The Jaguar Journal

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Email: jamessales@fpschools.org
Website: jamessales.fpschools.org
Location: 1301 113th St S, Tacoma, WA, USA
Phone: 253-298-4200

FAX: 253-298-4215

Brandy Nelson - Principal

Ryan Moore - Assistant Principal

Office Hours - 8:40 to 3:45

September 30 ~ Last day to order James Sales spirit wear

October 1 ~ EARLY RELEASE - 1:55

October 1-10 ~ Book Fair open to students only during their library time.

October 2 ~ Treat money due by 9 AM

October 3 ~ Treat Friday - Fruit Snacks

October 5 ~ School Spirit Wear sale extended - last day to order!

October 6 ~ NO SCHOOL - Staff Training

October 7-10 ~ Student-led Conferences - 11:55 EARLY RELEASE

October 7 ~ Book Fair open during conferences - closes at 6 PM

October 8 ~ Book Fair open during conferences - closes at 4 PM

October 9 ~ Book Fair open during conferences - closes at 4 PM

October 10 ~ Book Fair open during conferences - closes at 12 PM

October 9 ~ Treat money due by 9 AM

October 10 ~ Treat Friday - Popcorn

October 15 ~ EARLY RELEASE - 1:55

October 16 ~ Treat money due by 9 AM

October 17 ~ Treat Friday - Fruit Snacks

October 18 ~ Adventure Club - 4th and 5th grade students and parents - Little Mashel Falls

October 22 ~ EARLY RELEASE - 1:55

October 23 ~ Treat money due by 9 AM

October 24 ~ Treat Friday - Popcorn

October 27-November 14 ~ Butter Braids fundraiser

October 29 ~ EARLY RELEASE - 1:55

October 30 ~ Treat money due by 9 AM

October 30 ~ Health Screenings

October 31 ~ Treat Friday - Fruit Snacks

Dear James Sales Families,

What a great start to the year! We will complete our bench-mark testing this month. Teachers and students are working hard on developing skills students will need to be successful.

Please remember to:

• Keep in contact with your child’s teacher
• Ask the teacher if you are unsure about something
• Check your child’s backpack daily as important information and homework may be found in there
• Help your child be on time to school. Students need 10-11 hours of sleep each night. Make sure your child is in bed early enough to get enough sleep to be able to be at school on time.
• Have your child at school every day, on time, all day!

When it is your child's turn to celebrate their birthday, we allow only one small store-bought treat to share with the class. Please do not bring in pizza, goodie bags, or other party items.

We have some goals for students to meet this year. Our attendance goal is for all students to have three or fewer absences and three or fewer tardies in the trimester. Our behavior goal is to have no more than one write-up in the trimester. Students who meet these goals will receive a reward at the end of each trimester.

Our student-led conferences are October 7-10. Please make sure you have scheduled a time to meet with your child's teacher for this important meeting. You may also shop at our book fair in our library before or after your conference.

We look forward to working with you this year. Thank you for your support as we all work together to ensure your child is successful.

Sincerely,

Brandy Nelson, Principal

The FP Schools calendars for the upcoming school years are published! Open them to see important dates so you can make vacation plans around school days. Select the 25-26 school year or the 26-27 school year and see calendars in your language.

Drop off: We want all of our Jaguars to be safe! Beginning at 8:40, when our doors open, we have supervision to welcome students in front of the school. Cars pull up as far as possible along the sidewalk in front of the school. Parents and students are to stay in their car in line until the car reaches a staff member who will help the student out of the vehicle. Please do not let your child out of the car and leave before 8:40. Please do not park and walk your children to the building from the parking lot or surrounding streets. Parents who walk their children from home to school say good-bye to them outside of the school. If you arrive prior to 8:40 please stay with your child until the doors of the school open. Thank you for your help with this!

Pick up: All parent-transported students are picked up in front of the school. Parents stay in their car and, in turn, drive to the appropriate grade level to find their child(ren). Staff members will help students into their vehicles.

If you need to pick up your child early from school, please come to the office to sign them out. One of the office staff will call your child from the classroom. As stated in the student handbook, we will not release students from 2:40 to 3:25 PM, or during the last forty-five minutes of the day on early release days. Please schedule appointments and the corresponding pick-up times so students will not be picked up during the above-mentioned times. For security reasons, you will be asked for identification. Thank you for your help with this.

