Jaguar Junction

Thank you to all the families that came out to support our community by providing the staff with a wonderful taco bar lunch for conferences as well as meeting with our staff to discuss the progress of your students while they are in our care. The school to home partnership is so crucial for the success of each of our students. We appreciate your ongoing support.

As we head into the next month before winter vacation, we will be completing our round 2 of academic testing. In December, our students will be taking the MAP assessment in math and reading which will measure their progress from the beginning of the year MAP assessment. This data will give parents great feedback on progress as well as teachers important data as we track students to provide whole group and small group instruction. In addition, some of our students will be participating in the Fastbridge assessments in reading for those who did not pass the beginning of the year Fastbridge. Although these assessments are not for grades, the student's job is to do their absolute best on these assessments to give a true picture of their strengths and weaknesses.

Also - do not forget that the last week of November there is no school for Thanksgiving break. November 25 - 29.

Parents/Guardians –

Have you checked out our student handbook, which is online on our school website? You can

find it at this web address:

JMS Planners handbook 24-25.pdf

A few items from our student handbook:

From page 5 in regards to truancy:

Truancy is defined by Kansas state statute (K.S. 72-1106) as a student under age 18 who has been absent unexcused from school on three (3) consecutive days or five (5) days absent within a semester or seven (7) days within a school year.

Parents will be notified for the following attendance issues:

• At pre-truant status (two unexcused absences)

• Excessive lateness to school

• Excessive (10 or more) absences (After 10 absences, doctor’s documentation will be required for any further absences.)

• At truant status (3 consecutive days or 5 days absent within a semester or 7 days within a year)

** Two (2) consecutive unexcused absences with no communication from parents/guardian will result in a home visit by school officials.

** Family vacations or family trips will need prior administrative approval. If approved, the absence will only be excused up to 3 school days.

From page 1:

Doors open at 7:15 am. There is NO supervision before 7:15 am. Breakfast is only served from

7:20 am until 7:40 am.

After school – Students should be off school grounds by 3:00 pm unless involved in an after-

school activity. This means that if your student arrives to school after 7:40 am, there will not be

breakfast served. It also means that after 3 pm there is NO outside supervision for students still

on property as teachers and staff have meetings that begin at 3 pm.

Please help your student be as successful as possible by helping them understand these

expectations.

Easily pay School Fees online! Create your free MySchoolBucks account to conveniently and securely pay for your student’s school fees online or with the mobile app.

With MySchoolBucks you’ll be able to quickly browse school items in our School Store, be notified when fees are due, and make payments from anywhere!

Get Started Today:

1. Go to myschoolbucks.com or download the mobile app

2. Create your free account and add your students using their school name / student ID

3. Add school items or invoices to your cart

4. Check out using your credit / debit card or electronic check
   
   

If you need assistance with your account, you can find helpful how-to videos and answers to commonly asked questions by visiting myschoolbucks.com. Or, you can contact MySchoolBucks directly by logging into your account to start a chat conversation or give them a call at (855) 832-5226.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Click this link for a step by step with pictures!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qL34CZPfQvHPEog9rNYRTaYB1DmqG5eG/view?usp=drive_link

Character Education Program

Jardine Middle School has a Positive Character Program which recognizes positive character traits of Self-Awareness, Compassion, Responsibility, and Respect. The goals of the program are to recognize students for exhibiting positive character qualities at school, encourage positive behaviors, and make students more aware of their actions. Therefore, this program helps Jardine to be recognized as a safe and welcoming learning community.

Jardine grade level teams nominate four students to recognize each month. Each student is nominated for exhibiting one of the four character traits on a consistent basis. These students will get a certificate as well as JAGS points to purchase items or enter their name into a quarterly prize drawing.

Introducing Xello

This year we are using the IPS (Individual Plan of Study) computer program, Xello. The students will be taking self-assessments and completing lessons that look at their interests and learning styles. These assessments will identify possible careers that the students may want to research further. They can investigate career descriptions, working conditions, earnings, education or training required, and much more. 8th graders will use these results later in the year to help them select high school classes that would best meet their future academic and career goals.

Jardine CiCi’s Internship Program

Jardine and CiCi’s Pizza are partners in a student internship program. This year every 8th grade student will complete a job application and participate in an interview conducted by Mr. Falk or Mr. Barber. This process will be done through Advisor Base classes. Four students out of each Advisor Base will be chosen to work three straight Friday afternoons at CiCi’s Pizza. The students that are chosen will work for 1 ¾ hours each Friday. Then they will be allowed to eat off the buffet. This program provides the students with a valuable, real world job experience and prepares them for employment in the future.

Also, just a reminder, that Friday November 15th, the school will be doing hearing and vision screening. Please make sure that your student wears his/her glasses that day for our vision screeners. If you have any questions please let me know.

