Bear Essentials #36
April 28, 2021
Principal's Message
Dear Brown School Family,
If your student is a senior, a form was placed in the Class of 2021 Google Classroom for your student to share their preference for participating in our commencement ceremony. Please make sure your student completes this form by Monday, May 3rd at noon.
If you have a student who is in kindergarten, 5th grade, or 8th grade, mark your calendars tentatively for May 27th for their promotion ceremony. It will likely be a drive-thru event held at our school. When we have times finalized I will let you know.
Warm regards,
Dr. Angela, Principal
Reminder:
Intent for the 2021-22 School Year
To plan for the 2021-22 school year, we request that all current 8th grade families complete the intent form linked here. This will provide our staff with sufficient time to plan and prepare for our enrollment for the 2021-22 school year. Thank you for your participation.
Brown Freshman Scheduling Request form can be found HERE. The Scheduling Handbook can be found HERE.
K-PREP Option for Virtual Students
Are you a Virtual Middle or High School Student in grades 6-11? If you would LIKE to come in on Wednesday, May 12th to participate in K-PREP testing, please let us know. You have the option to opt out ONLY if you are a virtual student! Please let us know HERE.
The Bear Necessities
Please take a look at The Bear Necessities, the official newspaper of the J Graham Brown School. Featuring our wonderful students' Illustrations, Artwork, News, Editorials and more!
This Week's Essentials
Backpack Defense Presentations
5TH GRADE NORTH STAR BACKPACK DEFENSES
Congratulations to 5th Grader Kyle Tunstull for successfully completing her North Star Backpack Defense! Every Wednesday 5th grade students will be present their North Star Backpack Defense with a panel of staff members. If you are a parent of a 5th grader, please reach out to Amy Thornton with questions at 502-398-3450 call, text, or email her at amy.thornton@jefferson.kyschools.us.
8TH AND 12TH GRADE NORTH STAR BACKPACK DEFENSES
WOW!! We only have 20 seniors left to defend and 18 in the 8th grade class. If you have questions about whether your student has completed their defense, please reach out to Norah or Amy.
Backpack Team
If you have any questions please contact us:
Grades 6-12 Backpack Lead, norah.wakefield@jefferson.kyschools.us
Grades K-5 Backpack Lead, amy.thornton@jefferson.kyschools.us
Check out our BACKPACK NEWSLETTER
Tech @ Brown
Devices
Students attending in-person instruction need to bring their school-issued device fully charged to school every day. Personal devices are not allowed based on an SBDM policy. Also, please let us know if your Virtual Academy student is having device issues as well.
Still, need to request a school-issued device? Please do so by filling out the DEVICE REQUEST FORM.
If you know you have already requested a device, please be patient. We are working very hard to sanitize and prepare devices for students.
If your student is attending in person, we will deliver the device to their classroom.
If you have questions or want to make sure we received your request, please reach out to Amy.
Please call or text Amy at 502-398-3450.
Technical Difficulties
If you are having technical difficulties, please visit the Tech@Brown website it offers various ways to get help, and is linked off of our homepage under both PARENT and STUDENT.
Call or Text 502-398-3450, or visit https://bit.ly/browntech.
Please Email Amy.Thornton@jefferson.kyschools.us with questions.
Weekly Columns
Star Students
Please encourage your student to shine in showing off our school-wide expectations:
Be Respectful
Be Responsible
Be Safe
Always Pursue Excellence
Family Resource Youth Service Center
Hello! I am Elona Mack, and I am Brown/Central FRYSC Coordinator. Need help? Your FRYSC is here to provide assistance. Click HERE for community resources.
Please contact me with questions or concerns.
Email: Elona.mack@jefferson.kyschools.us
Phone: 502-631-9146
Animal Welfare Club
We are working diligently to schedule another guest speaker from a local wildlife rescue center. We will post as soon as we have confirmation but the tentative day and time is Monday May 10th at 4pm.
UPCOMING Dates and Times:
TBD - check google classroom for updates
Please reach out to student club founder, Iris G., or sponsor, Stacey Powell, with any questions or concerns.
Elections
2021 PTSA MEETINGS
May 18, 2021, 5:30 PM
2021 SBDM and PTSA Elections
We will be holding elections for SBDM Parent Representatives and PTSA Offices for 2021-2022.
There are 2 SBDM positions available. The deadline to submit nominees is Friday, May 7th. Nominees must be a parent or guardian of a student in the Brown School, and cannot be an employee of the District, or a member of the School Board.
PTSA: Has 2 offices that will be opening up. PTSA President, and VP of Ways and Means.
