Good morning, Explorer families. This is Lauren Sabo, Principal at East Clayton Elementary. Today, at approximately 9:45am, we had a fire alarm at the school. Students and staff exited the building quickly and followed all safety protocols.
Students were outside for approximately 45minutes while the North Side Fire Department checked our school. We did find the cause of the alarm which our facilities department is rectifying. All students and staff were safe during this process, and cooperated well with the alarm. We are thankful for the fire department who arrived promptly and checked the school thoroughly for safety. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Good afternoon, Kindergarten families. This is your Principal, Lauren Sabo, with some information regarding Kindergarten entry to school. Tomorrow, August 31st, 2023, school has been canceled due to inclement weather from the approaching storm. As a result, our Kindergarten Open House has been canceled for tomorrow evening. By the end of the day on Friday, you should have received a call and or/ an email from your child's teacher. They will let you know your child's day for staggered entry which will be Tuesday, September 5th or Wednesday, September 6th. On those days, please join us for a Meet & Greet with your child's teacher beginning with arrival between 8:25am and 8:55am. You will be invited to walk your child to class, take their supplies, and help them get settled in the classroom. The teacher will share any information with you that you need to know. We hope this will lessen the emotions for the day and will help your child feel less anxious about their big first day. Our Meet & Greet will end by 9:45am.
If for some reason you do not receive a call or email from your child's teacher, please reach out to us on Friday so we can share the information.
Please be safe during the inclement weather, and we look forward to seeing all of our new Explorers next week!
JCPS CLOSED FOR ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF THURSDAY, AUGUST 31
Due to the impending inclement weather conditions caused by Hurricane Idalia, Johnston County Public Schools will be closed for all students, staff, and visitors tomorrow, Thursday, August 31. This includes all after school activities on Thursday. The district will operate under Condition 1 of our Inclement Weather Procedures. Weather Conditions can be found online by visiting www.johnston.k12.nc.us/weatherconditions.
This decision has been made out of an abundance of caution and per the guidance of local and state emergency service officials.
We hope that all of our students, staff, and families stay safe, and we thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we navigate this severe weather event.
We had a wonderful first day back to school and want to thank all of our students, staff, and families for working together to make today a success. We want to share a few reminders to keep things running smoothly in the days and weeks ahead.
In the first few weeks of school, it’s typical for our bus routes and carpool lanes to run a bit slower than normal. Our drivers are getting used to new routes, there are more drivers on the road, our students are getting into a routine, and most importantly - we are focused on keeping everyone safe at all times. We ask that you keep these things in mind if our arrival and departure procedures are moving more slowly than we anticipate. If your student is a bus rider, we encourage you to download the EduLog Parent Portal App, for real time information on where your student's bus is on their route.
We also want to remind our families that the majority of our schools are offering free breakfast and lunch this school year. All schools, with the exception of Clayton High, Cleveland Elementary, Cleveland High, Corinth Holders High, and Powhatan Elementary, will offer free breakfast and lunch through the Community Eligibility Provision. Families with students attending non-qualifying schools are encouraged to complete a Free and Reduced meal application to receive benefits for this school year. This form, which can be found on the district website, assists our schools in many other services throughout the year, and can be beneficial for our families and students.
Lastly, please be reminded that all of our school campuses now have a weapons detection system in place at the entrances of our school. All students, staff, and guests will be expected to pass through the system upon arrival to our campuses.
This first week of school is a busy time, with a lot of excitement for our students. Please be reminded that attendance will be taken daily. However attendance calls for students who are marked tardy or absent will not resume until next week.
We thank you in advance for your help in making this a great school year.
Just one more sleep until we welcome our students back to school!! We hope all of our students get a good night's rest and are excited to take on the day tomorrow! We can't wait to see you in the morning! ❤️📚🍎
Just one more sleep until we welcome our students back to school!! We hope all of our students get a good night's rest and are excited to take on the day tomorrow! We can't wait to see you in the morning! ❤️📚🍎
Happy Friday, Explorer Families! This is your Principal, Lauren Sabo, with your weekly Friday update. Monday is the 1st day of school for 1st-5th grade students.
