J. Graham Brown School
Bear Essentials
November 10, 2021, Issue #14
Principal's Message
Dear Brown School family,
One of our amazing teachers, Norah Wakefield, put up a gratitude tree on our pedway. Students and staff have been taking leaves and writing people and things for which they are most grateful. Many have been writing the specific names of our students. I want to take this opportunity to express how thankful I am that your student is a part of our Brown School family. Every student is unique, and it is a blessing to be a part of our students' lives.
Love,
Dr. Angela
Quick Links
This Week's Essentials
"Peace Park After Dark" High School Social/Dance
The tickets are NOW AVAILABLE at the attendance desk in the lobby.
We are so excited to announce that we will be having an OUTDOOR Social / Dance for our High School Students on Saturday, November 13th from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. This dance will be held in Peace Park ( AND IT’S FREE! ) We will have a DJ, light refreshments, a hot chocolate bar, and a photo-op prop area. To attend you must have proof/record of a negative covid result from that week. We will have security present as well.
Attendees must sign up in advance and receive a ticket, but there is NO COST. You may also receive a ticket in advance for a guest/date. If you COVID test at school on Thursday, we will have a record of a negative test result and you will be admitted to the social / dance. If you do not test at school, we must have a copy of your negative COVID test result by 12:00 pm on Friday 11/12. If you are bringing a guest/date and they must also have proof of a negative COVID screening test dated from Nov. 8- Nov. 12 to be admitted.
Required COVID Testing
The district's "Test to Play" program launches this Monday, November 1. The initiative requires ANY JCPS student – in elementary, middle or high school – who participates in any regular extracurricular activity or sport to take a free weekly COVID-19 test, regardless of vaccination status. This includes ALL clubs, academic competitions, sports, practices, that meet weekly.
REQUIRED FORM | Students must have a consent form on file to get tested at school or at one of the after-school drive-thru sites. If families have already filled out a consent form for weekly testing in school, they do not need to complete another form. Parents and guardians can find the consent form under the list of the required forms in Parent Place.
Click HERE to complete a student consent form.
Elementary Basketball Interest Form/Tryouts
4th and 5th Grade Families,
We're excited to offer our elementary students a chance to play basketball this school year. With plans to begin playing games in January, we would like to conduct basketball tryouts soon to provide some time to practice. Basketball tryouts for students in grades 4-5 will take place on Monday, November 22nd from 7-8 PM in the Brown School Gym. Please note that to participate, students are required to have a physical exam completed by a physician, and for those who are selected for the team, they will be required to participate in weekly COVID testing to remain eligible. A link to the physical form is available below. Also, to determine interest in elementary basketball, please complete the Google form below to indicate your child's interest.
COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic for JCPS Students
JCPS is partnering with SphereDX to hold a two-day, COVID-19 vaccination clinic for JCPS students, with a focus on children ages 5 to 11. The free clinics will be held at numerous JCPS schools throughout the county and will be available to students ages 5 and up and their families. JCPS employees can also get their booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
Families can register for the vaccination on the JCPS website. Click here to sign up ( Enrollment Code: KY85104 ).
A limited number of walk-ins will be accommodated.
The second round of shots will be available at JCPS schools on December 4-5.
DETAILS:
Saturday, November 13 & Sunday, November 14
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. & 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m (both days)
LOCATIONS:
Academy @ Shawnee: 4001 Herman St Louisville, KY 40212
Carter Traditional Elementary: 3600 Bohne Avenue Louisville, KY 40211
Central High School: 1130 West Chestnut Street, Louisville, KY 40203
Eastern High School: 12400 Old Shelbyville Rd, Louisville, KY 40243
Fairdale High School: 1001 Fairdale Rd Louisville, KY 40118
Grace James Academy: 1615 W. Broadway Louisville, KY 40203
Greenwood Elementary: 5801 Greenwood Road Louisville, KY 40258
Iroquois High School: 4615 Taylor Boulevard, Louisville, KY 40215
Jacob Elementary: 3701 E. Wheatmore Drive 40215
Jeffersontown High School: 9600 Old Six Mile Lane, Louisville, KY 40299
Kammerer Middle School: 7315 Wesboro Rd Louisville, KY 40222
Male High School: 4409 Preston Highway, Louisville, KY 40213
McFerran Preparatory Academy: 1900 S. Seventh St, Louisville, KY 40208
Meyzeek Middle School: 828 S. Jackson Street Louisville, KY 40203
Marion C. Moore School: 6415 Outer Loop, Louisville, KY 40228
Newburg Middle School: 4901 Exeter Ave, Louisville, KY 40218
Newcomer Academy: 3741 Pulliam Drive, Louisville, KY 40218
Ramsey Middle School: 6409 Gellhaus Lane, Louisville, KY 40299
Seneca High School: 3510 Goldsmith Lane, Louisville, KY 40220
Shelby Traditional Academy: 735 Ziegler St, Louisville, KY 40217
Southern High School: 8620 Preston Hwy Louisville, KY 40219
Valley High School: 10200 Dixie Highway, Louisville KY 40272
Waggener High School: 330 S. Hubbards Lane, Louisville, KY 40207
Western High School: 2501 Rockford Lane Louisville, KY 40218
Parent-Teacher Student Association (PTSA)
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 October 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!
