Dear JES family,

I hope this finds you enjoying your Winter Break, having fun family time, and making great memories!

Ambassadors Sharing JES JOY!

The Ambassadors of Kindness presented each cafeteria lady and each custodian a poinsettia, hand made cards,  and a gift card. Thank you to all the students who earned the dollar and contributed to the dollar drive. 

We collected $528 and combined with a donation of $500 from PTO, we were able to give these staff members gift cards for $128.

Thank you, again, from the Ambassadors for contributing to JES JOY to honor these important people at our school!

As always, if I can assist you in anyway, you can reach me at elizabeth.johnston@southlakecarroll.edu

Happy Holidays and kindest regards,

Ziba Johnston

Helpful link  on Holiday Mindfulness for Kids

DECEMBER ~ A Time of Sharing

JES TRADITIONAL ANGEL TREE

Our traditional Angel Tree that serves the children at Johnson Elementary is up in the office. Angels are still available! For over thirty years, the Johnson school family has provided holiday gifts for our own families who could use a little help. I hope that you and your child will choose an angel and make this act of kindness a family project. The JES family is so generous and never ceases to be amazing.

Spreading JES Joy!!!

The Fourth Grade AMBASSADORS of KINDNESS are leading a dollar drive to provide gift cards for the Custodians and Cafeteria ladies sharing JES JOY! Each student is challenged to earn a dollar to turn in to their teacher next week. The money will be used to purchase a gift and gift card. If every student contributes a dollar it will be a generous gift. Turn in your contribution by Friday! The gifts will be presented during fourth grade lunch.

December's character trait is JOY!

If I can assist you in any way, you can reach me at 817 949 4500 or at Elizabeth.Johnston@southlakecarroll.edu

Have a wonderful winter break! 
Kindest regards,
Ziba Johnston

Link to CISD Mental Health and Wellness monthly newsletter.
https://www.smore.com/npgjm

Dear JES family and friends,

Our Core Essential character value for November is HONOR which is defined as letting someone know you see how valuable they are. We will be talking about HONOR in Counseling lessons. HONOR is an important character value that can easily be reinforce at home. Share with your child what honor means to you. Your children are listening. When we work together our children make twice the progress. 

Come Help Celebrate Our Veterans

 On November 11th, we will be celebrating Veteran's Day with a Breakfast and program. Please join us at JES for breakfast at 7:40 and the performance by our students at 8:15.

Join us at the Multicultural Showcase Potluck on November 7th! We will all be gathering at Rockenbaugh Elementary. What a wonderful opportunities for families to share, learn, and enjoy!

 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.  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 at Johnson who can use our help.

The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) and Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) was completed for all fourth grade students. Make ups are complete. The results will be sent home around mid semester.
As always, if I can assist you in any way, please call.

Kindest regards,

Ziba Johnston 
Counselor
Link to November's Dragon Breath - Mental Health and Wellness Newsletter https://www.smore.com/d12vp

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

Red Ribbon Week- October 28th-31st

Dear JES Family and Friends,

October as always is shaping up to be a busy one! Our character value for this month is COURAGE defined as: being brave enough to do what you should do even  when you're afraid .  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 COURAGE. The link will come to you from your classroom teacher.

DRAGONS Go Blue on October 7^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

On the 1st of this month, 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 October 16^th and 17^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.

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 on the morning of the testing days.

A parent letter went home a few weeks ago 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.

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.

If I can help in any way, please don't hesitate to contact me at Elizabeth.Johnston@southlakecarroll.edu or 817 949 4500.

Kind regards,

Ziba

Elizabeth Johnston

JES School Counselor

Link to Dragon's Breath - K-6th grade Mental Health and Wellness Newsletter   https://www.smore.com/qkszt

Welcome Back Johnson Dragons!!!

Dear JES families and friends,

Welcome back to both returning and new families! There is exciting activity going on in preparation for the 2019-2020 school year. Our building is going to be amazing!!! I hope that you have had a wonderful summer! Teachers, staff and students are going to be talking about the Power of ONE this year - one person can make all of the difference! We will challenge each student to be that one who reaches out to others and includes all children.

Coach Eric McDade, CISD Leadership and Culture Coach, as well as Men's Basketball Coach, will be the featured speaker at our first assembly on August 28th, kicking off  Rachel's Challenge - Power of ONE.  He will be challenging the children to start a chain reaction of kindness. He will also help kick off  the continuation of the PTO sponsored Dragon's Diamonds program.

CORE ESSENTIALS Character Traits

Through our Core Essentials character traits program, we will be emphasizing the Big 3,  which are:   

Treat Others Right

Make Smart Decisions

Maximize Your Potential

Thank you to CARROLL ISD who is providing the Core Essentials web based curriculum for all of the elementary schools in our district this year. Thank you to our PTO for generously supporting the character traits program by purchasing the printed materials.  If you are a member of the PTO, then thank you for your support!

