Dolphin Update

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Welcome to the 2025-2026 School Year! We are SO excited to see you in a week! Our custodial team has been hard at work all summer deep cleaning and preparing for the new school year. Our office team returned last week to get materials organized and enroll new students and this Wednesday our teachers and paraeducators return to prepare for the first day of school!

If you are new to Jones, the Dolphin Updates will arrive in your inbox weekly, usually on Sunday afternoons to keep you updated on what has been happening at Jones and what you need to know for the coming week. This Dolphin Update will help you get ready for the start of the new year. Keep reading for more information on...

• Enrollment information
• Preparing to Start the School Year
• What to Bring to School/Supplies
• First Day of School Procedures
• Preschool, UTK, Kindergarten, & New Student Orientation
• Daily Schedules
• Looking Ahead Dates
• Links to Join Our PTA
• PTA Events for August & September

We are still refining our mailing list to reflect our current population, so this may not reach all of our families yet. If you have received this email and your family has moved, please call Tiffani in our office at 619-605-8800 to let us know. Make sure you have enrolled your child in school at your new location so that they can request records from our office!

Our office is open and we are continuing to enroll students! If you have new neighbors, please spread the word that they can enroll now! The days leading up to the first day of school get busier and busier, so now is the time to get all the enrollment paperwork completed and organized.

As we get closer to the first day of school, now is a great time to start easing back into school routines! Helping your child get plenty of sleep, establishing calm bedtime and morning routines, and practicing opening their snack and/or lunch wrappers and containers will set them up for a successful and confident return. A little practice now makes those first few days so much smoother!

• Sleep: Sleep is an essential component for setting our students up for success. If your child's sleep schedule has changed over the summer, it is time to start preparing for the return to school. Sleep makes a huge difference in concentration, performance, and regulating emotions during the school day.

• Morning Routine: Morning routines help develop your child's sense of self, responsibility, independence, focus, and helps them feel positive about the day ahead. Routines look different for every family and there are many resources on the internet that can help you create the best plan for your family that you can start practicing now. Students who get to school on time, ready to learn feel a stronger connection to their classroom community and are more prepared to transition through the daily schedule of their class.

• Lunch Time: Students have 20 minutes to eat lunch, so this may be something your child needs to prepare for as well. If your child will be bringing their lunch to school, you should also have them practice opening and closing any food containers or packages that will be sent in their lunch box.

As you enjoy the last week of Summer Break, many families are already thinking about and planning for the new school year to begin. Here are some ideas of what will be helpful...

• Backpack: Backpacks help get materials back and forth between school and home safely. Over the course of the year students will bring home school documents to sign and complete, flyers about events, class work, homework, etc. We have some backpacks available if you need one, please call our front office and we can set up a time for you to come pick it up before school starts.

• Water bottle: We have water bottle filling stations and water fountains on campus, so a small child size water bottle is all that is needed if you would like your child to have one. Please do not send large, metal water bottles as these can become a safety concern.

• Snack: All classrooms take a mid-morning Wellness Break, this includes time to eat a snack if you would like to send one. Snacks should be an individual portion as students are not able to share snacks with others. If your child is used to frequent snacks throughout the day, this is a great time to start preparing for the transition to a more structured eating schedule that will set them up for success during the school day.

• Lunch: A complete lunch from our cafe is free for all students, but you are also welcome to send a lunch with your child. Please send foods that will fuel your child for an afternoon of learning, candy, soda, large bags of chips/cookies are not permitted. If you will be sending your child with food from home, this is also the time to start practicing opening the containers and/or packaging of the items you plan to send with them so that they can independently get started eating during snack/lunch times.

As a public school, we will provide all books and materials needed for daily learning. You will not recieve a required "School Supply List" with numerous items to purchase and bring on the first day.

Over the summer supplies are ordered for each grade level based their specific need and our supply room is restocked for the school year. Crayons, markers, glue sticks, journals, scissors, paper, tissues, etc. are purchased with our site funding and will be provided for all of our students.

You may receive a wishlist of additional items that would support your child's classroom in general or for a special project, these donations are welcome, but never required.

While we do not need the basic supplies brought to school, we would encourage families to have some of these materials at home for children to explore and create with as an extension to learning.

• The first day/week of school is especially busy at drop off and pick up so please plan accordingly.

• Arrival gates will open five minutes early at 7:30 a.m. on the first day of school and all students will enter the Gates by the front office or the cafe for breakfast.

