Share your feedback at the state, county and school level
In your Monday message from PTA President Keisha Green, you heard about the importance of parent engagement. Here are three ways you can connect with your child’s public school experience:
- The NC Department of Public Instruction wants your input on the state’s plan to comply with the new federal education law — the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The state plan will address issues of school accountability, student assessments, support for struggling schools and other elements. Come to Green Hope High School in Cary on Thursday, April 21, from 4-6 p.m. Audience members who want to speak (up to 3 minutes) should sign in by 4:15 p.m. at each session and are invited (but not required) to bring a copy of their remarks to submit into the record of the event. A recording and notes from each session also will be taken. In addition, the public is invited to submit comments to the Department of Public Instruction through Let’s Talk.
- Wake County has been selected as one of just 100 communities across the country to host a GradNation Community Summit, designed to improve our graduation rate. Along with YouthThrive and Raleigh College and Community Collaborative, WCPSS is bringing together stakeholders from throughout the community to identify gaps in access to college and career readiness resources and develop a multi-year action plan to address those gaps. The event is on April 29 from 8:30-4:30 — registration is free, but seats are limited. Click here for details and registration.
- Parent input forms for Joyner regarding class assignments for next year are available now in the office — ask Ms. Ferriter for a pink form and be sure to return it to the school by May 9. Also, if you have friends with rising kindergartners headed for Joyner in the fall, remind them to come in now and register!
Food trucks coming for Night of Nonsense!
Announcing the first two food trucks signed up for our Food Truck Frenzy at Night of Nonsense: Pie Pushers and The Humble Pig! Be sure to RSVP on the Facebook event page (and share the event with your friends and neighbors) — the more RSVPs we have, the more tasty food trucks we can invite. This fun event is held at Joyner on April 28 — food starts at 4:45 and the show begins at 6:30.
Joyner OM team taking over the world!
As you already heard in Mrs. Hutchinson’s Sunday phone message, one of Joyner’s Odyssey of the Mind teams — Sushi Surfers — won 1st place in their regional competition and 2nd in the state contest, competing against dozens of other teams. They will represent Joyner in Iowa next month, competing against some of the best teams from around the world — and now they need your help. Please visit their GoFundMe page to help the team cover their registration and travel costs for this impressive event!
Author to visit next week
Joyner’s visit from author Deborah Wiles has been rescheduled for Wednesday, April 20. Check your child’s Wednesday folders for a flyer from Mrs. Hale.
Want to be the boss?
Looking for a chance to be in charge of something, exercise a little authority, flex some muscle? Now’s your chance! The Joyner PTA still needs to fill a few positions for next year including Dine-out Nights (to plan and promote them), K-2 Liaison(plan summer playdates of K families, popsicles on meet the teacher for K, etc.), and someone to assist the fabulous Jen Schrage with Night of Nonsense. Please contact Catherine Otto at catherineeotto@gmail.com to volunteer, to ask questions or to nominate someone.
Exciting events this week to support the JY Joyner Foundation
The JY Joyner Foundation is promoting three fundraising opportunities in April. Funds raised through the Foundation will be used to attract and retain talented educators and enhance the IB program at Joyner.
- Bring the family to Piola and Lily Rain in North Hills THIS THURSDAY, April 14, for dinner and shopping and support the JY Joyner Foundation! Piola is hosting a family-style spaghetti dinner on April 14 from 4-9 p.m. and will donate 20% of sales to the JY Joyner Foundation. Piola is also offering a discount on bottles of wine for friends of JYJ that night. Reservations are strongly encouraged, but not required. Reserve your spot here! Lily Rain is also donating 20% of all sales on April 14 to the JY Joyner Foundation. Lily Rain, open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., is the perfect place to buy women’s clothing, jewelry and accessories for the Foundation Gala. Please remember to mention that you are with JYJ at both Piola and Lily Rain so that 20% of your purchase goes towards the JYJ Foundation.
- The JY Joyner Spring Gala will be held on Thursday, April 21! Click here to purchase tickets. Deadline to purchase tickets is THIS FRIDAY, April 15. You can also pre-register to participate in the auction by texting JOYNER to 24700 and then follow the directions to pre-register your name and payment information.
- The Produce Box will donate $10 to the JYJ Foundation for every Joyner family that signs up for a membership during the month of April. To sign up, follow this link and use special code JOYNER.
Quick links
- Mrs. Hutchinson’s blog
- WCPSS email alerts and newsletters
- April lunch menu
- My School Bucks (lunch money app)
- WCPSS Online School Payments (for field trips)
Calendar items
- April 14: Foundation fundraisers at Piola and Lily Rain
- April 21: JY Joyner Foundation Gala, 7 p.m. at the Merrimon-Wynne House
- April 28: Food Truck Frenzy (4:45 p.m.) and Night of Nonsense (6:30-8 p.m.) at Joyner
- May 19: General PTA membership meeting followed by 6:45 music concert (2nd grade, 3rd grades and the Gold Choir)
- May 26: EOG testing begins
Have an announcement to include in a future edition of the NewsFlash? Submit your article via this form. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @pta_joyner.