Bear Essentials
J. Graham Brown School Weekly Family Newsletter
December 20 | Issue #21
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Dear Brown School Family,
I hope your student is enjoying our winter spirit week!
If you need to visit the school over winter break, please give us a call at 502-485-8216 before you leave your home as sometimes our office hours may vary.
As 2023 is wrapping up, I wish you and your family a winter break filled with peace, lots of rest, and fun memories with family and friends.
Love,
Dr. Angela
QUICK LINKS
THIS WEEK'S ESSENTIALS
Lost and Found
Brown School Families,
Please have your child check the Lost and Found located in the first floor stairwell across from the front office for any missing belongings (jackets, lunchboxes, water bottles, etc.). Any remaining items after Friday, December 22nd will be donated to the community over Winter Break.
Bear Necessities - 3rd Edition
The third edition of the 23-24 student created Online Digital Newspaper, "The Bear Necessities," is published and ready for the public to view. Click this link to read articles written by Brown students.
Star Students
Click HERE to see the Star Students' Slideshow! We have so many amazing achievements of our Brown Bears from this past week!
WEEKLY FEATURES
ATHLETICS
High School Athletics
Kroger Community Rewards for Brown Athletics
Please consider adding J. Graham Brown Athletics to your Kroger Community Rewards on your Kroger account. It does not affect your fuel rewards or cost you anything. Here is how to enroll or switch your Community Rewards account to J. Graham Brown Athletic Department:
1. Go to Kroger.com and sign in.
2. Go to your account on the right side of the page.
3. Scroll down to "Community Rewards"
4. Search for "J Graham Brown School Athletic Department" (If you need to switch organizations, click the change organization option)
5. Enroll
*Feel free to add grandparents and anyone who wants to enroll!
Here is a video of how to do this: Adding Brown Athletics to Kroger Community Rewards
If you have any questions, please email matthew.davis@jefferson.kyschools.us or justin.leonard@jefferson.kyschools.us
Gym Ad Banners
Advertising Banners for the gym can now be purchased. The banners are 3X5 and will be displayed in the gym for all of the next school year. Please see the attachment LINK for more information, and if you know of any businesses that would like to sponsor/advertise with us, please pass it along. We can have designers create the banner for you, or we can use your current design.
For prices and more information, please email matthew.davis@jefferson.kyschools.us
Brown School Merchandise
Purchase Brown School merch and swag: Brown School Merchandise Store
Student Season Passes on Sale Now
Student season passes are on sale now- good at events Brown hosts (may exclude some baseball and softball depending on venue): Student Season Passes
Student Attendance at Games
Just a reminder, students have to pay admission to attend games. Student season passes are $25 and a great way to save money. JCPS sets all ticket prices for high school basketball at $8 and middle school at $5. We do not control these prices, so we offer the $25 pass for students. If students do not pay admission and sneak into games, they will not be allowed to attend future games for the remainder of the school year. If there is an extenuating circumstance, they can ask to speak to one of the athletic directors that are at the games.
Live Stream all games played at Brown gym! Our Hudl camera is now up and running and anyone can watch from their computer, phone or smart tv. Attached are directions from Hudl. The prices for the live streams are $5/game, $25/month and $50 for the season (Brown Athletics receives 60% of the revenue). This will give you access to all games (Elementary, MS and HS) played at Brown.
Information for Live Streaming
Basketball is going back to Hoosier Gym (where the movie Hoosiers was filmed) on Friday 1/26/23! Students can check their school email for sign-up information. We will be taking two Miller coach buses and stop and eat along the way. As of now, there are only 31 seats remaining. Students (9-12 only) can sign up (first come, first served) here.
Required Paperwork
Archery had a great shoot last weekend at Atherton. They will get the break off, and get back to work in the new year.
Swimming/Diving- hosted the Brown Bear Sprint Meet 2 on Saturday and we did great. The boys and girls both placed 3rd. Daphne Powell amnd Maisie Smith competed in the Sacred Heart Splash diving meet on Saturday. Daphne finished 3rd and Maisie 9th. Great job swim and dive team.
Bowling has been rolling the ball well. They took on Manual last night and did great. They will be back in action on January 6th in the PRP Invitational.
Cross Country is still missing a few uniforms. If you have one, please return it ASAP.
Girls Basketball (HS) will play in the Western Holiday Tournament next week, but will spend a lot of the break practicing for the All A Tournament, that starts on 1/11.
Boys Basketball (HS)- will take on St. X tonight and then start working toward the All A Tournament games. We will host that tournament and games will start on 1/4/24.
Baseball and Softball- Norton is hosting a throwing clinic on January 27 from 9am to noon for ages 10 and up. Information Flyer
Middle School Athletics
Live Stream- All games played at Brown gym! Our Hudl Live Stream camera is now up and running and anyone can watch from their computer, phone or smart tv. Attached are directions from Hudl. The prices for the live streams are $5/game, $25/month and $50 for the season (Brown Athletics receives 60% of the revenue). This will give you access to all games (Elementary, MS and HS) played at Brown.
Information for Live Streaming
Student Attendance at Games- Just a reminder, students have to pay admission to attend games. Student season passes are $25 and a great way to save money. JCPS sets all ticket prices for high school basketball at $8 and middle school at $5. We do not control these prices, so we offer the $25 pass for students. If students do not pay admission and sneak into games, they will not be allowed to attend future games for the remainder of the school year. If there is an extenuating circumstance, they can ask to speak to one of the athletic directors that are at the games.
