Gratitude ~ A Time for Thanks

Dear JES family and friends, 

Thank you to all who contributed to our Can Drive for GRACE in observance of Red Ribbon Week. We were able to donate 858 items to GRACE. When everyone gives a little we are able to give a lot!

Thank you to everyone who helped to make Red Ribbon Week fun and meaningful for our children.  Thank you to Nancy D’Luca  and Casey Guidry for helping with the Fire Safety Visit.  Much appreciation goes to Julie Bedgood and the volunteers who prepared the giveaway items for the children. You are so very generous with your time and your help is greatly appreciated.

A special thanks to Officer Womack for arranging the Southlake Firefighters’ visit for Kindergarten -3^rd grade students. It was an informative day. Has your family designated a location to meet outside of your house in case of fire? Ask your children about suggestions they might have learned.

                                                                                      

The firemen loved the cards the students made for them to show appreciation as an act of kindness. The cards made the firemen smile!

Red Ribbon Week reached a high point when the Compassion Cup was presented to the whole student body and staff! A Back to Back honor for JES! What a special event! The picture says it all!

Compassion Cup Winners for 2017

An Attitude of GRATITUDE

Our Core Essential character value for November is GRATITUDE which is defined as letting others know you see how they’ve helped you. We will be talking about GRATITUDE on the announcements and in guidance lessons. Gratitude is an important character value and can easily be reinforce at home.  Working together, we can help our children learn to recognize the quality of the feeling that accompanies showing appreciation.

We will be working on multiple projects throughout the year to give our students opportunities to “give back”. Research shows that when children (and adults) give, they in turn have positive feelings that lead to a greater sense of self-worth. Giving promotes cooperation, social connections and gratitude. And research has found that gratitude is integral to happiness and health. Here is an opportunity for our students to get involved in the experience of giving.

ANGEL TREE

Our traditional angel tree will be decorated in the front office before we leave on Thanksgiving Break. Each year, we have our own Angel Tree to provide for children at Johnson Elementary and our extended staff..  If you are able to help, I hope you will choose an angel and make it a family project of showing gratitude and compassion for those families connected to Johnson who can use our help.

BASKETS OF THANKS

 Our Ambassadors of Kindness will be leading us in a collection for holiday food baskets for our cafeteria and custodial staff. If we each contribute a dollar, we can give them a nice basket and gift card to show our gratitude. They do so much for us around our campus and we celebrate the opportunity to show them our appreciation.

As always, if I can help in any way, please contact me.

Kindest regards,

Ziba Johnston

Counselor

Elizabeth.johnston@southlakecarroll.edu

817 949 4500

“Giving connects two people, the giver and the receiver, and this connection gives birth to a new sense of belonging.” Deepak Chopra

Be a Force for KINDNESS#BeKind

Dear JES Family,

Red Ribbon Week is in full swing at JES this week! We have had some interesting visitors around campus and some fun activities going on to celebrate "Be a Force for Kindness"!

TUESDAY - we will be having a can goods drive to help restock the Food Pantry at GRACE 
WEDNESDAY - Cards of Gratitude - we will be making cards to show our appreciation for people in our lives every day
THURSDAY - wear BLUE and we will be encouraging children to reach out with a Random Act of Kindness
FRIDAY - Safety Officers will visit our campus to talk about personal safety along with the firetrucks

Every night during Red Ribbon Week students can eat at CiCi's Pizza at 2100 W Northwest Hwy in Grapevine for a 99 cent pizza buffet! Just let them know you are from JES and have your child show their Be A Force of Kindness dog tag.
Thank you for making this an educational week for our students by emphasizing the message of being drug free and being a force for kindness to knock out bullying.
                                           May the Force of Kindness Be with You!

October Is Nearly Here!

Dear JES Family and Friends,

October is shaping up to be a busy one! Our character value for this month is CREATIVITY defined as: using your imagination to do something unique. I can dream and imagine.  I hope you continue to use the Core Essentials home link to spark discussions that lead to reinforcing what we are sharing at school about CREATIVITY.

DRAGONS GO BLUE!!!

