East Clayton Elementary School

JCPS is looking for Reading Buddy volunteers to help our students this summer! We need parents, grandparents, community members, and high school students to join our Summer Reading Camp participants during morning arrival. Volunteers will listen to and encourage students as they develop their reading skills. No experience is required, but you will need to register and be a volunteer with JCPS before you begin. To sign up: Complete the Reading Buddy Volunteer Form by visiting: https://bit.ly/JCPSbuddy Register to Volunteer with JCPS by visiting https://myvolunteer.com/jcps/volunteer/login Thank you and have a great evening!

Please see information about this week's rising 6th grade night at Riverwood Middle.

Happy Friday, Explorer families! This week our Explorers jumped right back into the swing of things. We had a wonderful Career Day today, so thank you to all of the families who supported this event in some way. We appreciate all of our community support. This week we have several events happening. First, please be sure you have registered your child on the 5k fundraising site. This does not mean they have to run the race--this is simply a way to share the race information and to solicit fundraising donations from family or friends. Students can qualify for prizes simply by getting registered. Look for information on a lime green paper from the PTA about the details of the fundraising. The PTA newsletter is linked in the email. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZSLBpQcgyiF6SdLe-P_ayHdQilvMscax/view On Monday, report cards for Quarter 3 will come home. On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, students in grades 3-5 will take their final MVP assessment for the year. We are looking forward to seeing all of the progress students have made on their grade level skills. On Friday, 5th grade students will take their MVP Science assessment. On Saturday, be sure to come out to the school to celebrate the 5k event. There are activities for runners, non-runners, and kids, so you won't want to miss this fun event. If you have a rising Kindergarten student for next year, be sure to go to the JCPS website to get them enrolled for next year. We will begin emailing information about our rising SPARK event on May 9th. Please also mark your calendars for our student-led conferences on May 10th. Students will meet with you to discuss their data, classwork, and progress this school year. Kinder: 12-1pm 1st: 12:30-1:30pm 2nd: 10-11am 3rd: 1-2pm 4th: 2-3pm 5th: 1-2pm Keep filling in those reading logs! This month, we reached over 369,000 minutes. Our 3rd graders and 4th graders are super close to reading the most minutes of all of our students! Keep on reading! Have a wonderful weekend!

This rain won't dampen our plans for a great Field Day tomorrow! We have fun day of indoor activities planned for a great day of excitement! Don't forget the grade level shirts!

Good Evening, 5th Grade families! Tomorrow, our 5th grade students will attend their Carolina Studies field trip to the beach. Students attending the field trip must be present at school no later than 6am. The buses will pull off campus by 6:15am. All teachers will attend the field trip. Therefore, if your 5th grader is not going on the field trip, they will not be able to participate in typical classroom activities for the day. Please call the school or email me if you have any questions regarding your child's attendance for the day. The students and staff will return to the school at 5:30pm. You will pick up your child in the bus parking lot loop. Please follow your child's teacher on Rooms as they will update their return time on the app. We look forward to a great field trip for our 5th graders. Thank you for your support.

Happy Friday, Explorer Families. We had a wonderful time this week celebrating our goal getter students and our golden ticket achievers. Thank you for encouraging your students to work hard in the classroom. We love celebrating them and helping to create a love of learning. This week you do not want to miss our Drama Club's production of The Reluctant Dragon at the Clayton Center on Thursday and Friday evening. Visit the Clayton Center's webpage for tickets to the event. This is not an event to miss. We are still looking for runners and sponsor's for the PTA's 5K event on April 20th. Visit the PTA's newsletter for more information. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cIkv8zccGkv4myYFi9NbqID8KtYn3gLw/view?usp=sharing Also, we have put together our school's important dates for the rest of the year, so you are able to mark your calendars for events you do not want to miss. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1E9q1a0icb4QvHZrqVTCGGZJe5LlOozTMUQT7nEUQODk/edit?usp=sharing Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday, Explorer Families! We are gearing up for another full week ahead. Next week we will celebrate our students through Goal Getter Awards Sessions for each grade level to recognize students for their mid-year progress. We are so happy to celebrate the hard work of our students. Please reach out to your child's teacher for the specific time if you are interested in attending. Congratulations to our running club members who had a wonderful track meet at Clayton High today. Good luck to our Showcase of Stars students who will perform at JCC for the 3pm show on Saturday. Additional good luck to our Battle of the Books team who will compete in the district competition on Monday. Our Explorers are shining! A reminder that Tuesday is the PTA General Meeting. The newsletter is attached. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mU5YM5XKxyeBB0iyD_DR5o-xXGbzrAQn/view Have a great weekend! Don't forget to spring forward!