PTSA Meetings for 2021-2022, 6:00 PM
Our meetings are in person at the school, or via Zoom, CLICK HERE
November 16, 2021
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
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
Book Fair
Mark your calendars for November 29th to December 8th because the Book Fair is returning!
To keep crowds to a minimum, we will run the BOOK FAIR a little differently but will give everyone plenty of chances to come up and see us. We are asking for LOTS of parent volunteers (From setup to run it during the day, to tearing it down). Please sign up HERE to help us out.
For additional information or to inquire about assisting us with our Brown School Book Fair, please contact amanda.klakamp@jefferson.kyschools.us
Robin Cash, Middle/High School Counselor / robin.cash@jefferson.kyschools.us
Counselors
Tip of the week: Kentucky Summative Assessments (KSA) REPORTS
STUDENT REPORTS MAILED HOME
K-PREP student reports will start being mailed November 5, 2021 or November 6, 2021. These reports help teachers know how to best help students in content areas and can be a snapshot of how your student is learning.
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)
Click HERE to view Miss Christy's Core Counseling Curriculum (CCC) Lesson schedule and lessons.
Also, check out 21-22 Elementary World for more resources.
MIDDLE/HIGH (6-12)
The National Alliance on Mental Illness is offering a Teen Support Group for High School Students. It will meet Tuesdays from 7:00-8:30. If you are interested in signing up, complete this application.
AP Test ordering is upon us. KDE just announced on 10/18 a cost reduction for exams. Students will bring home a paper for a parent to sign agreeing to the tests ordered or confirming the student is not testing. The new exam price will be shared soon, but the papers coming home might still have the old price of $95 on them. We anticipate the new price to be much lower. As always, students approved for Free/Reduced Lunch do not pay for exams. If you think your family may be eligible, please complete the Application for Free/Reduced Lunch.
College Connection
The number one phrase in college admissions over the last 18 months is: Test Optional.
Still looking for ways to increase your ACT score? Check out Equitas and Torch Prep.
Good Luck Class of 2022
We have lots of College Reps visiting our seniors in seminar class. Ask your senior what we're doing.
Athletics
Winter Sports:
Swim Team
Our middle school swim team kicked off the season last Friday. Our team finished 8th overall and we had a lot of top 10 finishes. Great job middle school swim!
High School swimming will have its first meet of the season on Saturday 11/13 against Collegiate. The meet will be at Shawnee. Go swimming Bears!
The Brown School swim team will be hosting a series of stroke clinics at Central High School this fall. The clinics will address the finer topics and techniques of competitive swimming. Click the link to learn more. LINK
Bowling Team
Bowling was in their first tournament this past weekend, taking 13th overall. Gracie Rice finished an impressive 3rd overall for the girls. They also took on Trinity on 11/9, and played great in a very tough match. We are looking forward to seeing this team grow, in hopes of another State tournament run. They are in action next Tuesday 11/16 against St. X at Kingpin lanes.
Archery
If any student in grades 9-12 is interested in archery, please reach out to coach Jennifer to receive information about the season.
Middle School Cheer
Middle School cheer has begun practice, but if anyone else in grades 6th-8th that is interested, should reach out to Ally as soon as possible.
Elementary Basketball/Cheer
Elementary basketball tryouts for 4th and 5th graders will happen on Monday, November 22nd from 7-8 PM. Students must have a completed physical form to participate. Please see the message above for details.
Cheer will begin in early December and we will send out information as we set a date. We can't wait to get started!
Basketball
Middle school basketball kicked off last week against Lassiter. Both teams played great, with the girls winning 17-2 and our boys coming up just a little short at 22-18. Great job to both teams. They will be in action on Thursday 11/11 at Carrithers.
Winter sports have begun. Please reach out to the coaches listed below, in order to get more information. All student-athletes must 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.
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:
Boys Basketball- Jermill Bibb- jbibb20@gmail.com
Girls Basketball- Josh Luttrell- rja172307@gmail.com
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
Did you know that the Louisville Orchestra is visiting our local free public libraries?
Starting November 13th at the Jeffersontown Library, families are invited to join Louisville Orchestra ensembles for a fun, interactive storytelling through music performance. And kids will make instruments from recycled materials!
This series will visit each Library branch starting in November and running through April. Once Upon an Orchestra is presented by The Library Foundation, Brown-Forman Foundation, and the Friends of the Louisville Free Public Library. Learn more at www.lfpl.org/Orchestra
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
November is Native American Heritage Month. Visit PBS to see some resources to use with your student at home to accentuate learning in the classroom.
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