South Jefferson Elementary School

Hello, everyone! I’m not trying to intrude on your summer (I promise!), but have received several inquiries about school supplies, so I thought I’d send out a message, giving you “the intel” that you will need for the upcoming school year. First of all, welcome to our new families and “hello!” to our returning SJES families. We can’t wait to see you in August! I am Keri Mahoney, the proud Principal of South Jefferson, and I’m excited about the 25-26 school year. I feel like this is going to be a fantastic year for all of us. Our staff is recharging and catching up on some much-needed and well-deserved family time and rest, not focusing on “Back to School” wish lists or sales. So, please don’t mention it to them yet. This will be our little secret. 😉 BUT, I’m sure that YOU have noticed the stores are already stocking their shelves with beautiful and exciting school supplies....and this often brings about questions such as "what does my child need for school?" or "why aren't their supply lists available?", "what is 'loose leaf' paper???!", etc. For schools, there is always the art of balancing between not wanting to impose on our families to purchase school supplies and the teachers purchasing things for their classrooms out of their own money. What to do?? While we provide many of the school supplies that your child may need (crayons, scissors, pencils, etc), I asked the staff to share with me (so that I could pass it along to you) about what they'd love to have in their classrooms, if these items were donated by their parents or others in the community. I'm going to break it down by grade levels/classrooms, to make it easier to navigate. HERE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS POST: This is NOT necessary, nor is it mandatory. These items are shared with you in case you happen to be in the school supply aisle, are getting the jump on Amazon savings days or you're like me and love a good bargain and can never resist a Sharpie or a cool water bottle!?) or you just want to be helpful and actually purchase what the students will use in the classrooms... PreK: Baby wipes, Clorox/antibacterial wipes, thinner/smaller dry erase black markers, washable markers, (crayola preferred), tissues, gallon-sized Ziploc bags, individual water bottle. Head Start: Baby wipes, Clorox/antibacterial wipes, tissues, individual water bottle. Kindergarten: The K teachers love water bottles for their students (Ms. Horne provides these for her class already), headphones (for use with devices—-please no earbuds or Bluetooth headphones), paper towels, tissues, dry erase markers, glue sticks, Clorox/antibacterial wipes and Crayola crayons. A change of clothes in a ziploc bag (socks, underwear, top and bottom), labeled with your child’s name, is always appreciated. First Grade: Glue sticks, scissors, tissues, headphones for devices, water bottles, Crayola crayons, black dry erase markers, Clorox/antibacterial wipes and a wide ruled composition notebook. A change of clothes in a ziploc bag (socks, underwear, top and bottom), labeled with your child’s name, is always appreciated. Second Grade: Wide-ruled composition notebooks, headphones for devices, pencils, tissues, glue sticks, Crayola crayons, dry erase markers, Clorox/antibacterial wipes and water bottles. Third Grade: Wide-ruled composition notebooks, wide ruled loose leaf paper, pencils, 3 pocket folders w/ prongs (one yellow, one purple and one blue), dry erase markers, highlighters, scissors, large pink erasers, pencil top erasers, Clorox/antibacterial wipes, water bottles and tissues. Fourth Grade: Dry erase markers, headphones, glue sticks, tissues,1 spiral notebook, pencil top erasers, pencils (Ticonderoga preferred), 4 color pack of highlighters, water bottles, box of colored pencils, box of markers, Clorox/antibacterial wipes and a 1 inch binder. Fifth Grade: Tissues, pencils, colored pencils, loose leaf wide-ruled paper, 2 composition wide ruled notebooks, 1 purple pocket folder, index cards, water bottle, black dry erase markers, headphones for device, Clorox/antibacterial wipes, one 1 inch 3-ring binder, pencil bag (not box, please). Library: Tissues PE: Tissues Music: Tissues, black dry erase markers Art: Tissues and glue sticks (We ask everyone to bring an old shirt for Art to protect clothing when using paint or other art products). Again, NONE OF THIS IS REQUIRED. We will always make sure that our students have everything that they need to be successful. BUT, if you are interested in picking up a few items here and there, as you navigate through the rest of your summer days, and you want to make a teacher's wallet a little happier, this is a way that you can help. I hope that this list has been helpful and IF you made it this far in the longest post in the history of Facebook, Ms. Mahoney's supply list consists of Starbucks coffee. 😂 Have a wonderful day and we'll see you soon! 😁 Ms. Mahoney P.S. If you’re contemplating purchasing supplies, keep in mind that there is VERY LITTLE ROOM in desks. Bulky pencil boxes and unnecessary items are not worth the investment. Smelly glue or noisy toys, disguised as school supplies, are not needed. What IS worth the investment? Ticonderoga pencils. Crayola crayons. Expo markers. Yes, they may be brand names and more expensive, but they last longer and are good quality. They are worth it. P.S.S. After listening to over 20 metal water bottles hit the floor on a daily basis, trust me when I say that a water bottle that is NOT loud when it falls would be awesome. 😉 P.S.S.S. Sending in tissues and Clorox wipes during the year is ALWAYS a wonderful thing. We go through MANY of each.

JCS wants your feedback! We continually seek to improve how we communicate with our families and community. Please take a moment ( about 4 minutes) to complete our JCS Communications Survey: https://forms.office.com/r/171vPKXMme

JCS REMINDER: All JCS schools will operate on a 2-hour early dismissal tomorrow, Friday, May 30, for faculty senate meetings. We look forward to seeing you all in the morning to say hello and goodbye one last time before summer break.

