Family Update - March 2, 2025

Dear families,

We continue to have many absences among students and staff due to illness. Please remember to keep your student home if:

• temperature 100.4 (should be fever free for 24 hours without the use of a fever reducing medication such as ibuprofen/Tylenol)
• diarrhea or vomiting (should stay home for 24 hours after an episode)

Come on Spring!

We have several remaining lost and found items leftover from Ski Club. Please see the picture below, and let us know if any of it belongs to your student.

Our staff had a great time at our annual bowling party. Many thanks to our amazing PTO for supporting our team building fun! Thank you!

We'd like to give a huge shout out to all of our students who performed in the talent show on Friday evening. Such an impressive group! Many thanks to Mrs. Gomez and Mrs. Speegle for coordinating the show. See pics below.

We look forward to welcoming you into the building this Thursday evening for our Curriculum Night. Parents/guardians of current 6th and 7th graders should plan to attend at 6:00 pm. Parents and students of incoming 6th graders should arrive at 7:00 pm. It is also conference night, so please be aware that parking will be in demand and is always limited. We look forward to seeing you!

This Friday during Advisory, we will have a guest speak from Best Buddies in preparation for our annual Belonging Week which runs from March 10 - 14. Here is additional information about Best Buddies.

We hope you are having a fantastic weekend!

Warm regards,

Aimee White, Principal

Keona Walker, Assistant Principal

Here is the link to Jones Weekend Update: https://youtu.be/U89AYxNO4Lg

The Jones PTO is looking for a President and President-Elect for the 2025-2026 school year. At this time, we do not have anyone to lead our PTO next school year. We want to be able to continue the work the PTO is known for. This year we have supported teacher mini grants, an author visit, transportation for class parties, meals for teachers on conference nights and more! If you are interested in either position, please reach out to jonesschoolpto@gmail.com or attend our next meeting on March 3rd at 8:30 am in the Jones Learning Center.

This semester, we are thrilled to introduce the Career Explorations Speaker Series. This optional program will take place during Flex in the JMS cafeteria, providing students with the chance to learn from professionals in a variety of fields and gain insights into potential career paths. Students can sign up for sessions with speakers that interest them by visiting this link: Career Explorations Speaker Series Sign Up. Here's the dynamic list of our JMS speaker series open to all grade levels:

• March 4, Dr. Corey Stiver (Pediatric Cardiology)

• March 5, Kari Mazzaferro (Product Developer Manager/Horticulturalist)

• March 26, Meghan Moledor, PMP (Pharmaceutical Scientist)

• April 1, Dr. Kelly Tyler (Dermatologist/Physician)

• April 2, Angela Morelli (LISW-S; Clinical Social Worker)

• April 14, Dr. Elizabeth Griffith (Professor of Earth Sciences at The Ohio State University)

Jones staff and students are coordinating activities to celebrate Belonging Week and would love some parent help. If you are available to work more than 1 lunch shift, please sign up for multiple.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A44A9A629ABF49-55355626-inclusion

Join us from 1-2:30 PM in the Hastings Middle School Gym on Sunday, March 9th, for the annual Girls Volleyball 6th grade open house! High School Varsity Head Coach Meg Terwilliger and available middle school coaches will be there to answer parent questions, while varsity players will be there to help girls who are interested in playing get an idea of what they will see at tryouts in 7th grade. Register for free at playpass.com/volleybears. Email coach Terwilliger at mterwilliger@uaschools.org with any questions.

Thanks again for being part of Ski Club. It is a beloved and long running program so if you have not had a chance yet, please fill out the feedback form Here: https://forms.gle/jGgjsyn9oXopaqtw5

Rental Gear -

If you are done with your season rental gear please return your gear to the shop. Please make sure the gear is dry and cleaned off.

Thanks again for being part of a great Ski Club season!

Please don't forget that the final payment for the trip is due by March 14th.

As announced in the fall, the MANDATORY final/pre-departure parent/student meeting is April 30th at 7:30 pm. Please put it on your calendar now if it isn't already on it. If you absolutely can not make it to that meeting, you can attend the HMS meeting on May 1 at 7:30 pm at Hastings. This option is not ideal as you will not hear specifics about the Jones trip nor get to meet your child's chaperone.

Tomb of the Unknowns Writing Contest 2025

On March 26th during Flex, 8th-grade students will have an opportunity to write an essay responding to the following prompt, "What would it mean to you to lay the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery?" Based on their responses, four students will be selected to lay the wreath during our visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington, D.C. Participation is voluntary. The students will be writing their essay on paper, not on their iPads.

Responses will be scored according to the following criteria:

Creativity - The response presents a unique and interesting perspective and may include an anecdote or extended metaphor, for example.

