Welcome back from break! No Heritage Parade today, but please remember to bring in your family’s quilt square for Ms. Orr.
Joyner teachers offer summer camps
Still looking for great options for summer camps for your kids? Check out the offerings from some of our Joyner teachers available this summer:
- Kindergarten readiness camp with Ms. Forbes and Ms. Johnson
- Science camp with Ms. Pelletier
- Spanish camp with Ms. Bell
- PE/Art/Expedition camps with Mr. Poyer, Mr. Fotta and Ms. Orr
Foundation gala next week
The Simply Southern Gala, which raises funds for the JYJ Foundation, is a night of celebration and school spirit filled with music, friends, food and drink. Buy your tickets for the gala online at https://joyner.auction-bid.org/ — click the link for “Register and Buy Tickets” to see all ticket packages.The adult-only event will be held April 27 at the Merrimon-Wynne House in downtown Raleigh. Come socialize with Joyner parents and friends of JYJ to raise money to help fund teaching positions at our school.
Prepare to be fed and entertained!
The annual Joyner Night of Nonsense & Food Truck Frenzy is coming up on Thursday, May 4! Food trucks will open at 4:45 and the Nonsense Show starts at 6 p.m. under the overhang. Bring cash or credit for the food trucks, but the hilarious skits performed by the fabulous Joyner teachers and staff are always free! Check out some of the skits from last year on the JYJ You Tube channel.
Parking is limited, so please walk if you can — and bring your family and friends along. Dinner seating will be available in the cafeteria, but feel free to bring a picnic blanket if you’d like to eat outside. Be sure to RSVP on the Facebook event page so we can recruit more food trucks — here’s who we have so far:
- http://www.phonomenaldumplings.com/
- http://www.thehumblepig.com/index.html
- https://www.piepushers.com/
- http://www.ilovelocopops.com/
Produce Box offers healthy way to thank your teachers
The Wake County PTA Council is sharing a special opportunity to say thank you to our teachers through a partnership with the Produce Box during Teacher Appreciation Week. Here are the options:
- Order a HARVEST BOX OF FRUITS & VEGGIES ($25 value) – A curated box full of fruits and veggies will be hand-delivered directly to your teacher’s school during Teacher Appreciation Week with your name and your teacher’s name on it. You can also not specify a name and ask for it to go the break room for teachers to share or help themselves.
- Purchase a $30 or $60 GIFT CERTIFICATE – This option allows the recipient to choose their OWN BOX from our weekly menu full of delicious items. The certificate will be e-mailed to you within 48 hours so you can forward the e-mail to your teacher or print and deliver it! Your teacher can choose a delicious Box full of fresh fruits & veggies or they can build their own Market Box full of local goodies. Their personally selected order will be hand-delivered to their home or school (their choice) with a smile!
- Produce Box subscribers can order a Hero Box along with their regular box, and subscribers and non-subscribers can order here: http://www.theproducebox.com/celebrate-teacher-appreciation-week
WCPSS considers its class size reduction options
As the question about class size requirements in grades K-3 lingers, the Wake County Public School System is preparing to add about 460 new elementary classroom teaching positions. How the school system reaches that number is possible through several different scenarios, according to WCPSS Superintendent James Merrill. The superintendent presented multiple options to restructure the school system to utilize existing staff who are licensed to teach in elementary classrooms. For more details on this issue from WakeEd Partnership, click here to read the full WakeEdge article. A related report released Monday by the N.C. Justice Center’s Education & Law Project suggests it could cost the state’s school districts more than $188 million to comply with the class size mandates.
Parent voices needed to inform NC policies and practices
Tracy Zimmerman, executive director of the NC Early Childhood Foundation (and wife of a certain 4th grade teacher), recently wrote a blog post for EdNC about the importance of tackling a serious challenge facing North Carolina: the overwhelming majority of our children are not reading proficiently by the end of third grade. Because reading well in the early grades predicts a child’s academic and career success, it’s critical that our state adopt policies and practices that are both based in research and informed by the people who know the most about what children need – their parents and caregivers. Click here to read the blog post, then contribute your voice in the survey at the bottom of the post. Click here for a second survey about nutrition, education and early childhood development.
Quick links
- Joyner PTA website
- Joyner glossary of terms
- J.Y. Joyner Foundation website
- Mrs. Hutchinson’s blog
- WCPSS email alerts and newsletters
- Lunch menus
- My School Bucks (lunch money app)
- WCPSS Online School Payments (for field trips)
- Mr. Fotta’s adoption site
- Triple P (Positive Parenting Program)
Calendar items
- April 20: PTA general membership meeting and 2nd grade/3rd grade/choir concert, 6:30 p.m.
- April 22: JYJ Gold Choir at the Carolina Mudcats
- April 27: JY Joyner Foundation gala
- May 4: Food Truck Frenzy and Night of Nonsense
- May 10: Kindergarten orientation, 8:35 a.m.
- May 26-June 6: End-of-Grade testing
- June 7: Step up day
- June 8: 5th grade graduation
- June 9: annual 5th grade vs. faculty kickball game (last day of school)