JMI Monthly Newsletter

In honor of American Education Week (November 13-17, 2023), classrooms will be open for JMI parents to visit throughout the week. Each homeroom teacher has planned a time for you to visit which is on the back of this letter. When planning your visit, please ask your child about their individual schedule as students leave their homerooms throughout the day for band, strings, chorus, etc.

Dear JMI Families,

November is a very busy month with days off and many 1:30 Dismissal Days sprinkled throughout. Please make note of the following days where either school is closed, or we have a 1:30 Dismissal:

November 16 - 1:30 Dismissal

November 22 - 1:30 Dismissal

November 23 and 24 - Closed

November 28 - 1:30 Dismissal

With numerous days off in November and December, several families travel overseas during the next two months. If your family is traveling for an extended period of time (more than five days), please reach out to me directly to discuss the specific number of days that your child will miss school. Depending on the number of days, the student will either accumulate unexcused absences or the student may need to unenroll. Please remember that work will not be provided in advance, and students cannot join remotely.

Please remember that even as the weather gets cooler, students will continue to go outside for recess. I ask that your children dress in layers so they are comfortable during the day. Now that more students are wearing jackets/hoodies, our Lost and Found is also growing with unclaimed items. I encourage you to label your child's belongings (including water bottles), so we can make sure lost items are returned to their owners.

Happy November!

Mrs. Abatemarco

Every Sunday (or the day before the first day of school that week), Mrs. Abatemarco will send out a weekly update. Please check your spam/junk folders and send the emails to your inbox to ensure you are up to date on all the latest and greatest JMI news!

If you have checked your spam folders and are still not receiving the weekly updates, please email Mrs. Abatemarco to be added to the list.

Parent-teacher conferences are an excellent time to communicate with your child’s teacher(s) to partner in the educational process. We strongly encourage all of you to take advantage of this opportunity. The home-school connection is essential, and we realize that virtual conferences can be convenient for some families, as they eliminate the need for transportation, childcare arrangements, or taking time off work. Thus, we will allow parents/guardians to choose an in-person or virtual conference for the upcoming conferences.

• November 16 (Thursday) from 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM

• November 28 (Tuesday) from 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM

5th Grade Parents/Guardians will only meet with their child's homeroom teacher during this round of conferences. When you meet with your child's homeroom teacher, you will receive an update from your child's platooning teacher.

Our Student Council will be organizing a food drive for the Hands of Hope food pantry located in Edison. Please see the attached flyer for more details. The Student Council will collect items for Hands of Hope from November 14 through November 21 to ensure that Hands of Hope receives the food in time for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Past Events

In September and October, our PTO hosted two very successful events. In September, they hosted our annual Popsicles in the Park event. The purpose of this event was to bring our JMI families together with the staff and for the students to have fun. Most recently, the PTO co-hosted the Trunk-or-Treat night event. Again, the purpose was for our school community to come together for a great evening of fun! These events run as fundraisers, and the funds raised from these events help pay for class trips and the inflatables at Field Day in June. Thank you to the PTO Executive Board and all the volunteers for helping bring these events to life for our students! Thank you to all the families who joined us and bought tickets and food, which helped with the fundraising efforts.

Upcoming Events - Diwali Celebration, Thanksgiving Feast, Scholastic Book Fair

The PTO has three upcoming events in November. First, our PTO will host our first-ever Diwali celebration. The event will occur on Friday, November 17, and registration is required. The event is open to the first 100 JMI students. Due to space, the event is only open to currentJMI students and one adult.

The PTO will host the annual Thanksgiving Feast on Tuesday, November 21.

• Maschio's will provide the meal, and the PTO will pay for lunch.
• The students will choose between ordering regular (turkey and sides) or ordering vegetarian option (macaroni & cheese and sides). Click here to view the full menu.
• Students not interested in Maschio's Thanksgiving Feast should bring their lunch in from home that day since Maschio's will not serve any other options besides the Thanksgiving Feast.

The PTO will also sponsor the Scholastic Book Fair, which will be held in school from November 28 through November 30 (the online store opens on November 27).

• Each class can visit the Book Fair to purchase books and novelties.
• Before the Book Fair, please talk to your child about your expectations for how the money you send in should be spent, how to handle if another student asks to borrow money, and what your child should do if the item they want to purchase is unavailable. While teachers and volunteers are in the Book Fair, it is always great for the students to know your expectations for their purchases.
• The PTO is looking for volunteers to help run the Book Fair. If you can volunteer, please sign up using the link below.
• There is no "browsing." Purchases must be made during the class' scheduled time. Make-ups are only for students who are absent - not for students who forgot their money on their scheduled day.
• Due to state taxes, all prices will be rounded to the nearest quarter.

The Book Fair will be open late on November 28 from 5:00 - 7:00 for families to stop by and shop together.

In November, our school-wide character pillar will focus on DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP. Throughout the month, Mr. Ford will share resources with the teachers to reinforce important aspects of digital citizenship. Our students will also be adding to our school-wide Character Chain with examples of how they can demonstrate digital citizenship daily.

Each month, one student from each class is selected as the Golden Knight for the month for exemplifying the character pillar. On Friday, November 4, we will have our Golden Knight Luncheon, recognizing students who embodied being respectful during the month of October.

Students also can earn JMI Illuminator tickets for demonstrating the four pillars of a JMI Knight: Respect, Responsibility, Safe, and Kind. Students who earn tickets deposit them into their classroom bucket and are eligible to receive a prize of their choosing. At the end of each month, all tickets are collected, and one ticket is selected from each grade level as the PBSIS Student of the Month. Their picture is then displayed on a bulletin board in our lobby.

We are so proud of all our students for being kind, respectful, responsible, and safe at JMI.

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.

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

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