School phone number: (540)828-6081

It was a great 1st week!

It’s hard to believe that we have already finished our first week of school! You should be so proud of your students. They’ve done a great job transitioning from summer mode to learning mode!

This is a very full edition of the Jaguar Jiggy that has lots of good information. Highlights of this edition are:

An introduction to our assistant principal
Some school norms that we’ve shared with the students
Details about Title I and our Title I Annual Meeting next week
Information about our PTO and our first meeting of the year
Introductions of our Specials teachers and classes.

But before you jump into this edition of the Jaguar Jiggy Journal, I’d like to share one request from our front office. In order for us to be able to guarantee that your child gets to the right location after school, all transportation changes must be received by the front office no later than 1:00PM. This gives us plenty of time to get all of our ducks in a row and make sure everyone here at school knows the plan.

Introducing Mrs. Secord!

Running a school is a big job, and it's not something anyone can do alone when the school is as large as John Wayland Elementary School. Thankfully we have an amazing assistant principal! Mrs. Secord is in her 5th year as the assistant principal at John Wayland and has been an educator for over 30 years. With so much great experience she brings a thoughtful and steady approach to her work, giving careful consideration to every decision. We’ve only worked together a short time, but being on a team with her has been an easy transition. I completely understand how she has earned so much trust and respect from so many of the families, teachers, and staff members at our school. It's not by chance – Mrs. Secord has a knack for follow-through, sets high standards for herself and her work, and approaches each day with energy and purpose. Diane’s blend of thoughtfulness, dependability, and quiet determination make her a deeply respected and invaluable member of the JWES team, and the year would not be off to such a great start without her!

Schoolwide Norms

This past week Mrs. Secord and Mr. Granger met with each class to talk about a few school-wide norms for working together. Norms are agreed-upon "ground rules" or habits that guide how people work together and interact. We felt that, as a new team leading the school, it was important to speak with each class/grade so that all of us would get off on the right foot together.

Trust the Adults. The adults in our school are highly educated, know a lot about kids and learning, and care deeply about their students. Trust them to help you learn!

Ask for what you want. We all know that it can be very difficult to concentrate if our basic needs are not met. So when a student needs something we have asked them to just tell us. If we can meet the need (or want) we will!

Be good. John Wayland, our school’s namesake, once said that a person’s “conduct proceeds from goodwill and an acute sense of propriety.” All of the rules of school are easy to follow when someone has a good heart.

Pick up after yourself. There are over 600 people who come to John Wayland Elementary School everyday, and only 4 custodians. Not only that, cleaning up after ourselves is a great habit to start when we’re young!

Literacy at JWES

🐾Title I

John Wayland Elementary School is a Title I school. What that means is that our school receives funds through Title I of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to raise the achievement of low performing students. We qualify for this due to the fact that 40% of our students come from low income families. You can learn more about Title I at this link: (English) (Spanish)

Title I Annual Meeting

Each year John Wayland hosts a Title I Meeting for families to learn more about how Title I supports their children’s learning. Our Annual Title I meeting will be next Wednesday, September 3rd at 6PM in the school’s library right before our first PTO meeting.

From our PTO

It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces and meet new families at the open house. We hope you and your children are having a wonderful start to the new school year. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have suggestions on how we can support you throughout the year. The purpose of the PTO is to enhance and support the educational experience at JWES, to develop a closer connection between school and home by encouraging parental involvement, and to improve the environment for faculty, staff, and students at JWES through volunteer, material, and financial support.

We have hit the ground running with several events already this year! We stocked the workroom with snacks and drinks for the teachers and staff, we assisted teachers with their classroom needs during a prep day in the cafeteria, and we hosted popcorn on the playground. The events were well attended and very much appreciated. A special thanks to those who supported us in these efforts!

Our first PTO meeting will be on Wednesday, September 3rd from 6-7pm. This meeting will be hybrid, with an in-person option (meet in the JWES library) as well as a Zoom option (link below). During the meeting, we will introduce our executive board, share our goals and activities for the year, and discuss ways you can get involved. Our agenda will also include time for the annual Title 1 meeting for families to learn more about the ways this program supports our students and how to get involved! We hope you can join us! If you have any questions, please email jwesptova@gmail.com.

(Please don’t share this link outside of the JWES community)

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/96019748202?pwd=tH0sXfHvyu7cbGEM6OQqSKG5ZgcYHQ.1

Specials Special!

We are so excited to welcome your child to our Physical Education program this year! PE is a fantastic opportunity for students to stay active, learn new skills, and have fun while building healthy habits. To ensure your child can participate safely and comfortably, please make sure they wear tennis shoes every day for PE. Thank you for your support. We can't wait for a great year of movement and growth.

Art

I am so excited for the opportunity to create art with your students this year! Although we try our best to keep things as neat and tidy as possible in the art room, the creative process can sometimes get messy. Feel free to send your student in clothes that you are comfortable with them creating in or, if you’d like, you may send a large labeled t-shirt to be stored in the art room for them to wear on days that might be messier.

During this school year students will also be creating an art portfolio of all of the artwork they create. All art assignments will be sent home in each artists’ portfolio at the end of the school year.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Cayse Zwanzig czwanzig@rockingham.k12.va.us

Music

Welcome to a new school year! I'm Marianne Houff, and I'm excited to teach your children in music class this year. Music class is a great time for your child to express themselves through singing, dancing, playing instruments, and creating. We will have a 4th grade show in November, a 2nd grade show in March, and recorder starts in January for the 4th graders. I will post classroom performances on Seesaw periodically throughout the year as well. Stay tuned for more announcements as the year goes on about clubs for 4th and 5th graders. We frequently dance in music class, so if your child can wear comfortable clothes and sturdy shoes on music day, that would be helpful. It is a joy to make music with your children, and I look forward to a wonderful year!

Library

The library class consists of checkout/reading time, a library or media lesson, and makerspace choice time.

Kindergarteners can check out one book at a time and can have up to a total of 3 books checked out.

1st-5tg graders can check out two books at a time and can have up to a total of 5 books checked out.

Information on the library's collection can be found on the JWES Website by scrolling halfway down this page: https://jwes.rockingham.k12.va.us/o/jwes/page/parent-resources

Please contact Mrs. Hass if you would like to receive notifications of your students' checkouts or if you have any questions or concerns.

phass@rockingham.k12.va.us

Upcoming events

September 1 Labor Day (no school)

September 3, 6PM Annual Title I Meeting and PTO meeting (Library and Zoom)

September 26 TA Homecoming Tailgate at John Wayland

Stay Connected

We are working hard to make sure this year is a great one for your child. I’m energized by the opportunity to partner with you to support your child’s growth—academically, socially, and emotionally.

For updates, reminders, and celebrations throughout the year, be sure to follow John Wayland Elementary School on Facebook. Also, Rockingham County Public Schools has an incredible new app called the RCPSApp that allows you to stay connected to the latest news and information about our school and the division.

Jaguar-Jiggy's Journal