The February 17, 2026 Newsletter

Welcome back from the long weekend. We hope you enjoyed time celebrating Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day with family and friends.

Today we also celebrate Lunar New Year, and we extend warm wishes to all of our families who observe this special holiday. Our first graders had a meaningful opportunity to learn about Lunar New Year traditions. A special thank you to Ms. Woo and to the families who generously shared their traditions and experiences with our students. If you have a cultural tradition or celebration you would like to help highlight at school, we welcome the opportunity to partner with you.

Wishing you health, happiness, and prosperity in the year ahead!

We look forward to Literacy Night this evening at 6:00pm. Families will learn more about our literacy curriculum and choose a breakout session focused on practical strategies to support reading and writing at home, including phonics, comprehension, and writing across grade levels. We hope you will join us.

With Gratitude,

Principal Singh

Join us from 5:30-7:00 PM to learn more about how reading & writing are taught at Janney and ways to support your child at home.

Childcare (6-7 PM) is available- Sign up at this link

We hope to see you there!

Registration opens tonight at 8:00 p.m. on Campsite for:

• Spring Enrichment
• Spring Camp Days (4/6, 4/13, 4/14, 4/15, 4/17, 6/16)
• April, May, and June Before & After Care

Be sure to explore the Spring Enrichment catalog for a mix of exciting new offerings — including mosaic art, new STEM, and cooking classes — alongside returning favorites like Taekwondo, gymnastics, soccer, and Mad Science.

We look forward to another season of curious, playful, and caring learning together!

The Janney Read-a-thon kicks off on February 23! Students will log their reading minutes for two weeks, and readers of all levels can participate—even time spent reading to your child counts.

Highlights:

• Log Minutes: Use the recently upgraded Read-a-thon website.
• Prizes: The top-reading class in each grade will win a pizza party. The top reader in each grade will win a gift card to Politics and Prose.
• Sponsorship: Students can invite sponsors to support their reading through per-minute or flat-rate donations.
• Enrollment: All families must re-enroll and update their passwords this year, even if they participated previously.
• Questions: Contact janneyreadathon@janneyschool.org

Do you have a rising PK4 student or know of other incoming PK4 students ready to become a Janney Jaguar for the 2026–27 school year? Be sure to submit a lottery application through MySchoolDC, as all Janney PK4 seats are filled via the lottery. Don’t forget to select sibling preference if you have a Jaguar currently in grades PK-4th.

📅 March 2, 2026: Deadline for PK3–8th grade lottery applicants

📅 March 27, 2026: Lottery results and waitlist positions become available in your MySchool DC account

We are so grateful to everyone who has already donated to Janney’s Student Support Fund (SSF), the PTA’s primary annual fundraiser.

Thanks to your generosity, Janney students and teachers benefit from classroom supplies, extra teacher development, and extracurricular and community-building experiences that help ensure every child receives an excellent education. This year alone, SSF funding has helped pay for partner teachers and additional substitute teachers, so classes do not need to combine when multiple teachers are absent, the new Arts and Letters reading program, and events that bring our community together like the Fall Picnic and the upcoming Talent Show.

If you have already made a gift, thank you so much. We truly appreciate your support. If you are still considering, please know that ANY amount helps. We aim for 100% participation, regardless of the amount given, and any class that reaches 100% participation will receive a pizza party.

Also, did you know many companies match charitable donations? Janney PTA partners with Double the Donation to make it easy to check if your employer participates so you can double or even triple the impact of your gift.

You can make a tax-deductible gift and learn more about employer matching here: Support Janney Elementary School

Thank you for supporting our students, teachers, and school community!

Join us for the Janney Talent Show on Friday, February 20th, at 6:15 PM in the cafeteria! Line up for seating at Janney's front entrance beginning at 5:40 PM. Seating is first-come, first-served. Entry is free, though a $5 donation per family is appreciated.

The PTA will be selling hot dogs and concessions, so come hungry! For accessibility needs, please email JanneyTalentShow@gmail.com. Note: Middle schoolers must be accompanied by an adult.

We can’t wait to see you there!

The 5th Grade Musical is one of Janney’s most beloved traditions, and this year’s show is Shrek the Musical KIDS, taking place May 1 & 2. We still need volunteers to help bring it to life!

