CES Weekly Communicator

Issue #31: March 28, 2025

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.

Chapelfield students ended the week strong by showing PAWS on the day before break! Please enjoy your spring break with you family and friends. We will see you back on Monday, April 7, 2025.

Sincerely,

Nikki Miller

Important Recess Announcement

Please do not allow your child to bring recess equipment from home such as footballs or basketballs to school. We do not want your child to lose the item. We have plenty of equipment that they can use during recess times. Thank you for your support.

Counselor's Corner with Mrs. Jasin

Dear Families,

It’s essential that every child learns that it’s okay to have physical boundaries. And it’s equally as important you let them know how to protect themselves, trust their intuition, and communicate any discomfort they are feeling.

One way to start this conversation at home is by identifying trusted adults in their home and school life—those they can turn to for support, guidance, or help. Ask your child who their trusted adults are and remind them that you're always there for them. ♥️

GRIN provides weekend snack bags to be sent home on Fridays for families in need. If this is something you would be interested in, please email me at jasink@gjps.org.

If you have a social, emotional concern for your child that impacts them while they are at school and would like to share this with me to see how we can help support your child, please reach out to me at jasink@gjps.org.

Best,

Krysten Jasin - School Counselor

Related Arts Spotlight

Library Update from Mrs. Long

Community Author Events

Vashti Harrison will be at the Columbus Library on Saturday, April 5 at 11am. She is the author of the Caldecott Award-winning book Big. All students read this book last year when it won the Caldecott, and students in grades K-2 read the book again this year since it was nominated for the Buckeye Children’s Book Award.
Ohioana Book Festival is on Saturday, May 3. This is an opportunity to meet and talk with many Ohio authors and illustrators. The website lists all the authors and illustrators who will be there.

Learning in the Library

Kindergarten and 1st grade students have been researching facts about spring. First, we chose our research question: What do animals do in the spring? Then we read a non-fiction book about animals in the spring. We wrote facts that we learned from the book that answered the question. Then students shared what they learned by writing one fact and drawing a picture of it, and hopefully brought it home to share with you!

Students in 2nd grade have been working on biographies in their classrooms. This was supported in the library when students learned how to use PebbleGo, which is paid for by Chapelfield PTO. Students also did research with PebbleGo Next and World Book Kids from INFOhio. (Free to all Ohio residents. If you need it, the login is gahanna, password is lions). We then learned how to use Google Slides to share their research of that person, or another person of their choice.

Students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades are focusing their research on countries. This supports the 3rd grade Wit and Wisdom unit on immigration and the 5th grade social studies standard focusing on learning about the countries in the western hemisphere. Students are using CultureGrams: Kid Edition from INFOhio. (Free to all Ohio residents. If you need it, the login is gahanna, password is lions). After researching, students will be creating a project. Some choices are a poster, trifold pamphlet, Google Slides, or a website created by Google Sites. I will be teaching how to create websites to those students who are interested.

Library Books

Please keep looking for those overdue library books. If you cannot find them, let me know so we can double-check the library and look in classrooms. All books are due by May 9.

Field Day-Mr. Scheibeck

Save the Date: Field Day - May 21st!
Mark your calendars! Our annual Field Day is coming up on May 21st. More details will be shared in the next couple of weeks.

We will be asking for parent volunteers to help make this day special. One benefit of being a parent volunteer is the opportunity to engage with your child’s class and support their physical activity in a fun and energetic environment.

Stay tuned for more information about volunteering and how you can be part of this exciting event!

Culture & Community Night-Thursday, April 10

Save the Date for our second annual Culture and Community Night on Thursday, April 10th from 5:30-7:30pm. We will celebrate the diverse cultures represented at Chapelfield through food, crafts, music, and games. Student artwork will be on display across the entire school. Also, in the third-grade hallway, be sure to visit "Town" night to purchase goods and services produced by our entrepreneurial third-graders.

A cultural dish sign-up sheet will go home with students on March 20th.

