Good morning Warriors!

We made it to May!

Thank you so much for your incredible support during MAP testing! Your efforts to get students here on time, rested, and ready truly made a huge difference, and we are so grateful for your partnership. We are almost finished—just a few make‑up tests remain, and then we’ll be done!

The last day of school is Friday, May 22, and it will be an early release day. Our School and Nutritional Services staff will serve sack lunches* before students are dismissed for the day. Bus riders will ride their assigned bus home. Prime Time after-school care will be available for students enrolled in the program. Early School Dismissal – 12:10PM

Our Walk‑A‑Thon is still going strong, and we’d love your continued support as we work together to benefit JWE.

To ensure the success of our Walk-A-Thon, we need your help by volunteering! Even if you can only cover one shift, your assistance would be greatly appreciated. If you can volunteer, please sign up here: Walkathon: Copy - JWE Walkathon Sign-Up. Plan to be outside during your shift, so wear comfortable tennis shoes! Also, please remember that we need a background check on file if you haven't already completed one. Thank you for considering!

Support our JWE Walkathon and cheer on our students by purchasing a sign to be displayed along the Walkathon path! For just $5, you can add a personalized, encouraging message to help motivate your walkers or the entire school! Signs will line the route, creating a fun and inspiring atmosphere for everyone. Proceeds go to support JWE PTA. Don't miss this chance to show your Warrior pride and make a difference! https://2026-jwepta-walkathon-signs.cheddarup.com

Lastly, this week is Teacher Appreciation Week. The PTA has organized some wonderful activities to show our gratitude to our teachers, and we need your help! Below are sign-up links for each grade level requesting donations. Let's come together to make next week extra special for our teachers. If you're interested, please sign up https://m.signupgenius.com/... Or let us do the shopping for you! You can send money to the office or donate using the link https://my.cheddarup.com/.../teacher-appreciation.../items.

There’s a lot happening in these final weeks of school, so please be sure to read through all of the information below for important dates, reminders, and opportunities to get involved. As always, thank you for your continued support of our school community!

Below are more updates for this week. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you, Warriors, for all your help and support!

Best regards,

Mrs. Casey Brownsberger

·       A quick reminder… Items like Needohs, dumplings, squishies, and other toys should stay at home. To help students stay focused and safe, we have appropriate tools and materials available for them to use here at school. Thank you for your support!

·      Tat A Teacher to Curb Lunch Debt… This week, May 4th–6th, from 9:25–9:50 AM, teachers will be selling tattoos for $1–$5 as part of our fun “Tat a Teacher” fundraiser! All proceeds will go directly to JWE to help pay off student lunch balances. This is a great way to support our students while bringing our school community together. Please see the attached flyer for more details.

·       Last Day of School… The last day of school is Friday, May 22, and it will be an early release day. Our School and Nutritional Services staff will serve sack lunches* before students are dismissed for the day. Bus riders will ride their assigned bus home. Prime Time after-school care will be available for students enrolled in the program. Early School Dismissal – 12:10PM

·       Walk-A-Thon Volunteers… We need you! Please help us out with our school fundraiser!! It is right around the corner. To help make our event we are needing 4 volunteers per grade level to help with lap counting and managing our walk a thon. To sign up go to: Walkathon: Copy - JWE Walkathon. Just a reminder that you will need a background check filled out. Thanks Warriors for your help making this a success!

·       Field Day Volunteers….It is getting close to that time…FIELD DAY!! This is Coach’s Olympics. He lives for this day and needs your help to make this a success! We seriously cannot do this without your help. If you are interested, you need to have a background check on file with JWE and sign up here using this link: Field Day: Copy - JWE Field Day. Just a reminder you may not bring siblings to this event as we need your help with the stations and helping our students. Thank you Warriors!

·       JWE’s Legacy Walk…Calling all former JWE Seniors! Come walk the halls of your former elementary school one last time on Monday, May 18th at 2pm. Wear your cap and gown, our Warriors will be lining the hallways to cheer you on as you embark on your next adventure. Please RSVP here: JWE Alumni/Legacy Walk 2026 – Fill out form to let us know you are coming! Plan to arrive at 1:45pm. See you soon!

·        Attention Incoming Kindy Families and our Current 5th Grade Families! Celebrate the End of Their Kindergarten, Elementary or Middle School Era! Make your kiddo’s day with a custom yard sign! NOW ACCEPTING PRE-ORDERS THROUGH APRIL 30.

Order Timeline:

Pickup & Delivery: Local pickup and delivery are available in Blue Springs. For orders more than 10 miles outside of Blue Springs, a scheduled group pickup/drop-off will be arranged in your area.

·       Lunch Accounts/Free and Reduced Lunch Applications- It is not too late! You an apply for this at any time. To enroll, you login to school café, click here https://www.schoolcafe.com/. The following link is a tutorial of how to enroll: https://vimeo.com/280726060/a627865334. Please remember to include everyone in your household, even if they are not students as this can impact the application being accepted. 

·       Want to opt in on School Text Messages…If you opted out of text communication and want to opt back in, text "START" to 66458.