You don’t need to be a 5th grade parent to help — we’d love anyone who’s excited to jump in, whether you enjoy building, painting, organizing, or cheering students on behind the scenes.

👉 Sign up here and contact Anna Jordan with any questions.

Save the date for Janney's Family Movie Night on March 11.

More details to come, but as you are bookmarking this on your calendars, we could use your help...

Are you available to volunteer that night? We need you!

Do you have new or very gently used toys, games, books, scarves, jewelry, or spa essentials we can use to make baskets for our raffle? (Think about the holiday gift you KNOW you will never use or that your kid still hasn't played with!) We need you! Please reach out to amy.blaszyk@gmail.com to donate time or treasures. Can't wait to see you there!

As we begin planning for next school year, we’re hoping to identify additional parent leaders who may be interested in helping carry forward the Janney 5K & Fun Run - a long-standing and much-loved Janney tradition. This year’s event was successful thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers and we're looking for strong parent leadership, particularly around sponsorships, partnerships, and creative approaches to managing costs. If you're interested in learning more about helping lead or shape the future of the 5K, please reach out to Jennifer Records or Beth Kuhnhein.

Feb. 17 | Literacy Night

Feb. 20 | Talent Show

Feb. 20 | Boys Basketball Game, Janney Talent Show

Feb. 23 - Mar. 8 | Read-a-thon

Feb. 25 | Boys Basketball Game

Feb. 27 | School-wide Spirit Day

Mar. 4-5 | Ledo Pizza Fundraiser

Mar. 11 | Movie Night
Mar. 26 | Class Photo Day

Mar. 28, 6:30pm | Janney Auction

Apr. 24 | International Night

May 1 & 2 | 5th Grade Musical

May 13 | 5th Grade Panoramic Photo Day

June 5 | Spring Picnic

Alice Deal Middle School prospective families are encouraged to visit Deal for one of our in-person open houses. You will meet current students, connect with Principal Neal for a welcome and FAQ session, be able to purchase Deal Gear, and participate in a student guided tour.

Families who wish to attend should sign up here to help us plan. Sessions include:

• Saturday, February 28 | 10:00 - 12:00 noon

• Saturday, March 21 | 10:00 - 12:00 noon

• Saturday, April 25 | 10:00 - 12:00 noon

• Wednesday, May 20 | 5:00 - 6:30pm

Alice Deal Middle School is located at 3815 Fort Drive NW

Janney's Girls on the Run season begins the week of March 2nd and ends with an in-person 5K at the conclusion of the 10-week season on Sunday, May 17th. 3rd Graders will practice on Tuesdays from 7:15 - 8:30 AM and Friday 3:30 - 5:00 PM; 4th-5th Graders will practice on Tuesdays from 4:30 - 5:45 PM and Friday 3:30 - 5:00 PM. Learn about Registration and Reach out to Caryn Marks (404-808-6722) or carynmarks@yahoo.com with questions.

• Register on Remind for important updates
• Subscribe to the Janney PTA calendar
• Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more updates!
• Sign up for our Janney Community Listserv by emailing: janneyEScommunity+subscribe@groups.io.
• Our Newsletter drops every Tuesday, see the SY25-26 Archive
• Check out our Website for important links 👇

Do your little Janney Jaguars say the funniest, silliest, or most profound things? Don't let those gems be heard only by the Janney chickens (or just you)! Share these memorable moments with the whole community! Submit elementary school-appropriate quotes from your kids here. All contributions are posted on the Janney Instagram anonymously. 👇

🚲 Join the Janney Bike Bus | Join Janney students and parents on Friday mornings for a fun bike bus to school! Kids on parents' bikes and kids that can bike independently are welcome to join. The group leaves 48th and Davenport at 8:20 am sharp and travels together to Janney.

Join our Janney Bike Bus WhatsApp group for updates and info.

🚌 Field Trip Fees | Pay here for Field Trip Fee.

👪 Chaperones | DCPS requires chaperones to complete a volunteer clearance application, after which you will receive an email with background check instructions. Fingerprinting is also required as part of the process but this can now be done remotely with instructions. DCPS Volunteer Clearance is valid for 2 years. List Michael Barnhart, michael.barnhart@k12.dc.gov, (202) 282-0110, as your contact and email him your clearance letter once received.