From the Middle First Edition
Administrators
Mr. Jeffrey Swiatowicz, Principal
Ms. Catherine Graybosch Assistant Principal - 6th Grade
Mr. Mike Pompa Assistant Principal - 7th & 8th Grade
- SCHOOL HOURS: 8:10 a.m. - 2:48 p.m.
- MAIN OFFICE HOURS: 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
- MAIN OFFICE PHONE: 914-763-7500
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Wow, can you believe it?! The second half of the year is well underway! Our days have been jam-packed with hard work and endless fun, and we wouldn't have it any other way!
Our students had a lot of fun at the PTO sponsored events! From the 6th Grade Game Show to the 7th Grade Rec & Roll, and with the highly anticipated 8th Grade Social just around the corner on April 12th, the excitement is in the air! Let's also remember the fantastic music concerts held in early January, the spectacular showing of the JJMS Spring Musical, Willy Wonka, and the remarkable attendance at the Science Fair! A huge thank you to our staff, faculty, PTO and volunteers for these memorable experiences for our students!
The month of March can be particularly challenging for students since the next scheduled days off are not until spring break, but we tackled it head-on with Wellness Week from 3/11 to 3/15! Together the staff and faculty worked together to support the JJMS community with physical and emotional wellness activities during Wellness Week. Sometimes, all it takes is a good laugh with friends, a moment of meditation, or some quality time listening to our favorite music to uplift our spirits and refresh our minds. In fact, many students earned a "Way to BE" sticker or a Wolf Shout Out certificate because they demonstrated our JJMS Community Expectations – BE Safe, BE Respectful, and BE Responsible.
Thanks to our dedicated JJMS faculty and PTO, we have more exciting events lined up in the upcoming months! Make sure to check out the Important Dates section of our newsletter—we know schedules can get hectic during the last few months of school!
Let's make the rest of this year the best one yet!
In partnership,
Jeffrey Swiatowicz
Principal JJMS
IMPORTANT DATES
APRIL:
- April 1-5: Spring Recess
- April 8: Students Return from Spring Recess
- April 8 is NO LONGER a weather reserve day. School is open.
- April 12: Course Verification Due
- April 12: PTO Sponsored 8th Grade Social
- April 10-11: NY State ELA Testing
- April 26-27: JAY FEST
- May 1-2: NY State Math Testing
- May 14: NY State Science Testing (*GRADE 8 ONLY*
(Accelerated/Earth Science students do NOT take this exam.) Please note this is updated information since our last communication. - May 13: Orchestra Concert
- May 15: Band Concert
- May 22: An Evening of Fun at JJMS!
- Cultural Celebration Event 5-6:30pm
- Art Night 6-7pm
- Chorus Concert 7-9pm
JUNE:
- June 7: 8th Grade Boat Trip
- June 13: Last Full Day of Classes
- June 24: 8th Grade Moving Up Ceremony and Celebration
- 6th & 7th Grade End of Year Class Field Trips
- June 25: No School for Students
- June 26: Last Day of School
---We will always send out reminders and notices of new dates or cancellations.---
FROM THE PTO
The JJMS PTO wishes that everyone has a fun and safe spring break. We look forward to our spring events – the 8th grade dance on April 12th and Staff/Teacher Appreciation Week May 6th-May 10th. More information will be sent via email.
Please remember to update or create your membership toolkit with your student's grade, team, and any other information that may have changed. https://jjmspto.membershiptoolkit.com/user_profile
This is so we can make sure you can receive important communications from the PTO. The Membership Toolkit app is a great way to stay connected on your smart phone.
We are excited to announce that the school directory via Membership Toolkit will be open to all JJMS families regardless of payment. Please note that we are going paperless this year.
FROM THE COUNSELORS
8TH GRADE
8th grade students are springing forward! Course selection is coming to an end. Students have made their elective choices for 9th grade and the high school is in sight. The deadline for any course changes, including ones that require the submission of a waiver form, is March 28th. In the spring, Ms. MacSweeney and JJMS Counseling Intern, Francesca Pulice will be revisiting classes to present a lesson created and facilitated by Ms. Pulice regarding finding your passions and making connections at the high school. Students will reflect on their extra-curricular involvement to date and learn about the wide range of opportunities available for them to get involved at the high school next year. In addition, students will be asked to respond to a writing prompt introducing themselves to their high school counselor which will serve as a jumping off point to the start of this important four-year journey.
Please make note of the following dates and activities ahead:
• 8th Grade Social - April 12
• 8th Grade Boat Trip - June 7
• Orientation to JJHS - June 14
• Moving Up Ceremony - June 24
Happy Spring and hope the upcoming break provides rest and rejuvenation for the end of the school year!
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN 8th GRADE?
ELA
Eighth graders have just finished social dynamic book clubs where every book our students read centered on controversial issues that tug at our moral fiber as Americans. These social justice issues made our students grapple with difficult issues; reflect on the truth that no one should be seen (or judged) by a ‘single story’ and force our students to see more than one side of an issue. We have been so impressed by students’ willingness to become informed citizens and critical thinkers. Students will learn how to inform an audience and use the three methods of persuasion—logos, ethos, & pathos—to inspire their peers to become advocates for positive change in our society while we immerse ourselves in writing a robust position paper.
