Jones Academy- where we #shinebright with #jonespride y somos #sololomejor. Please scroll to read this newsletter as it shares important information for the start of school. ONE TEAM. ONE GOAL.
Principally Speaking
Join me in giving BIG cheers to our 2025 Spelling Bee Champion, 4th grader Julian Garcia, and our Runner-Ups, 3rd graders William and Ximena! 🏆 Every participant truly shined—we are so proud of all our amazing spellers. Julian will go on to compete in the next district round in January! We’re also excited to share that in January we will host our Spanish Spelling Bee for 4th and 5th grade. This week we also celebrated our Students of the Month and announced this week’s winners in our All-Star Cafeteria Behavior drawing. Keep shining bright, All-Stars! ⭐ ¡Acompáñenme a celebrar con entusiasmo a nuestro campeón del concurso de ortografía de 2025, Julián García, de 4.º grado, y a nuestros finalistas, William y Ximena, de 3.er grado! 🏆Todos los participantes brillaron de verdad; estamos muy orgullosos de nuestros increíbles deletreadores. ¡Julián competirá en la próxima ronda distrital en enero! También nos emociona compartir que en enero organizaremos nuestro concurso de ortografía en español para 4.º y 5.º grado. Esta semana también celebramos a nuestros Estudiantes del Mes y anunciamos a los ganadores de esta semana en nuestro sorteo de Comportamiento Estrella en la Cafetería. ¡Sigan brillando, Estrellas! ⭐
Winter Wonderland Dec. 9 & Holiday Shop
We are so excited about next week's Holiday Shop and we invite everyone to come Tuesday evening to shop, enjoy hot cocoa and participate in some fun winter activities with the whole family! If you’d like to help bring the Holiday Shop & Winter Wonderland to life, we’d love your support! Please sign up to volunteer next week: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050848AAAF2CABFF2-60475640-jones#/
Estamos muy emocionados por la Tienda Navideña de la próxima semana y los invitamos a todos a venir el martes por la noche a comprar, disfrutar de un chocolate caliente y participar en divertidas actividades invernales con toda la familia. Si quieren ayudar a darle vida a la Tienda Navideña y al País de las Maravillas Invernal, ¡nos encantaría contar con su apoyo! Inscríbanse como voluntarios la próxima semana: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050848AAAF2CABFF2-60475640-jones#/
2026-2027 Kinder Applications
It’s hard to believe, but we’re already gearing up and recruiting for next school year! The Kindergarten application window for the 2026–2027 school year is already open! Please help us spread the word to families with rising kindergartners—or siblings who will need to apply as well. Thank you for your support! Por favor, ayúdennos a compartir la información entre las familias con niños que van a kínder o hermanos que también necesitarán solicitarla. ¡Gracias por su apoyo!
The application window closes January 12, 2026. We will also host Parent Information Meetings at Jones Academy on: La ventana de solicitud cierra el 12 de enero de 2026. También organizaremos reuniones de información para padres en Jones Academy los días:
- January 8, 2026 8 de enero de 2026 | 6–7 PM
Musical Audition Information
The Addams Family Younger@part Cast Audition Form has everything you need: the calendar, audition time slot sign-up, and access to the audition materials and choreography to help your student prepare. You can also find additional information on the Jones Academy Theatre website. If you have multiple students auditioning, please submit a separate form for each student. The auditions will take place December 11-12.
El formulario de audición para el elenco de Younger@part de La Familia Addams incluye todo lo necesario: el calendario, la inscripción para la audición y acceso a los materiales y la coreografía para que su hijo/a se prepare. También encontrará información adicional en el sitio web del Teatro de la Academia Jones. Si varios estudiantes se presentan a la audición, envíe un formulario por separado para cada uno. Las audiciones tendrán lugar los días 11 y 12 de diciembre.
Counselor Corner
Sticking to It!
Along with all the holiday fun, our focus this month in counseling is perseverance and honesty. Persistence is a helpful trait in life. It describes how long we are able to stick at a task, manage frustration, and push through the challenges we encounter. This quality is part of a child’s growing self-regulation skills, which emerge between 3 and 7 years of age (and continue to develop for many more years). Why Perseverance is an Important Trait to Teach It is so important for children to understand that life isn’t always easy. They will face challenges, things will be difficult, some subjects or skills may take time to grasp, and even relationships with friends will take work. When kids are taught how to persevere, they receive preparation for life as an adult. They learn how to set goals and put in the effort and work to accomplish them. They also learn that in order to reach a goal, they may have to experience failure before success. Learning all of these things at a young age will front load them with the fortitude they will need as they move from elementary school to middle and high school. Before long, making several attempts to achieve a goal will just be a natural process and not defeat. I believe perseverance partners closely with courage. Many times when children are nervous or afraid to do something, they may use perseverance to overcome their fear. The act of continuing to try something when it’s difficult or scary can simultaneously help increase a child’s courage. Additionally, perseverance helps kids to have a growth mindset. I have typically dedicated each month to an individual trait, and I like to teach my growth mindset lessons during the perseverance month. As children learn about the power of yet, their understanding of perseverance will increase even more. 12 tips to teaching your child perseverance
- Encourage goal setting. Make them achievable and short-term.