Do you have a student who…

• learns easily and quickly?
• thinks up unusual ways to solve hard problems?
• has a clever sense of humor?
• dislikes doing the same thing over and over?
• thinks logically and wants things to make sense?
• is open to new ideas?
• is persistent and wants to keep trying with difficult tasks?

Complete a Project Excel Program Referral here. Parent referrals are due by October 31st.

You can read more about the Project Excel program here.

Our spirit wear sale has been extended! Click here to see your options on the Winning Seasons website. Shirt sales are open through October 5th. This will be the only time James Sales Spirit Wear will be available for purchase this school year.

We are required to practice emergency responses one time each month during the school year. We will have fire drills, lockdown drills, and earthquake drills to prepare for any future circumstance. In September we had a lockdown drill and passed with flying colors! Our students and staff did what they were supposed to do and are more prepared for an emergency situation.

Washington state updated policies in 2020 requiring comprehensive sexual health education is provided to students in grades 4–12. Research shows that CSHE is a protective factor in sexual abuse prevention. When young people are taught that no one has the right to touch them without their consent, they are more likely to tell a trusted adult if that ever happens. Additionally, teaching about boundary setting and affirmative consent has been shown to have a positive correlation with forming healthy relationships later in life.

Guardians may opt children out of instruction with a written request. Families are invited to join us to learn about the sexual health instruction to inform decisions. A districtwide family information night for grades 4-9, will be held Monday, October 13, 2025, 5:00 - 7:00 pm, at the Franklin Pierce Schools Jo Anne Matson Administrative Center.

Even if you choose not to have your child participate in this learning program, previewing the curriculum in advance will help you respond to any questions your child may have based on anything they hear from classmates at school. You can also expect your child’s teachers to notify you a month in advance of when instruction will occur in your classroom/school.

Further info, as well as the Opt Out Form, can be located at the link below.

See the Franklin Pierce Schools Student and Family Information Guide 25-26 on our website with the option for translations.

Our first fundraiser for the year is coming soon! We will be selling the delicious Butter Braid Pastries. The sale begins on Monday, October 27th and runs through Friday, November 14th. Delivery will be on November 18th. Watch for more information to come!

The end of the day at James Sales is a hectic time! If you forgot to send a note in the morning and need to call the office with a change to your child’s schedule, please do so before 2:40 so the office can get a message to your student before they leave for the day. All end of day schedule changes must be made through the office, not with the classroom teacher. The office will ensure the teacher is informed of the change.

Our PE teacher, Mr. Horak, is once again spearheading the James Sales Junior Adventure Club for 4th and 5th graders and their parents. Once a month these students will have the opportunity to go on an adventure somewhere in the Puget Sound area. Each student must be accompanied by a parent/guardian/relative. Any adult attending the adventures must be cleared as a volunteer. Access the volunteer application here! Please allow plenty of time for your application to be processed. It can take up to two weeks to be approved so do it as soon as possible.

Our first Adventure Club outing will be to Little Mashel Falls on October 18th. The bus will leave James Sales at 9 AM and return at around 3 PM. Wear sturdy hiking boots/shoes (no crocs) and wear appropriate clothing for the weather. Bring a water bottle, and snacks in a backpack. Watch for permission slips to come home soon.

If you wish to give permission or decline permission for your child to be included in pictures for publication in our newsletter, in our James Sales social media, and on our website you can indicate your wishes by going to this form. If you give your permission for your child to appear in pictures, we can include them in photos from Adventure Club trips, activities at school and on field trips, etc. You can access the form here.

Congratulations to September’s students of the month who were honored at an assembly on October 3rd!

These students were selected by their teachers for showing inclusion of others and embracing diversity:

Crosby M., Camila P., Neeranuud R., Anevaeh F., Mariyanna M., Clarence P., Athena R., Aaliyah H., Santiago L., Olivia S., Jackson S., Ellara R., Rome M., Emilia F., Ryla Y., Arthemio L., Natalia V., Arseniy I., Kason L. James B., Malachi B., Isiah V., Alexander J., Liliuokalani K., Lily H., Harper J., Khloe F.,. Ezra N., Lucas A., Leykany D., Liam G., Danna E., Andrea H., KJ R., Lokadah G., Leyton C., Asiah E., Kylie T., Isaiah S., and Ivy N.

We have a helpful transportation department, so if you have any questions or issues about something that happened on the bus, at the bus stop, or regarding a late bus, please call the Transportation office directly at 253-298-3865.