Personal Connection - The response demonstrates a meaningful personal reason explaining the student’s desire to be a wreath layer. The response demonstrates how the student’s life will be impacted by the opportunity.

Format & Mechanics - The essay is easy to read and understand. Student has made a reasonable effort to correct errors in spelling, sentence structure, and grammar.

Keeping your student healthy and safe is our priority. Please complete the DC Health Form for the school nurse to prepare for your student’s well being:

1. Log into your Parent PowerSchool account

2. Navigate to Student Forms

3. Ensure that 2024-2025 Enrollment forms have been submitted (DC Health Form cannot be accessed until this information has been completed)

4. Scroll down to DC Health Form to complete the form and submit ** you will need all your child’s medication information to complete this form** (you will no longer need to provide insurance information). Please note: you must indicate ‘yes’ your child takes medications outside of the school day for the section to open up to be completed. The prescription medication form is hyperlinked in this section.

5. This form opens Friday, February 14. Please complete one form for each student as soon as possible. It will close prior to Spring Break on Friday, March 14, to allow the nursing staff time to organize and process this important information. You will receive a weekly reminder to help with this first step of preparation for our trip.

6. If you are having technical difficulties, you may contact familytechhelp@uaschools.org

7. Any other questions, please contact your school nurse Shannon Johnson at snjohnson@uaschools.org

If your baby is graduating 8th grade this year, send in a photo and some words of encouragement for the Jones yearbook! The cost is $20, and the funds raised go towards scholarships for camps and school trips for Jones students.

The deadline to submit is March 15th, but we do have limited space in the yearbook pages, so don't delay!

*Please send in only one tribute per student to allow for as many students as possible to get a spot.

Link to our page on Local Level Events

If you have any questions, email Alice Speegle at aspeegle@uaschools.org

Communication with Athletic Trainers

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center provides athletic training services for students at Hastings, Jones and Upper Arlington High School. When working through a student athlete’s injury or sports-related health concern, the athletic trainers use the Healthy Roster app for convenient and secure communication with families. If your student participates in school athletics, you will soon receive an email with more information and an invitation to set up a Healthy Roster account.

Religious Expression Days

A new state law allows a student’s parent or guardian to request up to three religious expression days for each school year without any academic penalty. Religious expression days may be used to take holidays for reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief system or participate in organized activities conducted under the auspices of a religious denomination, church, or other religious or spiritual organization. Parents/guardians may submit the three dates by completing this form by Sunday, March 16. Per state law, families will be notified of this opportunity prior to the start of each school year. Families will receive this before the start of each school year. Religious expression dates for the 2025-26 school year and beyond will need to be submitted no later than 14 days after the start of the school year.

For additional attendance information, visit www.uaschools.org/students-families/attendance.

We need your feedback! Your voice matters!

We need your feedback on the initial draft options for repairing, renovating or rebuilding Hastings Middle School, Jones Middle School and Burbank Early Childhood School! If you weren’t able to attend one of the community meetings, please visit our website to see the options and share your thoughts by March 9. Your feedback is critically important and we work to refine the options and determine which have the support to be brought forward for further consideration. Your voice matters!

iPad Parent Control Information

The UACS Technology department provides 2 ways for caregivers to manage screen time, review web history, manage apps and internet access after school hours. The typical built-in Apple ScreenTime and Parental controls do not work because the district manages iPads for school use at a district level - the typical consumer level settings are not available. Caregivers can review web activity and disable internet access through the Lightspeed Relay Parent Portal. Additionally, caregivers can control app access and set rules through the JAMF Parent app. Questions may be directed to FamilyTechHelp@uaschools.org.

JAMF Parental Controls Manual

JAMF Parental Setup and Guide Videos

Lightspeed Parent Portal

Transportation Questions: schoolbusquestions@uaschools.org or call 614-487-6477

Upper Arlington Schools Lunch Information link: https://www.uaschools.org/NutritionalServices.aspx

PowerSchool Parent Portal: https://ps-uar.metasolutions.net/public/home.html

If you need assistance logging into PowerSchool, you may reach out to: Building Secretary Melissa Thien at mthien@uaschools.org or familytechhelp@uaschools.org

Student Fees/SPS EZpay: https://www.spsezpay.com/upperarlington/login.aspx

MARCH 2025

March 3 - PTO Meeting, 8:30am

March 3 - Packing for the Streets, 3:30pm

March 6 - Parent/Teacher Conferences, 4 - 8pm

March 6 - 7th/8th Grade Curriculum Night, Auditorium, 6pm

March 6 - 5th Grade Parent Night, 7pm

March 10 - 14 - Belonging Week (see info above)

March 14 - End of 3rd Grading Period

March 17 - 21 - No School - Spring Break

March 24 - No School - Teacher Work Day

March 25 - 4th Quarter Begins

March 28 - 8th Grade Class Picture, Flex