CES Weekly Communicator

Issue #9: October 4, 2024

This weekly update will be how we communicate with the school community. Please check your emails on Fridays for the most recent school news.

Principal Corner

Happy Friday, Chapelfield families.

It was great to see so many parents come to parent teacher conferences! If you haven't done so yet, please make sure to sign up to talk to your child's teacher next week. We will have our last fall conference on Thursday, October 10 from 3-7 p.m. Check out the 5th grade committee's bake sale and the lost and found. Mrs. Long will also have a family night for book fair that night.

This week we were able to celebrate our students who earned a PAWS sticker for going above and beyond in Being Positive, Acting Responsibly, Working Hard, and Showing Respect. Those students had their name enter into a raffle. Today, they used our new book vending machine to get a brand new book. We are proud of our PAWS winners. This month, each teacher will hand out 5 stickers! Be on the look out for students who earned that prize!

Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,

Nikki Miller

Mental Health Team

School Counselor's Corner: Krysten Jasin

This week I visited kindergarten, third, fourth, and fifth grade classrooms! Please talk with your child about the topics below and practice at home.

Kindergarten - We learned the difference between tattling and reporting by reading Don't Squeal Unless it's a Big Deal.

3rd, 4th, and 5th Grades - We reviewed the Zones of Regulation and created a coping skills tool box.

During times of stress, recognize your body signals (ex: racing heart), name your emotion(s) and zone

Encourage and guide your child to practice coping skills at home when they're calm. It helps reinforce them for times of stress, making it easier to access these tools when needed. Engaging in mindfulness, deep breathing, or distraction techniques during peaceful moments builds a solid foundation for emotional resilie

Related Arts Spotlight

Art update from Mrs. Karr

Kindergarten and 1st grade students experience a variety of art materials and techniques through exploratory play. Paired with mini lessons and demonstrations to spark inspiration, students then create artwork of their choice. This month, we learned how to use choice-based art centers which currently include building, drawing, and a teacher-led group focusing on clay techniques with Play-Doh. We also take time for students to participate in Art Share. Ask your child about our special clap for students who share! This format nurtures independence and allows our class to celebrate all our unique ideas and artwork. Next, we began our clay unit by learning where clay comes from…. the ground! We started with a “clay play day” while also practicing how to responsibly use our clay mats, tools, and how to clean up properly. In the coming weeks, we’ll learn about the phases of clay and make pinch pots (K) and slab bowls (1st).

2nd grade students are already familiar with our centers from kindergarten and 1st grade so we dove right in! We opened up a teacher-led painting center where students learned about different color themes such as Warm, Cool, Neutral, Primary and Secondary. We’re currently making a connection to the Wit and Wisdom curriculum by drawing and painting fall leaves.

Students in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade are diving deeper into color theory and painting. 3rd graders mixed primaries to make secondary colors. 4th grade learned how to make tertiary colors. And 5th grade learned how to make grayscales and value scales with tints and shades. We continued our paint mixing adventure by challenging ourselves to see how many colors we could make with only four colors- red, yellow, blue and white. Next, we’ll put our knowledge to work as we move into our final painting projects. Check out this Color Wheel Rap video we watched in 3rd grade. It’s an earworm!

New Staff Spotlight

Jennifer Sinkey, EL Teacher

What is your favorite color?: Pink

What do you like to do for fun?: Read, cook and bake, travel, work out, and watch my boys play baseball

What is your favorite subject? Reading

What was your favorite grade as a student and why?

4th grade. I was brand new to a school and my teacher, Mrs. Havens, recognized that I was ready for more challenging work. She encouraged me to read more advanced books and even join our school Quiz Bowl team! She lived just down the street from the house I grew up in, and over the years I would always drive by and see her working in her flower beds but never stopped to say hello. A couple of years ago (30 years after being in her class), I was in my hometown and saw her outside. I pulled into her driveway to chat with her, and as soon as I stepped out of the car she greeted me by my name! As we talked, it really struck me how strong the bond can become between teachers and students.

What are you looking forward to at CES?

So far in my new position, I have loved being in classrooms from Kindergarten to 3rd grade and getting to see all that goes into and carries forward from my experience as a 2nd grade teacher. Helping our multilingual students have a better understanding of the English language as well as working with teachers to support these students has been amazing! Chapelfield is a special place and I am lucky to get to work here.

Kayla Steber, Math Specialist

What is your favorite color?: Pink

What do you like to do for fun?:Play soccer, workout, cook, read, garden, and play board games and video games

What was your favorite grade as a student and why? Math!

My favorite grade as a student was 4th grade. My teacher Mrs. Huxel showed that she really cared about me as a person and my learning. I was not the best reader, but she helped me build confidence in reading. That year I started reading a lot more. We also got to have lunch in the classroom almost every day and watch movies based on books. One of our reading units was reading the Phantom of the Opera, watching the movie, and listening to the sound track in class. Later in college I got to see the Phantom of the Opera live in London, England.

What are you looking forward to at CES?

In my new position this year, I am looking forward to working with grade level teachers during math class. I’m also excited about helping students, building their confidence, and giving them strategies and tools to be successful in math!