- Allow your child to see the benefits of persevering.
- Talk about people who they admire or have been inspired by and how these people achieved great things by persevering.
- Focus on their effort rather than the outcome.
- Remind them what they achieved by persevering. Keep a progress chart to show and remind them of their growth.
- Celebrate their wins, both big and small.
- Focus on one thing at a time.
- Continue to build their self-confidence.
- Embrace failure.
- Model perseverance. Show them how you persevere even when things get difficult.
- Don’t be too quick to help.
- Allow them to give up when necessary. If something doesn’t have any benefit, don’t force them to persevere for the sake of it. Keep the skill of persevering as a positive endeavor.
Final thoughts… The best gift we can give our kids when it comes to learning is the life skill of resilience. An important ingredient of being resilient is being able to persevere. As with most things, it’s not overnight. Teaching your child perseverance is an on-going process, but it will be one they’ll thank you for.
The Kindness Crew is Selling Candy Cane Grams Next Week
Performance Showcase Spectacular Grades 1-4 December 6
Dr. Marcelo Cavazos Center for Visual & Performing Arts (CVPA) 900 E Sanford St, Arlington
We’re thrilled to announce our upcoming Ensemble Performance Showcase featuring our talented 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders. We can’t wait to see them shine and take center stage! Important Details: - All students must check in at least 15 minutes before their performance time. - CVPA Policy: No personal food or drinks are allowed inside, and all guests ages 3+ must have a ticket to enter. Each student will receive 4 guest tickets prior to the event day. -Please note that several major events are happening nearby that same day—including the Big 12 Conference Championship at AT&T Stadium—which may lead to heavier traffic than usual. The CVPA staff recommends arriving from the south side of the building via Division Street for the easiest access. Please plan accordingly to ensure a smooth arrival. We look forward to celebrating our students’ hard work and creativity with you! We are also looking for volunteers to help with welcoming guests and checking/scanning tickets. If you can help, please sign up here.
Estamos muy emocionados de anunciar nuestra Show Espectacular con la participación de nuestros talentosos estudiantes de 1.º, 2.º, 3.º y 4.º grado. ¡No podemos esperar a verlos brillar en el escenario! Detalles importantes: * Todos los estudiantes deben registrarse al menos 15 minutos antes de su hora de presentación. * Política del CVPA: No se permite ingresar con comida o bebidas personales, y todos los invitados de 3 años en adelante deben tener boleto para entrar. Cada estudiante recibirá 4 boletos para invitados antes del día del evento. * También queremos informarles que ese mismo día habrá varios eventos importantes en el área, incluyendo el Campeonato de la Conferencia Big 12 en el estadio AT&T. El personal de CVPA recomienda llegar desde el lado sur del edificio por la calle Division para facilitar el acceso. Por favor, planifique con antelación para garantizar una llegada sin contratiempos. Es probable que haya más tráfico de lo normal, así que les pedimos planear con tiempo para garantizar una llegada sin contratiempos. ¡Esperamos celebrar con ustedes el talento y esfuerzo de nuestros estudiantes!
Además, estamos buscando voluntarios para ayudar con la bienvenida de los invitados y la revisión/escaneo de boletos. Si puedes apoyar, por favor regístrate aquí.
December 19 Holiday Parties & Early Dismissal
We are excited to invite you to join us for the class Holiday Party on Thursday, December 19! Families are welcome to accompany their students as we celebrate together. See flyer for details. To help us prepare and pre-print visitor badges, please RSVP by December 18 at 12 p.m. noon. Please note that December 19 is an early dismissal day at 12:10 PM. We look forward to celebrating this festive season with you! Calling all Dads, Granddads, and Dudes! 🎶Whether you’re a shower singer, a car karaoke pro, or somewhere in between, we’d love for you to join the Dads Club Caroling in the Halls! Come help spread holiday cheer with your voices!