Make a Lunch Payment

Make a lunch payment

Spring Ohio State Testing (OST) Calendar

Spring will be here before you know it. As you know, there is a lot of state testing that happens in April. See the dates before for 3rd-5th grade state testing as you make appointments. Thank you for your support.

Visitors

We kindly ask that ALL visitors follow the steps below each and every time you visit Chapelfield:

1. Once at the front, exterior doors of the school, press the buzzer. A member of the office staff will ask your reason for visiting Chapelfield.

2. Once inside the vestibule, you will enter your drivers' license or state ID into the scanner. ALL visitors/guests/guardians need to scan their drivers license EACH and EVERY time they visit Chapelfield.

3. Once your license has been scanned and processed you will be permitted to enter the main office area to pick up your visitor/volunteer badge.

4. If you have NEVER had your driver's licensed scanned at Chapelfield before, this will take a longer time. You will want to plan accordingly.

**As a reminder, if there is a non-guardian planning to visit Chapelfield for any reason (to eat lunch, read a book in the classroom, visit the bookfair, take your child to an appointment etc.), we ask that the guardian email the teacher and front office (gilzows@gjps.org ) to let us know prior to the visit.

Our Vestibule

The vestibule will be a place you have to wait if you are picking up a student, dropping off a book bag or lunch box.

The office is a busy place and there are times that we are dealing with student confidential issues. The vestibule will be a place to wait. It also allows us to keep our building safe. We want to keep students and staff safe including keeping confidential information safe. Thank you for understanding.

PTO Updates

The PTO needs your support for 2025-2026. Sign up here:

open_in_new

5th Grade Committee Updates:

Mark your calendars:

*April 24th Skate Night 5-7:30 p.m.

5th grade parents ONLY

Dear 5th Grade Families,

The end of the year will be here before we know it, and we will be celebrating our children's last year of elementary school. There will be several fun things to come, and we wanted to get a head start on collecting photos for two separate projects.

1. Baby Photo Guessing Game: Please submit a photo of your child as a baby. The students will walk around and try to identify as many of their classmates as possible as an infant. The student with the most correct matches will win a prize. Please send the attachment with your child's name and homeroom teacher.

2. End of the Year Slideshow: Please submit photos of your children from early childhood through Fifth Grade. These can include extracurricular activities, field trips, class parties, Walk-a-thons, etc. We would like all the kids to feel included, so if you have group photos that would be wonderful as well.

We appreciate your help in making these kids feel celebrated during this really exciting time!

Please submit the photos to chapelfield2032@gmail.com

Sincerely,

The Fifth Grade Committee

Community Connections

Register for 2025-2026 GJPS Kindergarten

GJPS Heart and Pride Award

The Heart and Pride Award recognizes two outstanding staff members each month who make a profound impact on our students and Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools.

The Heart & Pride Nomination Form will remain available year-round and is open to any member of our staff, regardless of position.

March-May Important Dates

*Please note that OST dates appear on the calendar above in this newsletter.

Monday, March 31-Friday, April 4: Spring Break; No School

Monday, April 7: First day back to school

Tuesday, April 8: PTO meeting 7-8 p.m.

Thursday, April 10: Culture, Town and Art Night 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Friday, April 18: No School

Thursday, April 24: PTO Skate Night 6-8:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 29:

*PTO Spring Flower Pick up 2-6 p.m.

*Kindergarten Open House for NEW Kinder Students 25-26 school year 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Friday, May 2: No School for Students; Staff Professional Development Day

Monday, May 5--Friday, May 9: Teacher Appreciation Week

Tuesday, May 6: PTO Meeting 7-8 p.m.

Friday, May 9:

*PAWS Breakfast 7:30-8:30 a.m.

*PTO Carnival

Wednesday, May 21: Field Day

Thursday, May 22:

*PAWS breakfast 7:30-8:30 a.m.

*Kindergarten Celebration 9-10 a.m.

Friday, May 23: Last Day of School

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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