Thank you so much to all of you who came out to Open House last night. It was amazing to have the hallways filled once again. Just a reminder to fill out the beginning of the year paper work online with the QR code provided. You can also find the forms on our website. Please download the JCPS app for messaging this year. Teachers will provide you with a code for Rooms messaging, which we will use instead of Dojo. If you did not attend Open House, please review and return paperwork which will come home with your child on Monday.
On Monday, carpool will begin at 8:25 am. A reminder that all students will enter through the weapons detection systems before they enter the building from carpool or buses. For bus transportation, please be at your bus stop at least 15 minutes early on the 1st day. You can also use the Edulog app to follow the bus in live time. Students will enter the building on their own, without parents walking them to class. We will have staff members in the hallways to help students get where they need to go.
A reminder that breakfast and lunch is free for all students this year. Students will receive a number and will need to memorize the number. Students will still need money on their lunch accounts to buy any snacks. If students want a breakfast, they will go through the cafeteria line before they go to class.
For afternoon dismissal, we did change carpool tags this year to provide all students an individual number. This is due to the line-up process for carpool. When you come to carpool, you will hang the tag on your rear-view mirror; if you have more than 1 tag number, simply show the caller all numbers. Do not exit your car during carpool. Please remain patient and stay in line, and pull all the way forward. New signage lets you know where to line up and stop. Be patient in the first weeks as carpool typically runs slower. Please help to expedite the process by having your child memorize numbers. Any transportation changes must be given to the teacher, not the front office. If you call the front office, you will be asked to message the teacher. Early check-out ends at 3:15pm.
Carpool ends each day by 4:20pm. Any students who are not picked up by 4:20 will be sent to the cafeteria for supervision. You will be required to pick them up using after-school care processes by entering on Castleberry Rd. and checking them out from the cafeteria.
We look forward to a wonderful year as we create the Explorer Experience for students to #PrepareAdaptSucceed. As always, please contact us with any questions or concerns.
Good evening, Explorer Families! This is your Principal, Lauren Sabo, with a reminder about our Open House tomorrow night for 1st through 5th grade. We will begin the evening with a Title I presentation at 4:30 PM in the Media Center. If you want to hear more about our school's qualification as a Title I school and some of our goals for the year, please join us at 4:30 PM. Beginning at 5:00 PM and ending at 7:00 PM, families will be able to visit classrooms to meet the teachers. If you did not receive a postcard in the mail with your teacher assignment, please check rosters outside of classroom doors to find your child's name. Bus passes and carpool tags will be provided in your child's classroom. Assistant Principal Mellette will be in the Media Center for any last minute bus issues. We will also have community partners, Student Club opportunities, and our PTA in the cafeteria. You will also be able to sign up for Before and After School Care, and meet our new counselor, Jadelyne McBroom. If you have any questions, please look for our student guides in the hallways to help you find where to go. We hope you enjoy our facility updates which have been a work of the heart all summer. We can't wait kick off our 2023-2024 school year with our Explorer Experience!
Just a reminder that all individuals who enter the building will enter through our Open Gate weapons detection systems. Please leave unnecessary items in the car; eye glass cases, umbrellas, and computers are some of the items that will signal an alarm. In that case, we will ask you to step to the side to identify the cause of the alert. Thank you for your patience as we keep our full school community safe. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow!
We're just FIVE days from the first day of school! Can you believe it?! Be sure to check the Johnston County Public Schools mobile app off of your school supplies list! Parents, teachers, and students will use the mobile app for our two-way communication tool this school year! Download it in the Apple or Google Play store today so you're ready for the first day!
Good afternoon, 4th and 5th grade families. This is your Principal, Lauren Sabo, with some updates about student rosters. Our goal is to ensure that all students begin the year with an effective teacher. As a result, we have made some teacher changes to eliminate teacher vacancies. As a result, some of your teacher assignments have been changed. In 4th grade, any student who had Ms. Ridley has been assigned to a new teacher. In 5th grade, Ms. Bailey, Ms. Ridley, and Ms. Squillini will combine for a 3-person team. When you come to Open House tomorrow, please check the rosters outside of the doors to double check your homeroom teacher assignment. While this has slightly increased class sizes for our 4th and 5th graders, we are happy to report that all students have a teacher in place for every subject. Thank you for your understanding with this matter, and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow night at 5pm!
