JCP has changes galore!

There's a lot to celebrate at JCP for our first 10 days of school. As many of you have noticed, we have created many new systems and protocols, feeling like we've created a whole new school. In a sense, we have. We've added 150+ students, totaling over 800, but have only 3 grade levels. So we needed to make some changes:

• Once students are on campus the perimeter of the campus is secured, requiring all visitors to enter and check-in through the front office. This has made it harder for some parents who like to walk their students to class because they have to now check in first. But we decided that making sure our campus was safe and every adult on campus was accounted for was worth making a few adults uncomfortable. We would rather do everything we can to insure student safety than have to wonder, after an emergency, if we could have done more. 
• Students now eat in the classrooms. With this many students, it was physically not an option to have them all eat in the cafeteria. Unfortunately, the way this campus is made, with it's hills and rough terrain, we don't have the option of delivering lunches to our different locations. The lunch carts are just too heavy and last year we have a custodian severely injure an ankle attempting to do just this. But having lunch in the classrooms gives students a 30-minute recess before lunch, and as much time as they need to eat their lunches. Previously, students only had 15 minutes to eat. Now they can eat and learn if they need more time. We planned on having many spilled lunches but by my last count, we've only had 5. And yes, that includes our kindergartners. :)
• Lunch money can only be accepted at the front office. We have added an extra office person in the morning to handle this job. We need to get 19 students a minute through our lunch lines in order to make sure lunch is cleaned up before PE begins. Having students turn their lunch funds in to the office is one way to make lunch smoother. And lunch is much smoother! The first day of kinder, it took 35 minutes from when the lunch bell rang to when the last student left the gym with a lunch. They now can do it in 15 minutes, consistently.
• We added a 5th special for students, art. They now have PE, music, library, technology, and art. Students go to one specialist a day, for 45 minutes. 
• Pick-up after school is now all done in front of the school. With the additional students, parents and staff were concerned about having parents and older siblings roaming in and out of students in bus lines and being on campus before students had the chance to load onto the buses. We now have teachers walking students to the bus lines first, then dropping off at the parent pick-up after. The first day, it took 40 minutes for the last student to be picked up. Now, 99% of students are picked up and heading home within 10 minutes. And if we have more parking, I'm convinced this would be even faster. 
• Parking. Unfortunately, this always has been and continues to be an issue. We appreciate those parents who park on Home Ave., in the church parking lot, or down the street and walk. There is no immediate fix to our parking situation in the near future and we appreciate your patience and understanding. 

I am always open to discuss ways we can improve. Any suggestion you may have that will increase the safety and education of our students will always be welcome! 

In October, I will have my first Principal Connect. This is an opportunity for me to share with parents why we do what we do at JCP for students, discuss trends and such in education, and answer any questions you may have. Stay tuned for a day and time. 

See you at the open house on Thursday!