Our character trait for September is TRUST defined as putting your confidence in someone you can depend on. If you are interested in more information about our character education program go to www.coreessentials.org   When you discuss these important values at home, it reinforces their importance. Invite your child to share what they have learned at school about the BIG 3 and TRUST. When we work together at school and at home “great” things are possible.

Helpful Thoughts - 

You can anticipate that your child may 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 student, please let me know. You can email or call to schedule an appointment.

Kindest regards,

Ziba Johnston

Counselor

Jack D. Johnson Elementary

817 949 4500

Elizabeth.Johnston@southlakecarroll.edu

Happy Summer!!!

Dear JES Family and friends,

Summer holiday has finally arrived! I hope you are enjoying the time off for your child and spending quality time with your family. Summer is such great memory making time for children with camps and activities around the pool. Be safe.

 It was wonderful to see some of you when I visited the Southlake Library this week. The city library is an awesome resource! I hope you will get involved with the summer reading program and encourage your child to read throughout the summer. We see some backward sliding in reading ability for most students and it is beneficial if you read regularly to keep up your child's reading stamina. Read to your child to build vocabulary and have them read to you to increase fluency.

The plan is to be back in the office at JES on August 5th. Of, course that will be dictated by the progress of the construction . If you need to get in touch with me before school starts, the best option is via email at Elizabeth.Johnston@southlakecarroll.edu .

Happy Summer!

Ziba

350 Pairs of Shoes! Thank you!

Dear JES family and friends,
Thank you to everyone who contributed to ONE Day Without Shoes. 320 pairs of shoes were collected and delivered to the Buckner Foundation. The shoes are on their way to Kenya! I know new shoes give hope to children in need. Thank you, again, for your generosity in this service project.

May's character trait is PERSEVERANCE defined as refusing to give up when life gets hard. We will be learning about and practicing PERSEVERANCE as we look toward the end of the year. Please encourage your student to continue to work hard and do their best at school so we can end the year on a positive note!

Durham Intermediate Visit - Our fourth graders will be taking a trip over to Durham Intermediate School to take a tour and meet the Principals and Counselors and take a look at the building to help with their transition. Taking advantage of opportunities to become familiar with the Intermediate School will help with making for a smooth transitions to the new school.

STAAR Testing Date for 3rd & 4th Grades-May 13th and 14th
Your child is well prepared to take their tests and the best thing you can do to help them preform their best is to get to bed on time and feed them a good breakfast. The teacher and students will do the rest!

Thank you for all you do to support your student and the school. It is appreciated. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at Elizabeth.Johnston@southlakecarroll.edu

Kind regards,
Ziba Johnston
JES Counselor

Link to CISD K-6th Counselor's Mental Health and Wellness Newsletter Link

ONE DAY WITHOUT SHOES - April 17th

Dear JES family and friends,

HOPE - One Day Without Shoes

How perfect that our character trait for April is HOPE! With ONE Day Without Shoes, we are giving children hope. 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 knowledge that someone cares about them.

On April 17^th, we will be going shoeless (wearing clean 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 17th. For more information visit the Shoes for Orphan Souls website at :

                                    

https://www.buckner.org/shoes/blog

Writing STARR testing for fourth grade is coming up on Tuesday, April 9^th. Third and fourth grades will be testing on May 13^th and 14^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.

Fourth Grade Orientation at DIS

Student Orientation for our fourth graders going to Durham Intermediate next fall is on May 21st. All fourth graders will travel to DIS by bus for an informational talk by the DIS administrators and a tour of the campus. Transition to fifth grade can be a challenge. Attending the orientation meetings can ease some of the anxiety by answering many of your questions about procedures, the schedules and the “always challenging” lockers!
Check out the orientation opportunities :

As always, if I can assist you in any way, please call at 817 949 4500.
Kindest regards,
Ziba Johnston
Elizabeth.johnston@southlakecarroll.edu

Dear JES Family and Friends,

Thank you to our JES PTO and the parent and student volunteers who worked on Project Linus! We have thirty seven fleece blankets which will be donated to the project and be dispersed to local hospitals. These blankets "provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets...lovingly created by volunteer blanketeers." Those blanketeers are us - JES DRAGON Family!

A Message from the CISD Counselors

Dear Carroll ISD families,
In the last few days, there has been significant national media coverage about a disturbing internet challenge known as “The Momo Challenge.”  CISD has received a number of calls from parents after seeing or hearing about Momo Challenge posts on social media. Please know that we have not had any instances of this happening at school or on school devices.

Although this appears to be more fear than fact and most trusted sources are calling it a hoax, due to the concerns related to this challenge, we are sharing this information with you as you may want to talk with your child.