Happy Friday, Explorer Families! Thank you to all of you who came out for our Black History Month Celebration last night. It was a wonderful event to highlight our students, our families, and to celebrate community. Please be sure to give us feedback if you attended. Thank you to Ms. Traore for helping with donations and to her Girl Scout troop for the necklace table. It was a great evening, for sure! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSesQdFQ2EY1-KZ_UDbKRzjUZ1mP_Hi7IuHRM6ekU6Pc-dmRVw/viewform The PTA Newsletter has been updated for the week. Thursday we will have a spirit night at Romeo's pizza. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tjNmLAiOIylVZHgAWDhxtdnorTpR0VKp/view?ts=65e1e77c This week, we will celebrate Read Across America with some fun spirit days. On Monday, Reading is No Sweat! Wear sweatshirts and sweatpants! We will kick off the week with guest readers and buddy readers! Remember that Tuesday, there is no school for students due to Election Day. East Clayton Elementary is a voting site for the community. On Wednesday, Readers are Future Leaders! Dress up as what you want to be when you grow up. On Thursday, we will celebrate Retro Readers. Dress up from a past decade. On Friday, Reading is Better with a Buddy! Pair up with a friend or two and dress alike. Or, wear your Explorer Experience shirt! Also this week, 1-2-3-4, We Declare a Penny War! See the flyer given to your student today about Penny Wars! We will have some fun with Penny Wars to select a theme for our 5th grade dance. All proceeds collected will be used to fund the dance. Please continue to get the word out about our 5K. We need lots more runners and community donations to make this a successful event! Have a great weekend!

Come for dinner, stay for fun! See you tomorrow! Doors open at 5pm.

Good evening, Explorer Families! I hope you have had a wonderful weekend! We are gearing up for another exciting and full week ahead! First, many of our students were invited to our Excursion Field Trip based on their points they earned from good behavior the 1st semester. Each grade level has different criteria for these field trips, but students earn them from displaying our core values and working hard in the classroom. Check with your child because permission forms are due tomorrow (Monday). If your child did not meet the criteria for this semester, the points have reset and they can earn another field trip for Semester 2. On Wednesday, students will bring home progress reports for the 3rd quarter. With the progress reports, 2nd and 3rd grade students will receive a notification letter if they are reading below grade level. These notifications are in accordance with North Carolina's Read to Achieve policy in order to keep you informed. Please reach out to your child's teacher, if you have not already had a conference. Additionally with Progress Reports, 3rd through 5th grade students will bring home their results from the most recent round of MVP testing. Do not miss our Black History Month Celebration on Thursday! Our students have been busy preparing projects for a fun school-wide scavenger hunt, we will have food, and a short program in the cafeteria! This is fun you do not want to miss! Other big events to remember: Our Drama Club will perform the Reluctant Dragon at the Clayton Center on March 21st and March 22nd. You can purchase tickets at the link below or from the Clayton Center website. https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/1959/the-clayton-center?cobrand=theclaytoncenter Sign-ups are still open for our Explorer 5K on April 20th. Do not forget to share this event on social media with your friends and families. We hope to have a huge turn-out to support our school. https://runsignup.com/Race/NC/Clayton/Explorers5K As always, please reach out to me directly with any questions or concerns. I am always available to support families and help to find solutions to any problems or needs. I hope to see you all on Thursday as we celebrate Black History Month and the hard work of our Explorers!

Last night, JCPS celebrated the 2024 Leading with the Heart recipients!💝 The event, inspired by Mike Krzyzewski’s book, “Leading with the Heart,” recognizes those staff members throughout the school system that demonstrate leadership, compassion, and heart on a daily basis. One person from every school as well as central services was nominated by their peers, because of their unwavering commitment and dedication to their role. We honor the 53 amazing members of the JCPS family for their work that clearly does not go unnoticed! Thank you!✨ Stay tuned for an event recap video... #ILeadWithMyHeart

Happy Friday, Explorer families! This call is a reminder that Monday, February 19th is an Optional Teacher Workday in honor of President's Day. There will be no school for students. On Tuesday, our 4th grade students will attend the Symphony Field Trip. On Friday, we will host our Explorer Experiences for students, and will also celebrate our Golden Ticket Goal Getter recipients from Winter Testing. Also, a reminder of some upcoming events. Our Black History Month Celebration will be held on February 29th at 5pm. If you are interested in being a vendor for this event, please contact Mrs. Mellette at the school. Please continue to sign up for the Explorers 5K. The link is in the PTA Newsletter for the week. https://drive.google.com/file/d/16HhbiiJrOIoHsf82_lzcADrqdxFBY1Cy/view Have a wonderful long weekend!

Happy Friday, Explorer Families! We are gearing up to celebrate a week filled with kindness and love! First, we will celebrate Love a Bus Week! If your child rides a school bus, please be sure they thank their driver for getting them to and from school safely each day. We will also celebrate National Kindness Week with some fun activities for each day. Please visit the flyer for more information. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_pExocCDX4qfVnVJSkuPmVTl1tDu5IQop0M-3_aHlqA/edit?usp=sharingOn Wednesday, we will celebrate Valentine's Day; please remember that students are not able to take any type of flowers or balloons on the bus. We do discourage deliveries made to the school as it is difficult for our front office to keep up with the influx of visitors. On Valentine's Day, we will show that we LOVE reading by visiting with our reading buddies in another class to share a book we love. Finally, please visit the PTA newsletter for the week. Do not forgot to continue signing up for the 5K on April 20th, and share the link with your family and friends on social media.https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JUEP3MajFn6ZeVbG0LmTUm1_1uNWJ0dY/view?ts=65c51cacHave a wonderful weekend!

