Bear Essentials
J. Graham Brown School Weekly Family Newsletter
September 6 | Issue #8
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Dear Brown School Family,
Come work with some of the most amazing humans in the multiverse! We are currently hiring TWO part-time English teachers. These are perfect jobs for retirees, people with families/children who want more time at home, or really anyone! CLICK HERE to see the job postings and apply.
The first position works on Gold Days from 7:50 to 2:50. Gold Days are Tuesdays, Thursdays, and some Fridays. The schedule is 1st block planning, 2nd block Senior English, 3rd block HS Theater, and 4th block MS Theater. On Fridays, there is an advisory group to meet with. This position starts immediately.
The second position works on Blue Days from 7:50 to 2:50. Blue Days are Mondays, Wednesdays, and some Fridays. The schedule is 1st, 3rd, and 4th block Freshman English, with 2nd block planning. On Fridays, there is an advisory group to meet with. This position starts on October 1st.
We have a great work environment! CLICK HERE to learn more about working at our school!
Love,
Dr. Angela
QUICK LINKS
THIS WEEK'S ESSENTIALS
Elementary Dismissal, WHY?
We have been finishing dismissal at approximately 3:05 every day. If you have changes call the school before 2:00 that day, 502-485-8216 and let us know. This works for daily or permanent changes. The list we have allows for your child to be a car rider certain days and a walker other days. Calling the school and telling us a permanent change will allow this list to get updated.
Here is why this matters so much! The lobby has 100-200 High School and Middle School students until 3:00 as they are getting picked up on 1st St. Elementary car riders dismiss from the cafeteria (Middle of the building on the 2nd floor), walkers dismiss from the gym (edge of the building 1st floor). For a student to go from one area to the other, they have to navigate through a sea of much larger students who are likely not paying attention to smaller students walking through. It also holds up the line if we have to retrieve a student from one area to bring them to another area. With adults getting kids from one area to the other, it took a minimum of 3 minutes. This means holding up the car rider line for everyone for a minimum of those 3 minutes.
Finally, the High School and Middle School sports teams are able to start practice equitably to other schools, The gym is still shared between MS and HS teams, which is not normal for other schools. This means starting practice 20-30 minutes earlier than last year makes a huge impact on the ending time for the last practice of the night!
JR / SR College Prep Visits
To stay in the loop of all of the upcoming Junior and Senior College Rep Visits, please visit the calendar linked HERE.
Chaperones are needed for the Juniors Walking Field Trip to Spalding University on Thursday, October 12th. Please fill out this FORM and contact Norah if you are interested.
All Seniors free ACT on Wednesday, Oct. 18th.
Picture Day - Next Week
Click this LINK to see the Picture Day Schedule for next week. Please note the tabs at the bottom to know which day and time your child's class is scheduled.
WEEKLY FEATURES
Fall Festival Committee
Our next meeting is Tuesday, September 12th at 6:00 pm. Register Here!
Enrichments Start Next Week
Look for an email reminder by Friday on the time and where to pick your student up at.
We have open spots in Fencing & Matial Arts. They have extended this to 6th and 7th graders. Click here to sign-up.
Reflections
Reflections is a National PTA Program designed to recognize students artistically. The program has 6 different categories
Visual Arts
Photography
Music Compositions
Film Production
Dance Choreography
Literature
Each week we will focus on one of the categories and we hope that your student will be interested in entering one of the categories. If you have questions please email.
This year's theme is "I am Hopeful Because. . ."
Welcome our newest PTSA members for 2023-2024 school year: Amy S., Sam O., Marion o., Brittnay B., Banifacio A., Kara B., Cora C., Robin C., Amanda M., Justin M., and Brennen C.
Thank you for joining Brown PTSA!
We now have 157 members! We hope that you will join us!
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
Required Paperwork
Cross Country
Sara Rodgers came in 2nd and Erin Rogers 7th at the Sacred Heart Cross Country race at Seneca on Tuesday. In the boys race, Austin Vitato finished 9th. Great work!
Volleyball-
Had a great match on Tuesday night against Highland Latin, just coming up a little short. JV Volleyball will be in action on Thursday at Evangel. Go Lady Bears!
Golf-
Cade Wilson shot a 37 in the All "A" Qualifier and advanced to the State Match on 9/7. Way to go Cade! Golf will be back in action on 8/23 against Atherton at Cherokee.
Cheer/Dance
Coach- Sloane Coleman
Email: sloane.coleman@gmail.com
Cheer and dance try outs are this Friday at 3:00pm in the lobby. All paperwork must be turned in before tryouts.
Girls Soccer is excited to get back to competition after having some time off after our All "A" Championship. We picked up a 6-1 win over Eastern. Right now we are ranked 2nd in the region and 4th in RPI We will take on Atherton tonight at 5:30 at Atherton. They will head to All A State on Wednesday 9/13 at Walton Verona at 6:00pm.
Boys Soccer picked up a big 10-0 win over Walden last week and look to get another one against Highland Latin on Thursday.
Middle School Athletics
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
Cross-County has its third JCPS meet of the season on Thursday. Middle schooler Sara Rogers was second in the HS division of the Sacred Heart Cross-Country meet at Seneca on Tuesday!
Volleyball varsity is now 4-2 and leading their district! The next game is at Kammerer on Thursday.The JV plays at 5:30 with the varsity to follow.
