JMS Family Newsletter

Recently I read a short story and I just want to share parts of it with you and what I learned. The story I read was about an RLA teacher telling one of her about not doing their math homework in her class. She told them to stay where their feet are. If they are in RLA class they should be focused on that subject only. When they were in math they should focus on math only.

This really resonated with me as I thought back over the last couple of weeks. It's so easy to become distracted. I am horrible about this. My mind is going 100 mph and I will get busy doing something and then I will think of something else that needs to be done. Or, I am definitely guilty of sitting in a meeting, and open my laptop and start doing other things.

Then I began to think about our students. They are trying to keep up with their work, worry about choir, track, band, theatre, STAAR testing, Interim testing, the list just goes on and on. Some of them are also thinking about their boyfriend or girlfriend, or if their friend group is upset with them, or if their parents are upset with them.

Middle school students are under more stress than we may realize. I encourage you to talk with your student about focusing on where their feet are at the time. Are they in math class, are they on the field, are they taking a test? Encourage them to focus on the task at hand and to give their full attention to what they are doing.

Sunday:

12:00-2:00 - Food Pantry at Jarrell Methodist Church

Monday:

1:45 - Shelter in Place Drill

5:30 - Human Trafficking Awareness for Caregivers

6:00 - UIL Awards Ceremony

Tuesday:

4:00 - Track Meet at Waco Robinson

Saturday:

9:00-11:00 - HCCM Food Distribution at JISD Annex Building

CONGRATULATIONS to Mr. Josh Curtis on being named the new Principal at Jarrell Ranch Middle School! We are so excited to join this journey with him. We have established a partnership and are so excited to be able to carry forward with the partnership into JRMS.

Before joining Jarrell ISD, Mr. Curtis worked as a middle school principal at Liberty Hill ISD. During his 18 years of educational experience, he has worked as an administrator at Flatonia ISD and Louise ISD as a teacher and coach.

As a principal, Mr. Curtis won two national awards for a PLC to Watch Campus. He was also recognized by the National Public Schools to Watch for his leadership efforts.

An avid sports fan, he and his wife, Nicole, have three children and look forward to wearing the Cougars blue and cheering on our student-athletes.

Josh Curtis earned his bachelor's degree at McMurry University and his master's degree from Lamar University. He has also earned a Superintendent Certification.

We are blessed to have Mr. Curtis with us at JMS and look forward to an exciting year for JRMS.

Just want to send out a couple of reminders as we are almost halfway through the second semester. It's so hard to believe how time is flying.

- Door Dash or Uber Eats is not allowed at the middle school level. We have seen an increase in this the past couple of weeks. Students have been told this is not allowed. If a parent would like to bring them food and drop if off for their student only they may do so.

- With the colder weather we are letting students into the small gym in the mornings at about 7:15 a.m. Once the weather warms up we will go back to our normal routine of opening the doors at 7:45 for them to enter.

- We continue to have some students who are not being picked up after school in a timely manner. Our release time is at 3:45. If you will not be able to pick up your student at that time please make other arrangements for them to get home. Some students are not being picked up until 5:30 or 6:00. This is not fair to our staff who have worked a full day and also have families to get home to.

- We have quite a few events coming up in the next couple of months and I encourage you to watch our calendar closely and read the newsletter closely each week.

Thank you to all of the parents who have helped to organize and put time and effort into organizing events. We appreciate your time and willingness to help out.