This Just In!
Always something fun and Exciting going on around here! Check back often to see what's up!
Don't Forget!
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Back to school August 18th!
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Fall Pictures August 26th.
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First Early Dismissal Day August 27th.
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No school September 1st, Labor Day.
Our Top News stories:
May
4, 2007. From WTLV 12. The 400-pound bear climbed a large oak tree
on Hillman Drive, just south of Jacksonville Heights Elementary School
early this morning.
Authorities put the school on lockdown.
Wildlife officers shot the bear with a tranquilizer dart after the bear
climbed down the tree.
The bear scrambled around a bit before climbing up another tree.
The bear fell 15 feet from the tree. Wildlife experts put it in a cage
and hauled it away.
The bear, identified as nuisance bear #36, has been an issue before. It
had been taken out of Seminole County and relocated to Ocala. It showed
up in Green Cove Springs last year before being returned to Ocala again.
Wildlife experts believe the bear lost its fear of people due to people
feeding it so much.
As a result, the bear kept coming back to its favorite eating spots,
which explains how it ended up on the Westside Friday morning looking
for breakfast.
Our Butterfly Garden is designed, built and maintained by the students
in our Emotionally Handicapped classes. On a nice warm day, you
can sit with the butterflies and joy your lunch while admiring the
beautiful flowers.
Our Teachers and Staff members had a great first day back to school. All were treated to a marvelous breakfast compliments of our PTA. A full spread was provided, including eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, grits, and coffee. Everyone came dressed in their best Safari ware and enjoyed sharing stories about summer vacation, information about the coming school year and meeting our newest teachers and staff. Afterwards, door prizes were awarded.
Thursday October 18th, the Symphony Zoo from the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra came to Jacksonville Heights Elementary. The Fifth Graders got a chance to touch and play instruments from all four instrument families: Brass, Woodwind, Strings and Percussion. The students learned a lot about how the instruments make sound and how to properly hold them. While the cacophony that ensued was ear splitting, the learning experience was "one of a kind". It was definitely an exciting musical experience for all!
Ms. Lott and Ms. Elkins 5th grade classes have been
studying heat energy and the three ways it transfers. On November
5th, Ms. Lott's and Ms. Elkins' class built
solar
cookers using the following materials: aluminum foil, black
construction paper, pizza boxes, skewers, a hot dog, and clear plastic.
We made solar cookers because we wanted to know if the sun's rays could
cook a hot dog in a pizza box. It
worked by radiation. The sun's rays reflected off of the aluminum
foil and the black paper attracted the heat. The plastic sheet
captured the hot air and the piece of aluminum foil cooked only the
top
and sides of the hot dog -- but not the bottom. Ms. Lott's and Ms.
Elkins' classes thought this was a fun and exciting learning
experience. The classes thought that the hot dog would not
cook!
-from
Billy, Ciarra, Maranda and Ryan, November 27th Kindergarten
Buddies 
The fifth graders of Ms. Lott and Ms. Elkins classes
have
adopted Kindergarten classes. Ms. Lott's class has adopted Ms.
May's class and Ms. Elkins' fifth graders have adopted Ms. Harrell and
Malin's class. They have visited their Kindergarten buddies twice
so far. They plan to do fun activities together each month.
Being a Kindergarten Buddy takes a lot of
responsibility,
because you have to help them stay focused, read to them and teach them
right from wrong. Sometimes they can be like a little brother or
little sister. Even though it takes a lot of responsibility,
we can still manage to have fun.
At
Jacksonville Heights Elementary, our Principal, Ms. Dunavant is trying
to make reading more fun. On
November 9th she threw an amazing ice cream party for every student --
in every grade, that met their reading goal for the first marking
period. The party was great. The children were laughing,
dancing and handing out with their
friends
while enjoying time out of class. Everyone who came to the party
received a necklace and two tickets. The tickets were for a
drawing. Lucky ticket
holders won visors.
We had a good time at the party! So everyone, let's all read so we can have some more fun! By the way, our next reading celebration is popcorn and a movie! See you there...