Tennis played its first match of the season, defeating Barrett at Central Park on Tuesday. The next match is Thursday at 6pm at Waggener vs. Westport.
Cheerleading is currently looking of a coach for this season. We need to hire a coach as soon as possible so we can start the process. If you know of anyone interested, please email matthew.davis@jefferson.kyschools.us.
Elementary School Athletics
Elementary cross country has now entered some meets, so our runners and coaches are working hard to get ready for those!
Elementary soccer has had a few weeks of rest, due to the heat and the holiday. They will be back in action this Saturday at KCD, with Team 2 playing at 8:40am against Chance and team 1 against KCD at 9:50am
MUSICAL NOTATIONS
World's Finest Chocolate fundraiser is in full swing in the music department. The goal for each student is to sell 3 boxes each. The final end date for the sale is September 22, 2023. Please turn in all the money to Amy Noon in the band room. Do you have questions? Email amy.noon@jefferson.kyschools.us or tamika.carr@jefferson.kyschools.us
Students have been issued instruments in all band classes and have begun playing. Many have asked about paying fees for instruments and class fees. My school bucks is the platform you pay the instrument rental fee and class fee. This platform is not up and running yet so please hold off on paying these fees until an announcement is made.
BAND only: the red spring trip sign up form given out this week is due by Friday September 8. Please return this paper to Amy Noon, the Band Director. If you need a copy of this form, please click here.
STUDENT SUPPORT TEAM
Click HERE to request Student Support and a member of our team will reach out!
Family Resource/Youth Services Center Coordinator
Families Count Parenting Class now available! Are you struggling as a parent? Join us for a 7-week class that will address a variety of topics, including discipline, family roles, outside influences, and much more. Our trained, experienced Class Leaders will guide the group through lots of discussion and activities to help them grow as parents. Each parent will be paired with a mentor after the class ends.
Mental Health Practitioner
I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend! As we move into September I wanted to make our Brown Bear families aware of Suicide Prevention Month. Suicide is a topic that we often don't like to talk about, and often gets ignored. However, when we talk about it with our students and remove the stigma from receiving help we can help alleviate those feelings that our most vulnerable often feel. The Suicide Crisis lifeline has recently changed to 988. They are available by phone or through their online chat service. If you have any questions or concerns about how to discuss these topics with your student please feel free to reach out to me at david.rutledge2@jefferson.kyschools.us, or call my office at 502-485-8216 ext 2633.
High School Counselor
ALL HS GRADES-Everyone received a lesson during advisory on Goal Setting and your Individual Learning Plans (ILP). We know there were technical difficulties, and you will have time during the next ILP advisory lesson to complete it, or you can finish it on your own!
SENIORS-please make sure you are checking in on Google Classroom Class of 2024! Many of you have not completed the "Test Optional Google Form" and Robin will not send transcripts until that is complete! It was an assignment due Aug 11.
Middle School Counselor
I've enjoyed coming into 6th and 7th grade classes these past two weeks and talking to them about all of the services that I can provide and ways to get in touch with me. I'll be meeting with 8th graders next week. Ask your 7th and 8th grade student what pillar they want to focus on this year!
Last week's Coffee with the Counselor was a great success thanks to our amazing PTA and the wonderful parents and caregivers that attended. Mark your calendars for the next one which will be Thursday, December 7th at 9 am. The focus will be on social media. I have not scheduled the second semester Coffee with the Counselors yet, but will try to do a time that is later in the day.
Lastly, middle schoolers will receive the suicide prevention and mental health lesson this Friday. If you have any concerns or questions about the lesson, please reach out to us in the Student Support Team.
Thank you for letting me work with your darlings!
Elementary School Counselor
You know what after Labor Day means…we are officially back to school and getting into the thick of things now. This year, I will be teaching about each month’s STAR WORD. I will visit each classroom once or twice a month to teach lessons related to our Star Word. Our current Star Word is COUNSELOR. Students will be meeting me and learning about my role in the school and how I help students. I will be visiting your child's classroom very soon to teach my Core Counseling Curriculum (CCC) lesson, focusing on our Star Word. Check out this schedule to see when I'll be in your child's classroom. Later this month, we will kick off our Kindness Challenge with our Star Word of the Month: KINDNESS.
I am in the process of creating my virtual office that will be filled with tons of information and resources helpful to parents/guardians/families of elementary students (K-5).
There are several ways to contact me:
Email me at christy.teague@jefferson.kyschools.us
Call me at 502-233-2741.
Thank you for working as a team to ensure that your child has the best experience possible as a Brown Bear/Cub!
CONNECTIONS
SBDM UPDATE
Here's what happened at last night's SBDM Council meeting.
Amy Thornton shared a Good News Report
Dr. Angela and Ashley Chesman shrared an update abou the SBDM Parent Election
Dr. Angela shared a Personnel Update
The council reviewed the budget reports:
Site-Based Budget Summary
Activity Accounts: District-Based; School-Based
The council received reports from the following committees.
The council reviewed these policies and made no changes.
The council had questions about the Principal Selection policy and decided to table the review to the next meeting.
The council did a first reading on these policies.
The council approved the School Report Card 2022-23
The council approved a request for 3rd grade EL All Block materials purchased from Elementary Equity Funds
FAMILY MATTERS
Do you have a high schooler who needs help with ACT prep? The Louisville Urban League has partnered with Equitas Prep to offer free ACT prep courses. Sign up today https://www.equitasprep.com/equityinitiativetutoring