The Bear Essentials

August 10 | Issue #6

Principal's Message

Dear Brown School family,

It is absolutely energizing to have your student back in our building for the first day of school! We are having a great day!

If you haven't signed up for a committee yet, please do so. Sign up HERE before 2:00 PM on Friday, August 19th. All interested students, parents, relatives of students, staff, and community members are eligible to join. Meeting dates/times will be determined by committee members at the first meeting. All committees will have a virtual meeting option.

Love,

Dr. Angela

Quick Links

Principal's Message

Welcome to These New Staff Members!

This Week's Essentials

Welcome to These New Staff Members!

Lucy Vose, Instructional Assistant

I am truly delighted to be joining the Brown School family as an instructional assistant in Carrie's classroom. I graduated with my BA in Psychology from UK, and then began working with children as the Youth and Family Services Coordinator at Kentucky Refugee Ministries in Lexington. I enjoyed being a liaison between KRM and FCPS while managing enrollment, as well as planning and implementing additional social/emotional programming. I have also worked in the mental health field as a Case Manager, advocating for clients with severe mental illnesses that need access to all possible resources. During the height of Covid, I took a position in a kindergarten pod -- this ultimately inspired me to pursue teaching as a career. I am currently about halfway through my Master of Arts in Teaching program through the University of the Cumberlands, so I hope to have my own classroom down the road!

I moved to Louisville in 2017 and feel there is so much I still haven't seen. I enjoy exploring new restaurants and live music with my partner, Adam. We recently rescued Louie, a three year old papillon/terrier mix, and love taking him for walks around the neighborhood. I'd love to chat about the movie you just watched, the show you just binged, or the book you just devoured. In this position, I hope to learn as much as possible from Carrie, other staff, and of course the littles we'll be with in the classroom each day!

**Lucy's start date is August 15th, and she will be working in Ms. Carrie's kindergarten class.

Tara Davis, Family Resource/Youth Services Center Coordinator

My name is Tara Davis and I am excited to be joining the Brown family. I will be your new Youth Services Center Coordinator and will be splitting my time with Brandeis Elementary. I spent 14 years in Bullitt County as a Youth Services Center Coordinator before coming to JCPS 6 years ago. For the past 6 years, I have served as the Family Resource Center Coordinator for Slaughter Elementary.

I am from Louisville and a product of JCPS. After graduating from Atherton High School, I attended Indiana University. Before working in education, I worked for the YMCA of Greater Louisville for 8 years. I have a husband, a daughter who is in the 6th grade at Brown, and two dogs. My family loves to travel and spend time with our two dogs, Comet and Laika.

The Youth Services Center provides supports to families to overcome non-academic barriers to learning. These may be basic needs, after school programs, mental health referrals, social services referrals, and family engagement, to name a few. I am looking forward to collaborating with the faculty and staff at Brown to provide programs for students of all ages. I am looking forward to meeting our students and families!

**Tara's start date is August 20th.

This Week's Essentials

Car Rider/Pick Up Tags

If you did not pick up your car rider/pick-up tag during the Meet & Greet yesterday, you can come into the building and pick it up today before dismissal or any morning this week in the drop-off line. Please have your ID ready.

Please do not line up in the alley for pick-up before 2:15 PM. Our friends at the Ronald McDonald cannot leave their parking lot if we have parents' cars parked in the alley.

Late for School?

The alley doors, Exit 12, close at 8:00 AM. If you drive down the alley in the morning to drop off your student and you are late, you must bring your child to the welcome center (door #2 on S. 1st Street) and sign them in as tardy to school. Also, please remember that teachers pick your child up from the gym starting at 7:50 AM.

Weekly Columns

PTSA

PTA believes that together we can make every child’s potential a reality—but we need more believers like YOU.We need YOU.Will you join us?

Join the PTSA Here

PTSA Meeting This Thursday

This Thursday at 4:00 pm in the Brown School Library and on Zoom we will have our first general PTSA meeting of the year. To join by zoom - please Register Here.

We will be voting on renewing our bylaws.

This folder contains the following documents:

Current Brown PTSA Bylaws
Proposed Brown PTSA Bylaws
Document that details the proposed changes.

Peace Park Beautification

Thank you to everyone who came out and helped with our Peace Park Beautification. We had 26 adults and 16 youth and children who attended. The park looks amazing. However, we still have a little more to finish up. We are going to be meeting at the Peace Park again next Sunday to finish the planting and spreading the mulch. Check out the pictures from last Sunday.

William Mansfield, PTSA President - Click to EMAIL

The PTSA is a volunteer organization where parents, teachers, students, and other citizens can be active in support-ing a school. PTA's Mission is to make every child's potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.

