October Cyclone Watch

It is hard to believe that we are already in October. It seems like just yesterday that we were opening our doors to meet our newest Cyclones for Jumpstart Day! We are really getting into the heart of our school year in October with our fall activities concluding and our winter activities just starting. Our fine arts classes will be starting their concerts soon. Lots going on at JMS!

As we transition into more of the "inside months" we also unfortunately see a rise in illness as we spend more time indoors. Please help our JMS community out by making sure your Cyclone gets plenty of sleep and that they are taking care of themselves. Attendance and achievement go hand in hand and the best way to have great attendance is to take care of your health.

Lastly, as we go right along through the school year, please check in with your Cyclone about their studies. We will have our first Cyclone Day experience on October 11th. This is a collaborative, cross-curricular day designed for students to experience the content they are learning in class in a real-world application. We are so excited that we get this opportunity at JMS and we hope that these experiences inspire your student to take what they are learning in the classroom to the real world!

Jacob Adams

#CycloneNation

Next week we will start a new iReady competition with a fun Halloween theme! There will be 3 witches’ cauldrons, one for each grade level, displayed in the hallway. For every 50 lessons passed, a CREEPY item will be added to the cauldron. The contest will run from October 1st to October 31st. The winning grade level will get a special Halloween treat! This competition will be grade level only—no individual class competition this time…but stay tuned for the next one!

Enter if you dare…into a 100-word story writing contest. That’s right, only 100 words to chill and thrill your readers and an exciting opportunity to win prizes such as Amazon gift cards and trophies! Embrace spooky season and indulge in some creepy creativity by visiting Ms. Todd in room 126 for an entry form. Entries are due no later than October 25th.

Girls in STEM club starts back up January 13th after school from 2:45-3:45! This club meets twice a month on Mondays. If you are interested in learning about sustainability in the home through fun activities and labs there will be flyers around the school with a QR code. Signs ups are due by October 25th!

Free Tutoring for all CPS Students.

Students can access this on the CPS issued iPads.

See info below for getting started.

The media center is an option for all students in the mornings. We have a big, busy space that is filling each day with more students. We have kids hanging with friends, playing on the iPads, playing chess, board games and checking out books. We have our new books on display so kids can see our student suggested books that were purchased in September. We also are getting our monthly book subscriptions from SkyLark. These are on display as well. The Banned Book display is also a big hit. These books are on display here in the media center as well. Kids can learn which books are banned or challenged as well as the reasons. To get the books, they just have to cross the yellow caution tape (which is part of the display). Remind your student to check out the great jokes we have posted outside the media center each day.

All classes have been to the media center with their English classes. We learned about the card catalog which they have access to from the iPad. Students were also shown SORA on the iPads and the ebooks, magazines and audio books. Students also have access to DBRL materials through SORA. There are so many opportunities for reading on the devices. Please feel free to contact the JMS media center with any questions.

Students are now using the iPads for their classes. Students reset passwords last week. We are resetting many forgotten passwords, so please encourage your student to write their CPS password in the notes app in their phones or another safe location. Please help your students establish a system for getting fully charged iPads to school. As classes have been visiting the media center, we have talked about email and being responsible in using email communication. Responsible camera and recording use on the iPads and what we can and cannot do with our devices have also been reviewed with students. Please talk to your students about being safe and responsible with the iPad. We look forward to seeing all our students using these devices in a safe and responsible manner.

The Switch by Roland Smith (author of Jack's Run, Zach's Lie)

Henry lives with his parents and extended family on a 40-acre property they all call the Aunt Farm. Even with dozens of aunts, uncles, cousins, and animals running around, life on the farm has always been comfortable and routine. But that all changes the day a passenger jet drops out of the sky and onto their land. And then all the phones go dead... And the cars won't start... Having spent a lifetime relying on the comfort and convenience of electricity and technology, now Henry and his family have only one hope for survival: each other. The JMS media center has this book available for checkout.

Cyclone Book Club had our first meeting on September 26 in the JMS media center. We are an enthusiastic group of readers. We each read what we enjoy, discuss what we read and then we hang out in the media center. We meet once a month. Readers are welcome to join us at any time throughout the year. We will have a spectacularly spooky meeting on October 31 right after school. If your reader has questions, please have them see Mrs. Kiley in the media center.

We aren't into construction. We are affiliated with the Kiwanis Club, and we are a service club. We enjoy doing things to help. We do projects for our school and our surrounding neighborhood. If your student is interested in being a community leader, please have them see Mrs. Kiley in the media center with questions. Our next meeting will be October 10 in the media center.

We will celebrate our annual Fall into Reading Party at Barnes and Noble on Friday, November 8, 2024, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. Come out to see many of our JMS groups perform. Currently, our Voices of Jeff choir, Jazz Band, and Orchestra are scheduled to perform. More information will be sent out as we near the date. All members of the family are welcome. Our littlest family members love getting a front row seat to the performances. This is our way to celebrate family literacy while supporting our JMS Reading Department. All funds raised go to buying books that are available to all students here at JMS!

6th grade Exploring Tech classes made mechanical trash grabbers last week and went out and tested their function and durability by picking up lots of trash around the school.

Team tryouts continue on Mondays after school until 5 pm. Team rosters will be locked in by October 14.

Meets on Wednesdays after school until 5 p.m. Team roster will be locked in by October 14.