Dust Devil Weekly

It was a week of tremendous spirit at JMMS this past week! Each day students and staff creatively dressed in the theme of the day, donning apparel from their favorite sports team, or western wear, or displaying their patriotic pride on 9/11! Additionally, students had their opportunity to participate in the democratic process of voting for school officers! Congratulations to all the winners, and we can’t wait to see what direction you steer the school. We are talking about Leadership as our Portrait of Learner quality and students all over campus are demonstrating their leadership! Speaking of Leadership, JMMS held its second Leadership Assembly this week, and spoke about how students can be leaders every day, here at schoo,l and in their community.

Enjoy this edition of the Dust Devil Weekly!

- Maestra Rincon's class working on science experiments to find the differences in pressure.

- Students participating in our awesome Spirit Week!!

- The 7th and 8th graders having a blast at our Hawaiian Themed Dance on Friday!

- Mrs. White's Astronomy class learning about the phases of the moon in a tasty way...using cookies!

Mrs. Johnson will be holding a mandatory informational meeting for all students interested in auditioning for the Winter Production of "The North Pole's Got Talent" on Wednesday, September 20. Your child can attend the meeting at 8am before school since it is a Late Start morning or during period 6 if your child absolutely cannot make the 8am meeting. At this meeting, your child will receive all of the paperwork and permission slips needed to participate in the first production of the '23-'24 season! We are so excited for this program to return to JMMS!

JMMS will host its first Lunch on the Lawn on Friday, September 22. This event is for all JMMS Dust Devil Families to attend! Our first lunch is from 11:35am to 12:10pm and our second lunch is from 12:13pm to 12:48pm. Please make sure you ask your student if they have first or second lunch. Also, as an added treat for our first Lunch on the Lawn the Kona Ice Truck will be on campus selling delicious frozen treats! This was a huge hit last year and we thank ASB for bringing it back for our students this year.

Join the Joan MacQueen Middle School Band!

Returning Students

Practices will be 7 am - 7:45 am Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings in room 306. You did

great work in the band last year and I’m excited to pick up where we left off at the end of the

year! Please come to each class with your instrument in working order, your Standard of

Excellence book, a pencil, and your music folder.

First Year Students

Practices will be 7 am – 7:45 am Monday, and Wednesday mornings in room 306.

Students will need a working instrument two weeks after class starts. We will spend the first

few classes discussing the different instruments so you can choose an instrument that you like.

Attached is a flyer for Alan’s Music Center. It is a great local music store in La Mesa that has

Rent-to-Own programs for acquiring a musical instrument. If using a used instrument, please

make sure that it is in good working order. Alan’s music also provides repair services if needed.

Please ensure your student has all parts needed. For brass instruments this includes a

mouthpiece and valve oil. For reed instruments this includes a mouthpiece, a ligature, cork

grease, and appropriate reeds for the beginning level. Please ensure that you have extra reeds

as they need to be replaced frequently. All instruments also require appropriate maintenance

tools for cleaning.

The book we are using for this class is Standard of Excellence: Comprehensive Band Method by

Bruce Pearson. There is a book for each separate instrument. Please purchase the book for

your instrument (once chosen) from Amazon or a music store.

Please come to the class each practice with your instrument in working order once acquired,

your Standard of Excellence book, a pencil, and your music folder.

Note to Parents about practicing:

Please encourage your students to practice. Even short sessions can be helpful for muscle

memory. They should be working through their Standard of Excellence book, and they can

practice the music they are provided in class. Music lessons are a great way to support their

learning and will help them advance quickly. Appropriate how to videos on the internet can

also be a useful resource.

Communication will happen through Google classroom including updates, schedule changes, and ways to support your band student at home!

We are excited to announce that we launched district-wide the Alpine Union "Portrait of a Learner' this month with a focus on the first attribute, "Leadership". All students will talk about different aspects of Leadership at JMMS in their classrooms and we will even integrate the "Portrait of a Learner" into our Leadership mornings on Wednesday mornings school wide. This past week all students had a chance to watch the latest Around Alpine Union video which was created just for them! Take a look to see what "Leadership" means to those in AUSD...

Around Alpine Union Video

If you want to wish your Dust Devil a Happy Birthday either on the marquee or in our morning announcements (or both!) you can fill out this form and turn it in to Miss Lindsay in the front office. Please give us 48 hours notice before the day you would like the message to appear. You can get the form from the front office as well, or print one out from this newsletter.

The JMMS Yearbook is available for purchase online for a pre-order price online. Soft cover books will be $35 and hard cover books will be $45. You can purchase books online at http://www.yearbookordercenter.com. You will use the code 8280 to access the JMMS page to place your order. This price is only good while yearbooks are sold online so be sure to order to guarantee that your child has a yearbook in June!

JMMS is excited to offer Spirit wear for our Dust Devils! You can find offers and options here:

https://macqueenmiddlespiritwear.com/

Weds 9/20 - Late Start Morning (8:30am)

Fri 9/22 - Lunch on the Lawn