Greetings Husky Families
We are on the cusp of the 2023-24 school year and are looking forward to welcoming students back to Jahn School of Fine Arts. It has been wonderful having staff back in the building last week learning and preparing for the arrival of our students. School starts promptly on Monday, August 21st at 8 am.
Our goal at Jahn is to continuously provide an environment where students are engaged in meaningful instruction coupled with the fine arts that empowers them to be creative thinkers. I am honored and extremely excited to return as the instructional leader of this extraordinary place of learning.
For our returning families, I would like to say “Welcome Back!” To those who are new to the Husky family, I want to thank you for choosing Jahn as the place for your child’s education. Jahn will provide your child with a great educational experience where we cater to the whole child.
This message contains important information for the beginning of the school year. To assist you in making this year great, I would like to share with you some logistics for our opening day and a “sneak peek” of upcoming events.
Arrival and dismissal procedures: School hours are from 8 am to 3 pm. Please assist us in making both arrival and dismissal safe and smooth. During the mornings, weather permitting, we will meet your children in the playground area (Grades K-8). As before, we will have staff members available along Wolcott (heading north) for our Kiss N’ Go. For the safety of our students, it is important that you follow the traffic patterns during pick up and drop off. We ask that you support our staff and truly assist us with the flow of traffic by quickly transitioning your child from the car. Due to the small size of Wolcott and Fletcher streets, traffic flow will be one way during arrival and dismissal (Wolcott traffic will flow north and Fletcher traffic will flow west). Streets will be blocked for this one way traffic flow as early as 7:45 am.
For the safety of all, please do not drop students off in the crosswalk. We have a number of curbside areas where students can be dropped off. There will also be a number of staff members on the Jahn campus every morning and afternoon to support your child’s smooth transition.
Below is specific information about where students should line up: (staff members will be on the playground to support your child’s arrival and teachers will have signage displaying their name and room number).
Pre-K: Students will say goodbye outside and enter the doors on Fletcher Street with their teacher. Most, if not all, of our Pre-K families have had the opportunity to meet our Pre-K teachers: Ms. Shannon, Ms. Jackie, and Ms. Nancy (room 001); Ms. Mary and Ms. Jazmin (room 002); Dr. Coleman, Ms. Abby, and Ms. Kimyatta (room 101); Mr. Fredy and Ms. Sarah (room 102) and Ms. Sarah and Ms. Kathy (room 103). They will also dismiss from these doors.
Grades K-2: Students will line up on the basketball court. Our K-2 team includes the following: Kindergarten: Ms. Cruz (room 108) and Ms. Maddy (room 109); First grade: Ms. Lewis (room 209) and Ms. Salgado (room 208); Second grade: Ms. Stamos (room 208) and Ms. Selecta (203). Students will be dismissed from the Belmont Street doors. Kindergarten will start their dismissal at 2:50, followed by 1st grade at 2:55, and 2nd grade right at 3:00 pm.
Grades 3rd-8th: Students will enter the building through our main entrance. Teachers are as follows: 3rd grade: Ms. Mavros (room 204); 4th grade: Ms. Chen (room 202); 5th grade: Ms. Walsh (room 301); 6th grade: Mr. Knaus (room 307); 7th grade: Ms. Berrios (room 309) and 8th grade: Ms. Rodkey (room 302). Students will be dismissed from the main entrance doors as well.
Arrival in inclement weather: On very cold or rainy days, drop-off begins at 7:45 am. PK-4th grade students will wait in the lower portion of the auditorium and 6th-8th graders will wait in the balcony area. We will have a number of paraprofessionals supervising students in both locations until teachers pick them up at 8 am. Both areas will be full, so parents please drop your children off and depart.
Early dismissal: If you are picking up your child early, please come to the main office and we will call them down. Please understand that we can not promise an early dismissal in the last 20 minutes of the day due to office traffic and classes being dismissed.
After-School Programming: After school programming is offered through the YMCA. Programming is from 3 to 6 pm. Students can be picked up from a member of that staff from our main entrance. Signage will be posted to assist you.
Please do not leave students unsupervised before 7:45 am or after 3:30 pm.
