I am writing to you in regards to the parking and pedestrian issues that are arising behind the Brown School and with the Murphy & Associates PLC parking lot. We are having two issues I would like you to address. The first and most concerning is that children and their parents/guardians are walking across the parking lot in a dangerous way. Yesterday afternoon a worker in my building nearly backed over a child who cut behind her vehicle as she was backing into her parking spot. This happened to me this morning when a young girl and her grandmother cut in near to my vehicle as I was backing into my parking spot. Pedestrians must to stay on the sidewalk while going to the Brown School and not cut behind or in front of vehicles in our parking lot. We must do whatever we can to avoid what would be a terrible tragedy if a child was hit. Second, to many parents are using the parking lot as a staging area both in the morning and afternoons. Even though they are only there a short period of time, it has become a distraction and nuisance. Please ask you parents to avoid using our parking lot as a staging area for pick up and drop off.

I appreciate your assistance and wish you and the Brown School family the best year. If I can be of assistance for you please let me know.

Respectfully,

J.P. Ward

Murphy & Associates

To stay in the loop of all of the upcoming Junior and Senior College Rep Visits, please visit the calendar linked HERE.

We are in need of 3-5 chaperones for our school visit field trips. Those that are already approved please email Norah Wakefield (norah.wakefield@jefferson.kyschools.us) if you would like to chaperone an upcoming trip.

If you would like to become an approved chaperone, click this link to sign-up.

Juniors have their visit to Bellarmine on Thursday.

WKU rep on Friday during 2nd and 3rd blocks.

Miami (Ohio) rep on Monday at 8:45.

KSU rep on Tuesday for Gold 1st and 2nd blocks.

Volunteer Opportunities

Are you wanting to help out at the school. The Brown PTSA has lots of way that you can volunteer!

Concessions - We are doing concessions for all home volleyball games. This can be up to 3 nights a week. It is fun and we will train you. Come work the stand and have a bite to each for volunteering with us. Sign Up Here

Enrichments - Our enrichments started this week and we always love for some parent volunteers to help out the instructors. Take a turn and help out the ballet class on a Tuesday or help with the Chess enrichment on Wednesday. We have a total of 6 classes that always welcome a helping hand. If interested email Autumn!

Peace Park - Do you like to garden? Does pulling weeds make you smile. Peace Park has lots of flower beds that can always use some help. Since we are downtown - trash is also a concern for our park. Come in anytime an sign in at the front desk and take an hour and get closer to nature. No need to sign up.

Board Positions, Committee Chairs or just sit on a committee - We have 2 open board positions that we would love to fill. We also have committee chairs that have open. We welcome families to join a committee and help plan our events. Contact William - PTSA President for more information.

I am LOVING visiting classrooms this week and talking to your lovelies about love and life and the meaning of it all:) More specifically I visited the 8th grader with Robin to discuss Brown high school, and yesterday I visited the 7th graders to talk about reclaiming our mistakes. Ask them about Kintsugi. Tomorrow I will be with the 6th graders discussing coping skills.

Check out this wonderful slide by my wonderful colleague Ms. Christy that goes into detail about the new cognitive abilities test and how to sign up your child if they're not already identified.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week and remember to use the Student Support Team Request form to get in touch with myself or anyone on our team.

As we move into the fall and cooler weather, often anxiety and depression start to rise up in many as there is less light and opportunity for time outside. Seasonal affective disorder affects many people, in addition to many other stressors that arise during the fall in school. If your child starts to struggle as the year goes on, I just wanted to offer a reminder that every JCPS school offers mental health services in the school setting.

Currently our process for obtaining services starts with:

• Make a referral through our student support form. This can be filled out by you, your student, or even a faculty member. It is our current goal to check in with every referral within 1-2 days depending on need. Currently our students have taken to this process very well, and have sent in many requests for support in just the one month of school we've had!

• Typically the next step is for the respective school counselor to check in with your student to ascertain their needs and how best to support them.

• If we observe that your student may benefit from more regular meetings/support we will send home a permission form for services with your student. This can be for either individual meetings or group. In order for us to legally be allowed to meet regularly with your student we need these to be filled out and returned to the Student Support Center as soon as possible.

If you have any questions about services provided, or need assistance in filling out a support form feel free to reach out to me at david.rutledge2@jefferson.kyschools.us.