If you wish your child to ride a bus other than his or her normal bus or to get off at a different bus stop, you must contact the transportation department to see if the desired bus has room for your child and send a note with the bus numbers and different stop listed. The same holds true if you want your child to walk rather than ride the bus. Sending a note with your request will cut down on the amount of phone calls our busy office receives each day. Without a note or phone call, we will not allow students to walk or change their regular bus or bus stop.

Please be aware that any bus-riding kindergarten student that is not met at the bus stop after school will be returned to James Sales for parent pick-up. It is very important to meet your students at the bus stop on time!

We will begin to enjoy treat Fridays on October 3rd. Treats will alternate between fruit snacks and popcorn. Please read the details of treat Friday below.

• Treats are 50¢ each week (exact change only) OR pay $5 to cover your child's Treat Friday by Thursday, October 2nd at 9 AM for all 10 weeks (exact change only).
• One treat per student may be purchased each week.
• Treat money must be turned in to teachers by 9 AM on the Thursday before Treat Friday! Late money will not be accepted.
• Parent volunteers to help with treat Fridays are needed. Please contact Mrs. Nelson (bnelson@fpschools.org) if you are interested in volunteering an hour or so each week.

We understand that sometimes electronic devices are necessary and that some students will have them at school. At James Sales, we have an “Off and Away” policy. Cellphones and other electronics must be turned off and placed in a student’s backpack while at school. If you need to contact your child during the day, please contact the main office at 253-298-4200. If your child needs to call you, their teacher will find an appropriate time for them to call.

Please note - we are not responsible for lost, stolen or broken electronics. If possible, please leave these items at home.

Review our handbook here.

September 29-October 3 - Custodians and Maintenance Staff - Teresa Byrd, our chief custodian, and Gary Scott, our night custodian, work very hard to keep our school clean and safe for our students and staff. They help maintain the playground, clean restrooms, classrooms, and other areas of the building, help at breakfast and lunch, and do countless other jobs. Please join us in giving them a big THANK YOU!!!

October 14-18 - Nutrition Services -Thanks to Mrs. Kimball and Ms. St. Clair; our kitchen workers, who work hard to keep our students well-fed, happy, and ready to learn!

October 21-25 - Transportation Staff - We also appreciate our bus drivers; #7 Dave Vigus, #9 Agnes White, #10 Stephanie Lewis, #11 Talaifeii Scanlan-Malae, #24 Brandon LeMaster, #53 Andrea Champlin, and #56 Ana Behena-Gatica who transport our students safely to and from school each day.

Each trimester our students have the opportunity to earn a special treat reward for meeting the following goals:

1. Behavior - One or fewer Write -ups
2. Attendance - Three or fewer absences and/or tardies

We hope all of our Jaguars will be able to meet these goals!

We anticipate the need for volunteers for field trips and other occasions. If you are interested in volunteering as a chaperone for field trips or in any other capacity that may come up, please complete the volunteer application as soon as possible. It may take two weeks or more to process an application and we don't want you to be left out of a volunteer opportunity because you are not approved yet! Click here to begin your volunteer application. If you need assistance with your application please come to the office, call 253-298-4200, or email Linda Morrison - limorrison@fpschools.org .

Children ages 3-5 who reside within the Franklin Pierce School District are eligible for free developmental screening. Hearing, vision, kindergarten readiness, speech and language, motor skills, and behavior are checked. Screenings take place regularly. See their web page here. To schedule an appointment, call the Early Learning Center Child Find hotline at 253-298-4658.

James Sales houses a before and after school care program on-site for our students. The care is provided by Right at School. Right at School provides a safe environment to learn, to play, and to grow. Click here for more information and to register.

Franklin Pierce Schools has a resource center for our families. You will find information and help for all sorts of situations and needs - food, diapers, formula, community referrals, and more. Click here to access the Family Resource Center website.

Click here to see breakfast and lunch menus.

Franklin Pierce Schools does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, honorably discharged veteran or military status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Questions and complaints of alleged discrimination should be directed to Brandy Marshall, Compliance Coordinator for State and Civil Rights Laws at bmarshall@fpschools.org; Dr. Julien Pollard, Title IX Officer at titleIXcoordinator@fpschools.org; or John Sander, 504/ADA Coordinator at jsander@fpschools.org or at 315 129th ST S, Tacoma, WA 98444-5099 or at (253)298-3000. Requests for accommodation of a disability for a staff member should be directed to Human Resources.