August 6, 2025

We hope that you have had a great summer and that you can continue to enjoy the next few days prior to school starting. We also hope your children are ready to get back to school and start an amazing year at Jefferson Elementary. During the school year, you can expect a weekly update each Friday. The Jefferson Journal will highlight items from the week, offer some advice or tips for supporting your child at home, and provide reminders about upcoming events. Be sure to review this week's Journal for all the back-to-school details. New this year, we will add some videos to help explain or highlight various activities. The videos are nothing fancy, but rather just another tool to help communicate with the Jefferson Community!

Hello Jefferson Elementary Families,

Get ready for the new school year! Class lists for the upcoming year will be posted on Friday, August 8th, at 4:00 PM.

You can view your child's class placement by logging into your Infinite Campus parent portal account.

Please note:

• To ensure you can view the lists as soon as they're posted, please log in to your Infinite Campus account before Friday afternoon to confirm your information and yearly acknowledgements are up to date and completed.

• We've worked hard to create balanced and thoughtful class lists. We appreciate your support as we all prepare for a wonderful school year!

If you have any questions, please contact the school office. We can't wait to see you all soon!

Sincerely,

The Jefferson Elementary Staff 🍎

The new mats for the Gaga Pits have finally arrived. Can you spare some time Saturday morning from 8:30 - 10:00 to help with the install? If so use the link below to RSVP. Bring a metal rake and or rubber mallet.

Hello, Jefferson Families!

My name is Jennifer Couch and I am the Assistant Principal at Jefferson Elementary. I am so excited to be returning for my second year as an administrator to this amazing school community of bright students, dedicated staff, and supportive families. I cannot wait to welcome our students back for another successful school year of learning and growing! Jefferson Elementary has an incredible school environment and I look forward to connecting with students and families throughout the year. If there is anything you need, please feel free to contact me at couchj@gjps.org or (614) 269-4611.

Here are the start and end times for the elementary school day.

7:50 Breakfast doors open for students eating school breakfast.

7:55 Students are permitted walk to their classroom.

8:05—School starts. Students who arrive after 8:05 need to sign in at the office. There will be an added emphasis on having 100% on-time arrival. Expect communication from the office if you have a pattern of being tardy to school.

2:45 School ends.

Please visit You can find almost anything you need on our website

www.gahannaschools.org

• Infinite Campus: Please log in to the parent portal and complete the Annual Information Update. Update all Emergency Medical Forms, make sure all contact information is current, apply money to lunch accounts, and more! Click Here for DIRECTIONS
• Bus Information: find your student's bus route, contact information, and download the bus app.
• Supply Lists
• District Calendar
• Jefferson Elementary Events Calendar
• Free and Reduced Lunch Applications: Apply for free or reduced price lunch using the Parent Portal. Directions and more information can be found on the Food Service Website. If you need assistance please contact Kim Karshner.

Infinite Campus is our parent portal and student information system. This site will allow parents/guardians to access school information electronically. For example, Infinite Campus will allow you to update email addresses and other important information regarding your child as well as view your child's report card electronically.

ALL Families (either new to Jefferson or returning families) need to update their information in the Parent Portal of Infinite Campus. Directions for how to update Infinite Campus are linked below:

1. Log into the Parent Portal on Infinite Campus at: https://gahannajeffersonoh.infinitecampus.org/campus/portal/gahanna_jefferson.jsp

2. Click MORE from the left-hand column

3. Click on ONLINE REGISTRATION from the choices on the right

4. Click START next to "Existing Student Registration"

5. Go through each step to complete the registration

Families New to Gahanna Schools: If you are a new family to Gahanna Schools and Jefferson Elementary(including all of our kindergarten families), you received an email from Miss Schilling, school secretary, detailing directions on how to log into the Parent Portal of Infinite Campus to update your information. She emailed you an ID that you will need as you log in for the first time.

Returning Families: If you need assistance - please call the school office at 614-478-5560. Miss. Schilling will be happy to help.

We want to inform you of an important update regarding the Infinite Campus Payment Portal. Infinite Campus has transitioned to “Stripe” as its new merchant service provider. This change affects how online payments are processed for food service accounts and student fees (including instructional, athletic, and technology fees).

All families must update payment information and re-enter recurring payments, as your previous data will not carry over to the new system.