DRAGONS Go Blue on October 2^nd as we celebrate World Day of Bullying Prevention. All throughout Dragon Country, we ask that everyone wear blue to bring awareness to the issue of bullying. We will be participating in activities that raise awareness of being kind and standing up for others.

CogAT and ITBS Testing for 4th Grade 

On the 3rd of October, our fourth graders will be taking the CogAT test. The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) measures students’ learned reasoning abilities in the three areas most linked to academic success in school: Verbal, Quantitative and Nonverbal. On October17^th, 18th, 19^th our fourth graders will be taking the Iowa Test of Basic Skills or ITBS. Although the primary goal of CogAT is to assess students’ reasoning abilities, it can also provide predicted achievement scores when administered with The Iowa Tests.

Second graders will not be tested as a grade level this year unless they are nominated for QUEST. 

There is no special preparation you need to do at home for these tests. What you can do to help your student is make sure they are rested, well fed, and present at school on time on testing days. Please check your calendar and make sure that you have not scheduled doctor appointments during these days. The CogAT will be administered in three different sessions on the testing day. Testing for ITBS will take place in three sessions during the morning on the testing days.

A parent letter went home last week about the upcoming tests that should address any questions you might have about the actual test and its purpose.   Of course, as always, if you have additional questions, please contact me at Elizabeth.Johnston@southlakecarroll.edu.

Parents, mark your calendars for a free parent education program on October 19^th at 7PM. The topic is Finding Focus: Paying Attention in a Distracted World. Have you ever wondered how to nurture the ability to be attentive, what is normal and when is inattention a problem to be addressed? Come hear two experts in the field discuss attention and the brain. Join us in the JES Library. 

Red Ribbon Week will be celebrated the last week in October. This is a district wide drug awareness celebration.  We will kick off the week with a fun theme for each day! We will emphasize the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle. Please take advantage of this opportunity to talk with your children about making good decisions. It’s never too soon to start that conversation.

Congratulations to the most generous school family!!!! Back to Back Compassion Cup Champions! What an achievement for our campus. There is no higher honor that we could receive than recognition as the most compassionate school in CISD! Way to go JES!

As always, if I can help in anyway, please contact me.
Kindest regards,

Ziba Johnston
Elizabeth.Johnston@southlakecarroll.edu
817 949 4500

WELCOME BACK #GameOnDRAGONS

Dear JES families and friends,

Welcome back to both returning and new families! I hope that you had a relaxing, fun-filled summer and a great first week of school. Teachers, staff and students are Game On here at JES!

 KINDNESS RALLY

On September 8^th, we will be having a Kindness Rally to kick off our year. As always, we will be emphasizing Kindness and treating others like we want to be treated. Look for more information coming soon about how your child can earn Dragon Diamonds!

Our character trait for August is RESPECT defined as showing others they are important by what you say or do. The character trait for September is Friendship. We will be combining the two to talk about expectations here at school. Our JES PTO is generously sponsoring our Core Essentials program again this year. If you are interested in more information about our character education program go to www.coreessentials.org .  Through our Core Essentials program, we will be emphasizing the Big 3:      

Treat Others Right

Make Smart Decisions

Maximize Your Potential

When you discuss these important values at home, it reinforces their importance. Invite your child to share what they have learned at school about RESPECT. When we work together at school and at home, “great” things are possible.

It is not unusual for students to be tired and “out of sorts” the first few weeks of school. The change in their sleep and meal routines alone may cause stress and then when you add on the expectations of school - it is understandable that most children will react. If problems persist or are more extreme than you feel is typical for your child, talk with your child’s teacher and/or contact me. If we can do anything to help you or your child, please let me know. You can email or call to schedule an appointment.

Kindest regards,

Ziba Johnston

Counselor

817 949 4500

elizabeth.johnston@southlakecarroll.edu

Dear JES family and friends,

Thank you for all those who donated shoes for our shoe drive. Although we did not meet our goal of 500 pairs, the ambassadors considered our drive a success! We had nearly 300 pairs that were delivered to the Buckner Foundation. The shoes will be distributed to children locally and some will be shipped to Guatemala.