Happy Friday, Explorer families! On Monday, students will receive their Quarter 2 report cards. We have also sent mid-year testing reports and academic concern letters. If your child has received an academic concern letter for academics or attendance, teachers will be reaching out to schedule a conference to discuss results further. If at any time you would like to meet with the teacher, please reach out to schedule a conference. On Tuesday, our 5th graders will take their MVP Science test. We are excited for students to find ways to earn those golden tickets! On Friday, we will celebrate the 100th day of school! I may have heard that some of our students have grown a little more than 100 days older. I can't wait to see what fun awaits our little ones. The PTA is continuing to sell Flowergrams. See their newsletter for more information. https://drive.google.com/file/d/16XMqlHAC1-XcIRjqBMat66Tb-bOI3fBb/view?usp=drivesdk This week we celebrated the 1st day of Black History Month. We hope you received our invitation to our Black History Month Celebration on February 29th. There will be student projects, a scavenger hunt, food, and our new 5th grade Step Team will perform! We are so excited! For the month of February, we will honor Black History Month at ECES, and we are focused on our core skill of Empathy. Looking ahead to the week of February 12th, we will celebrate Kindness week. Attached you will find some celebration days put together by our counselor, Ms. McBroom. We are happy to honor this month as we continue build good core skills, like kindness and empathy, and honor the diversity within our Explorers. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_pExocCDX4qfVnVJSkuPmVTl1tDu5IQop0M-3_aHlqA/edit Have a great weekend!

Today begins Black History Month. We are excited to invite you to our Black History Month Celebration on February 29th at 5:00pm.

3rd through 5th graders will take the MVP Assessments tomorrow and Friday. We are ready to show all that we are learning. Encourage your child to do their best and earn a ticket to the Golden Ticket party! We can't wait to celebrate growth!

Happy Friday, Explorer Families! We are excited to kickoff Semester 2 with our Explorers. We cannot believe that we are already halfway through our school year! We will have some important testing happening this week. On Monday, we will kickoff Access testing for our ESL students. This testing is a state exam that evaluates English as a Second Language students' English proficiency. Mrs. Ellis will be communicating testing times for these students over the course of the next month. On Thursday and Friday, 3rd-5th grade students will take their MVP Winter Assessments for Reading and Math. These assessments align to the EOGs and provide information for teachers on students' progress toward the grade level standards. We will provide these reports with the February progress reports. Students will be receiving information this week during PE about the Kids' Heart Challenge. Please ask your child about this important fundraiser after they have PE with Mr. LaPlante. Attached you will find information about the PTA's weekly newsletter. You will find information about the Flowergrams sale and the Spring 5K fundraiser. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wRUZN0728CWoRHWB73LUpB1VYXpEhKtN/viewOn Thursday, we will begin our 1st day of Black History Month. Our Explorers are working hard on research to honor important black individuals who have contributed to our society. We will continue to honor and celebrate Black History throughout the month of February. We look forward to celebrating with all of our families on February 29th where we will showcase our students' work. Please mark your calendars and come out to celebrate with us. A formal invite will be in the mail soon! Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Friday, Explorer Families! This is your Principal, Lauren Sabo, with some information about the upcoming week. Just a reminder that on Tuesday, the PTA will host a blood drive from 1pm-6pm in our school's Media Center. Please come out to support the Red Cross with a blood donation. Wednesday is the end of Quarter 2 and we will end with our Explorer Experiences for all students. On Thursday and Friday of next week, there will be no school for students due to teacher workdays. Please view the PTA's newsletter with upcoming events, including information about our Explorer 5k on April 20th. Please join the event or share the link. We are working hard to raise money for updates to our cafeteria and stage. Please view your child's Friday folder for information about our new Enhancement Schedule which will begin next week. As we move into the 2nd half of the year, we are asking our carpool parents to encourage their child to open car doors themselves. This will help to move our line a little more quickly, and will improve independence for our students. Have a great weekend!

Johnston County Public Schools is the fastest growing district in NC, and we are hiring! Discover why Johnston County is an ideal location to live and work, and why JCPS is the best place for a career. With competitive pay, state health benefits, and incentives, we are the place to grow. Check out our Job Fair on Saturday, March 2, 2024 from 9 AM to 12 PM. Hope to see you there!😎 #GreatThingsAreHappeningInJCPS

Under the guidance of local emergency officials and out of an abundance of caution, JCPS will operate on a 2-hour delay on Wednesday, January 10, 2024. Everyone is encouraged to drive with caution when traveling.