The JagWire
Jackson Middle School Newsletter - November 1, 2024
Dear Parents and Guardians,
I hope that you all had a happy and safe Halloween. This has definitely been a week of surprises here at Jackson Middle School. We started off the surprises Tuesday evening at the choir concert. We had more students participating this year than we have in the past.
Choir Shocker
Now for the surprise related to choir. Every other year, the Jackson Ensemble travels to Anaheim, California to participate in the WorldStrides Heritage Music Festival. At this event, the students perform for a group of judges who score each choir on a specific set of criteria. Choirs come from all over the United States to participate in this event. If a choir scores a 90 average or above, they are invited to participate in the prestigious Festival of Gold. The Jackson Ensemble has sung in 9 of these festivals, including NYC, Washington DC, and Nashville, Tennessee.
After their performance in California last April, Ensemble was selected among many qualified applicants to participate in the Festival at Carnegie Hall: National Middle School Choir in collaboration with the finest school-aged singers in the United States and beyond!
In August of this year, Mrs. Murdock submitted a recording to WorldStrides in an attempt to be one of the featured choirs while performing at Carnegie Hall. This would allow the choir to perform alone, as a singular group before the larger group performance. Not every Carnegie event has a Featured Choir. Choirs are only chosen when the audition material that they submit is of the highest caliber. This year only 4 choirs were chosen to be featured for the entire 2025 season. And this year only one middle school was selected. That middle school is Jackson Middle School! So as you see Ms. Murdock and students who are in the Ensemble, make sure that you congratulate them. And if you would like to see the news story, it is linked here: https://www.kptv.com/video/2024/10/30/jackson-middle-school-choir-chosen-headline-concert-carnegie-hall/
In the Dark
The second surprise happened yesterday morning when our power went out at 8:45. I still have not heard why the power went out but I appreciate all of the district crews and PGE who helped get us back up and running by 10:20.
Conferences
On another note, conferences are coming up on November 25th and 26th. You will be receiving an email invitation soon to sign up for a conference time with your child’s teachers. Conferences will be 10 minutes long and as you are scheduling, please make sure that you allow yourself travel time between teachers. If you schedule them back to back you will always be late, especially if you have to travel to the portables.
Survey
Today you should have received an email asking you to fill out the form for the Successful Schools Survey. Each year the district surveys students, parents and staff to see how we are doing as a school. Please take some time to fill out the survey as it will help us as we plan for the future.
Medical Leave
Finally, I am going out on leave for knee surgery November 5. In my absence Nicole Ayala will be the acting principal and we will have three retired principals sub in to assist while I am out. Those three are Sarah Lewins, Pam Wilson and Jill Bailey. I appreciate everyone who has or will step up in my absence and I know that the school is in good hands. I look forward to coming back in December!
That is it for this week. Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
John Ferraro
Hallway and Lunch Time Volunteers-
Come during lunch to help monitor the halls & lunch room!
Sign up here --> https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E45ADAD2CA0F8C16-hallway#/
Oregon Battle of the Books
Hello! We have had two successful years of OBOB at Jackson. I would love to continue the streak. I am a parent of a student who completed 3 years at Jackson. I’m looking for other parents to help out. I have developed tools to help organize (sign ups), advertise, and run practice battles. I’m looking for parents willing to help show up, maybe help run mock battles or help spread the word with the students and faculty at Jackson. -David F., OBOB@jacksonpta.org
For more information on OBOB, check out the website at https://www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org/.
Bullying Concerns
At the start of the school year, we understand that bullying is a major concern for both students and families. Rest assured, we are proactively addressing this issue through several initiatives. These include:
- daily advisory lessons,
- school counselor-led sessions
- collaboration with our student leadership team to foster a more inclusive environment.
If students or families need to report an incident, they can do so in the office using a student incident report or anonymously through SafeOregon.
Nicole Ayala
Assistant Principal