Ms. Jalee and Ms. Vanessa

This is Ms. Vanessa’s baby girl Tessa, born October 8.

Hello Everyone,

Another awesome week has passed. The kids are all settling in as are the teachers. We are continuing with our grace and courtesy lessons and figuring out how things work in the classroom this year. As I told the students today, we need to practice things, like putting away our shoes, the right way so that we will learn to do it right. We’ve enjoyed the cooler weather this week so we can have a more pleasant recess and also enjoy lunch outside.

Hello Everyone!

We are so excited to welcome you back to school. It has been a long summer and we are excited to see all of the kids again. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you prepare to send your child back to school. 

• School starts on Monday, August 17 at 8:30 am. Please be on time.
• The first week of school is all early outs. Starting this year,  dismissal will be at 1:45 pm on early out days. We also have early out days every Wednesday. Please plan accordingly so you can be on time to pick up your child.
• Also new this year, regular school days will end at 3:15 pm. 
• Due to new COVID social distancing guidelines, we will be implementing a new drop off and pick up procedure. Please enter through the east gate on 200 E. (Not the main entrance) and drive around the back of the school. Please drop your student off at the door nearest your teacher or advisor’s classroom. There will be signs with the teacher’s name where you should drop off your student.  Then follow the traffic in front of the school and exit through the main exit.  You will follow the same procedure to pick your child up at the end of the day.  A short video demonstrating this procedure will be sent in the next couple of days. 
  Please keep in mind the following safety guidelines:

• • • Students should exit the vehicle on the RIGHT side only. 
    • Parents should remain in the vehicle and encourage their student to exit promptly to keep the traffic flowing
    • If your student is not waiting for you when you drive through to pick them up, you will need to make another circle around so that you are not stopping the flow of traffic
    • Use caution when going around a parked car
    • Please use grace and courtesy

• Due to concerns with Covid, we will not be using lockers for the first semester of the school year. For this reason, students should not bring a backpack to school. Please only send your child with their lunch box and a water bottle. We will reevaluate the use of lockers after the first semester as the weather changes.
  Please only send a backpack to school with your child when you send school supplies. Please send school supplies the first day of school if possible, or by the end of the first week.
• This year students will have their own supplies and there will not be community supplies. Please label everything with your child’s first and last names.  The binder should be labeled on the spine.  It is helpful if supplies are unpackaged before the students bring them to school. The pencils, scissors, etc. can be put into the pencil box.  If you are unable to purchase these supplies, please let us know.
• We will also no longer be supplying utensils and dishes for students’ lunches. Please send them with whatever they will need to eat their lunch. If you would like to donate disposable items for lunches, this would be appreciated.
• This year we will not be having a group classroom snack. Please make sure your child has an extra snack in their lunch box that they can have whenever they choose to have their morning snack. We ask that you still follow healthy snack guidelines in regards to this.
• Lastly, please make sure your child comes to school with a face covering daily. They should also bring a fresh water bottle daily as they will not have access to a drinking fountain at school.

As we move into this school year, we want you to know that we love your children and are excited to see and work with them again. Parents of children who are doing distance learning should expect more information in a later email.

I am happy to share with you that the assistant in our class this year is Ms. Vanessa Hearrell. She has worked at MMA for 4 years and will be a great addition to our classroom. She will also be doing her student teaching in our class this spring.

I am so excited to see all the kids again and get to know all the new students. In spite of all the craziness going on in the world, it is going to be a great year!

Stay healthy and safe,

Ms. Jalee

Lower Elementary Supply List 2020-21
The items on this list will be used during the regular school day.
They may be brought from home on a voluntary basis, otherwise, they will be furnished by the school.

Due to Covid 19, supplies in the classroom will not be universally shared. All students will use their own individual supplies.

