J. Graham Brown School
Bear Essentials
September 1, 2021, Issue #5
Principal's Message
Dear Brown School family,
We are in the midst of an amazing renovation of our beloved auditorium. The auditorium was added to our school facility in 1968 and has had no updates except for two generous gifts. The Class of 2015 donated a bulk of their fundraising to purchase new carpeting and our PTSA subsequently purchased new black stage curtains. The stage curtains are still in great shape, as well as our main royal blue curtain, and both are being stored during the renovation and will be rehung.
In the spring of 2010, I received a three page letter written by two seniors about the state of our auditorium, and I have kept that letter with the hope that their wishes for our future students be fulfilled. Danika Isdahl and Dominique Luster wrote in that letter, "Any improvements made in the auditorium will benefit the entire school and provide a respectable arena in which plays, programs, music performances, and ceremonies such as graduations can take place. If we want to project a professional and high standard image, then we need to start with our school's primary presentation venue." They discuss the road blocks/barriers they faced as far as the old lighting system, no existing sound system, and conditions of the stage curtains (which we were able to replace in 2016). Those students knew that they would never benefit from the proposed improvements, but they were thinking about our future Brown School family. Dominique and Danika definitely understood and exemplified "reasoned minds and educated hearts."
I am very excited about seeing our school's primary presentation venue's transformation. I greatly appreciate JCPS and our Board of Education for making this investment in our students.
Love,
Dr. Angela
Quick Links
This Week's Essentials
New 7th/8th Grade Social Studies Teacher
Hi, my name is Andrew Boles and I am looking forward to becoming a part of the Brown community. I taught at South Oldham Middle School for 13 years and in Florida prior to that. I have twin boys who are in the 7th grade and my wife is a teacher at the Phoenix School. I have four cats and two dogs and we are currently fostering 7 kittens for LMAS. I am a huge soccer fan and love going to LouCity games. I also enjoy travelling and exploring new restaurants. I can't wait to meet all of you.
(Andrew will join our Brown School family when Oldham County releases him from his contract to start with JCPS. In the meantime, retired Social Studies teacher Rita Nichols is filling the vacancy.)
Required School Forms Reminder
Good afternoon families,
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. Also, you can Google "JCPS Parent Place" and the Parent Account will be the first result you can click on.
School Fees
We should have our school fees updated in the system by noon on Friday, September 3rd. At that time, all student scheduled should be finalized, so fees should be accurate. Please look for an update in next week's Bear Essentials! Families are encouraged to pay online at MySchoolBucks, but we can also accept a check made out to the school.
Student Devices
Why can't I use my personal device at school?
While at school, Brown School students are required to use a JCPS issued device instead of a personal device. Our district devices have almost taken the place of textbooks. In fact, the Brown School SBDM Council passed a school policy requiring students to use a district Device
District devices offer the:
Ability to push safe apps to school devices that have been reviewed
Capability to provide in house tech support
Potential use of Go Guardian monitoring program, which provides teachers a way of managing off-task behavior, and adds a layer of protection
Means to take MAP assessment and many classroom tests in Google Forms
JCPS Everyone:1
To support learning in the Digital Age, we must provide our students with the resources necessary for success. The JCPS Everyone:1 program sees that ALL students have access to an instructional device for learning at school and outside the classroom. As all schools utilize this agreement, the transfer of a student from one school to another means a student is held to uniform expectations across JCPS.
Student IDs
As you may know, students in grades 6-12 will receive a new student ID this school year. To make our IDs as current as possible, we are taking new pictures of all 6th-12th grade students. Starting next week, students will have the opportunity to visit the cafeteria each morning from 7:30-7:50 to have their picture taken for their new student ID. A schedule will be shared with dates students can report for their pictures. These dates will be specific to grade level and student last name.
School Photos
Socially-Distanced school photos will occur the week of September 7-10. You can find the schedule by clicking here.
Advance Program - Cognitive Abilities Test SIGN UP: Deadline is 4pm on Fri, Sept 3, 2021
If your child is already an Advance Program student, he/she does NOT need to take this test. The CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) will be given on October 21, 2021. This is the qualifying test for JCPS Advance Program. This year, all 3rd and 4th-grade students will take this test. Therefore, students in grades 3-4 DO NOT need to complete the CogAT Signup Form. All students in grades 5 and above who want to take the CogAT must complete/submit the signup form to SIGNUP to take this test. Only a specific number of tests for grades 5 and above will be ordered based on the number of students per grade level who complete/submit the signup form. The deadline to complete and submit this form is 4:00 pm on Fri, Sept 3, 2021.
If your student is in grade 5 or above and would like to take the CogAT, please click on the form below to complete and submit by the deadline:
Cultural Connections
Please check out this great blog post with 5 Tips for Raising an Anti-Racist Child from Dayton Children's!