Happy Friday, Explorer Families! This is your Principal, Lauren Sabo, with your first Friday update for the 2023-2024 School Year. We are so excited to welcome our Explorers back into the building, and have planned a great year as we create The Explorer Experience. Here's some updates for the upcoming week:
First, if you are receiving this message, you are enrolled at this school. If you do not plan for your child to attend East Clayton this school year, please notify us by responding to this message or by calling the school at 919-550-5311.
For Kindergarten families, please sign up for an assessment screener time by visiting the link provided: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0e49a8a928a2f49-kindergarten1#/. Your Open House will be on August 31st from 5:00-6:30pm.
You should have received a postcard in the mail with your teacher assignment in grades 1st-5th. If you are a 5th grader and did not receive one, it is due to the Science teacher not being in place at this time. Do not panic-we have a plan in place to be sure that every Explorer has a high level of learning in every subject. Your classroom will be in place when you come to Open House.
On Thursday, August 24th at 4:30pm, we will host a parent meeting about our Title I status this year. Please attend this meeting to learn more about Title I.
At 5:00pm until 7:00, our classrooms will be open to meet the teacher for 1st through 5th grades. Additionally, we will have community partners to visit, and we will have different stations set up to gather needed information for the school year.
A couple of changes this year include free breakfast and lunch for every student. You do not need to fill out any lunch forms to access this benefit.
Additionally, every child will receive a car rider tag included with their packet of information from the teacher. This will help to ensure safety for every student in the event that you need to get them from carpool.
The only transportation methods that we will use this year include car rider and bus/van transportation. To increase safety and supervision on our campus, we will not have walker pickup in the afternoons. Please utilize the carpool lane to gather all students not on bus transportation.
As you visit the school, we hope you love a lot of the facility glow-ups you see. Our building's exterior has a fresh coat of paint, our parking lot has a fresh coat of asphalt, and we have new mulch. We appreciate the hard work of our district to make sure our building is ready for the new year.
If you have any questions as you begin the year, do not hesitate to reach out to me via email or phone. I am looking forward to a great #ExplorerExperience this school year!
All students enrolled in a qualifying Johnston County Public School (with the exception of 5 non-qualifying schools) will receive a healthy Breakfast and lunch at no cost to the household this upcoming school year through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).
Households of students that attend a qualifying CEP school will no longer need to submit a Free and Reduced Meal Benefit Application for the upcoming school year. Students that attend a non-qualifying school will still have the opportunity to submit a meal benefits application in order to qualify for free, reduced, or paid eligibility status. Applications for the 2023-2024 school year will be accepted starting July 10, 2023.
For more information, click here: https://bit.ly/3P10t3J
Our families seemed to like the one-stop-shop format for Orientation Information on our website - so we thought we'd make school supply lists just as convenient! Supply lists for our elementary and middle schools for the 2023-2024 school year are available now at: www.johnston.k12.nc.us/schoolsupplies
We hope this makes you getting ready for the first day of school - August 28th - a little bit easier!
Good Evening JCPS Families,
We hope you will join us at one of our Summer Information Fairs, happening this Monday and Tuesday.
We’re hosting a Summer Information Fair at eight of our schools on July 31 and August 1st. We invite families to attend the information fair in their student’s feeder pattern.
The Information Fair will provide parents an opportunity to request, verify, and ensure your student has bus transportation and receive meal service information prior to the opening of school. While students won’t receive their bus number at the Information Fair, attending and signing up for transportation guarantees that the student will have transportation on the first day of school. Bus information is expected to be shared at Orientation. If your student does not ride a bus, back to school information will be provided at Orientation.
We’ll also have staff on hand for families who need assistance with enrolling their student for the upcoming school year.
The Summer Information Fair will be held from 1:00 PM to 7:00 PM on Monday, July 31st at North Johnston Middle, Cleveland High, Corinth Holders High, and South Johnston High.
