Brown School is filled with gratitude with holiday season! Our students are consistently supported by our partnership daily. Our collective commitment to enriching the lives of our students continues to be a top priority. We want to thank you for sharing your children with us and for trusting us to guide their educational journey alongside of you.
In this post you will find many ways that you can help to support members of our community during the Holiday season. We thank you for your generosity.
Please note that this blog post will represent two weeks of content, due to the shortened Thanksgiving week. A new post will shared on November 28th.
This Week at Brown School
11/15 P2 Character Strength: Gratitude
Maize & Blue Monday!
Stuff-A-Truck Food Drive begins today & runs all week
Sound of Music preview for 4th & 5th graders @SJHS 9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
11/16 PTO Meeting @ 7 p.m. in media center or virtually by clicking here
Thanksgiving Luncheon (schedule below)
11/17 Lory's Place group meets in the morning
Play-It-Safe classroom presentations
11/18 Play-It-Safe classroom presentations
11/19 1/2 day of school (ECDD - 5th grade only)
Teacher Record Day - dismissal at 12:09 p.m.
Coming Up...
11/22 P2 Character Strength: Gratitude
Maize & Blue Monday!
Yearbook cover art submissions due today!
11/23 First trimester report cards sent home today - please remove the card for your safe keeping, sign the back of the envelope, and return it to school
11/24 - 11/26 Thanksgiving Break: NO SCHOOL (ECDD - 12th grade)
11/29 School resumes
P2 Character Strength: Kindness
Maize & Blue Monday!
News from the Lunch Room
We would like to remind everyone that breakfast and lunch are FREE again this year to every St. Joseph Public School student. Please try to remember to pre-order your student’s lunches when they are going to participate in lunch. This helps speed up the morning lunch count process. You will be allowed to order the Friday before the next week using www.sendmoneytoschool.com.
Due to the supply chain issues we are having with our vendors and food outages we will be providing a one week menu on our website and Principal blogs on the Friday before the next week. This will alleviate us having to make constant changes to a monthly menu and keep you better informed.
11/15/21 – Turkey Lunchable, carrot sticks, fruit choice and milk
11/16/21 – Thanksgiving Luncheon – Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes & gravy, cranberry, dinner roll, dessert
*This is a very special, family-style lunch - we encourage all students to participate.
11/17/21 – French Toast Sticks, Sausage, Hash Brown, fruit choice and milk
11/18/21 – Stuffed Crust Cheese Pizza, Steamed Broccoli, fruit choice and milk
11/19/21 – Bagged Lunch – Soybutter & Jelly, Carrot Sticks, Baked Snack, Apple Slices, Juice
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| Our students enjoy hearing stories from our St. Joseph Football Regional Champs. Go Bears! |
Brown School Cares
We recognize that there are times in our lives when we are in a position of need and at other times we are positioned to help.
Ways Your Family Can Help
If you are in a position to help, we hope that your family will consider joining us in supplying items for Thanksgiving baskets. Please sign up to supply food items using this link.
Your donations can be dropped off in the Brown School office MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15th through FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19th between the hours of 8:00 a.m. - 4:15 p.m. We ask that frozen turkey donations be delivered on Monday, November 22nd from 8:00 a.m. - 4:15 p.m.
Stuff a Truck Food Drive
November 15-19, 2021
Brown School is proud to give back to the larger Berrien County community by collecting non-perishable (canned goods, boxed dinner/pasta) food items November 15-19. If you are able, simply pick up an item (or more) at the grocery store, and send it to school with your student to be donated. There will be a donation in the Brown School vestibule if SJVS would like to donate. We collect now because there is a greater need for food around the holidays. Thanks for spreading kindness and positivity!
This event is sponsored by 97.5 Y Country and Rogers. Items are donated to the Southwest Michigan Action Agency.
Spanish Club
We have a new enrichment opportunity available to our fourth grade students. Please see the information from Mr. Hernandez below.Bienvenidos! 4th grade students had the opportunity to sign up for the Spanish Club this week. We will meet Thursdays during lunch/lunch recess. This club will be a commitment both in school and at home. Our goal will be to introduce students to a new language and practice its usage through conversation, online, and written work. I look forward to working cooperatively with parents to give your child this opportunity!
-Mr. Hernandez
Sharing Our Stories Cultural Celebration Night
Mark your calendars! Our PTO is sponsoring a brand new family event on January 25th from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. called "Sharing Our Stories Cultural Celebration Night". This event will feature our students and their families sharing elements of their cultural traditions or cultural traditions they have learned about. Demonstrations may include dances, games, sports, informational brochures, etc.
We need you, Brown School! Families and students, please consider ways that you can share your stories with our school community. More information about signing up to participate in this event will be coming soon.
