If you are ready to dive in to help, there are two immediate opportunities:
If you’d like to help plan and coordinate a fun activity/event for our Jaguars, you can sign up to join an event committee here: Committee Sign UP 2023-2024. You can learn more about these events and what is involved in organizing here: Event Program Planning Guides.
*Important Reminder for Volunteer Requirements
All volunteers must complete a Confidentiality Training Course about protecting the privacy of our students, staff, and schools, and the Child Abuse and Neglect Training about reporting any suspicion of child abuse or neglect to Howard County Department of Social Services. Once you complete the courses, which take 10 or so minutes, please print out the certificates and give them to the front office prior to your volunteer shift. These need to be completed every year, before any volunteer shift at SJLES.
The PTA Staff Appreciation Committee will be hosting a Back-to-School Breakfast for the amazing SJLES staff on Thursday, August 17, and we are looking for some items to be donated. If you would like to contribute, please use this link to sign up for items: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0949adae2ca02-back#/
Can’t donate any of these items but still want to help? You can also make a monetary donation which will go to support our many Staff Appreciation efforts throughout the year. To make a monetary donation, please visit: https://sjles.memberhub.com/store?limit=21&live=true&category=Donations
Please follow this Link to complete the Donation Form to accompany your item donation. This form will allow us to issue you a receipt for your tax purposes. You can submit this Donation Form directly with your donation or via email to the PTA VP of Finance and Compliance, at sjlesptavp1@gmail.com.
Thank you for helping support the PTA and the SJLES Staff!
I’d like to thank everyone who helped to make all of our PTA events and programs possible. We’ve been lucky enough to have an exceptional group of Board Members, Committee Chairs, and consistent volunteers. Together, with the community’s fundraising support, we’ve accomplished so much this year…
Hosted 12 fun events for students and families
Funded 4 school-wide cultural arts assemblies
Free Field Day T-shirt and Snowball to all students and staff
Free Class T-shirt to all 5th Graders, plus funds for end-of-year pool party
Purchased a brand-new Gaga Ball Pit for the playground
Bought a class set of ukuleles for the Music Department
Purchased new carpets for every First Grade classroom
Provided funding for over $9,300 worth of new books for the Media Center
Framing and materials for over 1,400 artwork displays for the Art Department’s Art Shows
Funded improvements to the Motor Room for the Special Education Department
Purchased a class pack of coding robots for the Technology Department
Bought supplies to convert chalkboards into dry-erase boards for all classrooms
Funded materials for new Beginning Band Method Books to be provided to all Beginning Band students in the future
Provided meals on 7 different occasions for 100 teachers and staff members
Supplied coffee and creamer for the staff lounge and tissues for every classroom all year long
Gifted each staff member a new bluetooth speaker
Coordinated, set up, and staffed the Book Fair
Implemented the Book Fairy program to expand access to the Book Fair for students who would not be able to make a purchase otherwise
Coordinated and produced a yearbook
Bought a new Harry Spotter mascot costume
Funded the Howard County Conservancy Owl Outreach on-site Field Trip for 5th Grade
Bought baseball caps for end-of-year gifts for Kindergarten students
Provided prizes for the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program to fill the Spot-O-Gram store
Funded the lunch for the Simulated Congressional Hearing Judges
Collected 1377 items for the food drive, 234 toys for students in need, and 52 coats, scarves, hats, and gloves for the coat drive
Donated to the PTACHC Scholarship Program and to Homewood Center
Provided supplies for the Jaguar Garden Days, a letter writing project for students, and individual white boards for student use, and countless classroom supplies
As you can see, the PTA is an important support for SJLES and the benefits to the students and staff are immensely impactful.
I’ve reached my term limits for serving as your President, but I’m excited to share that a wonderful new group of parents have stepped forward for next year. Please join me in welcoming our New Board:
Katie Brewer – President
Chinedu Agbakwuru – Vice President 1
Christian Buzzerd – Vice President 2
Claire Mathews – Treasurer
Sarah Day – Corresponding Secretary
Sarah Sherry – PTACHC Representative
Seba Kurian – PTACHC Representative
(If anyone is interested in learning about joining this amazing team as the Recording Secretary, reach out to SJLES.PTAmail@gmail.com with any questions.)
We sincerely thank everyone who gave membership dues, volunteered their time, loaned us equipment for events, and encouraged us with your feedback!
With sincere gratitude, Meg Halvorsen PTA President 2021-2023
You don’t have to spend a summer day driving from store to store to purchase school supplies…because now you can get everything you need in one easy box! The PTA is offering a pre-packaged school supply box that includes the exact items requested by your child’s teachers. Check out pricing here and order online at www.shopttkits.com using account number 19690. The kit will be in your child’s classroom in time for the “welcome back” Open House this fall. Orders are due by June 16! ***NOTE about GT boxes: If your 4th or 5th grade student is in GT classes, be sure to select their grade’s GT box only. You do NOT need to buy both grade-level boxes for your student.***
HCPSS Kindergarten registration for the 2023-2024 school year is open! Parents/guardians of children who will be five on or before September 1, 2023, must enroll their children in kindergarten for the 2023-2024 school year. Please help spread the word! By registering for Kindergarten as early as possible, you’re helping to ensure that SJLES will have the staffing and resources in place for the incoming class of Kindergarteners well in advance. Working in advance also helps SJLES recruit the best teachers! Registration info can be found here. In addition, we hope to see many of our new SJLES Kindergarteners and families at our Kindergarten Sneak A Peek on 5/24/23 at 4:00 p.m. Please spread the word and complete this RSVP form if you plan to attend.
Scientific Minds of America (SMOA) is a nonprofit with a mission to provide free online tutoring sessions to students K-8 from high school volunteers nationwide. Mount Hebron students participating in this program have reached out to us to share more information with SJLES families. SMOA offers free, personalized tutoring in Math, English, Science, and History by dedicated high school volunteers, at the pace you need–such as weekly, or on an as-needed basis. You can learn more about SMOA here, or use this link to sign up. Again, these tutoring services are free of charge.
We literally could not have held this event without your time, effort, and generosity. To those who helped set up and clean up, made calls to businesses for the auction, volunteered at a station, brought baked goods, or loaned us a canopy, table, or cooler – we can’t thank you enough. We are also grateful to the area student groups who performed! Share your photos here for the (new!) digital portion of the yearbook. The funds raised from May Day will make up a large part of the 2023-2024 budget, which will be allocated in the fall, when the new school year begins. Thank you for your support!
HCPSS Kindergarten registration for the 2023-2024 school year is open! Parents/guardians of children who will be five on or before September 1, 2023, must enroll their children in kindergarten for the 2023-2024 school year. Please help spread the word! We hope to see many of our new SJLES Kindergarteners and families at our Kindergarten Sneak A Peek on 5/24/23 at 4:00 p.m. Please spread the word and complete this RSVP form if you plan to attend.
Coming together as a community at Saturday’s May Day Festival was an amazing experience! Like this one, many of the school year’s memorable events are run by the PTA. The time has come to elect a new Board of Directors to carry the torch for 2023-2024. There are still a number of open positions, and as a result, there will not be a PTA next year unless volunteers come forward on Wednesday night.
Please join us for an in-person meeting this Wednesday 5/10 at 6:30 p.m. in the SJLES Media Center to discuss the future of the PTA. Pizza will be provided! ***If you cannot attend the meeting, but would like to fill a Board position, please reach out to Meg Halvorsen at SJLES.PTAmail@gmail.com to indicate your interest!***