Our independent reading program continues. Upon our return from spring break, we will be immersed in a new unit: Writing a Position Paper.
Photo shows our 8th Graders Participating in a Debate
SCIENCE 8
Mr. Miller’s Regents Earth Science students are working to understand the exciting world of geology and focusing on destructive surface processes (i.e., weathering and erosion). Specific surface, and near-surface, processes students are studying include rivers, glaciers, landslides, winds and waves, and groundwater. Upcoming units include the conclusion of our rock unit (sedimentary and metamorphic rocks), earthquakes, and geologic history.
Mrs. O’Gorman’s Regents Earth Science students completed the weathering, erosion, and deposition (WED) unit which included units on how the Earth is broken down by weathering, rivers, wind, waves glaciers and groundwater. We are now studying the Dynamic Earth where we will learn how the Earth is built up – we started with plate tectonics and earthquakes. After spring break, we will move on to volcanoes and geologic history. These units will wrap up our study of Geology before moving on to Astronomy and Meteorology.
In Mr. Stathis's non-Regents Earth science, classes have been studying the natural factors that influence Earth’s climate. From there, students have been examining data regarding human impact on the planet’s climate, resulting in climate change. Soon, we will start the New York State labs, “Cool It!” and “All Mixed Up”, wherein students will plan out and investigate heat transfer and the separations of mixtures, respectively. Finally, we’re all looking forward to New York’s upcoming grand Earth science show: the solar eclipse on April 8!
MATH
Our 8th grade math students spent trimester two with a focus on geometry!
This took the “shape” of translations, reflections, rotations, dilations, 3D figures, and Pythagorean Theorem. Students gained new understandings of similar figures, congruency, and solving complex geometric problems involving square roots and even cubic roots!
Pi Day (3/14) is typically celebrated each year to represent the Greek letter “π” (3.14...), which is used in many mathematical formulas and calculations including some of our geometry work! Pi day was during Wellness Week this year, which was a perfect opportunity for Pi Day games and activities!
Student created mind-map.
Pi Day celebrations.
Owen Danalewich - JJMS Student Body President - running a review day of jeopardy for his class!
Algebra students studied hard for their midterm exam and explored non-linear functions such as piecewise functions, quadratics, and exponential functions! They worked on creative strategies for studying and built posters and mind-maps to help them!
👨🍳🧵UNIFIED ARTS 🎨👩💻
8TH GRADE UA
ART
Our 8th grade artists are working hard to complete their final middle school art piece- the painted social justice hero portrait. It’s a beautiful thing to watch students navigate this complex project. They start feeling daunted by the great number of steps involved and the thought of employing brand new skills. However, each day brings a new level comfort and confidence. Your 8th graders are proud of themselves for taking on such a big challenge and meeting it, and the paintings are turning out beautifully.
As students complete their portraits, some are working on their passion projects. Students are working independently to pursue a style, technique or material of their choosing.
TECHNOLOGY
Students in Mr. Lucieer’s 8th grade studied and researched principles and elements of structures. Students used an application called, “Bridge Designer”, to design a structure and test it through a simulation. Students analyzed and used the data to optimize their designs. Lastly, students were given a challenge to design and build a balsa bridge that will hold a load of 100 pounds while following specific criteria. After the balsa structures are built, students test and calculate the structural efficiency.
The project focused on skills such as developing plans, including drawings with measurements and details. In addition, students needed to exhibit a degree of craftsmanship. Lastly, students needed to provide examples of products that are well (and poorly) designed, describe their positive and negative attributes and suggest measures that can be implemented to monitor quality production.
Upon completion of this project, students were expected to reflect on their experience as well as how the skills developed and used assisted them throughout the project. This allows for students to reflect on their own learning and identify areas of strength and/or weakness.
WORLD LANGUAGES
LATIN 8
8th grade Latin students are reading myths and legends about the founding of Rome. In addition, they are reading stories about the spring festival time, and hunting crocodiles in ancient Alexandria, Egypt.
Through the readings, students are learning about the VOCATIVE case, the IMPERATIVE mood of the verb, and the DEMONSTRATIVE adjectives HIC (this) and ILLE (that). Students are also reviewing all noun cases for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd declensions. They are also reviewing verb conjugations.
Reading activities focus on dramatic readings and retelling stories.
SPANISH 8
Eighth grade students have been busy learning a variety of grammar points. We studied the complicated idea of the verb “to be” which in Spanish has two forms: “ser and estar.” We are navigating through different tenses, speaking in the present progressive, recent past, and near future. We also learned how to form commands in the affirmative you form. We just completed the topic of direct object pronouns. Students now know how to locate a direct object in a sentence, replace it with a pronoun and place it in its proper place. We took a little break from grammar to learn about the Dominican Republic. We discussed typical foods, the flag, geography, and the indigenous people who inhabited the land prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus. We also talked about who the founding fathers were and where you can visit their tombs. Up next, are sports and sports related vocabulary!
