Sunday, October 4, 2015

Dear  JES family and friends,

As we begin the second six weeks, October, as always, is shaping up to be a busy one! Our character value for this month is INDIVIDUALITY defined as: discovering who you’re meant to be so you can make a difference. I hope you continue to use the Core Essentials Values to spark discussions at home that lead to reinforcing what the teachers and staff are sharing about INDIVIDUALITY. Our character trait program is sponsored by Chik fil A and is provided through the generosity of our JES PTO.

 CogAT and ITBS Testing for 2nd and 4th Grades
 
On the 6th, 7th, and 8th of this month our second and 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 19th, 20th,, 21st and 22st  both second and fourth grades will be taking the Iowa Test of Basic Skills or ITBS. Although the CogAT’s primary goal 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 and present at school on time these days. Check your calendar and make sure that you have not scheduled doctor appointments during the mornings on these dates. Testing will take place as early as possible while the students are fresh.

 RED RIBBON WEEK  October 26th-30th

 Red Ribbon Week will be celebrated the last week in October. This is a district wide drug awareness celebration. Please take advantage of this opportunity to talk with your children about the dangers of drug abuse. We will be emphasizing making good decisions. It’s never too soon or too late to share your thoughts about this important matter.

 Understood.org

 Recently, I learned about a website that supports parents who have children with learning and attention issues. Understood.org https://www.understood.org/en is an excellent resource! When you go to the website, I recommend visiting the tab labeled Your Parent Toolkit. The information is research based and gives parents ideas of how to work with the child’s strengths and support their self-esteem. There also is a section about parent support. The website is for helping your child at school, home and community. If you access this website, let me know what you think.

If I can assist you in any way, please contact me.

Kindest regards, 
Ziba Johnston 
Elizabeth.johnston@southlakecarroll.edu
817 949 4500