Be sure you talk with your child before they go to school if they need to eat breakfast at school or not. 

To put money on your child's lunch account please visit: www.schoolcafe.com.

To apply for free or reduced meals, please complete the appropriate forms ASAP on www.schoolcafe.com. You can apply for this at any time.

The following link is a tutorial of how to enroll: https://vimeo.com/280726060/a627865334. Please remember to include everyone in your household, even if they are not students as this can impact the application being accepted. 

Elementary Breakfast        $1.85

Elementary Lunch             $2.95

Milk Price                           $0.70

*Reduced Breakfast           $0.00 (must qualify)

*Reduced Lunch                $0.40 (must qualify)

·      School hours are 9:15am - 4:05pm. Doors open at 9am. Please do not send/drop off your student any sooner since we do not have supervision outside until then. The earliest that you can drop off your student(s) is 9:00am. 

·      Attendance- Please make sure your child is on time to school each day. Attendance matters and is important! Check out this attached article on attendance and how you can help improve this.

·      Parent Pick Up and Drop Off-If you are a car rider, please make sure you are going through the car rider line. Student may not be dropped off on Sunnyside School Road. Lastly, please remember that we need you to mindful of our neighbors and please do not block their driveways. Thank you very much for your help with these.

·      Dismissal-If your plans change on your pick up procedures, please notify your child's teacher and the office prior to 3:30pm.

·       Water Bottles…Just a friendly reminder that if you are sending your student to school with a water bottle, it needs to be filled with water only. Please do not send water bottles with juice, tea, soda, kool-aid, etc. Thank you for your help with this!

·      Parent Square… Be sure to download this app. It is the best way to receive communication from your child’s teacher and our school.

·      PTA…Be sure to join PTA! The PTA consists of parents and teachers working together to support and best serve all students, the needs of James Walker Elementary and our community. PTA is a team effort and we would love to have your involvement anytime! We also have business memberships available as well. To sign up, click on this link https://linktr.ee/jameswalkerpta

·        Water bottles: We highly encourage you to send your child with a water bottle filled with WATER only, every day. We have water filling stations to refill their water bottles as needed. 

·        Food Delivery: We cannot deliver food orders sent to students at our school (ex. Door Dash, Grub Hub, etc). So please do not order them and send them to school unless they are addressed to Mrs. Brownsberger.

·        Birthday Treats: If you would like to provide treats for your child’s birthday, this must be pre-arranged with your child’s teacher at least 24 hours in advance. Also, all treats must be store-bought, individual (not whole cakes), and packaged.

·        Volunteer/Background Check Information:  Each year we need an updated background check if you plan on volunteering up at school. The Blue Springs School District uses DataSource to enhance and strengthen our current background screening process for Volunteer Guests. It is FREE, SECURE, and SIMPLE to register. Please visit: https://bssd.quickapp.pro to fill out an application. Once there you will see all Blue Springs School District schools will be listed. Click on the building in which you are planning to volunteer. (If you have students attending multiple buildings, you will only need to complete one application. After completing the application, please contact the Building School Resource Officer for the school you applied at and let them know you have students at additional locations). Volunteer applications MUST be submitted at least five (5) days before the event for which you are volunteering. After submission, please wait for an email from DataSource. The email will let you know whether you have been approved or denied.

·       Lunch Visitors… To eat lunch with your child, you will need to complete a background check prior to coming. To complete a free background check click here: https://bssd.quickapp.pro. Then you will need to sign up for a day to be a lunch guest https://jwelunchvisitors.youcanbook.me/. We need at least 24 hours notice when signing up. That means you cannot sign up on the same day you want to eat lunch. We appreciate your help and planning with this.

·       Ronald McDonald House…Student Council is asking for your help! As part of a service project to help the families who belong to the Ronald McDonald House of Kansas City we are collecting pop tabs. These pop tabs support families with children in the hospital that stay at RMHC-KC or visit the Family Room. Advantage Metals, a local Kansas City recycler, buys the tabs at market rate and makes an additional charitable contribution to the Ronald McDonald House. They generously donate their pick-up and handling services, so the income from pop tabs is pure profit. Last year, this program brought in $20,000. We want to help them raise even more this year! WHAT CAN YOU DO? Collect pop tabs in zip-lock bags, cardboard boxes, coffee cans or plastic trash bags. Student Council will have a container set up in the office to collect the tabs. Your teacher will also have a collection “house” to keep the tabs collected. If you have a workplace that would be interested in collecting pop tabs for JWE’s Student Council please email Mrs. Hartstack at khartstack@bssd.net or Mrs. Horton ahorton@bssd.net and they will send some cardboard houses home with your child. Please do not use plastic soda bottles or milk jugs because they’re hard to empty! Thank you! 

Click on the link below to learn more about our school, available resources, and grade-level information. Inside, you'll find curriculum details that outline what your child will be learning this year, along with insights into their classroom experience. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s teacher or contact our office at 816-874-3660. We’re here to support you and your child every step of the way!