Our kindergarten classes FINALLY enjoyed a field trip without rain when they visited Orr’s Farm. They picked fresh strawberries, visited animals and had a blast playing with friends. Thank you to our chaperones—-we love your help and watching you enjoy time with your children. Memories like these last a lifetime.

Our third graders had an awesome day at Sam Michael’s Park for their field trip. The day was filled with a planting demonstration, a nature scavenger hunt, a picnic lunch and time on the playground. What could be better!?

JCS REMINDER: JCS offices and schools are closed on Monday, May 26, 2025, in observance of Memorial Day. We look forward to seeing our students back on Tuesday, May 27, for the last week of school! Make sure to finish the year strong and attend through the last day.

Field trip fun for first graders at the Discovery Museum!

JCS Families: Please read this end-of-year update from Superintendent Bishop about attendance and safety: https://jcs.edurooms.com/engage/jefferson-county-schools/newsletters/superintendents-update-may-20

Congratulations to fourth grader, Nathan Laisure, for his Positive Office Referral. Nathan was nominated by his teacher for jumping into action during the power outage last week. Nathan assisted Mrs. Sunday during that event, but Mrs. Sunday shared that Nathan is ALWAYS doing for others. Sure sounds like Nathan is a perfect role model for all of us! 💜💛

Today we celebrate the accomplishments of our very own, Mrs. Burwell, 5th grade teacher. Mrs. Burwell is graduating today from Shepherd University with her Master of Arts in Teaching. We are very proud of her accomplishment and are so happy that she’s a part of the South Jefferson family! 💜💛

Today, we celebrate and honor our amazing school nurse, Nurse Heidi! She keeps our school running smoothly and takes care of all of us! Thank you, Nurse Heidi, for all of your TLC at SJES! 💜🏥🦷👓🩹🤕🤒💛

This week, we are celebrating the most incredible staff of South Jefferson Elementary! The tireless hours, the kindest support, the constant and loving care for our students….all the little things you may not see, but they pour their hearts into making our school year a successful and fun experience for our students and their families. Take a moment to thank them—-a handwritten note is the best gift ever! I am honored to work alongside this amazing group of people and am celebrating them not just this week, but every week! 💜🥳💛 Ms. Mahoney #StaffAppreciationWeek

We love our cafeteria staff at SJES! Thank you to Mrs. Henry, our Cafeteria Manager, and Miss Adams and Mrs. Ryan-Ruprecht for serving us delicious meals each day! We are grateful for you! 💜💛🥳

May menu

Field trips are awesome! Field trips take our students on journeys, exposing our students to places and events that they may not have seen before. They allow us to expand learning beyond the four walls of our classrooms and to provide memories for our students that will last forever. Our 2nd graders traveled to Blandy Farm in Virginia this week and had a blast on a beautiful day! Blandy Experimental Farm is a University of Virginia research facility in the northern Shenandoah Valley. Blandy is also home to the State Arboretum of Virginia and has over 700 acres of beautiful land for our students to explore.

Just a reminder that SJES’ Kindergarten Registration is Wednesday, April 30th! We hold two sessions: one at 9:30 am and one at 1:30 pm. Please choose which one works better with your schedule and bring your future Roadrunner with you. 💛💜 What you will need: Birth certificate Shot records Proof of residency (utility bill or mortgage statement/rental agreement) Dental exam record Physical If you want to make things move quicker, please pre-register online at jcswv.org. We’re looking forward to meeting you and welcoming you to SJES! Thank you!

Our Earth Day Fun Run couldn’t have happened on a more beautiful day! Thank you to everyone who came by to cheer us on, who donated money to support Cool Spring Preserve and who even joined in the run with us. I’m always reminded about the power of community when this annual event happens. Our students ran with heart and perseverance! It was incredible! We raised over $600 for our community partner! A great day for everyone!

Our 4th and 5th graders, under the creative eye of Mrs. Fiolek, our awesome art educator, viewed sculptures by Claus Oldenburg and Peter Anton. Their challenge was to make a miniature of their favorite food by mixing marker color with model magic. They shared ideas about their foods and if they would work well for the project with their neighbor. They experimented with mixing colors and noted how when they added the marker color to the white model magic it created a "tint" of that color. They used techniques such as texturizing, pinching, coiling, twisting, etc...to create their mini masterpiece! So cool! Looks good enough to eat! 😊

Teamwork makes the dream work! Our third graders have worked hard in Writer’s Workshops this year, under the watchful and supportive direction of our third grade team, to improve upon their writing, in anticipation of their WVGSA writing assessment this week. During this session, the students collaborated together to create a well-written personal narrative. We are very proud of their focus and commitment to perfecting their writing! Well done, Third Grade! 📝

Braylon Shultz is showing us what perseverance, commitment and dedication looks like. He was nominated for a Positive Office Referral by his teacher, who shared that Braylon has been working on his writing, during his free time. Braylon wants to improve with his writing, adding details, citing evidence and defending his opinions in his writing. How impressive is that!? I am positive that Braylon is going to reach his goals and I’m just happy that I have the honor of witnessing it! Fantastic work, Braylon! 💛💜