¡Nos complace invitarlos a la Fiesta Navideña de la clase el jueves 19 de diciembre! Las familias pueden acompañar a sus estudiantes para celebrar juntos. Consulten el folleto para más detalles. Para ayudarnos a preparar e imprimir las credenciales de visitante, por favor, confirmen su asistencia antes del 18 de diciembre a las 12:00 p. m. del mediodía. Tengan en cuenta que el 19 de diciembre la salida es a las 12:10 p. m. ¡Esperamos celebrar estas fiestas con ustedes! ¡Se llaman a todos los papás, abuelos y tíos! 🎶Ya sea que cantes en la ducha, seas un experto en karaoke navideño o estés en algún punto intermedio, ¡nos encantaría que te unieras al Coro del Club de Papás en los Pasillos! Ven a ayudar a esparcir el espíritu navideño con tu voz.
Nominate a Teacher for AWARE
Would you like to recognize one of our exceptional teachers? The AWARE Foundation annually honors outstanding educators in Arlington ISD. AWARE stands for Arlington Will Award and Recognize Excellence. We’ve been fortunate to have several nominees and finalists over the years, and last year, our very own Señor Matos was a winner! Hopefully, we can continue the tradition of excellence with another win this year. Any classroom teacher, librarian, fine arts teacher, special education, dyslexia teacher etc; is eligible. Consider taking a moment to nominate a deserving educator using this form: TINYURL.COM/AWARE2526
¿Te gustaría reconocer a uno de nuestros maestros excepcionales? La Fundación AWARE honra cada año a los educadores sobresalientes en Arlington ISD. AWARE significa Arlington Will Award and Recognize Excellence (Arlington Reconocerá y Premiará la Excelencia). Hemos tenido la fortuna de contar con varios nominados y finalistas a lo largo de los años, y el año pasado, nuestro propio Señor Matos fue ganador. ¡Esperamos continuar esta tradición de excelencia con otro reconocimiento este año! Cualquier maestro de aula, bibliotecaria, maestro de bellas artes, o maestro de educación especial es elegible. Considera nominar a un educador merecedor usando este formulario: TINYURL.COM/AWARE2526
Yearbooks for Sale!
This school year is flying! Grab your early bird price for yearbooks now—order before the price goes up after today. 👉🏽Order here using code 26548. Don’t miss out! 📚✨ ¡Este año escolar se está pasando volando! Aprovecha el precio especial para los anuarios: ¡haz tu pedido antes de que suba el precio manana! 👉🏽Haz tu pedido aquí con el código 26548. ¡No te lo pierdas! 📚✨
Elf-tastic Adventures
We’re transforming our hallways into Elf-inspired magic- straight out of the movie Elf! We need volunteers to help spread holiday cheer, hang decorations, and bring the festive spirit to life for our students and families. If you love holiday fun, creativity, and a little mischief, come join us and help make our school sparkle like Buddy’s North Pole adventures! ¡Estamos transformando nuestros pasillos en un lugar mágico inspirado en Elf, como en la película! Necesitamos voluntarios para contagiar la alegría navideña, colgar decoraciones y llenar de espíritu festivo a nuestros estudiantes y familias. Si te encanta la diversión navideña, la creatividad y un poco de picardía, ¡únete a nosotros y ayúdanos a que nuestra escuela brille como las aventuras de Buddy en el Polo Norte!
Volunteer Sign Up
Many hands make light work and we love our volunteers. We depend on our parents and volunteers to help make the best learning environment that we can for our kids. We encourage you to be an approved volunteer to help make a difference at school, sponsor fine arts events, chaperone field trips and work with students. All volunteers must submit an online application (every year) and upload a copy of your unexpired government-issued photo ID to the volunteer application.
Muchas manos facilitan el trabajo y amamos a nuestros voluntarios. Dependemos de nuestros padres y voluntarios para ayudar a crear el mejor ambiente de aprendizaje posible para nuestros hijos. Lo alentamos a ser un voluntario aprobado para ayudar a hacer la diferencia en la escuela, patrocinar eventos de bellas artes, ser acompañante en excursiones y trabajar con los estudiantes. Todos los voluntarios deben enviar una solicitud en línea (cada año) y cargar una copia de su identificación con fotografía vigente emitida por el gobierno en la solicitud de voluntariado.
Calling all Jones Dudes!
Looking to meet other dads, stay involved, and support your child’s school? Join the Dad’s Club—a space for connection, community, and fun with all the awesome dads and father figures in our school family! ¿Quieres conocer a otros papás, mantenerte involucrado y apoyar la escuela de tu hijo? ¡Únete al Club de Papás—un espacio para la conexión, la comunidad y la diversión entre todos los increíbles papás y figuras paternas de nuestra comunidad escolar!
Stay connected: Join our private WhatsApp group and Follow us on Facebook
Mantente conectado: Únete a nuestro grupo privado de WhatsApp y Síguenos en Facebook
Get involved, stay in the loop, and make a difference! ¡Involúcrate, mantente informado y marca la diferencia!
Credits:
Created with an image by Austin Pacheco