Join The PTSA Board -

VP Positions Open

These positions will be part of the decision-making leadership of the PTSA and will attend PTSA meeting regularly. These position will become available after our bylaws renewal on Thursday.

Vice President of Programs

Responsibilities include:

Coordinates all programs that the PTSA sponsors to support the academic enrichment, character development or health and welfare of our students and our school community.
These programs may include: in-school enrichment programs, after-school enrichment programs, community engagement programs, Family Nights, KY Kids Day, Red Ribbon Week, and PTA Reflections.
Provide report at PTSA Meetings.
Apply for awards for programs from 15th District PTA and KY PTA.
Review National PTA Programs to see which ones will work within the school.

Vice President of Marketing & Promotions

Educate parents/guardians and community members of the volunteer opportunities that exist for them to get involved in the school and PTSA while allowing families to continue having a work-life balance
Collaborates with the PTSA president and board members, principal, and teachers to identify and coordinate volunteer opportunities at the school to support student success and PTSA events.
Oversees volunteer recruitment, training, assignments, and appreciation.
Provide report at PTSA Meetings.

Committee Chairs Open

The following positions are committee chairs. These positions will lead a group of volunteers on one project/program. In some cases, there may be committee members already in place and in other cases, committee members may need to be recruited.

Athletic/Concessions Chairperson: This committee works with the Brown Athletic Department to determine what the athletic needs for the school are. They also organize and run the concession stand during the games. Report to VP of Ways and Means.

Enrichments Chairperson: This committee runs the after school enrichments at the J. Graham Brown School. The committee researches, interviews, and determines which enrichments are done in the spring and fall. Reports to VP of Programming.

Fall Festival Chairperson: This committee works on the Fall Festival that is one of the largest fundraisers of the year. It will work with the board and the school to set a date and coordinate the event of the night. This includes securing donations, creating games, sourcing volunteers, securing vendor and silent auction items. Reports to VP of Ways and Means.

Merchandise Chairperson: This committee works on furnishing merchandise for purchase from our families. This includes researching and selecting the items for sale with the board approval of items. This committee also keeps a record of stock levels and determines reorder needs based on sales. Report to VP of Ways and Means.

Move-A-Thon Chairperson: This committee works on the Spring Move-A-Thon. They secure donations, coordinate event, determine additional activities, and create the schedule. Report to VP of Programming.

Reflections Chairperson: This committee works on the Reflections Program at the Brown School. They will make the membership aware of the program, recruit teachers to help implement their program in the classroom, and celebrate all those who participate at Brown. They will also send winners to 15th District PTA by the October deadline. Report to VP of Programming.

If interested in any position please email PTSA President or PTSA Treasurer.

Athletics

Elementary Athletics

Elementary soccer has their first games this Saturday at KCD. We have 2 big teams and they can't wait to get out there and play. The gold team plays at 8:00am and the blue team at 8:45. Go Bears!

Cross country will have their 2nd practice this week and we have a very large team of excited students ready to run. Our first practice went great.

A special thanks to all of our volunteer coaches who are making these teams possible.

Middle School Athletics

Matt Davis, MS Athletic Director - Click to EMAIL

Our tennis coach has been hired but is still onboarding at JCPS and should be done soon! He is very excited to be coaching this year. Matches begin on September 8th and hopefully we will be cleared to start practice very soon. We will send out more details as soon as they become available.

Middle School volleyball is really coming together and ready to start matches. Here is the match schedule: LINK.

Cross country has started and our first meet is the Fleet Feet Relays on Saturday 8/20 at Charlie Vettiner Park. Practices will now be right after school at Waterfront Park. If you are interested in joining, it's not too late! Contact matthew.davis@jefferson.kyschools.us on how to sign up. Here is the meet schedule for this year: LINK.

High School Athletics

Justin Leonard, HS Athletic Director - Click to EMAIL

Soccer matches kicked off this week and started strong. Our girls played PRP Monday night and came away with a 12-1 win. Taylor Morris led the way with 9 goals and 2 assists, Chabely Perez-Talon had 2 goals, Trista Morris had 1 goal and Catherine Campbell had 1 assist. Boys also played PRP and had a big 4-0 win. Ali Alkhabi had 2 goals and 2 assists, Grant Stone added 1 goal and 1 assist and Gabe Rollins had 1 goal. Girls will be in action Thursday against Fairdale at Sun Valley at 5:30 and the boys will head to Francis Parker on Monday.

Volleyball had a great scrimmage on Saturday, beating Francis Parker and building some excitement for the season. Our numbers are allowing us to have a freshman, JV and varsity team for the first time in 5 years. We will kick off our regular season games on Monday with a JV and varsity game at Valley.

