From Mrs. Abatemarco, Principal
It seems like the school year is flying by! The weather has been unusually pleasant, but I'm positive cooler days are ahead.
Please remember that even as the weather gets cooler, our classroom windows will remain open and students will continue to go outside for mask breaks and recess. I ask that your children dress in layers so they are comfortable during the day whether they are learning in their classrooms or playing with friends outside. Students are not allowed to wear coats in the classroom. Now that more students are wearing jackets to school, 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 rightful owners.
JMI is looking for nominations for the following:
- Teacher of the Year
- Educational Services Professional of the Year (Child Study Team, School Counselor, Nurse, Paraprofessional, Interventionist, Reading Specialist, Speech Language Specialist)
If you would like to nominate a JMI staff member for either Teacher of the Year or Educational Services Provider of the Year, please complete the attached form and send it to Mrs. Abatemarco by 4:00 PM on Monday, November 18.
American Education Week is a time to celebrate all the amazing things that happen in public schools around the country and of course to show off all the amazing things happening at JMI! Parents/Guardians are invited to visit the classroom on either November 18 or November 19. More details will be sent home after the fall break with the specific date and time each homeroom will be open for visits and what they will be doing during that time.
While we would love to have you visit, please know that it is not mandatory.
Starting Monday, November 11, Maschio's will sell snacks like chips, Rice Krispy Treats and fruit snacks. Ice cream snacks will be available on Mondays and Tuesdays starting November 18. To make purchasing snacks fair and keep within the serving time frame, students will be able to purchase snacks on the following days:
Mondays and Wednesdays - Students who sit on the hallway side of the cafeteria can purchase snacks. Ice Cream will be available on Mondays
Tuesdays and Thursdays - Students who sit on the window side of the cafeteria can purchase snacks. Ice Cream will be available on Tuesdays.
Your child can tell you which side of the cafeteria they sit on so you know what days they are allowed to purchase snacks.
PAST EVENTS
On Friday, October 25, our JMI PTO hosted their annual Trunk-or-Treat event in conjunction with the JMP PTO. It was great getting a preview of all the awesome costumes and I hope all our families and students had a great time! Thank you so much to our Trunk-or-Treat coordinators for all the work behind the scenes to ensure the night was a great success!
UPCOMING EVENTS
On Friday, November 15 the PTO will host our second annual Diwali Celebration! Students and their families can come celebrate with friends while making crafts, eating delicious food and dancing! Flyers went out the last week of October and registration closes on October 31 at 9:00 PM. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE EVENT before it's too late!
The Scholastic Book Fair will take place November 20, 21 and 22. All classes will have an assigned time to come down to the Book Fair to make purchases. That schedule will be shared with you after the break. There will be an opportunity for students who are absent when their class goes to the Book Fair to come and make purposes on a different day.
As always, we are looking for volunteers to help set up the Book Fair, assist with the Book Fair during the day and breakdown the Book Fair at the end. The flyer that will come home after Fall Break will have the schedule and directions on how to volunteer for the event. The Book Fair will also be open on Thursday, November 21 at night from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM to afford families to shop together.
A long standing tradition at JMI is our Thanksgiving Feast, which is sponsored by our PTO. Working with our food service provider, Maschio's , students can choose either having a turkey lunch or enjoy macaroni and cheese along with traditional Thanksgiving fixings. The best part is that our PTO transforms the cafeteria with beautiful decorations. This year, our PTO went above and beyond to have our students help create the centerpieces by writing something they are thankful for. The Thanksgiving Feast is definitely a special day for our students!
Our November PTO meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 19 at 6:00 PM.
Of course, should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Mrs. Abatemarco (donna.abatemarco@edison.k12.nj.us) or the JMI PTO (jmipto@edison.k12.nj.us).
PTO Membership Letter
Click picture to access letter.
OPT-OUT Option
Click picture to access flyer.
Birthday Sign Fundraiser
Click picture to access flyer.
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.
Instead of asking families to email the homeroom teacher, we are asking that families email our JMI ATTENDANCE EMAIL ACCOUNT at JMI.ATTENDANCE@EDISON.K12.NJ.US. Both secretaries can monitor this account. We were finding that if teachers were absent or were not able to check their attendance because they were teaching, student's attendance reporting was delayed.
Therefore, we ask that moving forward, families email JMI.ATTENDANCE@EDISON.K12.NJ.US to report your child's absence. If you would like to cc your child's teacher, you may, but the attendance email is the priority account to inform the school of your child's attendance.
Of course, families can still call the school at 732-452-2960 and Press 1 to call in their child's absence as well.
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If your child needs to get picked up early, or if there is a change in dismissal procedure (i.e., your child will be a walker instead of taking the bus, etc.), CALL THE MAIN OFFICE TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE DIRECTLY to ensure that a child is dismissed accordingly. Please do not email changes of dismissals because the email might not be read before dismissal.
Birthdays are very important to the students, and should be celebrated! They are just as important as the academic instruction that our children receive on a daily basis. While we recognize the importance of the celebration, food or goodie bags of any kind (containing food or non-food items) are NOT ALLOWED for birthday celebrations. This includes sending things into school to send home with the students. The following are “non-food” birthday options:
read a book to the class (either by a parent/guardian, grandparent, or child)
donate a book to the classroom library
These options will allow for your child to celebrate his/her birthday while having a limited interruption to the classroom instruction.
Invitations to birthday parties cannot be distributed during the school day or on school grounds unless the entire class is invited.
Results from NJSLA's Spring 2024 session will be mailed home to families once the schools receive them, which is usually late fall/early winter. The school has not received the letters to send home to families yet. When we receive them, we will send them home.
NJSLA will take place again in MAY 2025. Specifically, JMI will be testing starting on Monday May 5 and we will be testing through May 15. While make-ups are available, students are pulled out of their class to complete the test. This means that while taking the test, they are missing work that is going on in their classroom. Unless a child is sick, all students should be coming to school for NJSLA Testing and all travel should be avoided.
RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION (Math and Reading)
Our Parent Helpdesk and Support Solution has the following modules to support your needs (click on the department name to access the respective helpdesk):
James Madison Intermediate School
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