PTO Corner
Find out more about the PTO, including a list of planned events for this school year and how to volunteer, on our PTO Site.
Please join us for our next PTO meeting. It is scheduled for November 16 at 7:00pm in the Media Center. Children are always welcome! There is also an option to join virtually using this link: http://meet.google.com/tsh-ckoc-dcg
Thanksgiving Luncheon
Our annual Thanksgiving Luncheon is coming up on Tuesday, November 16. There is still time to volunteer for a shift or all three! This is a favorite event for our students and staff. 🦃🦃🦃 You can find more information and sign up at the link below: https://signup.com/go/mnBqCJq
Our annual Yearbook Cover Contest has started! Submissions are due to the office by Monday, November 22. More information can be found here: Yearbook Cover Contest
Spelling Bee
Hello, parents of 4th and 5th graders!! Spelling Club will start Friday, December 3rd and the Brown School spelling bee will occur after school on January 20th. Look for a flyer to come home soon!
Brown Bear Credit Union, a division of Honor Credit Union, will be opening soon in the crosshall. To view the video that was shared with students or to print copies of forms that were sent home, visit our Brown Bear Credit Union page here. If you would only like to view the video, it is available here: Brown Bear Student Video.
A request for a grant to fund a new 3D printer has been submitted to the PTO. As part of the PTO, all parents and guardians are encouraged to review the proposal and provide feedback. We have both the proposal, current feedback, and a form to submit comments or questions available here. If you have experience with 3D printers, we would love to hear from you!
Bucks for Brown is Looking Ahead
We are looking for a few more people to round out our Bucks for Brown committee. These roles would be in planning next year’s event and helping secure business sponsors for next year. If you are interested, please contact Sheri Baker or Kristen Bawks.
Book Fair
Are you interested in volunteering for the Scholastic Book Fair, December 6-10? We need people to help ring sales before school and during recesses. Please send an email to jberry2@stjoebears.com if you are interested!
Open register spots:
Morning recess - 9:45 - 11:00 - Monday, Thursday
Lunch recess - 11:35 - 12:30 - Monday, Thursday
Lunch recess - 12:30 - 1:30 - Tuesday, Thursday
Please note: If you would like to work during the book fair, please be sure and have a background check completed and on file. You can fill one out here: Volunteer Consent Form.
Most of our PTO events for the school year are already scheduled and can be viewed here. If you would like to help with any of these events, you can indicate interest through our form here.
Save the date for these upcoming hybrid PTO meetings. We will meet in the media center as well as offer a virtual connection option:
November 16 at 7pm
January 18 at 12:15pm
February 15 at 7pm
March 15 at 12:15
April 19 at 7pm
May 17 at 12:15pm
This letter is to inform you that your child’s school has partnered with The Children’s Advocacy Center of Southwest Michigan to offer child abuse prevention education to their students. This program meets the requirements outlined in Erin's Law (signed into law January 2013; www.erinslaw.org) for Michigan students. The research based curriculum we facilitate in the classroom is called Play it Safe!. You can find more information and previews of the lessons at www.PlayitSafe.org. These age-appropriate lessons are facilitated in your child’s classroom with their regular teaching staff present. While the topics vary with age, each elementary level lesson will teach children general concepts like:
Identifying the safe adults in a child’s life they can go to if they need help
Recognizing 3 different kinds of touches: Safe, Unsafe, and Confusing
Using the 3 part safety rule: Say no, Get away, Tell a trusted adult
It’s never too late to tell, and child abuse is never the child’s fault
All lessons are presented in a non-threatening way and vary for each grade level. This ensures the information is age and developmentally appropriate. All lessons include the use of a short video and class lecture/discussion.
These lessons are designed to build off each other year after year and reinforce these messages over time. Our hope is that by providing our children with information of how to avoid sexual and physical abuse, report it if it has occurred, or help a friend in need, we can proactively reduce child abuse in our community.
We encourage you to talk openly with your children and if you would like additional resources, please visit our website or call our office. We also offer Child Sexual Abuse Prevention training for adults and we would be happy to inform you when these occur.
If you have any concerns about the upcoming lesson your child will participate in, or if you would like to opt them out of the lesson, please contact Kristen Bawks (kbawks@sjschools.org). You may also contact the Children’s Advocacy Center of Southwest Michigan to ask questions about the lessons.
Thank you,
Allie Kibler-Campbell
Child Abuse Prevention and Outreach Specialist
Children’s Advocacy Center of Southwest Michigan
akiblercampbell@swmichigancac.org
(269) 556-9640
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| Click here to access this month's information from our SJPS Guidance Department. |
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Mrs. Rank and Mrs. LeClear's Class
Young Fives
First Grade
Third Grade
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade
