Family Update - November 24, 2024

Dear families,

We have a large number of planned absences for the Thanksgiving holiday. We expect additional absence requests throughout the holiday season. We hope you enjoy the time with extended family and friends and that you and your students return home safely. We also want our students to be successful when they return to school. Please be aware of the Planned Absence policy shared below, and reach out with any questions.

Many thanks to all who sent in items for our Thanksgiving in a Bag drive! We were able to provide a Thanksgiving meal for 55 families. A huge shout out to Mr. Judy and Ms. Sutherin for facilitating the event with our Student Council -- thank you for making a difference for other families!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving break! We are grateful for the amazing students you share with us and for all of the support you provide! We will look forward to welcoming them back on December 2.

Warm regards,

Aimee White, Principal

Keona Walker, Assistant Principal

Please go this link for this week's Jones Weekend Update: https://youtu.be/KOdlC89klgk

Please join us for the upcoming Choir concerts listed below:

Monday, December 2, 7:00pm: 6th Grade Choir World Premiere Concert (about 15 minutes long)

Monday, December 2, 8:00pm: 7th and 8th Grade Choirs Winter Concert (about 45 minutes long)

The concerts are free, open to the community, and take place in the Jones auditorium. Please consider attending one or both of our Choir concerts!

The Jones Spelling Bee qualifier will be held at 3:30 on Wednesday, December 4 in the LC. Any student may participate. Study words are available in the LC. See Mr. Kirkpatrick or Mrs. Fisher if you have any questions.

JMS will be holding their next Packing for the Streets on Monday, December 2, for students to earn 30 minutes of service hours. During this event we pack bagged meals for nearby homeless shelters and Heart to Heart Food Pantry. There is a QR code posted in the hallways for students to sign up if they are interested. Your student can also use this link but needs to be signed in with their school gmail address so we can take accurate attendance.

They will be held the 1st Monday of every month from 3:30-4:00 pm in room 104 and we can accommodate around 30 students each time. Students at every grade level are asked to complete 5 service hours this school year and log them with their school counselor.

*Allergy Safety disclaimer: peanut butter will be used at this event*

The 2nd installment date for your DC trip originally fell on Friday, November 29th. The tour company pushed back the 2nd installment date to Friday, December 6th. You should have received an email on Friday (November 22) informing you of the change. If you did not receive it, please check your spam folder, and if it isn't there, please let the company know or contact Christy Charlton. (ccharlton@uaschools.org)

We are hosting a zoom parent session about risk factors and how to address concerns regarding your child's well-being through a virtual meeting on December 11th from 12 PM - 1 PM. Here is the Zoom link.

Registration for ski club is closed. You should have a $100 fee for each child you registered for Ski Club in your EZPay. All fees must be paid by Wednesday 11/20 to be part of Ski Club.

• If you have not purchased an Epic Day pass, Ohio Pass, or Epic Pass please do so ASAP. Prices go up weekly. Last day to purchase a multi-day ski pass is Dec. 10th. After that you will have to pay full lift ticket prices!!!! (Bummer)
• Bus Food sign-ups will be emailed to you to the email you in the coming week and Chaperone sign-ups shortly afterwards.
• Any questions email jonesskiclub@gmail.com

Students in grades 7 and 8 will have the opportunity to participate in the Ohio Youth Survey, or OhYes!, on November 26 during Flex.

Please use the link below to learn more about the survey:

https://youthsurveys.ohio.gov/our-surveys/ohyes

Please use this link to view the items included in the survey:

Standard 110-item Survey

Please use this google form if you choose to opt out:

https://forms.gle/o7GYtbW6qHku82x89

Between December 2 and December 13, 2024, all students in grades K-12 will have an opportunity to complete an online survey during the school day to provide us with information to better understand the culture and climate of our buildings. Our Culture and Climate Survey aligns with the priorities identified for our upcoming 2025-2030 strategic plan. Developed by UA Schools’ educators with feedback from students, teachers and caregivers, the strategic plan identifies Culture and Climate as a priority area.

This survey is designed to collect building and district-level information. While the fall and spring Engaged Learner Survey provides us with individual student responses, the winter Culture and Climate survey results cannot be viewed individually; the responses are only available as collective feedback.

• Grades K-2: Teachers and school staff members will support students as they take a brief online survey, using emoji images for their responses. The three-question survey will cover the following topics related to Culture and Climate: school climate, school safety and teacher-student relationships. You can preview the questions using the following link: Grades K-2 Survey.

• Grades 3-5 and 6-12: Students will independently take a longer online survey, with age-appropriate questions based on grade band about these Culture and Climate topics: school climate, school safety and teacher-student relationships. The 6-12 survey also includes the topic of cultural awareness and action. (This topic is only available for grades 6-12.) You can preview the questions using the following links: Grades 3-5 Survey and Grades 6-12 Survey.

We are using the Panorama platform to administer our Culture and Climate Survey. This survey will provide information at the building and district levels to help the school counselors, teachers and administrators understand how to best support their school community.

We hope all students will participate so that we have a clear picture of our school-community needs. If, however, you would like to opt your student out of the winter survey administration, please complete and submit this form by November 28, 2024.

If you have any questions, please contact wellbeing@uaschools.org. Thank you for your continued support of our students and our schools.

We know the winter/holiday season can be challenging when finances are tight. Our Jones community does an amazing job of supporting one another to make the season joyful for all.

*Are you needing support with meals or gifts this winter/holiday season?

Please click here to request support for Thanksgiving and Holiday Gifts. The support will remain confidential; we simply need information so we know whom to contact to collect items from and to whom those items should go.

*Would you like to support a family by providing meals or gifts this winter/holiday season? Please click here to provide support.

Jones uses Jostens for our middle school yearbooks. Look for emails directly from Jostens for the information to order your yearbook if you haven't done so already.

Digital Wellness Activity for Families During Thanksgiving Day Break

As an extension of the October 2024 Digital Safety Week and Screenagers viewing, we wanted to provide families with some Digital Wellness tips and strategies to consider during the Thanksgiving break. These five days are an opportunity to exhibit a healthy balance with device use. Here is an exercise to try:

• Commit to a plan around having no phones or devices out as family from out-of-town are visiting or if you are visiting others. Explain that it’s an opportunity to connect with family and anything online can wait.

• Set an expectation for the entire family so parents/guardians can model a similar ability to know when it is appropriate to be on devices.

• Find other times during the weekend as your family moves from one activity to another to preemptively define if this is a time the family has devices out.

By Sunday, discuss questions with your students related to this activity, such as:

• Did you feel more present with your family?

• What was the most challenging part of the day for you?

• What was the first thing you did when you got your device out? Why is that specific thing important to you?

• Can you help our family create a plan to make this a more frequent practice?

If you do this with your family and feel comfortable to share, please share an anonymous feedback about the process. The Excellence and Engagement Office is committed to supporting families with exercises like these to help create a healthy digital balance for our students.

Your voice matters! Phase two of facilities master planning

It’s time to join your friends and neighbors and get involved in phase two of facilities master planning!

Serve as an expert and committed stakeholder for your school(s) of choice by signing up to volunteer for one or more building teams — Hastings, Jones or Burbank. Each team will have three meetings between December 2024 and April 2025. To sign up and learn more, visit the Building Teams page on our website.

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

NOVEMBER, DECEMBER & JANUARY

November 27 - 29 - No School - Thanksgiving Break

December 2 - Packing for the Streets, 3:30pm

December 2 - 6th Grade Choir Concert, 7pm

December 2 - 7th/8th Grade Choir Concert, 8pm

December 4 - Spelling Bee Qualifier, 3:30pm

December 9 - Orchestra Winter Concert, Grades 6 - 8, 7pm

December 11 - 8th Grade Choir at UAHS, 7pm

December 20 - End of Quarter 2, Semester 1

December 23 - January 3 - No School - Winter Break

January 6 - No School - Teacher Work day

January 7 - School Resumes, Quarter 3 Begins

January 8 - District Spelling Bee, JMS, 9am

January 13 - Jones PTO Meeting, 8:30am

January 13 - Packing for the Streets, 3:30pm

January 17 - Ski Club, Week 1

January 20 - No School - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

January 22 - Early Dismissal Day, 1:30pm

January 24 - Ski Club, Week 2

January 31 - Ski Club, Week 3