SPANISH 8AB
The students have been learning how to use the near future. This is the verb ir, which means to go. They can now discuss where they are going to go or what they are going to do. To help aid in their sentence structure, they have learned how to say various places. They have also spent time practicing noun-adjective agreement and applying it to form grammatically correct sentences. Additionally, we set aside some time to learn some interesting facts about our neighbor Mexico. For example, did you know that the capital of Mexico (Mexico City) is sinking due to it being built on a lake? Or that Plaza Mexico, which is in the capital, is the largest bullring in the world? It was great to see the students ask questions and want to know more about Mexico. Our current topic is the verb estar with emotions Up next is the island of Puerto Rico!
ORCHESTRA
Orchestra students have been working hard on their spring concert repertoire. The 7th and 8th grade orchestras are learning about Irish fiddle tunes in “For the Star of County Down” and they have mastered 6/8 time signatures! They are also learning a fun pizzicato piece called “The One-Bow Concerto” in which one bow is shared by violin, viola, and cello soloists. 6th graders have been making leaps and bounds in maturing their sound since the winter concert. Their current favorite piece is called “Song of Peace” which contains beautiful melodies and dramatic tremolos. Our spring concert is on Monday, May 13th at 7:00 PM. We hope to see you there!
BAND
Band has been learning their spring concert music. Our focus for the month of March has been rhythm. We have been working on sight reading quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes in 6th and 7/8th grade band. Our final concert for the 23-24 school year is May 15th. More information to come.
DISCOVERING MUSIC
This trimester, students have been researching genres of music. Some students even discovered genres they wouldn’t have listened to before such as “outlaw country” and “phonk.” Below and to the left is a picture of a theremin a student brought in for their project on electronic music. A theremin is an electronic musical instrument played by moving your hand within the electromagnetic field it produces – pretty neat!
CHORUS
A message from the Library Media Specialst
The library has been incredibly busy over the past weeks, with students working on a variety of projects. We’ve seen some fantastic work from students studying ancient Egypt and China. We also hosted the Science Fair, where we saw some incredible work done by our student scientists!
In February, we offered our students the opportunity to go on a “Blind Date with a Book.” Students chose a specially wrapped book with only a few keywords to describe them. Once they read it, they filled out a review form and were entered to win a prize.
March brings our JJMS Library March Madness Book Tournament. Students read two book descriptions and vote for which one they are more interested in reading! So far we have had some great participation, and the competition is really heating up!
For more information about our library, please visit the Library Media Center website, or follow us on Instagram: @jjmslib
A Note From the PE Teachers
Beyond traditional sports, our fitness activities promote holistic well-being, empowering students to develop healthy habits and lifelong skills. With each session, our PE class ignites a passion for physical activity, ensuring students are not only physically fit but also engaged and enthusiastic participants in their own health and wellness journey.
HEALTH CLASS
Seventh graders have recently completed their 2nd Trimester Health rotations. Students learned about the importance of getting enough sleep, managing stress in healthy ways and how to be thoughtful decision makers. They also learned and practiced using different emotional regulation strategies.
One of our main units in 7th grade health class is S.M.A.R.T. goal setting and achieving. Students created academic, activity and health/fitness goals for themselves and worked on a plan to help achieve these goals. Pictured are student S.M.A.R.T. goal examples.
HEALTH OFFICE REMINDER
Health Information
Please help by providing up to date and accurate health information to your school nurse. This includes:
- Current physical exams and dental exams for Grades Kindergarten, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and all new entrants
- Current immunization records
- Current doctor’s orders for medical excuses, conditions and medications.
Your school nurses also need to be made aware of the following:
- Broken bones
- Injuries that require crutches, wheelchairs, slings, casts, or any other assistance device.
- Lacerations that required stitches or staples
- Concussions
- Contagious diseases-Covid-19, RSV, flu, strep throat, fifth's disease and other illnesses.
- Serious medical conditions-diabetes, heart disease, asthma, anaphylaxis, seizures and other concerns.
As a reminder, students who are ill must remain home for a full 24 hours and be free from fever, vomiting or diarrhea before returning to school, or have completed a one full dose of an antibiotic.
Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
For updated Covid-19, Influenza and RSV guidance as well as other updated from Health Services department, see attached below or click here.
Physical Education Excuses
If a student sustains an injury, please consult the health office prior to their return to school. A parent note excusing a student from participation may only be honored for one class. After that, a doctor’s note is required. Doctor’s notes for PE restriction must be signed, dated and sent to the health office. If the doctor writes “until further notice” then a follow up note must be provided within 30 days to either clear them for activity or to renew their restriction. If crutches are to be used in school, this must be indicated in writing by a physician. PLEASE NOTE that restriction from physical education class at JJMS results in restriction from attending outdoor contest field recess.
Mary Mullaney, RN BSN
Office: 763-7508
Fax: 763-7314
Anna Iamiceli, RN MS
Office: 763-7505
Fax: 763-7314