JMI Monthly Newsletter

Dear JMI Families,

Welcome back to the 2023 - 2024 school year! A brand new school year signifies a fresh start with endless possibilities!

Our theme for this year is Learning is an ADVENTURE that never ends, and a strong partnership between home and school is where it all begins! In late August, we began building this bridge between home and school by welcoming all the new families to JMI! During the orientation, Mr. Mirfield and I stressed that communication between home and school is essential to a successful year for all our students. We will host our Back to School Night on Thursday, September 14, starting at 6:00 PM (please see the Back To School Night section below for more details). The JMI PTO will also be hosting our Popsicles in the Park night on Friday, September 15 (weather permitting), where our JMI families can come together to meet each other and some of the JMI staff. I hope that you can join us for these upcoming events!

I encourage you to contact us whenever you have a question or concern. At JMI, all staff members follow a 24-hour rule in responding to families (excluding weekends, holidays, or illness). The best way to reach out to a JMI staff member is through their email address, which is firstname.lastname@edison.k12.nj.us. All email addresses can be found on our school website. You can also reach us by calling the school at 732-452-2960 and selecting the best option to assist you.

I hope you share my excitement for a phenomenal school year ahead, and I look forward to all the adventures that await us this year!

Best,

Mrs. Abatemarco

Instead of asking families to email the homeroom teacher, we are asking that families email our JMI ATTENDANCE EMAIL ACCOUNT at JMI.ATTENDANCE@EDISON.K12.NJ.US. Both secretaries can monitor this account. We were finding that if teachers were absent or were not able to check their attendance because they were teaching, student's attendance reporting was delayed.

Therefore, we ask that moving forward, families email JMI.ATTENDANCE@EDISON.K12.NJ.US to report your child's absence. If you would like to cc your child's teacher, you may, but the attendance email is the priority account to inform the school of your child's attendance.

Of course, families can still call the school at 732-452-2960 and Press 1 to call in their child's absence as well.

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If your child needs to get picked up early, or if there is a change in dismissal procedure (i.e., your child will be a walker instead of taking the bus, etc.), CALL THE MAIN OFFICE TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE DIRECTLY to ensure that a child is dismissed accordingly. Please do not email changes of dismissals because the email might not be read before dismissal.

To ensure your child's privacy, we no longer have a paper version of our sign-in/sign-out sheet.

• Families will be able to sign their child in late or sign their child out early using the QR code posted on the front window.
• This means that parents/guardians will need to have a cell phone with you in order to access the QR code.

The process to sign your child in or out is as follows:

1. Ring the doorbell and tell the JMI staff member your name, your child's name, and your purpose (signing in your child late, signing your child out early).
2. Use your cell phone to scan the QR code and complete the Google Form.
3. If you are signing your child out, please leave your ID on the table. It will be brought into the school and scanned. Your child will bring it back out to you as they leave.

Sign In Times

If the cones block the drop-off lane and the front doors are closed, your child is considered late. For your child's safety, please do not drop your child off in the parking lot or at the front door and then drive away. An adult must walk the child to the front door and use the QR code to sign them in. At the direction of the JMI staff member, the student can enter the building. Adults are not allowed to enter the building.

Sign Out Times

If your child needs to leave early, they must be signed out by 3:00 PM. As a courtesy, please call the main office in advance. Families can also email the teacher, but the email should be in addition to calling the main office and not the only form of communication since teachers cannot check their email throughout the day. Students will not be allowed to be signed out early after 3:00 PM as it is too close to our school's dismissal routine. If there is an extenuating circumstance, please reach out to Mr. Mirfield or Mrs. Abatemarco prior.

Students in Grades 4 and 5 can sign up for instrumental lessons at school. Students can either choose to be in the Band or Strings. THE DEADLINE TO SIGN UP FOR BAND OR STRINGS IS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2023, AT 3:30 PM.

Lessons are done weekly, and students are excused from their homeroom classes to attend their instrumental classes. The schedule rotates to ensure that students are not missing the same class every week. For example, one week, the student might miss their period 2 class, which is math, and the following week, they will miss their period 3 class, which is art. Students are expected to make up the work that they miss in their homeroom class. While the homeroom teacher will help them, it is ultimately the student's responsibility to make sure they make up any work they miss.

Our Band and Strings ensemble will perform at our Winter Concert, which is usually held in January, and our Spring Concert, which is usually held in May.

