J. Graham Brown School
Bear Essentials
October 13, 2021, Issue #10
Principal's Message
Dear Brown School family,
We had a great Saturday meeting prospective families at the Showcase of Schools. If you have family and friends wishing to apply for admission to Brown for the 2022-23 school year, the window to submit an application through JCPS is November 1st through December 15th. All applicants must make Brown their first choice on the magnet school portion of the application in order to be considered. (Brown does not review 2nd choice applications.) Additionally, siblings are not given preference during the admissions process. Please visit our Admissions Page to learn about the process and our school. Due to COVID, we are not holding an in-person open house or school visits this year. However, you can also find times for virtual Q&A sessions, number of projected openings at each grade level, review scoring rubrics, and more.
With Halloween fast approaching, many students will want to wear costumes on October 29th to school. Please keep in mind our Student Dress Policy to ensure that the costume meets the guidelines for regular school attire. Please avoid toy weapons, masks, excessive fake blood, gore, and full face paint. Avoid any costumes that may attempt to represent a group or population of people/culture, marginalize a group or culture, or focus on stereotypes. Also, avoid costumes that are really scary, because we do have very young students in our building. If you have any questions about the appropriateness of a costume, please ask an administrator or counselor!
Love,
Dr. Angela
Quick Links
This Week's Essentials
Pick up Safety Reminder
Please avoid stopping vehicles in the driving lanes on First Street. DO NOT DOUBLE PARK YOUR VEHICLE. This blocks traffic and creates a dangerous situation for students attempting to access these vehicles. Please only stop in spaces at the curb. Please note that middle and high school families may utilize the length of First Street to pick up students. There are numerous building exits along First Street that will allow students to safety enter vehicles parked along the curb.
Please avoid parking and/or driving through neighboring businesses. Picking up students in these areas presents a danger because our staff members are unable to supervise those areas. Also, these businesses may tow vehicles parked there without permission.
Required School Forms - Reminders
Good afternoon families,
Just wanted to send this email out as a reminder and thank you to those who have completed this task.
Please complete the required school forms located on Parent Place. Parent Place uses the same email that you use for Parent Portal/Infinite Campus, but it is a different password. Parent Place password is 15 characters. If you do not remember your password, click on "Forgot My Password." If you do not have an account, one will need to be created before completing the forms.
Forms include:
Student Information Form
Nurse Office Consent
Student Bill of Rights
Home Language
Free & Reduced (even if you do not qualify, this must be completed)
If you have problems with the Parent Place link above, use this one here. Or you can Google "JCPS Parent Place" and the Parent Account will be the first result you can click on.
Required - Device Agreement Form
Did you fill out a Device Agreement yet? Please be sure to complete the Device Agreement linked HERE for EVERY student in your household.
The JCPS Everyone:1 program sees that ALL students have access to an instructional device for learning at school and outside the classroom. Each student will use the device assigned to them to on a daily basis to support and guide learning while presenting the opportunity for both school and home-based use.
If you have questions, please call/text 502-398-3450 or email amy.thornton@jefferson.kyschools.us.
COVID Testing
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.
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.
Student IDs
All middle and high school students will receive a new student ID during lunch on Monday, September 27th and Tuesday, September 28th. Students who have not had their picture taken for the ID can do so during lunch on the days listed above. Students are expected to begin displaying their IDs daily beginning on Monday, October 4th.
Testing
October 13 - PSAT
October 21 - Advance Program Test (3rd & 4th Grade - See Counselor section for details)
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
Family Matters
The Evolve502 Scholarship application is now open for the Jefferson County Public Schools Class of 2022 at evolve502.org/scholarship!
Our scholarship allows eligible students to attend any Kentucky Community & Technical College System, including Jefferson Community & Technical College, or Simmons College of Kentucky to pursue an associate degree, career credential, or take 60 hours of credit TUITION-FREE!
PLUS - students from families earning less than $40,000 annually will automatically qualify for Opportunity Grants of $1,000 per semester to assist in costs outside of tuition!
Get started today at evolve502.org/scholarship! A student success coordinator will follow up with you after your app is submitted to assist you in the next steps for qualification including applying to college and completing the FAFSA.
Questions? Email scholarships@evolve502.org
Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA)
WAIT, WHAT? WE HAVE A TIE!
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2nd GRADE and 7th GRADE for winning the Courtyard Pizza Party!
We had a great turnout, with over 130 new PTSA Members!
We will be coordinating a date for the pizza party... COMING SOON!
JOIN THE 2021-2022 PTSA!