Supply List
—Please include your child’s name on the following items:

• Water bottle with close-able lid. Please make it a lid that students do not need to touch with their hands the part they will be putting their lips on. Students will need to bring their filled water bottle to school daily. They will also be taking it home at the end of the day. This is due to not using water fountains or our kitchen sink to fill up the bottles.
• 1 inch 3 ring binder
• Soft Soled Slipper Shoes 
• Pair of headphones or earbuds for computer use to be kept at school

• 1 graphing paper composition notebook; Example: Graphing 
• 3 wide ruled composition notebooks; Example: Notebook
      (please feel free to send any notebooks from previous year that are not full)
• Pencil case
• 1 box #2 pencils
• 1 pair child size scissors
• Glue sticks
• 1 box colored pencils
• 1 box washable markers
• Water color paint
• 1 ruler
• 1 box of Kleenex

Optional: 

Disinfecting wipes

Hand sanitizer

1 roll paper towels

1 ream copy paper

1 clipboard, regular paper size

Ziplock bags: sandwich or gallon sized

Suggested Healthy Snacks

•  Vegetables such as carrots, celery, broccoli
•  Fruits such as strawberries, cantaloupe, oranges, grapes, apples, pears,
•  Pretzels
•  Graham Crackers
•  Crackers
•  Bagels and cream cheese
•  Snack-sized fruit cups
•  Raisins or fruit leather or fruit snacks
•  Granola or granola bars
•  Dry cereal (not sugar cereals)
•  Goldfish crackers
•  Rice cakes
•  Jerky
•  Tortillas
•  Whole wheat bread with butter or jam

Please! No candy, soda-pop, chips/Cheetos, or red drinks (to prevent stains).

Please! No foods that need microwaved. 

Thank you for understanding our commitment to healthy minds and bodies!

Hello All,

You should have all received an email from the school with a list of classroom supplies. I am also attaching it here: Lower Elementary Supply List 2020

A few things to keep in mind with this list:

• If your child was in my class last year, you will not need to provide a binder. I kept their binders from last year.
• Please feel free to send any notebooks from last year that are not completely full.
• We DO NOT need glue sticks. We have sooooo many from past years.
• We also have a plethora of pencils but please feel free to send some anyway. If you do choose to send pencils, I would recommend Ticonderoga. They hold up the best that I have found and sharpen really well.
• I would like all students to have their own clipboard. If your child brought one last year, I still have it at school. At least I am pretty sure I kept them, so if you did not get your child’s clipboard back, please don’t send another one. If you are new to the class, please send a clipboard.
• Lastly, I would like all the kids to have a hard, plastic pencil case. They will be keeping these on a shelf in the classroom with all their supplies in them and the hard ones will stack better. Example

I am excited to see all the kids and see you all.

I know these are uncertain times, but we will get through it and have a wonderful year.

Thanks.

Jalee

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to share the exciting news with you that my baby boy was born last Friday, June 12th, on his due date.  His name is Dax. He was born at 9:18 am. He weighed 8 pounds 12 ounce and was 21 1/2 inches long. Mom and baby are both doing well and are healthy and happy.

Hello Everyone,

I apologize for not getting this post/email out to you over the weekend. I decided to give myself the 3 day weekend to do nothing since this final week for teachers is pretty busy.

I want to start by saying thank you, for so many things. Thank you for all your support, especially during our school’s closure. Thank you for your patience while we as teachers figured out all the works and tried to make it work for all of the kids and for you as parents. Thank you for working with your children to the best of your ability. Thank you for having such amazing children, and thank you for trusting Ms. Tiffany and me to guide and teach your children. I am truly sad we did not get the last 2-3 months to work with them daily and be with them. Thank you for filling that void as parents. I know you were all busy and may have felt very under qualified at times, but I can promise you that you are greatly appreciated by all teachers in all that you have done. So thank you!

I don’t really have any announcements or other things to share at this time. I am excited to work with all the returning level 1s and 2s next year. We will have a supply list for you sometime during the summer so you can be prepared for the school year. Level 3 parents, you will know who your child’s upper el teacher is by the end of July.

This will not be my final post until the lists come out. I will definitely update you on the arrival of my baby. I am due June 12 and my doctor won’t let me go past June 19. However, after this week and all the school work is done, I am fine to have him anytime. I will keep you updated and share pictures.

Again, I want to say thank you to you all. Please let your little ones know they are loved and missed! Stay healthy and safe.

Best!

Jalee