Allegedly, Momo targets young children through various online apps (e.g. YouTube, Minecraft, WhatsApp, etc.), and encourages them to complete a series of increasingly bizarre and dangerous tasks from watching a horror movie to engaging in self-harm to taking their own lives. According to national news reports, children as young as 6 years old have heard of the “Momo” challenge, which is similar to the “Slender Man” and “The Blue Whale” challenges in years past.

We encourage parents to have intentional conversations with them about what they encounter online on their personal devices. Please consider age appropriateness and exposure from older siblings or friends. Let them know that if they see scary things pop up on phones, tablets, or computers that they should reach out to a parent, teacher, school counselor, or principal. Remind them to block unknown numbers asking them to play. Students should have an expectation that you will be monitoring their photos, conversations, and social media.

The following resources may be helpful in helping our young learners navigate the internet, as well as tools for parents in a digital age.

Family Online Safety Institute: 

https://www.fosi.org/good-digital-parenting

 Creating a Family Media Plan (American Academy of Pediatrics): https://www.healthychildren.org/English/media/Pages/default.aspx

 Teaching Kids About Internet Safety (GCFLearnFree.org)

https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/internetsafetyforkids/teaching-kids-about-internet-safety/1/

 Protecting Kids Online (Federal Trade Commission)

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/topics/protecting-kids-online

As always, if you have questions or concerns, please email or call your campus principal or the campus counselor.

INDIVIDUALITY - March Character Trait
We will discussing Discovering who you are meant to be so you can make a difference. Check out the career assessment for kids in the Family Ezine you received from your classroom teacher.

As always, if I can help in any way please contact me at Elizabeth.Johnston@southlakecarroll.edu or 817 949 4500.

Kindest regards,

Ziba Johnston

February - A Time for SERVICE

Dear JES Family and Friends,

February is SERVICE month. Our Core Essential definition is lending a hand to help someone else.
This month every child at JES will have an opportunity to be involved in a school wide blanket project where we will be making fleece blankets for Project Linus. The blankets will be given to "provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans lovingly created by volunteer "blanketeers". Those blanketeers are our students and parent volunteers! Secondly, the Project Linus provides a rewarding and fun service opportunity for interested individuals and groups in local communities, for the benefit of children." For more information visit : Project Linus  

Volunteers are needed to prepare the fleece so the children can finish the edges. No previous experience is required. You just need a steady hand. Training will be provided on the spot. Go to  :

                                

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080d45a4aa29a20-project

Research shows that when we give in service to others, the giver receives, as well. As Mahatma Gandhi said it..."The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in service to others."

If I can help in any way, please contact me at 817 949 4500.

Kindest regards,

Ziba Johnston

JES Counselor

January's Character Trait - SELF-CONTROL

THANKS FOR YOUR GENEROSITY
Thank you to all of the Johnson Family for your contribution toward our Compassion Countdown providing a gift for our custodians and cafeteria ladies. The total contribution collected was $1,312. On the last Thursday before the Winter Break, the fourth grade Ambassadors of Kindness presented handmade cards and Walmart gift cards in appreciation for all these staff members do for our school toward keeping us healthy! We honor and acknowledge them for their service!

Our Core Essential character trait for January is SELF-CONTROL defined as choosing to do what you should even when you don’t want to . When thinking about what are the most important skills to teach a child, we think of reading and writing and of course math and then there is science and social studies. But, perhaps one of the most valuable skills a child needs to develop is SELF-CONTROL. There is research that shows that a person’s ability to practice self-control is a predictor of future success. We will be emphasizing the value of SELF-CONTROL all this month.

Mental Health and Wellness are the district's focus for January. Here is the link to the district newsletter. Visit the link to learn more…https://www.smore.com/0p7vk-carroll-dragon-s-breath

DRAGON DIAMONDS Incentive Program

The Dragon Diamonds incentive program provided by our generous PTO continues this year! Dragon Diamonds are rewarded to those students who do acts of kindness “above and beyond” every day courtesy. All eyes are looking for acts of kindness!!! A teacher incentive has been added to the rewards. Each Friday five students’ names are drawn from the collection of Dragon Diamond slips in each grade to come to the Friendship Bench and select a prize! From those five winners, one name is drawn and that student’s teacher (or whoever awarded the slip)will receive a gift certificate. Let’s work together to help our children know that we can choose to be kind in all circumstances.

A PARTING THOUGHT...

One last thing, I want to share an incredible website that offers useful parenting articles based on current research. The website is Hey Sigmund and currently addresses the continuing concern about anxiety in our children.

https://www.heysigmund.com/ 

Resiliency is also a relevant topic. We are working in the district to learn how to increase resiliency in our students. I would enjoy hearing what you think about this website.

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

Kindest regards,

Ziba Johnston

Counselor 
817 949 4500

Elizabeth.Johnston@southlakecarroll.edu