Pruett's AIG Blog for IBJ

Fifth grade has worked a lot with 'close reading' this year! Isn't that right, Mrs. Ewanyk? Close reading refers to really digging into the meaning of what you are reading. Our fifth grade ASGM group today worked with logic puzzles that rely heavily  on close reading. Today's puzzle was "Five Boys and Five Dogs." With just a few carefully worded clues, students had to solve this challenging puzzle.  I was impressed at these intrepid students (pictured) who were able to solve the problem in little time at all! Way to go, young ladies!

Happy Holidays - including the cold/flu season! Here are guidelines from our school nurse about keeping kids home from school. GUIDELINES FOR EXCLUDING A STUDENT FROM SCHOOL 1. Temperature 100.0 or higher (keep at home until fever-free for 24 hours.) 2. Rash with fever or behavior change (until seen by a doctor.) 3. Illness that prevents the child from participating comfortably in program activities. 4. Difficulty breathing or other signs of serious illness. 5. Diarrhea that cannot be contained or has blood/mucus in it.  Vomiting two or more times in previous 24 hours. 6. Pink eye with discharge (until seen by a doctor.) 7. Strep throat (until 24 hours after antibiotics have been started.) 8. Head lice (has separate educational resource.) 9. Scabies (until after treatment is complete.) 10. Chicken pox (until the sixth day of onset of the rash or sooner if all sores are dried and crusted.) 11. Flu (per physician recommendation.) 12. Impetigo (until 24 h

Hola! This from our esteemed Principal, Sarah Cain: Hi Jones Parents, this is Ms. Cain with a school safety message. Our school has grown in size and we now have over 500 students. This means daily traffic to and from Jones can quickly get congested. The safety of children and staff are my  priority. We have worked hard to come up with plans to move traffic as quickly as possible while minimizing disruption in the neighborhood. I have been a part of many traffic studies but the bottom line is we need your help. PLEASE model safe driving by not speeding in our school zone or on Kimberly. Obey traffic directions by staff and volunteers directing traffic, loading/unloading cars.  Avoid using cell phones in the car lines as distracted drivers endanger everyone.. Do not walk through lines of cars. We are very aware of the precious passengers you are delivering - on most days our Safety Patrol serves 130-150 cars. We know it is stressful to get stuck in traffic and wait in car

Third Grade: Asheville City Schools formally qualifies students for AIG services in third grade. All ACS students are screened with input from their second grade teachers and an aptitude (or reasoning ability) measure given in November. Many students also take an achievement test to identify strengths in reading and/or math. The IBJ AIG Services Committee writes plans for students based on this data. The qualification for AIG in third grade continues. Cognitive Abilities Test results are back and have been mailed to all Jones third grade families. Some students will take an additional achievement test in January. This is the Iowa Survey in reading and math. This data will be used to qualify students for AIG services. PLEASE contact me with any questions you may have about this process.

Here is Mrs. Sorensen leading the next generation of coders!

Many of you may have been able to attend restructuring meetings held by ACS across our district. This link will connect you with the ACS Restructuring Initiative website. The site includes a ton of information about four plans for growth and other aspects of ACS's bold move forward. http://www.ashevillecityschools.net/pages/Asheville_City_Schools/Departments/Public_Relations/ACS_Restructuring_Initiative