Jackson Primary School

Press release:

Jackson Primary School Parent Teacher Group is hosting a celebration parade for all Jackson families on Friday at noon.

The parade will begin at Ascension Parish / Sacred Heart parking lot, located at 19 Sumner St.

The parade will proceed up Hutchins Street to South Jackson Street and through the front bus loop at Jackson Primary (411 S. Jackson St.) where teachers will line the sidewalk. There will also be a safe walking zone that will be roped off for those who wish to walk the parade.

The parade will be lead by SRO Jason Davis from the Batavia Police Department. Jackson Primary would like to thank the Batavia Police Department, the Batavia Fire Department and the Jackson Primary Parent Teacher Group for support Jackson Primary.

We look forward to seeing everyone there!

If you have any questions, please call Mrs. Notaro, principal of Jackson Primary at (585) 343-2480, ext. 4000.

Staff members at Jackson Primary School are working today (Dec. 3) from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at McDonald's restaurant at 373 E. Main St. -- Eastown Plaza.

"McTeacher's Night" is a fundraiser for the school and 15 percent of all sales will go to Jackson Home School Association.

Plus, there will be a 50/50 raffle and basket raffles in the dining area at McDonald's.

If your child completes the coloring page on the back of last week's flier and brings it to McTeacher's Night, he or she will get a free ice cream cone or sliced apples!

Here's the staff lineup for the event:

4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

• Mr. Calandra
• Mrs. Conroy
• Mrs. Fix
• Mrs. Koukides
• Mrs. Musilli
• Mrs. Radesi
• Mr. Sloan

5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

• Mrs. Clark
• Mrs. Gilebarto
• Mrs. Harloff
• Mrs. Mattice
• Miss Mrzywka
• Mrs. White
• Mrs. Wolff

6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

• Ms. Ditzel
• Mrs. Flanagan
• Mrs. Jones
• Mrs. Okoniewski
• Mrs. Peterson

Thursday evening more than 50 children and their families came together to learn about English Language Arts Games and Math games to help kindergarten and first-graders learn at home. 

The activities and games the parents learned about are design to help their children learn at home and reinforce what the children are taught in school.  These games correspond to the CORE curriculum taught at Jackson Primary School.  

The current curriculum was also discussed with parents so they may better understand their children’s education. 

Today was an exciting day for the Jackson Primary first-graders. It is moving up day. They received certificates of continuation from administrators during a ceremony in the Batavia High School auditorium in front of their fellow classmates and cheering families. The students will now move on to John Kennedy Intermediate School and graduate from high school in 2028.  

Jackson Primary held its Fall Carnival Friday evening. Students from the school went on a scavanger hunt, ate pizza and drank apple cider. Prizes and candy were given for playing games such as Launch the Frog, Tip a Troll and candy corn bowling. There were also other fun activities like "Tape the Principal to the Wall," pictured below. 

With the hard work of all the first-graders and their reading efforts, the animals were able to get back to their normal habitats at the Jackson Zoo today.

Faculty dressed up as zookeepers and animals to put on a closing play and reward students for their reading achievements. With everyone’s help, the zoo was back to normal.

The play was a part of the Parents as Reading Partners program, which began on March 16 with a challenge for students. Faculty put on an opening play showing the zoo animals had gone wild. The animals were eating the wrong foods and living in the wrong places. The zookeepers asked students to help them solve the problem.

To help zoo animals get back to their normal habitat, students were required to read at home for 15 minutes every night. Students had to get a ticket signed by a parent once they completed their reading and return it to school every day.

During the program, the students read a total of 441,000 minutes. For all their effort, they were rewarded with prizes and received a new book to take home at the end of the play.

Heather Landers, first-grade special education teacher, organized the play.

“The program aligned with the curriculum so kids could connect what they were learning in class to the reading,” Landers said. “The kids got excited about reading and loved the play.”

The play was one of many reading incentives students participated in. Other events included a Family Reading Night, Fairytale event and reading with members of the Genesee County Bar Association.

Principal Diane Bonarigo has been thrilled with her students’ reading progress.

“I’m so excited 80 percent of our children are reading at grade level or above,” Bonarigo said. “I have seen the children significantly improve in reading this year.”

Bonarigo hopes children will continue reading and be lifelong learners.