JMS Family Newsletter

It is clear that education has faced many obstacles this school year and there is the likelihood of even more. Instead of dwelling on the obstacles we face, I would like to point out some of the positive things we have achieved.

- Our UIL kiddos placed 2nd at the UIL meet. First time in over a decade that JMS has placed.

- Our student scores continue to consistently get better.

- We are putting intervention plans in place that I am confident will help struggling students.

- We have combined classes for a co-teach model.

- We incorporated "Bean Stack" and we have more students reading.

- We had a eleven band students perform at the Region 8 All Region Band Concert.

- We have given away bicycles for perfect attendance (in a drawing) for two nine-weeks and we will continue this for the 3rd and 4th nine-weeks.

- We had a student submit and win the holiday art contest for the district holiday card, two years in a row.

- We held a bullying prevention night for parents and families.

- We had a student win the Patriot's Pen scholarship award.

- We had 26 students place at the Region Band Auditions - one of which placed 1st!

- We had our very first musical and it was fantastic.

- We have implemented our Locker Club.

- We had a very successful Thanksgiving lunch with families.

- We honored students' veteran family members with a special luncheon.

- Our book fair was well attended and very successful.

- Our literacy night was so much fun with games and dress up for the kids.

- We recognized our 8th grade athletes in the Fall with an amazing Parent Night.

- All of our sports teams have put forth their very best efforts and continue to make us proud.

- Our staff continue to find creative and fun ways to impart quality education to our students.

This is proof that our teachers, staff and students are putting in the hard work and their efforts have not gone unnoticed. Please encourage your student to keep up the good work.

The second semester is always busy with end of year events plus our normal day to day schedules. To help try and organize some of those things and to keep you all informed I have created a Second Semester Timeline. I apologize for the length of the schedule but I hope you will find it useful.

Second Semester Timeline

This week we get to honor our School Counselor's - and we have two of the best! Words cannot express how thankful we are for Mr. Eakin and Ms. Smith. Please encourage your student to stop by and give a word of thanks to our counselors.

Read more in the attached link to find out ways how our Counselors are helping our students.

National Counselor's Week

Our goal all year has to make small improvements one day at a time. We have done many things to make this happen and it's working! We are seeing growth.

Recently I was in a classroom talking to students about their grades, work ethic, STAAR scores, etc. When the students realized the score they had to get to earn Mastery on the STAAR test their whole demeanor changed. Their remarks included, "I can do that!", "That's all we need to get?", "That should be easy enough."

It was then that I realized that students may not be aware of the actual score they need to get. Parents may not know this information either, so I wanted to share it with you. Below you will find three sheets, one for RLA, one for Math, and one for 8th grade Science and Social Studies. Please encourage your student to attend tutorials as needed and to strive for mastery. They CAN do it and our staff believes in them.

Tutoring Schedule

Our students have the opportunity to register for Texas School Safety Center’s Art in Action contest. We have some very talented students and it would be amazing if we could get some kids entered into this. I'm attaching the flyer with more information.

Wednesday:

6:00 - Mandatory Cheer Tryout Meeting

Thursday:

5:00 - Girls basketball at home vs. Lampasas

Friday:

6:00 - One Act Play Performance (you do NOT want to miss this)

Recently my husband and I watched a movie, which was actually a true story about a wrestling student who only had one leg. His name is Anthony Robles and the movie is called "Unstoppable". I recommend watching it. I will try not to spoil the movie for you.

The boy has many obstacles in his life and he has a goal he wants to reach. Going through these struggles in life gave him a different perspective. It made me think of all of the obstacles that we, as educators, face each day. Budget cuts, still dealing with effects of COVID, sheer number of students in our classrooms, and making adjustments consistently to help our students grow. There was one quote in the movie that stuck with me, "We can't choose to be great. We can only hope to be great when it counts."

We have worked hard and continue to work hard this year to make small changes. It's my belief that all of these small changes we continue to work on are making us great. I see it. I see the partnership we are creating with parents and community members. Your support does make a difference in all that we do at JMS. I cannot thank you enough for helping us to be great. We didn't choose this time, but it chose us, and this is our time.