We will hold Information Fairs the following day, Tuesday, August 1st from 1:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Clayton Middle, Smithfield-Selma High, Princeton High, and West Johnston High schools.
You can find more information by visiting the home page of our website. We hope to see you there!
The 2023-2024 school year is just one month away! Orientation information is available now! Find your school's orientation information by visiting: www.johnston.k12.nc.us/orientation
We're so excited to introduce our new and improved mobile app to our JCPS community! We've been hard at work to overhaul our mobile app and offer our users an even better experience. We're offering a NEW app in the Apple and Google Play store - that our parents and students alike will want to download before the start of the school year!
We'll use our mobile app to send you important information about your school, share athletic schedules, and post our lunch menus every day!
The most important feature: our mobile app is going to house our new two-way communication tool for students, teachers, and parents. It's called Rooms - and you're going to love it! Download the JCPS mobile app today so you're ahead of the game!
Our community partners have scheduled their annual Back to School Youth Explosion! Families are invited to come out to Clayton High School on August 13 from 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM for free haircuts, braids, backpacks, food, and fun to kick off the upcoming school year! Mark your calendar and come out to enjoy the fun!
Johnston County Public Schools (JCPS) will hold its second annual Summer Information Fair for families on Monday, July 31 and Tuesday, Aug. 1.
In preparation for the 2023-2024 school year, JCPS Transportation Services, School Nutrition, Communication, and Student Information will host a Summer Information Fair at schools throughout the Johnston County community. The information fair will provide parents an opportunity to enroll their student, and request, verify, and ensure your child has bus transportation and receive pertinent back to school information from school nutrition and communication services.
The summer information fairs will be held on July 31 and Aug. 1 from 1:00 - 7:00 PM. Please see below for dates and locations.
Monday, July 31st
North Johnston Middle (Cafeteria)
Cleveland High (Cafeteria)
Corinth Holders High (Cafeteria)
South Johnston High (Cafeteria)
Tuesday, August 1st
Clayton Middle (Cafeteria)
Smithfield-Selma High (Cafeteria)
Princeton Middle/High (Cafeteria)
West Johnston High (Cafeteria)
Families are invited to attend the Summer Information Fair at the school and date that is most convenient for their schedule, and are not required to attend the fair in their student’s feeder pattern.
Our wonderful custodial staff were hard at it and learning new strategies to keep our schools environments in tip-top shape. Last week's team building and training exercises were informative, interactive, and a great opportunity for the entire team to grow closer.
Way to go team! ✨
Free summer meals for students provided by JCPS School Nutrition
As part of its efforts to ensure kids have access to healthy meals during the summer months, JCPS School Nutrition is pleased to announce its summer meals sites that will be serving kids and teens.
Beginning June 19, all kids and teens 18-years-old and under can receive meals free of charge, no registration needed. Meals will be served from June 19 through July 13. Breakfast will be served from 7:00 AM- 8:00 AM and lunch will be served from 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM. Please note that times may vary depending on the site and participation and that additional locations may be announced after July 13.
Locations opening on June 19 are:
Archer Lodge Middle
Benson Elementary
Benson Middle
Clayton High
Clayton Middle
Four Oaks Middle
McGee’s Crossroad Elementary
Micro Elementary
North Johnston Middle
River Dell Elementary
Selma Elementary
Selma Middle
Smithfield Middle
Selma-Smithfield Middle
South Johnston High
West Clayton Elementary
West Smithfield Elementary
For kids who rely on school meals, summer can be the hungriest time of year, and hunger has short- and long-term consequences for a child’s health, education and well-being. Making sure kids and teens have access to nutritious summer meals is especially important this summer.
The Summer Meals program is funded by the USDA and run by school districts and local organizations, and sites can be found throughout the community. We’re always happy to see you at various locations throughout Johnston County, but there may be more convenient locations closer to you. Families can text “FOOD” or “COMIDA” to 304-304 and type in a zip code to find nearby summer meals sites, along with operating days and times. No application, registration or proof of residency or citizenship is required at sites.