Security and visitor management: All parents/guardians and visitors coming into the building must enter through the main entrance, and check in at the security desk. We understand that some parents will walk with preschoolers, and kindergarteners in the first few days to ease separation anxiety. For other grades, after the first week, please do not walk with your children to class.
CPS Calendar: This link provides you with the CPS 2023-24 School Calendar. It includes days off and vacations. Please work to schedule trips or appointments during times students are not in school. Our school day starts promptly at 8 am.
Meal Menus: All students, except half day Pre-K, receive free breakfast and lunch regardless of income. Students can also bring their own nut-free lunch. CPS meal menus are here: CPS Meal Menu.
Beyond that, I, or any member of the Jahn family are here to support your child each and every day. Additional information will come your way throughout this week and you will receive a weekly update every Monday. I am looking forward to an amazing school year. Go Huskies!!!!!
Warmest Regards
Dr. Kimbrough
Upcoming Events/Dates:
Faces of Jahn: Friday, August 25th - 8:45 am. Please join us as we close out our first week of school with a pep rally on the playlot. This event is our first of many school-wide community building events during this school year. As you drop off your child, stick around for coffee provided by Friends of Jahn before the event kicks off, good music, good fun, and a chance to meet every member of the Jahn school family.
Popsicles on the Playground: Friday, August 25th - 3 pm. Let's keep the first week celebrations going with Popsicles on the Playground after school. Join Friends of Jahn from 3-4pm on the playlot for a free treat and mix and mingle with other Jahn families.
Labor Day: Monday, September 4th. School will be closed in observance of the contributions of American workers.
Jahn Open House - Thursday, September 7th - 4 pm. Please join us for this in-person opportunity to meet your child’s classroom teacher, as well as other members of the Jahn school community.
LSC meeting: Wednesday, September 13th - 6pm. Please join us for our monthly LSC meeting. Stay tuned for details on how to attend the meeting either in person or virtually.
Quarter 1 Progress Reports - Thursday, September 21st. Progress reports will be distributed to students on this day.
Friday, September 22nd - Professional Development Day. This is a non-attendance day for students as staff will in school-wide professional learning.
COVID-19 Updates for SY23-24
Chicago Public Schools is committed to providing students and staff with a safe in-peron learning environment. Please note the following changes to COVID-19 response for SY23-24. For any clarifying questions, reach out to the Office of Student Health and Wellness at [email protected].
Chicago Public Schools is committed to providing students and staff with a safe in-peron learning environment. Please note the following changes to COVID-19 response for SY23-24. For any clarifying questions, reach out to the Office of Student Health and Wellness at [email protected].
- Testing | CPS will continue to provide rapid tests to any student or staff that requests one. If you need additional rapid tests, you may order more here. In-school PCR testing will no longer be offered.
- Case Response | Any student or staff member that tests positive for COVID-19 should isolate for 5 days and continue reporting at cps.edu/covidresults. School administrators will receive a notification with details of the positive case. In the notification, a standard letter template will be included that should be sent home with students or staff that were potentially exposed. Rapid tests should also be made available to anyone potentially exposed. Please work with your Disease Prevention and Response Specialist if you have any questions.
- Vaccination | CPS will continue to provide access to COVID-19 vaccinations. More information about events can be found here.
- Care Rooms | The District is no longer providing care room attendants to schools. Schools should follow the Sick Student Protocol.
- Disease Prevention and Response Team | On July 1st, 2023 the Disease Prevention and Response team was integrated into OSHW replacing the COVID-19 response team. The team will lead District efforts in investigation, promotion, prevention, clinical response, and control of diseases to remove health-related barriers to learning and promote a safe environment. Stay tuned for updates on continuous support for all communicable diseases in school!
For Further Assistance:
Enrollment, Parent Portal, Student Fees, Transportation, Volunteering, and Ventra Cards: Contact: Margo Innocente [email protected]
Medical Compliance: Dr. Stephanie Rossi [email protected] or Cihomaria Rubio Arias [email protected]
YMCA After School Programming: [email protected]
504/IEP Questions: Jackie Defina [email protected]