The last few weeks in Library we have been learning how to utilize our library catalog system to look for books. We also discussed how to access and use Beanstack to be able to track our reading progress.

Currently on our leaderboard, Our most active classes are:

1st place Ms. Watson's 3/4 with a total of 3807 minutes read

2nd place: Mr. Henry's 3/4 with a total of 2900 minutes read

3rd Place: Ms. Ascroa's 1/2 with a total of 2926 minutes read

As a school, we have read a total of 17,993 minutes! Remind your kids to log their minutes in Beanstack!

Welcome to Fall–a very hot Fall!!! What immediately comes to mind is the upcoming holiday celebrations and the days off from school we will have. While I find this exciting, some others may not especially enjoy all the activities that come from the months of November and December. We all have a lot of days off from school.

During this time people do deal with more mental health issues, both students and adults. Please remember there are a lot of resources in Topeka that can be used to help people navigate the holiday time. I have used the magical resource of AI to look up ideas that may be helpful for use while dealing with mental health issues.

Here are some tips for managing mental health during the holidays:

• Set realistic expectations: Try to manage the disconnect between your expectations and your actual situation.

• Practice mindfulness: Mindfulness can be a helpful tool, especially if you're traveling or have an unusual schedule.

• Practice self-care: Take time to observe your mental and physical state.

• Limit overindulging: Be patient with yourself and limit what you consume.

• Set boundaries: If you're uncomfortable with a topic, you can politely change the subject.

• Disconnect from news: Try to turn off the news for a few hours each day.

• Seek professional help: If you're struggling, you can consider seeking professional help. (generated by AI)

Please contact support staff at Jardine Middle School if you have any questions about local resources.

Prompt Prepared Participate Pleasant

DAILY PHYSICAL EDUCATION GOALS, LEARNING TARGETS AND OBJECTIVES

The 4 “P”s -

PROMPT

• I will show up to class on time ready to learn.

PLEASANT

• I am pleasant towards staff and students.

• I am positive towards the activity.

• I can follow directions.

PREPARED

• I am wearing the correct clothes & shoes.

PARTICIPATE

• I WILL DO MY BEST!

What to expect November-December

Oct. 28-Nov. 1 5 days-Foxtail(2 days)/Socket Ball(2 days)/Fitness Kickball

Health 1.3

November-

Nov. 4-8 5 days-Basketball Skills(2 days)/Line Basketball(2 days)/Donut Basketball.

Health 2.1

Nov. 11-15 5 days- 12 Team Basketball Tournament(4 days)/4-Way Basketball Day 1

Health 2.2

Nov. 18-22 5 days- 4-Way Basketball Day 2/Line Football/Line Donut/Line Frisbee(3 days)/ Dr. Dr.

Health 2.3

Nov. 25-29 Thanksgiving Break Week

Dec. 2-6 5 days-Hantis(2 days)/Weights(2 days)/2-Team Pinball

Health 2.4

December-

Dec. 9-13 5 days-Spiral Ball/World Ball/Big Z-Ball/Star Ball/Tug-of-War or 4 Team Pinball

Health 3.1

Dec. 16-20 5 days- Volleyball Skills(2 days)/Volleyball Tournament(3 days)/Leave nets up W-Fri.

Health 3.2

Contacts:

Mr. Mitchell

Coach P.E. Teacher

kmitchell@tps501.org

Mrs. Remer

P.E. Teacher

bremer@tps501.org

7th Grade: Ms. Carrington, Mrs. Bisconer, and Ms. Haynes: In seventh grade ELA we are currently exploring informational texts and learning about main idea and supporting details. Students are using their main idea skills to write their first five-paragraph informational essay of the year. Students are researching informational articles about their topic to find evidence and quotes to use in their essays. We will also be starting a new novel for the second quarter: The Giver. This is a dystopian novel where students will explore ethical questions about the price people pay to live in a perfect world.

8th Grade: We are still working on Unit 2: The Thrill of Horror, in which we explore classic horror stories, and examine how authors create suspense. We've also been focusing on theme, context clues, and proper comma usage in our writing.

7th Grade: Integer operations—addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division—are key tools in understanding how numbers interact in both simple and complex calculations.

1. Addition and Subtraction: When adding integers, combining positive numbers increases the total, while adding negative numbers decreases it. Adding a positive and a negative integer means subtracting the smaller value from the larger and applying the sign of the larger number. For example, 7+(−4)=3.

2. Multiplication and Division: Multiplying or dividing two integers with the same sign results in a positive answer, while using two integers with opposite signs yields a negative result. For instance, (−8)×2=−16 and 12÷(−3)=−4.

