Jefferson Elementary Newsletter
Patriot Press
Dear Families,
Thank you to all of the families who joined us for our STEM Night! It was wonderful to see so many students and families exploring, building, and learning together. A special thank you to those who took a few minutes to complete the survey before leaving for the evening—your feedback helps us continue to improve events and opportunities for our students and families. I also want to give a big shoutout to our incredible teachers and staff who work hard each day to move our students’ success forward. Their dedication and commitment make a difference for our learners every day.
As we move into the coming weeks and with spring break approaching, we want to reiterate a few important school expectations so we can continue to have a safe and successful week of learning. Please remember that school supervision begins at 7:30 a.m. There are no supervisors outside before that time, so students should not arrive before 7:30. Our doors open promptly at 7:30 and students will enter the building right away.
In the afternoon, school dismisses at 2:45 p.m. For safety reasons, students who are not supervised by a parent or guardian should not remain on the playground or other school facilities after dismissal. We appreciate families helping us reinforce these expectations to keep all students safe.
Thank you for your continued partnership and support of our school community.
Warm regards,
Lady Jones
Now Hiring: Substitute School Nurse (RN, BSN)
We are seeking a School Nurse (RN, BSN) for substitute coverage weekdays from approximately January 19 through April 27. Responsibilities include providing nursing care to students and supporting a healthy school environment. School or pediatric experience preferred.
For more information, please call Matt Kaemmerer at 920-424-0113.
Reporting Student Attendance 💛
To help us support your student’s success and safety, all attendance notifications need to come through the school office. This includes:
✨ Absences — Please let us know each day your child is out, especially if they’re sick for multiple days. You may email doctor's notes to the school secretary or send them to school with your student.
✨ Late Arrivals & Early Pick-Ups — Inform the office so we can properly record the day.
✨ Extended Vacations - Please fill out the Pre-Planned Absence Form (link is located at the bottom of the newsletter) and return it to the office with your student.
✨ Attendance may be reported to the office via phone, secretary email, or via Infinite Campus Parent Portal under "more" and "absence requests".
📧 Email: katie.ascher@oshkosh.k12.wi.us
📞 Phone: 920-424-0165
If someone other than a parent/guardian will be picking up your student, please notify the office ahead of time. For everyone’s safety, the person picking up must show a valid ID at pickup so we can confirm they’re approved to take your child.
Thank you for staying connected and helping us ensure every student’s day is safe, smooth, and successful!
🚗 Morning Drop-Off & Afternoon Pick-Up Reminder
📍 View the official Jefferson Elementary Traffic Flow & Parking Map:
👉 Jefferson Traffic Flow/Parking Map (official)
Where you can park & walk:
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11th Ave (from the end of the bus loading zone down toward Oregon St.) — Street parking is allowed. You may park, exit your vehicle, and walk your student to the blacktop.
Surrounding streets: 10th Avenue, Oregon Street, and other designated green areas on the map.
Where you cannot park:
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Minnesota Street (along the school) — Loading zone only. Pull up, drop off or pick up quickly, do not park and exit your car here.
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Blacktop in front of the playground (11th Ave) — Bus zone only. No parking or loading here.
Safety reminder:
Please keep traffic heading north on Minnesota Street. Stopping in the middle of the road to drop off creates a safety hazard with oncoming cars.
A message from Mrs. Boettcher and Mrs. Vollbrecht
We often think to read aloud to our younger children, but did you know it is also important to read aloud to older children? Below is an article from Brightly which talks more about the importance of this activity.
The Importance of Reading Aloud to Big Kids
by Melissa Taylor
Only 17% of parents of kids ages 9–11 read aloud to their children. Yet 83% of kids ages 6–17 say being read to is something they either loved or liked a lot (Scholastic’s “Kids & Family Reading Report”). Reading aloud to kids helps expand their literacy skills, love of reading, worldview, and more. Here are some key reasons it’s important to read aloud to your older kids:
Lets Them Experience the Joy of Story
The goal is to love the story. That’s the point of reading, [as well as] reading for meaning. I let [my eldest daughter] listen to hours of audiobooks and read aloud to her multiple times a day. I wanted her to get hooked on the stories in the chapter books. Like her, all readers — and especially struggling readers — learn to love stories by hearing stories.
Models Fluent Reading
When you read to kids, you’re modeling how to read language. You pause at commas and periods. Your voice inflection changes when you read questions or exclamations. And you can show what you, a fluent reader, do when you come to a word you don’t know. (Even if you’re pretending that you don’t know it.)
Helps Expand Their Vocabulary
Kids’ auditory comprehension is higher than their reading comprehension. When you pick a challenging book that your kids can’t read on their own, you are exposing them to a wealth of new vocabulary words. This stretches a child’s language development, particularly if you stop to talk about the meaning of these harder words.
Exposes Kids to New Authors, Texts, and Genres
Reading aloud can get kids hooked on a new author or series of books. Once a child falls in love with the story or author, it’s hard to hold them back from reading it on their own. Plus, reading aloud gives kids a chance to explore genres and texts they wouldn’t normally select. “I often read the first chapter or two of a new book to my daughter to pull her into a book that she might not have chosen otherwise,” says Natalie Figge. There are so many amazing books that kids don’t pick to read on their own. These books make great read alouds — in what I call the “just give this book a chance” category.
Builds Awareness and Empathy
Literature is one of the best ways to help kids understand something without experiencing it for themselves. And books do this with all sorts of subjects and concepts, building our children’s understanding of humanity and the world around them.
Improves Kids’ Long-Term Reading Success
Finally, decades of research shows that reading aloud to a child daily is one of the most important activities for reading success. That goes for older kids, too. Kids who are read to have good vocabularies, write well, and do well overall in school (Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985 U. S. Department of Education meta-study of 10,000 studies). They’re also more likely to keep reading on their own.
Awesome Read-Alouds for Big Kids
Looking for some great books to read aloud to your big kid tonight? Check these out:
https://www.readbrightly.com/importance-of-reading-aloud-to-big-kids/
Join us for our next PTO meeting - March 2nd at 5:30 PM in the Library Media Center. Please see this link for the upcoming agenda.
Check out their Facebook page here.
The PTO plays a vital role in supporting our students through various events and activities, including field trips, Opera for the Young, and school events. We’d love to see you there and share how you can help make a difference!
Volunteer in the OASD
As a reminder, if you are interested in volunteering by helping in your child's classroom or chaperoning a field trip, you must have a pre-approved volunteer application on file before the volunteering event. Applications are good for 3 years, and are effective for all OASD schools. You can find the application HERE.
Important!: Once you have completed your application, let the office know so that we can request that the application be processed; this does not happen automatically, and can take up to 48 hours, so please plan accordingly!