The Jayhawk Journal

So many things to be proud of this week here at Johnson. First and foremost, thank you to all of our families who were able to participate in Parent/Teacher Conferences this week. I saw so many smiling faces who were happy to be here to hear about their child and how they are doing this year. To my core, I believe that this is a partnership between our staff and our families! If students see that we are working together and we both care so much about them, we are able to set up our students for any type of success here in the building.

This week our first set of SOAR Clubs kicked off on Friday. I can honestly tell you that as the principal of this building, this is one of the things that I am most proud of. Thank you to our wonderful teachers who have been dedicated to making this such a huge success. Our students are able to pick something of interest and really enjoy themselves during this hour. In addition to our students, I enjoy watching how much our teachers enjoy this time, as well. Take the time to discuss with your student on what they did today for Clubs, and put together a plan of how they will be able to earn 10 SOAR Bucks before our next Club date which will be on Friday, October 31st.

Please see the update on our Color Run for next Friday. We are so close to hitting our Goal! Looking forward to a great week ahead and Go Tigers!

- Mr. Traub

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.

This week we focused on recess expectations. Recess is a valued time where students get some free choices to have a break in the day. We are lucky to have noon monitors that come in daily to help with rules, routines, and expectations. Students have done a nice job on being respectful and playing well with one another this year, we will continue to keep that going for the rest of the year. Please see the attached matrix to go over SOARing expectations for all aspects of the building. This week we held our first round of SOAR Clubs. The next SOAR Club will be on Friday, October 31st. Talk to your student about what club they went to, and what will be their plan to earn 10 more SOAR Bucks between now and the 31st.

We would like to congratulate Ms. Cross for being voted this award by her colleagues this week! Ms. Cross is a 5th Grade Teacher here at Johnson. Ms. Cross is committed to working with her students and families to help meet the needs of all of her students. She can be seen running the lunchroom or car line, but behind the scenes, she is a loyal employee who does whatever is necessary to help our team. She enjoys watching her students learn and grow throughout the year. We are very lucky to have such a dedicated teammate here at Johnson!

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

The family feeling that we have here!

Some Of My Favorite Things

Place To Travel: Camping

Foods: Ice Cream

Color: Yellow

College: Eastern Michigan University

TV Show: House

Sports Team: Detroit Lions

School Subject: Science

My Hobbies....

Camping and hanging out with my granddaughters.

Thank you Jayhawk Family for all of your donations! We are glad to report that we are over $14,000. With 10 days to go, we are on track to reach our goal of $18,000. Just a reminder that we use this money to help keep field trip costs down, bring in supplies for students, and it helps us pay for the many fun activities that we have throughout the year. Just for a little more incentive.....If we hit our goal, Mr. Traub and Mr. Bublitz will have an assembly where students are able to throw pie at us as a celebration!

For the month of October, all LPS schools will focus on showing and building respect. Take the time to talk with your student about what that means to them and your family.

Hello Jayhawk Family,

Just a reminder that we will have our Color Run next week (Friday 10/17) here at Johnson. We have been watching the weather closely this week and it looks like we will be good to go for Friday. If it were to rain, we would reschedule for Friday 10/24, but that does not look necessary. Please know that ALL students will have the option to run and participate next week, whether or not they created an account or raised money.

PTA is providing sunglasses for every student to help make sure no powder gets into the eyes of a student. The powder we use is safe and will wash out of clothes and hair when washed. A small fade of color may remain in clothes, so please make sure you wear light colors or something that a student may not worry about it changing the appearance of how it looks.

All volunteers that are selected must sign in the main office to get a Volunteer sticker, then report to our PTA in back to help with set-up. We will be allowing spectators for this event. All spectators will remain in a coned-off section that is highlighted on our map that is attached. Spectators may go the back of the building and report to designated area on our map. A sign in sheet for spectators will be provided in that section

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If you and your student decide they do not want to run or participate in getting color on them, we have designated an area with music and a spot to watch for those students on the basketball courts. Please notify your teacher if you do not want your child to participate.

Looking forward to a great event next week!

- Mr. Traub, Mr. Bublitz, and The Johnson PTA

Dear School Community,

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. As a school community, we want to encourage everyone to stay informed about the signs of bullying, the impact it can have, and what to do if you see it happening.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines bullying as behavior that is:

• Unwanted: The behavior is not wanted by the victim.
• Aggressive: The behavior involves some form of aggression, such as physical force, threats, or intimidation.
• Repeated: The behavior happens more than once or has the potential to happen again.

Acts of bullying may involve physical contact, words or gestures, or social exclusion. Bullying can happen in person or online.

The signs of bullying include:

• Physical signs: bruises, cuts, torn clothing, missing items
• Emotional signs: changes in mood, withdrawal from friends and activities, anxiety, depression
• Behavioral signs: aggressive behavior, changes in eating or sleeping habits, truancy
• Social signs: being excluded from activities, being made fun of or called names

If you see bullying happening, it's important to do something. Here are some things you can do:

• Talk to the bully and tell them to stop.
• Talk to the victim and offer your support.
• Report the bullying to a trusted adult, such as a teacher, counselor, or parent.

If you or someone you know is being bullied, there are resources available to help:

• The National Bullying Prevention Center
• The Trevor Project
• StopBullying.gov

In addition, Care Solace is available 24/7/365 to connect individuals to care. Call 888-515-0595 or visit caresolace.com/livonia.

Together, we can create a safe and supportive school community for all students!

Sincerely,

Livonia Public Schools

Monday 10/13

Tuesday 10/14 Bagel Day

Wednesday 10/15

Thursday 10/16 Picture Retake Day

Friday 10/17 Color Run

10/14 - Bagel Day

10/16 - Picture Retake Day

10/17 - Color Run

10/22 - PTA Halloween Bingo Family Night

10/29 - 5th Grade Field Trip - Henry Ford

10/31 - 6th Grade Field Trip - Riverside Arena

10/31 - SOAR Clubs and Halloween Fun

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.

"You become what you believe." - Oprah Winfrey