These operations are essential building blocks in mathematics, supporting fields like algebra, statistics, and computer science, and allowing us to solve real-world problems.

8th Grade: Students are being introduced to the Pythagorean theorem, a² + b² = c², in Unit 3 which is a rule about right triangles. The Pythagorean theorem will be used to determine the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle, or the missing leg of a right triangle, or to verify if a triangle is a right triangle or not. It will also be used to determine the distance of a non-vertical or non-horizontal line on a coordinate plane.

Pythagorean triples will also be discussed; these are a set of 3 positive integers that form a right triangle, such as 3, 4, and 5. If the Pythagorean theorem results in a number that is not a perfect square, then students will be asked to approximate the value of the number. Students will also be asked to approximate the value of non-perfect squares and place them on a number line.

After investigating the Pythagorean theorem, students will be expected to learn how to build on their understanding of rational numbers from 7th grade by converting repeating decimals to fractions. If a decimal does not repeat or terminate, students will learn that this is an irrational number. An example of this is the concept of 𝝅.

Things to work on with your student: They should automatically know

1. The perfect squares and corresponding square roots, 1-15.

2. The perfect cubes and corresponding cube roots, 1-10.

These will be non-calculator items on assessments.

6th Grade- Ancient World History: Hello from the sixth grade history department. As we are finishing up the first civilizations of Mesopotamia, we are gearing up to head over to the world of the ancient Egyptians. Don’t be in de-Nile… Here we will be investigating a great river civilization that spans the course of over three thousand years. Pyramids, tombs, gods, pharaohs, and so much more. Also, parents - be aware that we will be doing a diorama project over an Egyptian topic of your child’s choice. There will be more information coming sometime in November. Keep an eye out for it.

7th Grade: Social Studies will be finishing up their project based state assessment over Globalization. Students will be using evidence to support their claims as to whether Globalization is good or bad overall. We will then examine the push and pull factors of immigration. We will examine those factors that led to an influx of immigrants in the 1800's through present day. Students will also learn about the cultural elements brought by each unique group of immigrants that are celebrated in our country today.

8th Grade: It's shocking to think that we are halfway through the first semester. In 8th Grade History, the students have just finished the unit on the Constitution. We will now be moving on to discussing the Early Republic. This is the time period of the first 4 Presidents and how they handled domestic and foreign affairs.

Also, the 8th graders are working on memorizing the locations of all 50 states. They will have a 50-state map quiz the week before Thanksgiving Break.

6th Grade: Hello from the Jardine sixth grade science department. I hope you and your child are enjoying the change of seasons. In science, we are learning about the Structure of Matter. We are defining matter, mass, volume, and weight. We are using this knowledge to measure properties of matter such as density. We have covered physical and chemical properties and are now starting in on the structure of atoms and the periodic table of elements.

7th grade: The 7th grade science students are working through and concluding the Energy and Waves Unit. Next, we are moving to learning all about “Matter and its Interactions”- chemistry units. We will be learning about The Periodic Table of Elements, states of matter and their physical and chemical properties.

8th grade: The 8th grade science students will be concluding “The Diversity of Living Things”, how species have changed over time and The History of Earth. They will move soon to Space Science where they will learn about the Sun, Earth and Moon model, gravity and the Solar System.

Newcomer 1 class is still busy learning about food. This month we have practiced cooking, tasting, talking about, and ordering foods in English. Students enjoyed fried tacos this month to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month. In the coming weeks, we will read a story about foods all across the United States. We will be wrapping up this unit with a test very soon. The Newcomer 2 class has been busy learning about civil rights and women’s suffrage. They will also be taking a unit 2 test over this information in the next couple of weeks. We will be stopping to do a short writing project in between unit 2 and 3. I am excited to see what they can do!

Follow this link to become familiar with our student handbook! This should answer most questions you will have!

https://cdnsm5-ss11.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_8259061/Image/JMS%20Planners%20handbook%2024-25.pdf

We Support Equal Opportunities

The Topeka Public Schools, Unified School District No. 501 is committed to affirmative action and equal opportunity. No person shall, on the basis of age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, disability, national origin or ancestry be denied lawful access to any appropriate educational service, program, or activity provided by the school district. For students, the Title VI, Title IX, and Section 504 compliance coordinator is the General Counsel for the district. For employment, the EEO/AA and Title VII compliance officer is the general director of human resources. Compliance coordinators may be contacted at 624 S.W. 24th Street, Topeka, KS 66611-1294, (785) 295-3000. The clerk of the Board of Education has been designated to receive and redirect or handle inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies, regulations, and procedures. The clerk may be contacted by calling (785) 295-3059 or by writing to 624 S.W. 24th Street, Topeka, Kansas 66611-1294.