Jones Early Childhood Development Center 04/2026

March 27, 2026

Jones Early Childhood Development Center

Ms. Saulsberry's Message: Thank you to everyone who visited and purchased books at the Scholastic Book Fair during conferences. We made over $2500 in money to purchase books for our library and classrooms! Thank you also to all those who donated books to classrooms from the teacher's wish lists. Our teachers were SO excited to add new books to their classroom libraries. Once again, we had amazing attendance at Parent Teacher Conferences. Thank you for making your child's education a priority and talking with us about all their growth and goals for the rest of the year.

Do you want to recognize a member of the Jones staff? Click here!

Important Dates

Wednesday, Apr 1 - Paraprofessional Appreciation Day!
Friday, Apr 3 - NO SCHOOL
Monday, Apr 6 - Jones Site Council meets @ 3:30
Friday, Apr 10 - Emporia Public Library visits
Friday, Apr 17 - PM students ONLY

Ms. Rhonda's Tip

Keep building healthy home habits to encourage your child’s learning:

#1: Find out what interests your child and check out similar book topics.

#2: Limit screen time at home and on the go.

#3: Explore audio books.

#4: Encourage imaginative play!

Play builds literacy skills in so many ways, including helping children express themselves and put thoughts into words. Encourage children to use their imagination with puppets (you can make your own out of socks or paper bags!), costumes, and everyday household objects. You can also attend a Learn and Play experience at the Emporia Public Library on April 7 at 5:30. Questions can be directed to Ms. Rhonda, Mobilizing Literacy Family Liaison, at 620-412-8231 or rhonda.beatty@usd253.net.

News from the Hive:

In April, we’re learning about the Capturing Kids’ Hearts character trait—Perseverance! This means giving extra effort to reach a goal and finishing strong—even when it feels hard.

Building Perseverance at Home
You can help your child practice perseverance in simple, everyday ways. When they feel frustrated while tying their shoes, riding a bike, cleaning up, managing big feelings, or learning something new, gently encourage them to keep going.

Reading together is also a great way to show what perseverance looks like. Stories like The Most Magnificent Thing and The Magical Yet help children see that mistakes and challenges are part of learning—and that success comes from not giving up.

Try using encouraging phrases like:

“You’re working so hard!”
“Keep trying—you’re getting better!”
“You didn’t give up—that’s perseverance!”

Take time to remind your child of all they have already accomplished—this builds confidence and helps them believe they can do hard things!

Watching your child grow and learn has been such a gift. We are so proud of all they have accomplished at Jones! 💛 Mrs. Bea 🐝

2026-2027 School Year

If your child will be attending Emporia Public Schools for the 2026–27 school year, we encourage you to complete pre-registration as soon as possible if you have not already done so.

Pre-registering your student helps our district plan for class sizes and ensures we have the appropriate number of staff in place to best support our students.

You can find the pre-registration link on our district website at usd253.org. Thank you for helping us prepare for a great school year ahead!

Does your child have trouble sleeping?

This article helps explore reasons why sleep challenges happen and gives some solutions to try:

https://www.zerotothree.org/resource/sleep-challenges-why-it-happens-what-to-do/

This article has suggestions to help deal with sleep challenges:

https://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/sleep/issues/stop-toddler-bedtime-battles/

Article for 3 to 5 year olds specifically that are struggling with sleep:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/childrens-health/in-depth/child-sleep/art-20044338