1. Add Payment Method(s)

Payment methods are used for both food service and school fees. Your current payment information will not be transferred. For security reasons, you must manually re-enter your payment methods.

You can add:

• Credit/debit cards

• Bank accounts

  • To validate bank accounts:

    • Automatic Validation: Log into your bank to confirm.

    • Manual Validation: A 24-48 hour delay for confirmation.

Steps to Add a Payment Method:

1. Go to "Food Service" in the Infinite Campus menu.

2. Click on "My Accounts."

3. Select the "Payment Methods" box.

4. Click the blue "New" button, enter your info, and hit "Save."

2. Re-establish Recurring Food Service Payments

Recurring payments will not carry over for security reasons. You must reconfigure them using your newly established payment method.

Steps to Set Up Recurring Payments:

1. Click on "Food Service" in the Infinite Campus menu.

2. Select "My Accounts."

3. Click the "Recurring Payments" box.

4. Under "Food Service," click "View."

5. Set your frequency, amount and payment method.

6. Click "Save."

For more detailed instructions, including screenshots, please see the documents listed below. There are no other changes to the way you experience online payments.

We appreciate your attention to this important update. If you have any questions or need help, please fill out the Infinite Campus Help Form.

How to Add Fee Payments to Infinite Campus

Bus Transportation

Your students' bus route for the 2025-26 school year is available on Transfinder. The web-based service provides Gahanna-Jefferson families 24/7 flexibility and access to route information based on their home address!

Be sure to enter only the street number and street name. Do not enter zip code, grades or school. (Entering more than the street number and name may cause inaccurate information to display.)

When you receive your bus information, please check over it carefully. If something does not make sense, please contact transportation at (614) 751-7581.

We are excited to offer the mobile device app Here Comes the Bus. This app allows families to view the real-time location of your child's school bus on a smartphone, tablet or computer using GPS technologies with which each school bus is equipped.

How to Get Started with Here Comes the Bus:

1. Download the Here Comes the Bus app or visit www.HereComesTheBus.com.
2. Click the “SIGN UP” button at the bottom of screen.
3. Follow directions on screen to create an account using the GJPS school district code: 29231
4. You will be sent an email to verify your email address and activate your account.
5. Return to app and add your child’s last name and STUDENT ID number.
   (STUDENT ID NUMBER IS THE SAME AS STUDENT CAFETERIA PIN NUMBER)
6. Click “ADD STUDENT” to add other children in your household.
7. You are now ready to begin following the location of your child’s bus!

A plate lunch is $2.75.

Breakfast is $1.50. *Breakfast runs from 7:50 - 8:05 AM each day at Jefferson.

Lunch Menu

Breakfast Menu

*New this year - 2 hot lunch options will be available for students to choose from for lunch each day. Please see the lunch menu for details. Students not interested in the hot lunch options will be able to select Yogurt/roll, Wowbutter sandwich, Garden Salad, Cheese Sandwich, or a Turkey Sandwich.

Families are again asked to complete and submit a 2025-2026 Free/Reduced-Priced Meal Application if they believe they may qualify. Applications are available in the Blacklick school office or online at: GahannaSchools.org. If approved, the completed application will cover the student for the entire 2024-25 school year, and no other steps will be necessary unless there is an income change during the school year.

Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools Food Service Department is committed to assisting families and making this transition back to normal operations as easy as possible. Please feel free to contact Food Service Supervisor Stephen Ismael (Ismaels@gjps.org) if you have any questions.

August 12 Supply Drop-off Event 4:00- 6:00

August 13 Building closed for new school year preparations

August 14 First Day of School for Students (1st - 5th Grade)

• Kindergarten families, please refer to the staggered start letters you received in the mail.

August 19 PTO Meeting 7:00 pm - Library.

September 1 Labor Day No School

September 19 Jog For Jefferson Event (Sept. 26th rain date)

September 23 Individual Picture Day and 5th Grade Group Picture Day

September 25 Parent Teacher Conferences

September 30 Parent Teacher Conferences

October 2, 3 Teacher Professional Learning Day No School for Students

October 2, 3 Teacher Comp Day No School for Students

• Jefferson Elementary Events Calendar

2024-25 GJPS District Calendar (PDF)