October 31 Early Dismissal Day
This Thursday, October 31, is an Early Dismissal day. Middle school students begin the day at the regular 8:30 a.m. start time and are dismissed at 12:00 p.m. Breakfast and lunch are still available for all students on these days. Please click here to access the schedule for the day.
Setting the Stage for 2nd Quarter
The first day of 2nd quarter was October 21. The start of a new quarter is a great time for students and families to reset and commit to a plan for monitoring students' progress and grades. One of our goals during middle school is to empower students to strengthen their self-advocacy skills. Self-advocacy has several benefits, some of which include: increasing self-confidence and self-worth, enabling the ability to make decisions, and allowing students to become more independent. Strengthening self-advocacy skills during a child's middle school years sets the stage for a successful high school experience and overall life success.
With this goal in mind, we want to share some suggestions/reminders for how families can support their children at home with building skills in the area of self-advocacy:
- Have your child check PowerSchool weekly to review current quarter grade information (students can log into PowerSchool on their Chromebook using their own login and password). Celebrate your child's successes and discuss specific ways in which your child can take action to address any concerns.
- Encourage your child to seek out his/her/their teachers with any questions/concerns you or your child may have over the course of the year. Consider roleplaying possible interactions between your child and the teacher, with you playing the role of the teacher.
- Have your child email his/her/their teachers with any questions/concerns you or your child may have throughout the year. All students have an active D45 student email account for this purpose.
Self-advocacy is a habit and takes time to develop, with a commitment from both school and home to support students in building this skill. We want to thank you for continuing to work on this skill with your child, as we continue to commit to this goal from the school's end.
Messages from Jackson PTA
DINE & DONATE
November Dine & Donate: 11/26 & 11/27 - Dominick’s Pizza (139 W. St. Charles Road, 10:30am-9pm). Who wants to cook before Thanksgiving?! NO ONE! Don’t worry, Dominick’s has you covered! They are giving back 20% of all Jackson delivery and take out orders on both the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving! Pizza and pasta before the turkey and stuffing!
December Dine & Donate: 12/19 - Made in Italy (476 Forest Avenue, Glen Ellyn, 3pm-9pm). 20% given back to Jackson on all dine-in restaurant orders and pre ordered Take-and-Bake Italian cuisine trays. More details to come!
2024-2025 Math Contests
Math Contests will be held in the Jackson LRC on the following dates from 6:30-7:45 p.m.:
Contest 1: November 13
Contest 2: February 12
Contest 3: March 12
Algebra: April 30
More info to come….
WE NEED YOU!
We have lots of amazing things planned for our students and would love your support! Membership is $6 per individual or $10 per family. You can register using this link.
We are still looking for parents to help with:
Fundraising
Student Events
Social Media
Teacher Appreciation
Please consider helping out! If you can’t make it to our meeting, but would like to help with any committees or events, please reach out to us at jacksonpta45@gmail.com.
DON'T WAIT! BUY YOUR YEARBOOK TODAY!
Go to: https://ybpay.lifetouch.com and enter our yearbook code - 14927625. Or, you can search for Jackson Middle School by city and state.
PICTURES ARE NEEDED! Upload your pictures to our online portal.
Go to: https://community.lifetouch.com/invite?code=JACKSONJAGUARS-25
PLEASE tag photos as you upload them!
All photos uploaded will be considered but are not guaranteed to be included in the yearbook.
Day of the Dead Art Exhibit
District 45 families are invited to join the Frida Community Organization (FCO) for a Day of the Dead Art Exhibit on Wednesday, October 30, 6 p.m.- 8 p.m. at Schafer Elementary School. The walk-through art exhibit will feature paper mache Catrinas sculptures created by District 45 families. The DuPage Hispanic Alliance will teach participants about traditional Day of the Dead altars and walk them through altars created by FCO artists. Registration is not required to attend the event. Please enter through Door 3.
Halloween at Jackson
On Thursday, October 31, middle school students are allowed to wear costumes to school. Below is a list of items not allowed as part of a student’s costume:
No face paint
No weapons, of any kind
No fake blood
No protruding items, such as wings
No costume-related masks
As always, students are expected to follow the school dress code, per the student handbook. If a student’s costume does not meet expectations, the student will be asked to call home for a change of clothes. Thank you for your cooperation and support of this Jackson tradition.
First Quarter Recognition Events
We will host 1st quarter grade level recognition events during the school day on Friday, November 1. Below are grade level event times:
- 6th grade: 10:22 - 11:02 a.m.
- 7th grade: 8:45 - 9:36 a.m.
- 8th grade: 1:04 - 1:44 p.m.
Honorees for this recognition include students who earned 1st quarter honor roll status (3.5 or higher GPA), students of the quarter, fall athletes (cross country and soccer), and fall musical participants. Invites will be sent home with students who are being recognized.
Jackson Class of 2025 Information from Willowbrook High School
Attention 8th grade families! Please click here (Spanish) to access key dates information regarding your child's transition to Willowbrook. In addition, check out the Class of 2029 website. Go, Willowbrook Class of 2029!
Extracurricular Opportunities
We have a “Ways to Get Involved” clubs & activities link posted on the Jackson website. This link will bring you to a document that lists all the activities, clubs, and sports offered at Jackson. For each offering listed, the following information is included:
Activity, club, or sport name
Grade levels eligible for the activity, club, or sport
Meeting times
General description of the activity, club, or sport
Supervisor/coach contact information
Information about tryouts for interscholastic sports, specifics regarding intramurals, or other important information regarding extracurriculars will be communicated via the Jackson Happenings document which is also available on the Jackson website.
Jackson Daily Happenings
PowerSchool Parent Portal
PowerSchool is a proactive communication tool parents/guardians can use to stay informed about their child’s academic and work habits progress in school. Please click on this PowerSchool Parent/Guardian Quick Guide link for more information about how to navigate the PowerSchool portal. There is a mobile app version of the PowerSchool Portal for families. The interface of the mobile app is slightly different from the web version. If you experience any difficulties accessing PowerSchool, please email Mrs. Aparicio, the Jackson secretary who oversees PowerSchool. Her email address is vaparicio@d45.org.
Attendance
A friendly reminder that it is the responsibility of a parent/guardian to contact Jackson in the event his/her child will be absent from school. Please plan to report your child’s absence, prior to 9:00 a.m., by calling our attendance line at (630) 516-7368. Parents/guardians will leave a voicemail reporting their child’s absence. In the voicemail, please include the following information:
Child’s name and grade level
Date of absence
Reason for absence
Student absenteeism should be kept to the minimum; however, the School Board recognizes that some absences are unavoidable. The following are valid causes for a student's absence and will be considered “excused,” as specified in Section 26-2a of the Illinois School Code:
Illness
Observation of a religious holiday
Death in the immediate family
Family emergency
Other situations approved by the school principal