The Jayhawk Journal

It is that time of year where we make that shift from Summer to Fall. Fall is my favorite time of the year! It's all about enjoying the little moments like the cooling of the weather or catching a local football game here in our community. One thing that we pride ourselves on here at Johnson is the fact that we begin to instill that Charger Pride for our Triad! We work hand-in-hand with both Frost and Churchill to build that community so your students will feel that for the rest of their LPS journey. A huge thank you to Coach Feigel over at Churchill for giving our staff some CHS jerseys to help spread that pride here in the building! This week we were also able to begin our Staff and Student of the Week Awards. Each week, a student from each class and one staff member will be eligible to be nominated. Please check out the Facebook link in our newsletter to see our students who earn the award every Friday. So many great memories will be made this year!

Johnson Upper Elementary School is committed to providing a safe, respectful environment that supports the academic and socio-emotional needs of every student as they develop the necessary skills to become capable, confident, life-long learners.

The next few weeks, we will continue to have a heavy focus on all routines and procedures in the classroom. We want to set students up for success and we want all students to understand the expectations of the building. This week we focused on the hallway expectations. We were able to nominate classrooms who demonstrated a great job in the hallways to earn SOAR Bucks. A shout out to Ms. Herriff's, Ms. Howard's, Mr. Santi's, and Mr. Koehler's classes for earning those SOAR Bucks. Please see the attached matrix to go over SOARing expectations for all aspects of the building. We look forward to celebrating positive behavior with SOAR Bucks and Clubs in the upcoming year!

This year we will be adding a new section to the Jayhawk Journal called "News From The Nest." For those parents who may not be aware, we are dedicated to the overall well being of every child here at Johnson. We are fortunate enough to have Two Elementary Assistance Providers (ESAPs) in Mrs. Jill Jablonski and Mrs. Amy Dimmer, a School Social Worker in Mr. Ryan Aboulhosn (Along with student intern Sarah Schwanke) and a School Psychologist in Mrs. Kara Coggins. This crew makes up what we call "The Nest." The Nest is dedicated to helping students who may need to talk, who may be having a difficult situation, or just need help with something in their day to day. The Nest is open to any student in need. This year, The Nest is going to add weekly topics that can help families. Topics may be related to things like mental health, student text anxiety, or how to make new friends here at Johnson. We are looking forward to this addition to our newsletter and all the great information that this crew will be able to share!

We would like to congratulate Mrs. Rose on earning this award by being voted upon by her colleagues. Mrs. Rose is a 6th Grade Math and Science Teacher here at Johnson. She always has a calm demeanor and gives her everything to her students. Mrs. Rose gets to know all of her students and values the relationships that she builds with them. She is easy to get along with and is a great partner to all of her teammates. We are so lucky to have her here at Johnson! #LPSProud

My Favorite Part of Being A Jayhawk Is....

Feeling like part of a family here. Great staff, great students, and great parents.

Some Of My Favorite Things

Place To Travel: South Haven

Foods: Italian

Color: Green

College: Wayne State

TV Show: Hallmark Channel

Sports Team: Detroit Lions

School Subject: Math

My Hobbies....

Watching sports, hanging with family, and reading.

Thank you for your patience and commitment to making the loop safe for all of our staff and students. We have been able to keep the line moving smoothly and much more efficient since the first week. Friday we were able to get it down to 10 minutes!

Monday 9/8

Tuesday 9/9 PTA Meeting @ 6 p.m.

Wednesday 9/10

Thursday 9/11 Picture Day

Friday 9/12

9/9 - PTA Meeting @ 6 p.m.

9/11 - Picture Day

9/18 - Open House and Curriculum Night 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.

9/29 - No School (District PD)

Planning to volunteer this year? Fill out the iChat form now and you'll be all set for the year! Just enter today's date (or a day next week) for when you plan to begin volunteering. Then, you'll be all set when it comes time to help with Holiday Shop, Field Day, and other events.

We ask all parents/guardians to complete the welcome back checklist on parent connect. Why? This information is who we will contact in the event of an emergency. Year after year contacts will follow a student's file if they go unchecked. Please make sure all the contacts are current.

A nutritious lunch and breakfast is available for free each day at Johnson and at all Livonia Public Schools. If you forget to pack a lunch or just run out of time, we understand. Please know we will provide your student one of our lunch options always, no matter what. We hope this option will save you a trip up to the school. We also would like to remind parents that for safety reasons, we do not allow Door Dash orders for students. Thank you for understanding.

Students cannot be dropped off for school in the morning prior to 8:15am. This is when the doors open for breakfast and when staff is available to supervise students. Prior to this time, all school doors are locked. Students are not to be left unattended, arrangements must be made. Also, dismissal is at 3:30pm daily and at 11:45am on half days. It is required that all students who are picked up in the car loop be picked up no later than 3:45pm. Staff is not available to supervise students beyond that time. The district offers a SACC program for those students that cannot be picked up by 3:45pm. Please contact SACC at (734)744-2966 to make arrangements.

If your student is arriving after the last tardy bell, please note they need to check in at the office. They should enter the building through door number one (with the arch) and check in on the chromebook in the office. Parents do NOT need to come in to drop off students only to pick up.

If you need to pick up your student prior to the end of the school day, please know you will need to come into the office to sign them out and be verified by the office staff. Whomever is picking up a student early, must be listed on the Emergency Card.

Oftentimes a student will come to the office with a medical need. The office staff is able to dispense medication as needed as long as the medication is: 1) Delivered to school by a parent in the original unopened package or prescription container, {NO MEDICATION can be brought to school by students} 2) As long as there is an individual, signed medical authorization on file for each medication {form available in the office and online} Medication includes but is not limited to cough drops, aspirin, Tylenol, Advil, prescription drugs, creams, lotions, vitamins, inhalers, EpiPens, etc.… We cannot administer any medication that is not listed on file in the office. Please reach out to Jill Jablonski or Amy Dimmer in the office to set up a time to bring in medications and to review your student’s medical needs when they are in the building.

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts." - Eleanor Roosevelt