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
National Center for Families Learning and Jefferson County Public Schools are working with families to transform their schools and community. Activate! promotes leadership through participatory democracy, economic opportunity, social justice, and equity. Apply now to join this amazing group!
Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA)
Win a Courtyard Pizza Party for your Class!
Join the PTSA for just $5 and help your child’s class win a pizza party in the courtyard! The more members of your family that join, the better chance your child’s class has to win! The contest starts today!
Parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, middle and high school students, and any other family members may join for just $5.00 per person. Click here to join by October 1st.
JOIN THE 2021-2022 PTSA!
Open to all Parents/Guardians, Faculty/Staff, Students (5th grade+), or Grandparents.
PTSA Meetings for 2021-2022, 6:00PM
September 21, 2021
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
Walter Zausch, PTSA President brownptsa.president@gmail.com
Membership Drive: 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 August and before will be entered for a drawing of a gift bag of Brown School merchandise, clothing, and other goodies.
The winner will be announced here in Bear Essentials. 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. More information: https://bit.ly/BrownReflections
Counselors
Christy Teague, Elementary School Counselor / christy.teague@jefferson.kyschools.us
Robin Cash, Middle/High School Counselor / robin.cash@jefferson.kyschools.us
Tip of the week: Take life day by day and be grateful for the little things. Don't get stressed over what you can't control.
ELEMENTARY (K-5)
Miss Christy's Core Counseling Curriculum (CCC) Lessons began this week! Click HERE to see the lesson and schedule of visits. Also check out Miss Christy's Virtual World for more resources.
The qualifying test for the Advance Program, the CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) will be given on October 21, 2021. All students in grades 3 and 4 will take this test and do not need to complete the signup form. The CogAT Signup Form (21-22) is for students in grades 5 and above who are not yet identified as Advance Program and want to take this qualifying test. Deadline to complete/submit this form is Fri, Sept 3, 2021 by 3:00 pm. If your child is already taking Advanced courses in middle/high school, the student is most likely an Advance Program student and does not need to take this test. Contact Christy Teague at christy.teague@jeffersonkyschools.us if you have any questions.
MIDDLE/HIGH (6-12)
Over the next two weeks, students in grades 6-12 will receive a lesson in classes regarding Mental Health Awareness. Talk to your students about acknowledging their current mental health.
*Schedule change request: The window has closed for schedule change requests for the fall semester. If requests were not honored it was often due to there being no available seats on a roster. Different grade levels and classes have different class sizes. Robin will continue to process requests sent before 8/24 if possible. Students requesting E-school style classes should be enrolled within the next week.
Athletics
Fall Sports:
The Lady Bears soccer team has the week off to rest up and practice, after a solid showing in the All "A" Tournament. The Lady Bears will be back in action on 9/8, to defend our trophy in the annual "BearCat Cup" at Waggener.
Boys soccer has had a solid start to the season, going 2-2 and making it to the semi-finals of the All "A" Tournament for the first time in several years. We beat Whitefield Academy 11-1 in the first round, making it the first time we have mercy-ruled a team in school history. They went on to play a tough game against the #2 team in the State, KCD. The Bears played a full game, while frustrating KCD with great defense, but came up short. They will be back in action on Wednesday 9/1 at Southern.
High School volleyball continues to improve each game, winning a JV game against Southern, and coming up 2 points short of winning the varsity game. We are so impressed with the progress this team is making and the players are really enjoying playing. They will be back in action on Wednesday 9/1 at JTown.
Middle School volleyball played their first game of the season on Monday 8/30 and won the JV game against Stuart. The varsity team played hard but came up just short. They will play Noe on Wednesday 9/1 at Brown.
Middle and High School Cross Country has been practicing hard (when the heat index and rain are in our favor) and they are excited to run against some other schools. Their first meet is on 9/8 at Champions Park.
Elementary Cross Country has missed the previous 2 meets due to weather, but has had some great practices and will hopefully get to run in the meet on 9/7 at Charlie Vettiner Park.
Golf has also had a lot of weather issues but will be back in action on Wednesday 9/8 against Central and Atherton at Shawnee Golf Course.
High School Fall Coaches:
Cross Country- David Jaggers- david.jaggers@jefferson.kyschools.us
Girls Soccer- Josh Luttrell- rja172307@gmail.com
Boys soccer- Steven Phillips- steven.phillips@bullitt.kyschools.us
Volleyball- Kathleen Mattingly- kathleen.mattingly@jefferson.kyschools.us
Athletic Director- Justin Leonard- Justin.leonard@jefferson.kyschools.us
Middle School Sports:
Elementary and Middle School Spring Sports:
Cross Country- Cross Country- David Jaggers- david.jaggers@jefferson.kyschools.us
Golf- Barry Bridges- abbridges@aol.com
Volleyball- Anna Obryan- ajobry01@gmail.com
Athletic Director- Matt Davis- matthew.davis@jefferson.kyschools.us
Click HERE for an updated staff directory
Community
Information coming soon.