Open to all Parents/Guardians, Faculty/Staff, Students (5th grade+), or Grandparents. Join Here
Open to all Parents/Guardians, Faculty/Staff, Students (5th grade+), or Grandparents. Join Here
PTSA Meetings for 2021-2022, 6:00 PM
October 19, 2021
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
Membership Drive: SWAG BAG Drawing
CONGRATS TO BRAD NUSS for being our September Swag Bag Drawing.
Join the PTSA and earn a chance to win a J. Graham Brown School Swag Bag!
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.
Parents, 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.
Reflections
Show us your creativity. Participate in Brown PTSA Reflections. Deadline is TODAY October 13!
More information: https://bit.ly/BrownReflections
Robin Cash, Middle/High School Counselor / robin.cash@jefferson.kyschools.us
Counselors
Tip of the week: Did you know you can view important documents such as Gifted and Talented Service Plans from Parent Portal? Just log in to your account and in the left toolbar select documents. Gifted and Talented Service Plans will be available for this school year by Oct 11th!
*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.
ELEMENTARY (K-5)
Counseling Lessons
Click HERE to view Miss Christy's Core Counseling Curriculum (CCC) Lesson schedule and lessons. Also, check out Miss Christy's Virtual Office for more resources.
CogAT Testing
The qualifying test for the Advance Program, the CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) will be given on October 21, 2021.
All students in grades 3, 4, and 5 will take this test.
5th-grade students will take this test unless they have been identified as Advance Program and Gifted/Talented General Intellectual category and complete the Opt-Out of testing form by 3:00 pm on Fri, Oct 15, 2021.
Any student in grades 6 and above had to sign up to take this test. Although the deadline has passed, you may still sign up for your child to take the test by emailing Christy Teague by 3:00 pm on Fri, Oct 15, 2021.
If your child is already taking Advanced level courses in middle/high school, the student is most likely already an Advance Program student and does not need to take this test.
Contact christy.teague@jeffersonkyschools.us if you have any questions.
MIDDLE/HIGH (6-12)
Mental Health Resources
We recognize that parents want more information, skills, or confidence to raise healthy kids. With the stress and long tenure of this pandemic, parents need more help identifying serious teen mental health issues. The district has a partnership with Operation Parent!
They provide:
Parent Handbooks (Topics include: Anxiety, Bullying, Screen Time, Alcohol and Drugs, Mental Health, Risky Relationships, and more)
MS/HS E-book (Click "Preview Handbook" above the price to view a free digital copy)
Monthly Webinars
College Connection
Steve Held from KHEAA will be visiting our seniors on Oct. 20th from 8:00-11:30 to help iron out any glitches from the FAFSA. If you are a senior (or an alum) make sure to fill out the FAFSA before Steve visits so that we can have this in place to help fund college and other post-secondary work.
Athletics
Fall Sports:
Soccer
The Bears soccer team finished the season ranked in the top 100 teams in the State. Go Bears!!
Volleyball
High School volleyball is finishing their regular season up and will start district play against Male on Monday. They will take on KCD at home on Thursday night. Go Lady Bears!!
Middle school volleyball plays in their tournament on Friday night at Mid America. Good luck ladies!!
Cross Country
Middle and High School Cross Country has had some great showings in meets, and look for another oneThursday, 10/14 in the JCPS Meet at Tom Sawyer. Hopefully, the rain holds out, but if not, the race will be moved to 10/7. Go Running Bears!
Elementary Cross Country had a great meet Monday at Charlie Vettiner Park. The distances continue to increase, but our runners are prepared and up to the challenge. 1 more meet to go and we are so proud of how well they have done this year!
E Sports
Our school's very first ESports team will start their season today 10/13 by playing Super Smash Bro's. We can't wait to see what this team accomplishes and are very excited about the opportunity!
Bowling Team
Will be starting their practices soon. If anyone in grades 7th-12th are interested, please contact the coach.
Winter Sports:
Archery
There will be an interest meeting for students in grades 7th-12th on Monday 10/18 at 3:00 in room 321.
Basketball
Middle and high school basketball tryouts will begin this Friday, 10/15. Girls tryouts will be from 3:30-4:45 and boys will be 4:45-6:15. All paperwork must be completed before a student can tryouts.
Winter sports are getting ready to begin. 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
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
Middle School Sports:
Elementary and Middle School Winter Sports:
Boys Basketball- Jermill Bibb- jbibb20@gmail.com
Girls Basketball- Josh Luttrell- rja172307@gmail.com
Swimming- William Kolb- wmkolb@gmail.com
Golf- Barry Bridges- abbridges@aol.com
Athletic Director- Matt Davis- matthew.davis@jefferson.kyschools.us
Cultural Connections
Are you not sure if your student's costume is culturally appropriate? Check out these articles for some advice!
A parents' guide to cultural appropriation: an expert breaks down kids' Halloween costumes
Cultural Appropriation, A Perennial Issue On Halloween
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.