Brown School Merchandise- Purchase Brown School merch and swag at the Brown School Merchandise Store.
Basketball- The girls junior varsity won their first game on Monday night vs Stuart in an exciting overtime game. Congratuations!
Cross Country is still missing a few uniforms. If you have one, please return it ASAP.
Soccer is currently looking for a middle school coach for this spring. If you are interested or know anyone who may be, please email Matt Davis ASAP at matthew.davis@jefferson.kyschools.us
Baseball and Softball- Norton is hosting a throwing clinic on January 27 from 9am to noon. Information Flyer
Elementary School Athletics
Basketball and Cheer will is off for the break, however, the White and Golden Girls teams are potentially playing in a Holiday Tournament. There will also be a few optional practices.
MUSICAL NOTATIONS
SAVE THE DATE FOR MUSIC CONCERTS!
HS Winter Concert is on Thursday, December 21st at 7:00pm. Admission is $5.
What is Concert Black Attire?
All middle and high school BAND STUDENTS are to wear all black clothing for the winter concerts. Concert black is formal, classy, and elegant. Students are free to choose the components of their concert blacks from head to toe within the following guidelines:
Black dress pants, slacks, skirt, or dress (skirt length is at the knee or longer)
Black top blouse or button down
Black socks or black stockings/tights
Black closed toe shoes
What is NOT Concert Black Attire?
Jeans, sweats, warm-up pants, yoga pants, leggings, mini-skirts or shorts
Flip-flops, sports shoes, sneakers, black shoes with colored stripes or logos
White socks, colored socks, no-socks, bare legs, or bare feet
JCPS All County Band Help Session
Amy Noon, band director will be available to all 7/8 grade band members who would like to prepare music for JCPS All County auditions. Please email amy.noon@jefferson.kyschools.us if your child is interested in extra help. Prompt pick up at 4 pm is appreciated.
Auditions are on January 11, 2024 from 4pm-8pm at Westport Middle School.
STUDENT SUPPORT TEAM
Click HERE to request Student Support and a member of our team will reach out!
Family Resource/Youth Services Center Coordinator
If you are in need of food over the winter break, Louisville has many food banks throughout the city. Click here to find the one closest to you.
Need something for your student to do during winter break? There are many winter break camps offered throughout the city. Click here for more information.
The Boys and Girls Club of Louisville is sponsoring a free basketball camp for children, ages 5-14, on December 26, 27 &28.
Mental Health Practitioner
Things are speeding up as we are moving through December. Unfortunately, this will be the last week for our Social Skills lunch bunch groups. Moving into the next semester, it is my hope to start a couple of groups for anxiety in upper intermediate grades and middle school (4-5, 6-8). If this is something that you would be interested in for your child please feel free to reach out, as I will also be seeking teacher input for students who would be a good fit.
Do you need help finding mental health services for your student? JCPS has teamed up with Care Solace to provide referrals for JCPS students to find mental health service providers. This program allows us to make specific requests for services for students based on preference as well as need (provider fees may vary). Many mental health service providers are also able to meet during the school day, although they must have a contract with JCPS to do so (please ask your provider if this interests you). So if you are interested in any services please feel free to reach out and we will be happy to put in a referral for you!
High School Counselor
Please remember that if you are working on an eschool that teachers are also on holiday and might not be grading work in real time. If you have goals to conquer vast amounts of eschool work over the break, please message the teacher in BlackBoard ASAP to set up check in timelines if work needs to be unlocked as you progress through the program.
To: Seniors
From: KHEAA Steve
Re: FAFSA
I wanted to give you a resource guide for the FAFSA before we all leave for break. I have programmed a web site with a very simple to use, step-by-step FAFSA guide, to help families start the process. The FAFSA will open on December 31st but I highly suggest advising your students to give it a couple of days before they attempt filling out their FAFSA due to the high traffic and inevitable glitching the Federal Student Aid web site will go through. Below you will find our FSA ID completion video which was taken down from YouTube but I have put on Vimeo instead. You will also find our FAFSA Completion Guide pdf, our 24-25 FAFSA walkthrough video, and my KYFAFSA.com website.
Step-by-step FAFSA website, www.kyfafsa.com (This website is actually housed on our kygoestocollege.com site so the KYFAFSA.com address will redirect to that site.)
Steven Held
Senior Outreach Counselor (Louisville Metro West)
Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority
PO Box 24266 | Louisville, KY 40224
Cell: 502-352-5697 | Email: sheld@kheaa.com
Elementary School Counselor
Happy Holidays! Please reach out to me through the Student Support Request form if you have any questions/ concerns.
CONNECTIONS
SBDM UPDATE
Our next SBDM Council meeting is January 9th at 4:00 PM in the Student Support Center.
FAMILY MATTERS
Check out this opportunity from Louisville Free Public Library:
Kids, preschool through 2nd grade, are invited to a Tinfoil Snowflake Mono print workshop with COLLIDER Artist-in-Residence Ashleigh Morton! Learn about printmaking and design your own snowflake monoprints utilizing tinfoil, q-tips, and paint. Parents and guardians are welcome to join in on the fun and create with us!
Thursday, December 21, 5pm
South Central Regional Library
Register by emailing liz.magee@lfpl.org