Please use the link below to access our JMI Band/Strings website, which contains important information about selecting an instrument and renting an instrument. Additional questions can be sent to our two instrumental directors:

Strings - Mrs. Biscocho at molly.biscocho@edison.k12.nj.us

Band - Mr. Zapata at daniel.zapata@edison.k12.nj.us

Back to School Night will be on Thursday, September 14 starting at 6:00 PM. Back to School Night is completely in-person this year. All presentations will be made available on our school website after September 14 for anyone who cannot attend Back to School Night that evening. Back to School Night is for parents/guardians, so we would appreciate it if children do not attend.

Back to School Night will have two sessions. Teachers will present the same presentation during both sessions.

Session I - 6:00 PM - 6:25 PM

Session II – 6:30 PM - 6:55 PM

Parents/Guardians can choose which session they would like to attend. As you can see from the options below, you do not have to attend both sessions - you can attend at 6:00 and then leave, or you can come just for the 6:30 session. Here are some options for how you can enjoy our Back to School Night:

Assessments

Students will also take a variety of diagnostic assessments throughout the year, including but not limited to Exact Path (all grades), iReady Assessment (Grade 3 and Grade 4), Benchmarks through Link It, and a writing assessment.

Gifted and Talented

All JMI students will also be tested for eligibility in our pull-out Gifted and Talented program unless a parent/guardian requests that they opt out of testing. All students will be exposed to the Gifted and Talented curriculum throughout the year when our G&T teacher pushes in to teach lessons in the classroom. Students who qualify for the pull-out program will leave their homeroom and meet with our G&T teacher throughout the year.

State testing is anticipated to take place at the elementary level in early May.

ELA - Students in Grades 3, 4, and 5

Math - Students in Grades 3, 4, and 5

Science - Students in Grade 5

**TESTING IN AN OPTIMAL ENVIRONMENT IS IDEAL FOR STUDENT SUCCESS. THEREFORE, PLEASE AVOID TRAVELING DURING THIS TIME. ***

Birthdays are very important to the students and should be celebrated! They are just as important as the academic instruction that our children receive daily. While we recognize the importance of the celebration, we will no longer permit food or goodie bags of any kind (containing food or non-food items)for birthday celebrations. This includes sending things to school to send home with the students. The following are “non-food” birthday options:

• Read a book to the class (either by a parent/guardian, grandparent, or child)

• Donate a book to the classroom library.

These options will allow your child to celebrate his/her birthday while having limited interruption to classroom instruction.

Invitations to birthday parties cannot be distributed during the school day or on school grounds unless the entire class is invited.

Breakfast

Breakfast is free this year. Students must order in advance with their homeroom teacher. Breakfast will be provided to students at the start of the school day for them to eat during homeroom and morning meeting.

Students are not allowed to come to school with hot beverages either from home or from Dunkin, Starbucks, etc.

Lunch

Students can either bring lunch from home or purchase lunch from Maschio's.

From Home

1. Please send your child to school with lunch to avoid dropping it off during the day.
2. Please make sure your child can open their own lunch containers.
3. Glass, knives, soda, and hot beverages are not allowed.

Purchase from Maschio's

1. Students will order in advance with their homeroom teacher.
2. Students can either pay with cash, or families can add money to the child's My School Bucks account. If students pay in cash, they should give the money in a sealed, labeled envelope to their homeroom teacher during morning homeroom. Paying at lunch slows down the line and delays other students from getting through the line quickly.

The PTO is a non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to enhance the educational experience of each child at JMI through events and fundraising. The PTO supports the students in various ways like paying for inflatables and ice during Field Day, contributing to the overall cost of the yearbook to allow 5th-grade students to purchase it at a discounted rate, subsidizing the cost of the field trip for less out-of-pocket costs for families. The PTO Executive Board is comprised of parent/guardian volunteers, and board members are not paid.

There are three ways that families can support the PTO:

1. By becoming a member through a one-time membership fee of $15.00 per family.

2. Participating in fundraisers throughout the year. Whether it's a Chick-fil-A night or signing your child up for the Science Fair, all fundraising efforts benefit the students.

2. Volunteering throughout the year at different events throughout the year.

If you have any questions about the PTO, feel free to reach out to Mrs. Abatemarco or the PTO at jmipto@gmail.com.

When filling out a tech ticket through Incident IQ, you will need your child's Google/Chromebook log-in credentials.

If you had to switch devices and transfer the device insurance, please follow these steps:

1. Email edison@worthavegroup.com.
2. Please include the old iPad/Chromebook serial number & the new Chromebook serial number.
3. Please also include email account used in the purchase.

Email: donna.abatemarco@edison.k12.nj.us
Website: https://jmi.edison.k12.nj.us/
Location: 838 New Dover Road, Edison, NJ, USA
Phone: 732-452-2960
Twitter: @JMI_Edison