J. Graham Brown School
Bear Essentials
December 8, 2021, Issue #17
Principal's Message
Dear Brown School family,
I want to give a special recognition to Athena Neagle and Annabelle Valsan. These remarkable students are award winners in the PTSA Reflections Program! I am so proud of their accomplishments!
On Tuesday, December 14th, our SBDM Council will be reviewing an approval request for the objectives, goals, strategies, and activities detailed in our Comprehensive School Improvement Plan. If you have any comments, please reach out to me and let me know. You are also welcome to attend the meeting if you wish to comment in person. The meeting starts at 4:00 PM and will be held in room 220. You park in the YMCA Garage and enter the school on the pedway (just ring the buzzer); you can get your visitor sticker and your parking validated in the guidance suite on the pedway.
We are heading into the homestretch of the first semester! Keep up the momentum and positivity! Encourage your students to get a good night's sleep and eat a healthy breakfast. Don't forget that this year we are serving a complimentary breakfast to all students in the mornings before school. We are getting close to that much needed break.
Love,
Dr. Angela
Quick Links
This Week's Essentials
Parent Scheduling Survey
A task force made up of teachers and parents, has been working on options for a new bell schedule for the 2022-23 school year. Called the Five Goals Task Force, the goals for the new schedule are as follows.
Equal planning time for ALL teachers.*
Time for advisory sessions for middle and high school students, if wanted by stakeholders.*
Time for PLCs to be able to meet during the school day rather than after school.
Time for teachers to be able to observe other teachers in their PLCs for learning walks and feedback/sharing of ideas.
Embedded/guaranteed acceleration time for all K-12 students.
*These goals are given priority over goals 3-5.
The Five Goals Task Force has come up with two new options in an attempt to equalize planning time throughout the school, increase elementary-related arts time, and provide advisory time for middle and high school students. Please complete this survey so we may present feedback to SBDM on the available options.
Please complete this PARENT SCHEDULING SURVEY by Friday, December 10th.
Holiday Cheer & Spirit Wear Week - School Wide!
Next week, December 13-17th, we hope to celebrate the holiday season with some school-wide cheer and spirit before our Winter Break. We encourage all our wonderful students and staff members to participate with glee!
Monday 12/13: Jam Jam Monday (Pajama) Day
Tuesday 12/14: Fa-La-La-La-La-La Holiday Sock Day
Wednesday 12/15: Ugly Holiday Attire Day; Wear your tackiest, wildest, & most fun holiday attire! (aka - Ugly Holiday Sweater day)
Thursday 12/16: Holiday Hat Day: Wear a fun holiday hat or headband.
Friday 12/17: Light Up Louisville: Wear your brightest, shiniest, battery operated festive wear.
COVID Vaccination Record
We can now enter your student's COVID 19 Vaccinations into Infinite Campus - Health - Immunizations. If you would like a record of your student's COVID Vaccinations to be kept by the school along with their regular mandatory vaccination records, please send a copy of the card to the Records Clerk HERE. We must be able to see the student's name and the dates of both vaccinations. You can scan the card or take a photo of the card and email it to the Records Clerk, she will input the information promptly and place a hard copy into the student's permanent file, along with the other required health documents. (This is an optional feature and not mandatory at this time.)
SBDM Update
We have an SBDM meeting coming up on Tuesday, December 14th at 4:00 PM in Room 220. HERE is the tentative agenda.
Calling All Parents of 5th, 8th and 12th grades
Yearbook Baby Ads are a great way for parents, families and friends to commemorate student achievement and important milestones. To purchase your 5th, 8th and 12th grade baby Ad(s) online hit Baby Ads Create your recognition ad for your "baby" today.
Parent-Teacher Student Association (PTSA)
WE NEED OFFICERS & COMMITTEE CHAIRS!
We have the following openings for Officers and Committee Chairs for the PTSA.
Vice President, Ways and Means (1) - Fundraising
Vice President, Ways and Means (2) - Fundraising
Secretary
Merchandise Chair
Concessions Chair
Enrichments Chair, Spring 2022
If interested, please email Shawna Stenton or Membership VP here. New Officers and Committee Chairs will be either be appointed or elected in a special election.
PTSA Meetings for 2021-2022, 6:00 PM
Our meetings are in person at the school, or via Zoom, CLICK HERE
December 14, 2021
January 18, 2022
February 15, 2022
March 15, 2022
April 19, 2022
May 10, 2022
Support PTSA fundraising efforts, Read about Members, etc. - CLICK HERE
JOIN THE 2021-2022 PTSA!
Parents/Guardians, Staff, middle/high school students, and even grandparents are eligible to join the PTSA and enter the drawing. Membership is only $5.00 and benefits our school in so many ways.
Click here to join.
All new memberships through the end of November will be entered for a drawing of a gift bag of Brown School merchandise, clothing, and other goodies.
Membership Drive: SWAG BAG Drawing
CONGRATS TO BRAD NUSS for being our September Winner for the Swag Bag Drawing.
Join the PTSA and earn a chance to win a J. Graham Brown School Swag Bag!
Announcing our new Merchandise Site!
All new merchandise will be fulfilled by our third-party partners and will ship directly to you.
To visit our new site... click here
Robin Cash, Middle/High School Counselor / robin.cash@jefferson.kyschools.us
Counselors
Tip of the week: In a world where you can be anything, BE KIND.
Connect with us: To connect with a member of the student support team complete THIS FORM and we will assign a student support staff member to meet with the student as soon as possible based on the student's needs and our availability.
We Will, We Will HELP YOU - a song to remind students/parents that we are here to help!