DETERMINATION

Determination is our character trait for May. The definition is “deciding it’s worth it to finish what you’ve started”.

 On a personal note -

As the school year wraps up, I can’t help but reflect on all that was accomplished this year. Our children learned lots of reading skills. They learned all levels of math facts. They learned how to read maps and about Texas history, civil rights and freedom. They learned about the stars and musical instruments and artists and how to take care of their hearts and so many other valuable lessons too numerous to name.

I hope the children remember about acknowledging their feelings, what it takes to make a friendship and taking care of their emotional needs.  I hope they practice being a good listener. But, most of all, I hope they remember that it is more important to be kind than to be right.

Have a wonderful summer!!!

Kindest regards,

Ziba Johnston

JES Counselor

ONE DAY WITHOUT SHOES Shoe Drive April 11th

Dear JES family and friends,

ONE DAY WITHOUT SHOES April 11th

How perfect that our character trait for April is HUMILITY! With One Day Without Shoes, we give our children the experience of what it would be like to not have shoes. At the same time they are given the opportunity to give to others in need.

One pair of shoes for a child can gain them entry to school, keep them healthy, protect them from injury, and most of all give them the assurance that someone cares about them. On April 11^th, we will be going shoeless (we will be wearing socks) at school to bring attention to the needs of children around the world who miss opportunities in life because they do not have shoes. Send in a new pair of shoes to donate to Shoes for Orphan Souls on April 11th. For more information about where the shoes will go visit the Shoes for Orphan Souls website at


              http://www.shoesfororphansouls.org/aboutus.shtml

 Our April character trait HUMILTY is defined as “putting others first by giving up with you think you deserve”. Our shoe drive will be a wonderful opportunity to discuss humility at school and at home.

 

FOURTH GRADE PARENTS' MEETING

An Informational Meeting for Fourth Grade Parents is on Wednesday, April 5^th at 8:00 AM in the JES Library. Transition to fifth grade can be a challenge. Attending the orientation meeting can ease some of the anxiety by answering many of your questions about procedures, the schedules, and the “always challenging” lockers!  

            

ORIENTATION for our fourth graders going to Durham Intermediate next fall is on May 16th. All fourth graders will travel to Durham Intermediate School by bus for an informational talk by the DIS administrators and a tour of the campus.

KINDERGARTEN PREVIEW NIGHT

On April 20 at 5PM, all new incoming Kindergartners are invited to come to school for a peek at what is coming in August. This is an informative meeting for the parents and an opportunity for your child to visit the Kindergarten class rooms. We look forward to meeting you and your child!
 

Upcoming STAAR Testing

STAAR testing continues next month. Third and fourth grade students will be testing on May 8th^th and 9^th.  Our students are well prepared. The most important thing that parents can do is make sure your child is rested, well fed, and in attendance on time for testing days. Thank you for your help.

As always, if I can assist you in any way, please call.

Kindest regards,

Ziba Johnston
JES Counselor

COMPASSION CHAMPIONS

 

Johnson Elementary Student Body receiving the Compassion Champions Cup for 2016-2017. GO DRAGONS!

Welcome back to second semester of our 2016 - 2017 school year! I wanted to start it off with this awesome picture that was taken earlier in the year when Johnson Elementary won the Compassion Cup. It was such a great picture of our whole student body and many staff members. The district sponsored a food drive challenge and we won by donating more canned goods than any other campus. Thank you for your support in your incredibly generous donations for GRACE food banks. We are honored for JES to be recognized in this way.
 
Our campus makes a great effort toward showing kindness and compassion to each other, to our community, and internationally. Although we are not always perfect and we are a work in progress, kindness is a theme throughout the year.

CogAT and ITBS Results

To second and fourth grade parents, you should have received the results of the testing that was completed in mid October. If you need help with interpreting the report, I am happy to go over it with you. You can contact me at 817 949 4500 or Elizabeth.johnston@southlakecarroll.edu.

 If I can assist you in any way, please feel free to contact me.
 Kindest regards,

Ziba

Elizabeth Johnston
JES Counselor