Nominations for any of these positions should be to the PTSA President at brownptsa.president@gmail.com
PTSA at the Brown School: We encourage families to join the PTSA now, to stay involved in Brown School PTSA activities, fundraisers, teacher appreciation events, and more. Membership is an easy and affordable way to stay connected to your child's education and support the school.
-Become a PTSA member and get a window decal-CLICK HERE
-Attend the next PTSA Meeting - CLICK HERE
-Support PTSA fundraising efforts - CLICK HERE
-Read about our members - CLICK HERE
Walter Zausch, PTSA President
brownptsa.president@gmail.com
Return to school safely and with spirit!
Brown School Bears Masks, now available in the
Adjustable one-size-fits-all
Washable
2-ply
Sleek behind the ear design with adjustable banding.
Comfortable, breathable inner layer, 100% cotton.
Fulfillment will happen in school.
Order today!
Counselors
CLICK HERE to visit the Counseling Corner. It's your one-stop-shop for answers to most of your questions K-12!
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COUNSELING (K-5)
From Christy Teague, Elementary School Counselor, christy.teague@jefferson.kyschools.us
KPREP Parent Information - Parents of students in grades 3-5, please read.
If you are a parent of a VIRTUAL STUDENT in grades 3-5, please go to slides 3-4. There is a FORM you need to complete and submit to Miss Christy by Fri, April 23, 2021.
MIDDLE/HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING (6-12)
From Pam Willison, Middle and High School Counselor, pam.willison@jefferson.kyschools.us
ACT test coming soon for Juniors!
*Mark your calendars for April 13 (Tuesday) for Monday/Tuesday students, April 14 (Wednesday) for virtual students, and April 15 (Thursday) for Thursday/Friday students for the ACT test. We will begin as close to 8:00 as possible once settled. Bring a pencil, mask, and bottled water (if desired). The test will last approximately 3.5 hours.
Athletics
High School Winter Sports:
Our swimming and diving team had a great trip to regionals. Our diver, Daphne Powell, placed 3rd place in the regional and qualified for the State meet on Thursday in Versailles. Go Daphne!!! Our swim team also did a great job and all had PR's at Regionals Friday. The future is bright for Brown Swimming and Diving!
High School Spring Sports
Our softball players continue to work hard and are showing a lot of progress in practices and games. Lets go Lady Bears!! They take on Highland Latin tomorrow night and Seneca on Monday. Go Lady Bears.
Baseball will kick off their season tomorrow night at Seneca and Monday against Portland Christian at Waggener. The team has been working hard and we are still able to add a few members. If anyone is interested, reach out to coach Burton.
Tennis picked up a big win last night against Walden and look to continue their great season, as all of the players are working hard and getting better, and it shows in our matches. Tennis is back in action Monday against St. Francis. Go Bears Tennis!
Our track team has been putting in a lot of work and are ready for the season to continue. They will had their first meet last week at Male and everyone had personal bests. They will be back in action next Wednesday at the Central Meet. We are looking forward to some great things from this team!
A list of coaches are:
Baseball- Kevin Burton kevinburton1979@gmail.com
Softball- Josh Luttrell rja172307@gmail.com
Boys and Girls Tennis- Matthew Davis- matthew.davis@jefferson.kyschools.us
Track- Ben Kolb and Jelly Green - bennet.kolb@jefferson.kyschools.us and william.green@jefferson.kyschools.us
Athletic Director- Justin Leonard- Justin.leonard@jefferson.kyschools.us
Elementary and Middle School Spring Sports:
Elementary and middle school fall sports are postponed until we return to school.
Family Matters
Have you had a chance to watch the videos from Sesame Workshop discussing race and identity? This is a great resource for younger students.
Community
Louisville Youth Philanthropy Council
WHO WE ARE:
The Louisville Youth Philanthropy Council (LYPC) provides a diverse team of up to 35 high school students (public, private and parochial) from Jefferson County, and those contiguous to it, with a hands-on experience in grant-making and philanthropy during a 16-week program on Saturdays during the school year (August - March).
LYPC strives to educate youth about philanthropy - thus creating an appreciation of our community needs and how they can be met. Whether that leads to a philanthropic career path or not, we are raising awareness for the “third-sector” of our country’s structure and the important role it plays. We also create civic engagement, teaching the students how to get involved in the community while we are developing the next generation of philanthropic leaders.
The LYPC is a free program and open to any high school students with a passion to make a difference and a commitment to learning. I have attached our 'teacher toolkit' and ‘student toolkits’ as well as a flyer that can be shared. The toolkits outline info about the program and applications can be completed online at https://www.lypc.org/apply-to-the-lypc.