News and events - Oct. 25, 2024

October 29 - Conferences - 3:45 - 7:45 - no appointment needed

November 5 - No School, Staff Development Day

November 7 - Conferences - 3:45 - 7:45 - no appointment needed

November 22 - Last Day of Tri 1

November 25 -29 - No School

2024-2025 Middle School Calendar

Conference dates: October 29 & November 7, 2024

Time: 3:45 PM – 7:45 PM

Parent-Teacher Conferences will follow an Arena Style format this year. This means that all teachers will be located in the Jaguar Gyms, Jaguar Cafeteria, or Victory Gym. No sign up is needed, conferences will operate on a first-come, first-served basis.

• Teachers will be stationed on the east side of the building.

• We encourage parents to park in the east parking lot and enter Door #4.

• Teacher location list

If you are unable to attend the conferences on October 29 or November 7, please reach out to your child's teacher directly to arrange an alternative meeting time. We look forward to seeing you there and appreciate your ongoing support!

Young Scientist Roundtable is a free science event where students of all ages can learn directly from expert scientists.

All Young Scientist Roundtable events will be at Champlin Park HS this year. The first Young Scientist Roundtable event for this year is to be held on November 12 at 6:30 pm. Other dates for this year are February 4 and April 8.

For more information, view the flyer here.

Join us at the JMS Observatory to look at stars, the moon, constellations, and anything else we can find in space. Public viewings will be held , along with special event nights, as long as the sky is clear, when something of interest is happening in the sky above us. Weather is always an issue so if it is cloudy, raining, or snowing, the public viewing will be cancelled. Dress for the weather

as the temperature of the dome is the same as that of the outdoors.

Please check the Observatory page on the JMS website at 6:00 p.m. on viewing dates to make sure viewing has not been cancelled.

November 4, Monday, 7:00 – 9:00pm

November 6, Wednesday, 7:00 – 9:00pm

November 13, Wednesday, 7:00 – 9:00pm

Directions to the Observatory

The Hennepin County Libraries are here to support our JMS students.

Online tutors are available through HelpNow

• Must have a Hennepin County Library card

• Visit the link above to get a Library card.

• View the Tutors Online information here.

• Available to students in grades K-12 and adult learners

• Free one-on-one live tutoring

• Available every day of the week 1-11pm

• Available in English and Spanish

• Directions on how to use HelpNow can be found here.

In person tutoring is available at various Hennepin County Libraries. These are the ones closest to Jackson by distance. Brooklyn Park (5 miles), Brookdale (10 miles), Rockford Road (13 miles) and Plymouth (16 miles) Libraries. Learn more about in person tutoring here.

The Hennepin County Library also has eBooks and Online Resources that can support your students reading and research. The Homework category of Online Resources has some great databases to explore research topics. If your student is looking for support on research, they can view the Hennepin County Library’s guides to library resources here. Or, visit Ms. Legatt in the Jackson Middle School Library. She can help guide you in your search for information.

Yearbooks for the 2024-2025 school year are now on sale. Prices will increase on December 1 so take advantage of the reduced prices and buy soon.

Books were in high demand last year and sold out quickly, so make sure you reserve yours now!

You can order your yearbook online here.

Interested in volunteering? Please fill out the form to join our team of volunteers at Jackson:

Jackson Middle School Volunteer Application

There are several current volunteer opportunities. You can click the link to find out details.

View current volunteer opportunities at JMS!

We are still looking for Fall Book Fair helpers. The Fall Book Fair is the week of 10/28-11/1. The Book Fair is a wonderful opportunity for students to purchase books and foster their love of reading. Please consider working a shift or two. We appreciate your support!

Want to show appreciation for the wonderful JMS staff? We are seeking Fall Conference Staff Appreciation Donations. Show the JMS Staff how much you appreciate them by donating food for fall conferences.

Interested in donating money instead? Last year JMS Sunshine collected enough funds from parent donations to buy pizza for the staff! We'd love to be able to do this again. Cash/check donations can be dropped off at the Main Office or Venmo payments can be sent to JMS Sunshine @JMS-Sunshine (last 4 numbers to confirm account 4511).

Field Trip Reminder: If you would like to chaperone a field trip, you must have your volunteer application forms filled out at least 2 weeks in advance.

Questions? Please contact Tiffany Sanders, Volunteer Services Coordinator Tiffany.Sanders@ahschools.us

The Lumiere Junior Explorer Program is a program for middle school students to work one-on-one with a mentor to explore their academic interests and build a project they are passionate about. Our mentors are scholars from top research universities such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, Duke and LSE. The program was founded by a Harvard & Oxford PhD who met as undergraduates at Harvard.

The program is rigorous and fully virtual. We offer need based financial aid for students who qualify. You can find the application in the brochure! To learn more, you can reach out to our Head of Partnerships, Maya Novak-Herzog, at maya.novak-herzog@lumiere.education or go to our website.

Apply before November 24 for our Winter 2024 cohort using this application link!