J. Graham Brown School
Bear Essentials
February 23, 2022, Issue #26
Principal's Message
Dear Brown School family,
We are wrapping up admissions for the 2022-23 school year. All students who applied to Brown as a first choice applicant should receive a letter by the end of next week. We are unable to consider second choice applications due to filling up on first choice students.
I want to express my gratitude to our PTSA for the lovely breakfast and lunch provided on Monday. Our families truly went overboard with all the delicious dishes that were sent in. We felt pampered! Thank you so very much! I also want to specially thank Autumn Neagle and Dr. Shawna Stenton who volunteered to greet and serve our staff; you are much appreciated!
Love,
Dr. Angela
This Week's Essentials
Louisville's SummerWorks Program
This program connects anyone ages 16 to 21 to great summer jobs at companies including UPS, Kindred Healthcare, Humana, GE Appliances, Kentucky Kingdom, Kroger and Norton Healthcare.
Click here to read more about the SummerWorks opportunities and to apply for a job today!
COVID 19 Vaccination Records
We are now able to enter your student's COVID 19 Vaccinations into Infinite Campus - Health - Immunizations. Please send a copy of the student's vaccination card to the Records Clerk HERE.
We must be able to see the student's name and the dates of both vaccinations (and booster). 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, although, it is highly encouraged as this helps our school nurse in expediting contact tracing protocols. **
Brown School Records Clerk, Stacey.Powell@jefferson.kyschools.us
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
March 15, 2022
April 19, 2022
May 10, 2022
Support PTSA fundraising efforts, Read about Members, etc. - CLICK HERE
The Mural Painting Class Prepares to Beautify Brown!
The mural painting class will soon be working on their first outdoor mural at the Brown school! The PTSA supplied everything needed to create a lovely nature inspired space (see picture below of the goods!). Students will be adding plants, insects, birds, and butterflies to the enclosed courtyard walls.
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.
Visit 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
Brown Families Come Together to Celebrate the Staff
On Conference Day, the Brown school community came together to serve our amazing staff a delicious brunch. Teacher Lisa Billings shared her gratitude online to all of our families, "A BIG thank you to all of the families who donated their time and resources to provide our staff with such an amazing breakfast & lunch on conference day. Everyone raved about it today and it was such a wonderful treat. We felt very spoiled. Thank you❣️🐻"
Robin Cash, Middle/High School Counselor / robin.cash@jefferson.kyschools.us
Need Student Support?
To connect with a member of the student support team complete THIS SUPPORT REQUEST FORM and we will assign a student support staff member to meet with the student as soon as possible.
Counselors
STAR STUDENTS!!!
ELEMENTARY (K-5)
Need to talk to the Elementary School Counselor? Click HERE to see how.
DEADLINE to submit an APPEAL for the Advance Program is Fri, Feb 25. Click HERE for more details about this process. Click HERE for learn about the overall Advance Program process.
MIDDLE/HIGH (6-12)
Next week the Scheduling Handbook should be available to students and a link will be provided here!
Repeat info:
Robin will be visiting classes in early March to discuss scheduling courses for next year. Many opportunities are available such as new electives, UPS, Dual Credit, Career Pathways, and Work-Based Learning. Start thinking about which classes and/or programs will best enhance your educational experience!
TESTING: Juniors will be taking the ACT on March 8. While we know all of our students are so much more than a number, this allows us to identify how we can best support our students to be ready for college so they have every opportunity to further their education. We have partnered with the Louisville Free Public Library to give every junior access to free test prep materials. Please encourage all of our junior students as they prepare!
Cap & Gown and Junior Class Rings
Make plans to attend the Louisville Central Community Centers College and Career Fair on March 5th from 11-2. Make sure to pre-register HERE.
If you have questions please reach out to Norah.Wakefield@jefferson.kyschools.us
Athletics
Winter Sports:
Archery
Archery will finish out their season on 2/26 at the Manual and Atherton shoots. Its been a great season and are thankful to coach Jennifer and all of our student archers. Good luck on the 26th Bears!!
Basketball
Middle and high school basketball is over. We are so proud of our teams for their hard work and dedication over the past 4 months and we look forward to seeing these teams in the future.
Elementary Basketball
The elementary basketball team played a great game last week, coming up a little short. They will take on Norton Commons this Saturday at noon at Brown. Come and cheer our Bear Cubs to victory.
*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.
Spring Sports:
Spring sports will get underway in the next few weeks, so please contact the coach t get more information. All student athletes must have all eligibility paperwork complete before they can practice or participate. All paperwork can be found on the athletics page of mybrownschool.org, under eligibility documents.
High School Spring Coaches:
Baseball (7th-12th)- Jake Amettis - jacob.amettis@jefferson.kyschools.us
Softball (7th-12th)- Amanda Gravens - amandaggravens@yahoo.com
Track- Jelly Green- william.green@jefferson.kyschools.us
Tennis (7th-12th)- Matt Davis- matthew.davis@jefferson.kyschools.us
Athletic Director- Justin Leonard- Justin.leonard@jefferson.kyschools.us
Middle School Spring Sports:
Boys Soccer- TBA
Girls Soccer- Josh Luttrell- rja172307@gmail.com
Track- Jelly Green- william.green@jefferson.kyschools.us
Athletic Director- Matt Davis- matthew.davis@jefferson.kyschools.us
Family Matters
The Louisville Free Public Library offers several resources to families. Do you ever feel overwhelmed with choosing books for your kids? Check out their recommended reading lists!
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
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.
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 Quarantine Procedures
Please note that JCPS continues to follow our previous guidelines on students for quarantine due to COVID. Although the CDC shared new guidance, we are awaiting protocols from the Kentucky Department of Public Health to determine how the state might require schools to implement any new rules. Until we receive this from the state, we will continue to follow the existing guidance of a ten-day quarantine for those who test positive. Please review the current guidelines below.
For students who test positive, they will quarantine for 10 calendar days starting from the day after either the positive test or the onset of symptoms, whichever comes first.
For students who are identified as close contacts of individuals who have tested positive, they will quarantine for 10 calendar days starting the day after exposure. These students will have the opportunity to participate in the Test to Stay program, which would enable them to return to school with a negative COVID test from the previous school day.
If and when procedures are updated, the district and our school will communicate accordingly.
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
If you have questions please reach out to Matthew.Davis@jefferson.kyschools.us .