🐻 September 25, 2025 | Issue #12 🐻
🐻 September 25, 2025 | Issue #12 🐻
Dear Brown School Family,
Yesterday’s Student-Led Conference Day was a wonderful success! We were so proud to see our students take ownership of their learning by sharing their progress, goals, and reflections with you. Student-Led Conferences is an important facet of our magnet program theme. The confidence and independence our students demonstrated are at the heart of what we want for every child—reasoned minds and educated hearts.
We are especially grateful to you for being active partners in this process. Your presence, encouragement, and thoughtful conversations with your child made the day meaningful. These conferences are designed to help students practice responsibility, advocacy, and reflection, and your support helps make that possible.
Thank you for being such an important part of our school community. Together, we are building the skills and habits that will serve our students well in school and in life.
I hope you have a fantastic fall break!
Love,
Dr. Angela
Fees for Middle and High School elective classes have been applied to MySchoolBucks. Go to the MSB website by clicking here, search for the state your school district is in (Kentucky), select the district (Jefferson County Public Schools), fill in your contact information, and add student(s) to your account.
Adding your default payment method also makes check-out quick and easy. Once you’re logged in, go to your profile icon on the upper right side of the screen and click on “My Billing Accounts” to get started. Note that the “AutoPay Settings” are strictly for low balances with meal accounts.
Once you start to receive invoices for your child, a notification will pop up each time you log in, alerting you of outstanding invoices that are linked to your child’s (Infinite Campus) class schedule. Simply add them to your basket and checkout, using the default payment method you set up or a different payment method.
If you have any questions regarding your login information or the site settings, reach out to the MSB support team via online chat on the website or by calling 1-855-832-5226 (M-F, 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM).
If you have a student taking an AP Course their pink exam registration paper is due back to Sarah by this Friday 9/26. The pink paper needs to be signed by guardians. This communicates to you how much the exams cost and communicates to us which exams to order (or not order) for your child.
Invoices for AP Exams will post on MySchoolBucks October 10th and be due by the end of the month. Some families have late fees from last year and will need to pay those before we can order exams for your child this year.
This is a reminder that some JCPS students and their families will observe religious holidays in October and may be absent at that time.
Yom Kippur (Judaism) October 1-2; Jewish students and employees might be unavailable for activities on Wednesday evening and absent on Thursday.
Dussehra (Hinduism) October 2; Hindu employees and students might be absent from school/work or unavailable for evening activities.
Sukkot (Judaism) October 6 - 13; Jewish students and employees might be absent from school/work activities during the first two and last two days (Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah on October 13-15) of Sukkot.
Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah (Judaism) October 13-15; Jewish employees and students might be absent on these days or unavailable for evening activities.
Diwali (Hinduism) October 20; Hindu employees and students might be absent from school/work or unavailable for evening activities.
Birth of the Bab (Baha'i) October 22; Baha'i employees and students might be absent from work/school on this day.
Birth of Baha'u'llah (Baha'i) October 23; Baha'i employees and students might be absent from work/school on this day.
All Hallows Eve (Some Christian Denominations) and Samhain (Pagan) October 31; Some employees and students may be unavailable on this day or in the evening.
REGARDING STUDENT ABSENCES:
The JCPS Code of Conduct/Student Bill of Rights states:
"Excused absences and tardies include such circumstances and occasions as a death or severe illness in the student’s immediate family, an illness of the student, religious holidays and practices, one day for attendance at the Kentucky State Fair, and other valid reasons as determined by the principal."
Please let the office staff know if your child will be absent for a religious holiday so they can be sure to put it in as an excused absence. Thanks!
*******HELP WANTED*******
Do you want to work with the most fabulous ADs and students in town? Your time is here! We are looking for an Archery Coach for this Winter. If we cannot find a coach soon, we will not be able to have a team this year. If you are interested, please email Dr. Kat or Matt.
Middle School Softball- The softball team has had a great season, with a 6-2 record. They are playing in the District Tournament on 10/7 at 6 pm at PRP.
Winter Sport Registration- Winter sports are open for registration. If you are planning on participating, please follow the directions here: How to Register for Sports at Brown.
Winter sports for this year are Elementary Basketball, Middle/High Basketball, Middle/High Archery, Middle/High Swim, 7-12th Esports, 7th-12th Bowling and 7th-12th Indoor Track.
After School Study Skills: The Athletic Department offers a supervised study skills for in-season players from 3-4 pm when practices and games are in session AND a coach is there to supervise them after 4 pm. Siblings of players in practices can also attend. This is a great opportunity for players to complete homework or study if they have a gap between the end of school and practices. The location will be on the announcements each day.
Bowling- Bowling will have a meeting on Friday 9/26 in room 140 (Heather's Room) at 2:50. The calendars for bowling are now available on Eventlink. Bowling is open to grades 7-12.
Elementary Basketball- There will not be a developmental team this year. There will be one boys team and one girls team. Elementary Basketball does not require a physical or registering on Final Forms. If you are interested in Elementary Basketball, please fill out this form: Elementary Basketball Interest Form
Final Forms- All of our required athletic forms will be online on Final Forms this year. This includes sports physicals. To join Final Forms and register your athlete please follow this Final Forms Registration Link.
