competing against the other seven elementary schools in the

county. We usually do really well winning in 2018 and 2nd three other years out of the six years.

It would be great to see you if your child qualifies on April 17 with the 24th of April as the rain

date.

I will be preparing what’s going on in the gym or Physical Education class every month this

school year. If you have and questions you can email me

@ andreward@lee.k12.nc.us or call (919) 774 – 3772 Ext 4325. I’m looking forward to an

awesome school yea!

Sincerely,

Andrew Ard

Physical Education Teacher

J.R. Ingram Jr. Elementary

📢 Volunteer at the PTO Thrift Shop & Help J.R. Ingram! 🏫💙

We need your help to earn funds for our school! We must reach at least 150 hours to qualify for a share of the profits—funds that can go toward school improvements like our new playground! That's only 15 hours a month!! Get your friends, family, church family, neighbors, anyone can volunteer for our school!

📍 Location: 303 S Steele St, Sanford, NC 27330
📞 Phone: (919) 776-4142
🕘 Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 9 AM – 4 PM

✨ Who Can Volunteer?
✅ Parents, staff, family members, and friends – you can work in a student’s name!
✅ Students (ages 12-18) – must be accompanied by a parent (1 student per adult).
🚫 No students under 12 years old can volunteer.

💡 Volunteers may be asked to sweep, hang clothes, straighten racks, and more. Every task helps profits go back to Lee County Schools!

📅 Sign up today! Let’s work together to support our students and reach our goal. Contact the school or PTO for more details.

Lee County High School is proud to announce the following great opportunities for the fall.

Alice In Wonderland Jr

AUDITIONS

We will be using students in grades 2-8 in addition to High School. Students from any Lee County public school can audition.

They will need to prepare a short acapella song (30-60 seconds) and will read a bit from the script at the audition.

September 2-3 - students come one day or the other to the Lee County High School auditorium at 3:30. We hope to be finished by 5:30 but it depends on how many show up.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

AUDITIONS

We will also be using a smaller number of students in grades 2-8 for this show. Students from any Lee County public school can audition.

This is not a musical so if students wish ONLY to audition for LWW, they do not have to sing. They will simply read from the script. However, the audition for this and Alice will be combined so the best practice is to audition for both shows. They will be able to state a preference if they have one. It will be a little longer before students are told if they are chosen for LWW because high school auditions will be held at a later date.

September 2-3 - students come one day or the other to the Lee County High School auditorium at 3:30. We hope to be finished by 5:30 but it depends on how many show up.

Parent Handbook

Lee County Schools Parent Hub