• On the 1st day of school parents/guardians/caregivers are welcome to walk students to their classrooms to briefly meet the teacher and see the classroom for a few minutes (You will have more time at Back-to-School Night). If you plan on walking your child to their classroom on the 1st day, make sure to walk to campus or park on a side street (do NOT park in the Bus Zone or Loading Zone directly in front of the school) and make sure you arrive on time, after the 7:45 am bell students who arrive late will be walked to their classroom by a staff member. This is a special opportunity for the first day of school, starting on day two families will say goodbye their children at the gate. We will have lots of support staff available to help students get to where they need to go fostering independence early on.

• Our Jones PTA will be hosting a Tears and Cheers gathering immediately after the bell at 7:45 am in the auditorium. Check out the flyer below, we hope to see you there!

• On Friday, August 8th, in the late afternoon/early evening you will be able to login to Power School Parent Portal to find out your child’s classroom assignment.

• On the first day of school we will have additional lists posted in front of the school and staff members there to help you navigate.

• Please note that classroom placements are subject to change due to sitewide enrollment. Early September schools engage in the reorganization process and at that time we may need to add a classroom or close a classroom based on enrollment.

• It is also important to note do not accept requests for teacher placements.There are a number of factors that go into creating balanced classrooms and our team works collaboratively to set all of our students up for success. While we do not take specific teacher requests, we always welcome your insights on your child and what you believe will support them reaching their fullest potential in their new classroom community.

• Visit the SDUSD Parent Portal webpage for more information about setting up your Parent Portal account if you do not already have one.
  

• The Parent Portal is not just for classroom assignments, when you login to the PowerSchool Parent Portal you can access your student’s attendance record, State testing scores, and view grades at the end of each grading period.

• NEW FAMILIES - Please reach out to Tiffani Barthelmes (tbarthelmes@sandi.net) for your student’s Access ID, Access Password and any Parent Portal questions.

• Our youngest learners in Preschool, TK, and Kindergarten will have the opportunity to receive their classroom assignments during orientation. See the flyer below for more details.

August

8 - Preschool, UTK, Kindergarten & New Student Orientation - 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm - Auditorium

8 - Class Rosters Released ia Power School Parent Portal - Late Afternoon/Evening

11 - First Day of School!

11 - Tears & Cheers: PTA Coffee and Connection - 7:45 am - Auditorium

15 - Leader in Me Back to School Pep Rally - 7:50 am Dolphin Mural (Families Welcome!)

22 - PTA's Back To School Skate Night - 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm - @SKATEWORLD

28 - Back-To-School Night - 5:00 - 6:30 pm

29 - Picture Day

September

1 - No School - Labor Day

5 - Cup o Collaboration: Join the PTA for school updates and an association meeting

7:45 am - 8:15 am - Auditorium

5 - PTA Family Bike Rodeo Event - 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm - Blacktop

15-17 - PTA Dine Out: Islands Restaurant - Mission Valley

26 - Spotlight Leadership Assembly Habit #1 (All families are welcome, specific invitations will be sent home with those students who are being recognized.)

October

3 - Family Workshop: Social Emotional Learning - 7:45 am - 8:30 am

10 - Extra Minimum Day (TK-5th) - 11:40/11:50 Dismissal

10 - Intervention Conferences - Afternoon

13 - No School: Non-Instructional Day

16 - California Shake-Out

20-24 - Health & Wellness Week

24 - PTA's Fall Festival

Our mission is to ensure ALL students meet or exceed grade level expectations through rigorous, high-quality, standards based instruction in a safe, nurturing, collaborative learning environment where all students are preparing to be global citizens, college and career ready.

Check out our school website for PeachJar Flyers, Counseling Resources, Family Handbook, Staff Contact Lists, After School Programs, Enrollment Information and so much more!

Website: https://jones.sandiegounified.org/
Location: 2751 Greyling Drive, San Diego, CA, USA
Phone: (619) 605-8800
Facebook: facebook.com/JonesElementary
Instagram: @jonesdolphins

Our Parent Teacher Association works with Jones Elementary to provide programs and support to benefit the students, their families, teachers, school administration and the community. Run entirely by volunteers, the PTA raises money to support enrichment programs, program instructors, educational assemblies and field trips, family events, and special classroom supplies.

As always, we need your membership, support and ability to volunteer. You can become a member using Totem, a respected membership management service. Please contact us with other thoughts on how we are doing, and your ideas on how you can become involved. We look forward to hearing from you.

Email: jonesdolphinspta@gmail.com
Website: https://jpjonespta.org/
Location: 2751 Greyling Drive, San Diego, CA, USA
Phone: (619)605-8800