Jaguar Messenger

For other languages, scroll to the bottom and select your language of choice from the menu.

Para español, vaya al fondo y seleccione español de la lista de idiomas.

W przypadku języka polskiego przewiń w dół i wybierz język polski z listy języków.

بالنسبة إلى اللغة العربية ، قم بالتمرير إلى الأسفل وحدد اللغة العربية من قائمة اللغات.

Your child's 1st quarter digital report card will be ready for family access on Monday, October 30. Students and parents/guardians can access the report card, beginning October 30, using the following steps:

• Log into the PowerSchool portal
• Select "Report Cards" on the left-hand side
• Select "2023-2024 Q1"

The first day of 2nd quarter is Monday, October 23. 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.

Chromebooks are a regular part of your child’s daily school life. Below are reminders and additional information regarding student Chromebooks:

• Please remind your child to charge his/her/their Chromebook at home EVERY night. Coming to school with a fully charged Chromebook ensures your child is prepared for the day. Thank you in advance for helping with this reminder.

• Remind your child that Chromebooks are monitored through the District 45 GoGuardian content filter 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Students should only use Chromebooks for school-related purposes.

• Looking for tips for managing your child’s Chromebook at home? Check out the “Tips for Managing Chromebooks at Home” document by clicking here.

Membership

Click here to sign up and join the Jackson Middle School PTA. Stay involved and receive information about upcoming PTA events!

Next PTA Meeting

The next PTA meeting will take place on Thursday, November 9, at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will take place in the Jackson LRC. We hope to see you there!

District 45 families are invited to join the Frida Community Organization (FCO) for a Day of the Dead Art Exhibit on Thursday, November 2, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the main hallway at Jefferson Middle School. The walk-through art exhibit will feature paper mache Catrinas sculptures created by District 45 families and altars created by District 45’s Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee and FCO artists. Through the exhibit, participants will learn about the origins of Day of the Dead traditions. Registration is not required to attend the event.

On Tuesday, 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.

We will host 1st quarter grade level recognition events during the school day on Friday, November 10. 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.

NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, will be presenting to students at both District 45 middle schools in early November. The presentations at Jackson will take place on November 1 and November 2. Sixth grade students will participate in an interactive presentation on stress management, facilitated by NAMI trained representatives. Seventh and eighth grade students will participate in a presentation discussing signs and symptoms of mental illness and how to seek help for themselves or a friend. The seventh and eighth grade presentations will also include a personal testimonial by a NAMI representative. Presentations will take place through students’ PE classes. At the end of the presentations, Jackson support staff will be available to speak privately with any students. Please click on this link to access additional information from NAMI.

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 2028 website. Go, Willowbrook Class of 2028!

Wondering how students stay “in the know” with information and opportunities at Jackson? Check out the Jackson Happenings link on the Jackson website homepage. This link takes you to the daily happenings shared with students each school day. Please favorite this link to stay up-to-date with activities and events available for your child.

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.

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