Cross country has had a steady group showing up to practice and we look to add a few more in the near future. Freshman Taylor Morris was ranked as one of the top 10 high school girls cross country runners in the Louisville area.

Golf kicked off their season with an 18 hole match in the Flyer Invitational. Ethan Perry led the way with a 91 and Josh and Caleb Williams did a great job in their first 18 hole match. They are back in action this Thursday against Atherton at Cherokee and then they will be back at Cherokee next Monday in an open match.

Student Support Team

Elementary Counselor

Christy Teague - Click to EMAIL

Welcome back to the best school year yet!!! I am so excited to start working with your children as their Elementary School Counselor!!! Please review the first page of this newsletter where there is lots of Back to School information for parents/guardians. For even more information related to the elementary world at Brown and how to connect with me, check out my VIRTUAL OFFICE.

Middle School Counselor

Cordia Pickerill - Click to EMAIL

Happy New Year! Take a deep breath and enjoy the ride! A couple of things:

- Use this Schedule Change Request Form to request a different elective. I will contact you if/when I make a schedule change.

- 7th Graders - Digital Literacy is a required class.

- 8th Graders - World Language is a requirement.

-Use this Student Support Request Form to request to see myself or a member of the student support team. Parents and teachers can use this form as well.

-ADV - Stands for Advisory and will occur every Friday between 1st and 2nd block. This class will be used as a means to connect with another adult in the building, participate in clubs, and further enhance your school experience. You'll meet with a small group of students and with the same teacher every Friday.

High School Counselor

Robin Cash - Click to EMAIL

Welcome back!!!! To make sure everyone is present and accounted for, please arrive at every block as assigned on time! You might be wondering why the schedules look a little funny....we have made some adjustments to staffing schedules and some related arts classes have a secondary teacher (1B and 4A on schedules). This does not have much impact on students, almost all students just stay in the class as assigned. Your teachers will help guide you the first few days!

One thing that does impact you in a very positive way is the addition of the Advisory (ADV) period. On Fridays, first block will end a little early and students will transition to advisory before going to second block. The Friday advisories will be the same teacher, same classroom, every Friday! This gives us the opportunity to develop stronger connections with adults and gives students a person to check in with consistently. The rest of the blocks will also be abbreviated on Fridays to allow for this special time! Don't fret too much about these changes, it's new to the adults in the building, too! We will all work together and get everyone where they need to be!

Schedule changes will not occur until study halls. Robin will be in study hall for the first two weeks to conference with students and set intentions for the year! If you would like to request a change, please complete THIS FORM and Robin will meet with you soon!

Mental Health Practitioner

David Rutledge - Click to EMAIL

Hey Bear family! Welcome back to another school year at the J. Graham Brown School! I know that new years can be stressful between figuring out schedules, meeting new teachers, and just getting back into the swing of things. In all of this new that we are experiencing right now I just wanted to take a moment to remind you all that it is ok to take some time to sit still, calm down, and breathe. Below I have put a link for a helpful video to help you with some deep breathing. It's geared towards the younger kids, but it is a very useful tool at any age. For parents and students if you feel like you need a little extra help this year, you can reach out to me (and the rest of the student support team) through our referral site. Remember to take your time as we get back into the swing of things, and let's have a great new year!

Rainbow Breathing

Family Resource/Youth Services Center

Our new FRYSC Coordinator will be starting on August 20th!

Connections

SBDM Update

Here's what happened at Monday's SBDM meeting.

Dr. Angela shared a Good News Report
The council members reviewed their Caseload Updates
The council heard about the Committee Signups process
The council reviewed our score from our EMPT
The council heard next steps regarding the SBDM Teacher Special Election
The council reviewed these budget reports:
- Flexible Budget Summary
- Activity Accounts: District-Based; School-Based
The council approved changes to the SBDM By-Laws and reviewed this REAP
Dr. Angela consulted with the hiring on hiring two instructional assistants.
The council approved the Safety and Emergency Plan for the 2022-23 school year.

Family Matters

Tutoring Help

The Louisville Free Public Library has a new tutoring service called Brainfuse HelpNow!

This online tutoring service offers access to live tutors, 2–11 p.m., 7 days a week. Students can chat or text with tutors in real-time, get help with math problems, have papers reviewed using the Writing Lab feature, discuss practice test results, and more.

HelpNow even offers live FAFSA help and online practice tests.

Brainfuse employs more than 3,000 tutors—most are retired teachers or grad students and all have a minimum of a 4-year degree (97% have advanced degrees).

You'll need your Library Card number to get started. See this and other homework help resources for kids and teens at https://www.lfpl.org/teen/homework.htm

https://www.lfpl.org/kids/kids-homework.htm

Cultural Connections

HERE is the cultural events calendar for Louisville for the month of August!

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