• Week 7 Director Notes • September 7, 2018 • @estempcsathlet1 ...

• Week 7 Director Notes • September 7, 2018 • eStem Junior High Community, We’ve had a great week at eStem Downtown Junior High School. Our teachers are doing some tremendous things in their classrooms, and I hope you’ve had the chance to talk about those projects and assignments with your child! As you know, our motto is Together We Achieve. For that motto to manifest into more than just words, we need your feedback! If you’d like to provide input on how we can continue to grow and thrive as a school community, please consider doing so by using the “JHS Community Feedback” function of the Downtown Junior High School’s page at eStemSchools.org. No questions are too big or small, all ideas are welcome, and we would genuinely love to hear what you have to say! For daily updates on some of the cool things that are happening in our hallways and classrooms, find us on Twitter and Instagram: @eStemDTJHS For updates on eStem Athletics (tryouts, pictures, scores, schedules, fundraisers, booster club, etc), you can also follow @estempcsathletics on Instagram or Facebook. You can also find them on Twitter

@estempcsathlet1. Our Book Fair is next week!

Throughout the week, every student will have the chance to visit the book fair with their social studies teacher, so please talk with your child about what books they’d like to read and why that particular book interests them. How great would it be if every single student had a brand new book! Now, THAT’S what I would call a culture of reading!

Picture day will be Monday, September 17.

Students must be in dress code to have their picture taken, and parents can pre-order pictures online by searching “MyLifetouch” in any internet browser and entering the following ID Code: RP018233Q0. If you have any questions or need any assistance ordering pictures, please contact Ms. Scales.

Our MATHCOUNTS competition team is back!

This is a nationwide middle-school mathematics competition, and our team has brought home trophies the past two years. We are excited to announce that our Algebra I/Math 8 teacher, Mr. Sharpe, has assumed the mantle of head coach. This team is open to 6th – 8th grade students, and an interest meeting will be held on Monday, September 10 at 4:15 PM. This meeting will be at the Downtown Junior High campus in room 111.

9th grade students can try out for the High School baseball and softball teams! Tryouts will be held at Burns Park on the following dates/times: Baseball: September 25 – 26 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM

Softball: October 9 – 10 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM All students planning to participate must attend both dates and bring documentation of a physical on the first day of tryouts. If your child wishes to participate, they can sign up in the main office. If you have any questions, please email Mr. Dillon.

9th grade students can try out for the eStem High School soccer team! Tryouts will be held on September 19th and 20th from 4:30-6:00 PM at Coleman Field. All participants must submit a recent medical clearance note from their physicians before tryouts. Sign up list is outside Ms. Benson's classroom. For more information, please contact CAPT. Pursley.

Teachers can and should be issuing detentions and contacting parents regarding those consequences. We have clarified this on morning announcements to ensure our students are aware that Coach Gray is not the only person in the building with the authority to issue consequences, and we want to be sure that all of our parents are aware of this as well. If you have any questions regarding the school’s discipline policy, please do not hesitate to email Coach Gray, Ms. Tucker, or Mr. DuPriest.

Please be sure you have turned on the notifications for Google Classroom on ALL devices with which you and your child access Google Classroom. Unfortunately, the default settings do not include notifications. Once these are turned on, you should receive updates via your phone, tablet, or laptop regarding your child’s Google Classroom posts and assignments.

Over Spring break, we will be hosting a trip to Washington D.C. through a program called Close Up! This will be our 4th time collaborating with Close Up for this trip, and we need at least 10 students to make it work. You can learn more about the organization at THIS LINK. The trip will take place from March 17 – March 20 of 2019 and costs roughly $1,600. This price includes airfare, hotel accommodations, and food. eStem employees will be chaperoning the trip. Our second interest meeting will be from 5:00 – 5:30 in one of our Downtown Junior High classrooms on Monday, September 10. If you are interested in learning more, please email Mr. DuPriest.    

Home Access Center (HAC) is a website through which you can monitor your child’s grades and attendance. The web address for HAC is: http://hac40.esp.k12.ar.us. All students who purchase a lunch will need to have money on their lunch account. Money can be loaded onto lunch accounts at www.myschoolbucks.com. If your child will be absent, please email [email protected] to let us know! If you have an address, email, or phone number change, please email those changes to Mrs. Peterson: [email protected].