Eventlink- Eventlink is a new communications platform for coaches to send messages and keep a unified calendar of practices and games. To join our Eventlink for team announcements and calendars please open these INSTRUCTIONS. Please make sure you search for the "J. Graham Brown School."
Brown Athletics Website- For up-to-date information on Brown Athletics (practices, announcements, photos, game information, how to join sports at Brown, merchandise, etc.) please visit www.brownbearsathletics.com.
Brown Bears Athletics Instagram- Please follow brown_bears_athletics on Instagram.
Kroger Rewards- Please add Brown Athletics to your Kroger Rewards Program. It does not take away from your gas points and really helps out our athletic programs.
Thanks,
Matt Davis (HS/ES AD) and Dr. Kat (MS AD)
The fight for education justice continues. Rose Revival Public Hearing in Louisville! Saturday, Sept. 27 from 2:30–4 PM (Doors open at 2 pm) at the Red Barn, University of Louisville located at 2011 South Brook Street, Louisville, KY 40208
Free parking | All ages | In person
Join fellow Brown School families and friends as we roll up our sleeves to spruce up Peace Park. We’ll be tackling sidewalk encasing, so if you have trenching shovels, spades, or regular garden shovels, please bring them along. We’ll have water, Gatorade, and snacks to keep you fueled while we work together to make the park shine. Your time and energy will make a big difference—come be part of it!
Sunday, October 12
12 - 4 pm
Peace Park
Group 1 - Environmental Club: Planting Flowers
Group 2 - JGBS Alumni: Weeding and Landscaping
Group 3 - PTSA Families: Sidewalk Encasing
The Brown PTSA Fall Festival Street Fair is the main fundraiser for Brown PTSA. This helps provide funding for events we do during the year. This includes family nights, teacher appreciation week, Kentucky Kids Day, and other programming . This does not only provide funding for the PTSA events but also for the many school groups that are running the gaming booths.
We will be shutting down 1st street from Muhammad Ali to Chestnut. We will have a stage that will showcase some of the student groups. There will be music in between student performances. There will be food trucks to enjoy for dinner and games for all ages to play. We will also have a silent auction and a raffle inside.
It will be chaotic fun for everyone. Bring your chairs and hang out with the Brown School Family.
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Putting on the Fall Festival is a huge undertaking and we need lots of volunteers.
Sign up for a shift to help us put this together.
Do you have a business or know someone who would like to donate an item for our Silent Auction or Raffle.
Do you like to bake or want to donate a cake or cookies for the cake walk?
Do you make or sell art or crafts? Do you want to sell them at the Fall Festival.
Booths are only $25.
Art & Craft Booth Sign Up Here
What are Bear Bucks? They are the currency at the Fall Festival Street Fair for eveything except - Food Trucks and Art Vendors.
If you are interested in mental health services for your student outside of the school setting, we are able to make referrals for you through Care Solace. If you are interested in my services with your student to start off the school year please reach out to me via the student support form and I will be happy to talk with you and find the best services for your student. I am hoping to do more groups this year, so if you have an idea that you think would benefit your child feel free to reach out!
What's up in the ES World? Check out Miss Christy's ES Counseling Corner to stay up-to-date on your child's school activities.
If you were not able to attend Student Led Conferences in person on 9/24, please encourage your student to make a recording of them sharing their progress with you. Student Led Conferences are a vital part of our Self-Directed Learning and JCPS' Journey to Success. Evidence of a Student Led Conference should be documented each year to meet those standards!
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If you were not able to attend our Convo with the Counselors on College Prep for grades 7-12, see THIS PRESENTATION for your reference.
If you were not able to attend Student Led Conferences in person on 9/24, please encourage your student to make a recording of them sharing their progress with you. Student Led Conferences are a vital part of our Self-Directed Learning and JCPS' Journey to Success. Evidence of a Student Led Conference should be documented each year to meet those standards!
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Due to low participation from College Reps, we will not host our own College Fair on Oct 17th as originally planned. Instead, we will take grades 11-12 to NACAC College Fair on Oct 28th.
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If you were not able to attend our Convo with the Counselors on College Prep, see THIS PRESENTATION for your reference.
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Field Trip Chaperones Needed!
All school volunteers must have a JCPS School Volunteer Records Check completed to be eligible to attend. Even if you cannot attend the events below, complete the Records Check now for future events. It takes about two weeks to get the results. Please email Norah.Wakefield@jefferson.kyschools.us with Chaperone in the subject line and let us know which trips you are interested in attending.
*Spalding-Oct 15-Grades 11-12-Walking
*NACAC College Fair-Oct 28-Grades 11-12-Walking to the Convention Center and 4th Street for lunch
*Junior Achievement Inspire-Oct 30-Grades 11-12-School bus to Fair/Expo Center
*Bellarmine-Nov 5-Grades 11-12-School bus
*WKU-Tentative Nov 7-Grades 11-12-School bus-potentially will leave before school or return after school
*HBCU College Fair-Nov 20-Grades 9-12-Walking to the Convention Center