ELEMENTARY (K-5)
Word of the Month: KINDNESS
Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) Scores posted now in Parent Portal
Gifted/Talented Progress Reports available on Parent Portal on Jan 10
Winter Break: Dec 20-Jan 3
Need to talk to the Elementary School Counselor? Click HERE to see how.
MIDDLE/HIGH (6-12)
Students only have 3 weeks left in the semester. Be extra kind to your student as they work to submit all work and prepare for exams before winter break. Teacher grades will be submitted in early January then posted to transcripts. Seniors can request their mid-year transcripts be sent via parchment.com. Make sure you click "hold for grades" and your transcripts will be sent mid-January.
Athletics
Winter Sports:
Swim/Dive Team
High School swimming will have a few weeks off before hosting the last Brown Bear Sprint meet on 1/8 at UL. Go Bears!!
Our Dive Team was in action last Saturday, 12/4, in the Eastern Holiday Caravan Meet at the UofL Natatorium. Daphne Powell finished in 4th and Maisie Smith in 8th, as two of the youngest divers in the meet.
Middle School swimming finished their season this past Friday night in the JCPS Championships at UL. They have had a great season, with all swimmers showing great improvement.
Bowling Team
Our bowling team continues to improve, while taking on a very tough schedule. They will be practicing hard until their next match in the new year.
Archery
Archery will keep working hard in practice (especially at 15 meters) for the next shoot in January.
Basketball
Middle school basketball is headed to Kammerer on Thursday 12/16. The teams have been working hard and we are proud of their efforts.
High School basketball has been going strong and the coaches are happy with the teams efforts and growth. The boys picked up a big 64-31 win over Walden on Monday night, while the girls lost a very close game to Valley. Both teams will be in action Thursday night against Whitefield (free hot dog and drink night for students). The boys will participate in the Portland Christian Holiday Tournament and the girls will be in the Western High School Holiday Tournament over the break.
All student-athletes must complete weekly Covid testing and have all eligibility paperwork turned in before they can participate. Those forms can be found on the athletic page of mybrownschool.org, under eligibility documents, or in our main office.
Elementary Basketball/Cheer
The elementary basketball team has started practice and are looking forward to playing games beginning mid-January.
Any student in grades 4 and 5 interested in cheer, should send Justin an email. We will need a parent volunteer to help coach, so please also reach out to Justin if you are interested in helping.
High School Winter Coaches:
Boys Basketball- Jermill Bibb - jbibb20@gmail.com
Girls Basketball- Josh Luttrell - rja172307@gmail.com
Bowling- Justin Young - justin.young2@jefferson.kyschools.us
Cheer- Aruna Keswani - aruna.keswani@jefferson.kyschools.us
Swimming/Diving- William Kolb- wmkolb@gmail.com
Archery- Jennifer Pasewalk - jennbeanfest@aol.com
ESports- Andrew Boling - andrew.boling@jefferson.kyschools.us
Athletic Director- Justin Leonard- Justin.leonard@jefferson.kyschools.us
Elementary & Middle School Winter Sports:
MS Boys Basketball- Jermill Bibb- jbibb20@gmail.com
Girls Basketball- Josh Luttrell- rja172307@gmail.com
Elementary Basketball- Shawn Wilson
shawn.wilson@jefferson.kyschools.us
Swimming (grades 6 & up) William Kolb- wmkolb@gmail.com
Cheer- Ally Cunningham- alexandria.cunninham@jefferson.kyschools.us
Alexandria.cunningham@jefferson.kyschools.us
Athletic Director- Matt Davis- matthew.davis@jefferson.kyschools.us
Family Matters
YOU'RE INVITED | Jefferson County Public Schools students and their families are invited to join the upcoming Hour of Code Family Event in the BrainStem University Metaverse, Dec 11. The Metaverse is a 3D virtual reality meeting space waiting for you to explore.
Register now:
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
Cultural Connections
EmbraceRace is a site created by a multiracial couple who wanted to do a better job of educating their children about race. The site offers resources, discussion spaces, webinars, and networks to meet the challenges of raising children in “a world where race matters.” It emphasizes conversation and goes deep. It’s tempting at times to look for fast fixes to race-related problems, and really, there’s no such thing. Long-term change requires sustained thought, honest talk, and reflection, and the work they’re doing at EmbraceRace embodies all of these.
Community
CONTACT TRACING | Families will be notified if their student is a close contact with a COVID-19 case through text messages and email. If you are not already receiving JCPS text messages and emails, please text the letter "Y" to 67587. If you have any further questions, please reach out to your school directly to update your contact information, including your cell phone number and email address.
Click here or above to learn more about this new notification process.
COVID Testing
Drive-Thru Testing Option
Our 22 drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites for JCPS staff, students, and families are open from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m Monday-Friday every week. Doss High School, Highland Middle School, Meyzeek Middle School, and Newcomer Academy are NEW sites starting this week. SphereDX, the testing company, highly recommends pre-registering to ensure you will be tested. Click here to register. Please be sure you enter the correct information like name and birthdate, or your test results won't be available.
Weekly Testing at Brown
Families, please make sure to complete all of your required forms in Parent Place. That includes the weekly voluntary COVID-19 diagnostic screening testing form. More than 10,190 students are now signed up for this opportunity!
Please make sure to complete the form to indicate whether you would like your child to participate in the voluntary COVID-19 testing at Brown if you haven't already.
Click here to complete a student consent form.
Lost and Found
Here is a slideshow of items currently in the Lost and Found located in the lobby. Please look through it if your student has any missing items. LINK
CLEP TESTING PROGRAM
CLEP (College Level Examination Program) Now Available to All Brown Students
Click the link to learn about the CLEP testing lab located at Brown. This is an opportunity for our students to earn college credits for what they already know. CLICK HERE