Dismissal Support at K-1 playground

Please make that you pick up and/or have your child walk home at 2:45 p.m. All students need to be supervised by a parent to stay on the playground for safety reasons. If they DO NOT have a parent, they must leave immediately at 2:45 p.m. Thank you for your support.

Legally Required Prevention Education Notification

Dear GJPS Families,

Beginning last school year, districts in Ohio have been navigating new legislation related to

health and safety lessons that schools are required to include as a part of the curriculum. House

Bill 123 and Senate Bill 288, as outlined in the chart below, provide instruction to students in

grades K-12 on these topics.

We have developed our plan for delivery and have begun communicating with parents in

preparation for instruction. There are many details related to both House Bill 123 and Senate Bill

288 and we wanted to provide clarifying information on both components of our curriculum.

Instruction required annually for students in grades K-6:

Child Sexual Abuse, Dating Violence and Sexual Violence Prevention instruction is required annually for students in grades K-6.

Instructional Materials used:

SPEAK UP

Second Step Crime Protection Unit

Both HB123 and SB288 require districts to provide families the opportunity to examine

instructional materials and/or excuse their student(s) from taking part in the instruction.

For your convenience and due to a low response rate across the district, we have

created this HB123 & SB288 Parent Opt-Out Form for families to use ONLY IF YOU

WISH TO OPT OUT.

If you would like to read more about these pieces of legislation, you can access information

using the links below.

Prevention Education Resources (HB123 & SB288)

Legislative Requirements

Thank you,

Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools

Title 1 Resources and Information

Parent and Family Member Participation in Title 1 Programs

Parent and Family Engagement

Title 1 Family Compact

Transportation changes by 2 p.m.

The front office is a busy place the last 30 minutes of school. We ask that parents NOT CALL to make transportation changes after 2:00 p.m. Please make sure students know your plan of pick up before they come to school.

PTO Updates

PTO Events

*Thank you to the families that helped with the Mum sale pick up yesterday! 5th grade also helped unload the truck! We appreciate our Chapelfield PTO!

*Tuesday, October 8: PTO meeting in the library from 7-8 p.m. FREE babysitting.

*Thursday, October 10: Parent Teacher Conferences

Conferences will take place on October 10th from 3:00pm - 7:00pm. You should receive an email from your child’s teacher with a link to sign up for your preferred date and time. We need more parents to help with the dinner for our staff. Please click on this link to sign up to bring in donations.

*Read-A–Thon: October 3-24:

Our annual Read-A-Thon started on October 3rd. This year we’ve combined the Read-A-Thon with our One School One Book program. These two programs will run from October 3rd through October 24th. Let’s get our kids excited to read! Please follow this link if you would like to donate: www.99pledges.com/fund/chapelfield24. You can search for your child by name. Don’t forget to share the link with family and friends!

*5th grade committee updates:

We still have blue Chapelfield paw print t-shirts in kid sizes (xs-l) available. They are $16 each. We will have them available at all events or you can email Andreaagan1@aol.com and she will get them to you.

Community Connections

GJPS Families-

Dash & Stash!

Dash on Sunday, 10/13 @ 11:00 a.m.
Where: GLHS stadium
Stash begins at 12:30 (early entry for Dashers)
Who: ALL GJPS families and community members
Businesses and GJPS building staff will decorate their vehicles and give away candy to the community children.
MUST register for the Dash, www.gjef.org
Costumes encouraged!

Come and join the fun, whether you dash, walk or run!

Come see the progress of the new GLHS!

Do you own a business or work at a business that would like to have a decorated trunk at the Stash?

If you would like more information, please contact Dianna Bessignano at bessignanod@gjps.org OR (614) 269-4262.

Thank you for your help!

Dianna and Tricia

October Important Dates

Thursday, October 4-24: PTO Read-A-Thon & One School One Book

Monday, October 7-11: CES Book Fair

Tuesday, October 8: PTO Meeting in the library at 7 p.m.; FREE babysitting

Thursday, October 10:

*Parent Teacher Conferences from 3-7 p.m.

*5th grade committee Bake Sale 3-7 p.m.

*Family Book Fair Night 3-7 p.m.

Sunday, October 13: PTO Restaurant Night-Mod Pizza

Tuesday, October 15: 3rd grade OST testing

Wednesday, October 16:

*3rd grade OST testing

*Picture Day Make Ups

Friday, October 18:

*End of First Quarter

*PAWS Breakfast at 7:30 a.m.

Monday, October 21: NO SCHOOL

Tuesday, October 22: NO SCHOOL; Teacher Work Day

Thursday, October 24: 2nd grade Walking Field Trip to Creekside

Friday, October 25:

*Learning Communities at 8:30 a.m.

*Read-A-Thon/One School, One Book wrap up assembly

Monday, October 28: Firefighter Dave visits 2nd grade

Tuesday, October 29: Firefighter Dave visits 1st grade

Wednesday, October 30: Firefighter Dave visits Kindergarten

Friday, November 1:

*Parade at 1 p.m. outside unless it rains. If it rains, it is canceled.

*Fall Party at 1:30 p.m.

Important District Links

GJPS Elementary Student Handbook 24-25

2024-2025 GJPS District Calendar (PDF)

2024-2025 School Menus

2024-2025 Bus Schedule and Routes

2025-2026 School Calendar

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