Pearl R. Miller Middle School

Dear Parents,

As you may know, all PRM students and staff are required to wear lanyards throughout the school day. This is one of a number of security enhancements we have made throughout our district. The lanyards provide a quick way to indicate who belongs in the school building, and they also give first responders an important visual cue for identifying students and staff members in an emergency situation.

As with any new initiative, it takes some time for students to acclimate. Throughout the first marking period, we gave students time to get used to wearing their lanyards daily. We provided reminders when students didn’t have them on, loaned lanyards when they were forgotten at home, and spoke with students individually and collectively about the importance of wearing them.

During the first quarter of the year, the students’ lanyards held cards with their name and grade level written on them. The lanyards are meant to hold the students’ ID cards, and we have now received those from the school picture company. We will be issuing those to all students next week. Once we complete that process, we will begin enforcing the requirement of wearing a school-issued lanyard and ID in accordance with our Code of Conduct (available on p.4 of the A-Z Student Manual on our website):

Infraction: Failure to wear a school issued lanyard with ID card

If there are any students who have lost their lanyard, we will provide them with one when they receive their school ID. Once all lanyards and ID cards have been distributed, any student who needs to replace a lost lanyard beyond that point will be charged a $5 fee.

We appreciate your support in upholding this important security procedure. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the main office.

Sincerely yours,

Mark P. Mongon

Principal

We are thrilled to welcome Morris County native, Jack Wallace, to Pearl R. Miller Middle School on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, for our next Stories of Adversity & Resilience (SOAR) assembly.

After suffering an injury in a boating accident at the age of ten, Jack Wallace faced the unthinkable as a young athlete: the amputation of his right leg. Ten years later, at 19, Jack’s perseverance and determination led to a spot on the 2018 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team where he captured his first Gold Medal. He has since become a dominant and established player on the team and has won two World Championships in 2019 and 2022. Then, he won his second Gold Medal at the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.

He now plans on becoming a dual-sport paralympic athlete in sled hockey and paracanoe (sprint kayak), where he'll compete in both the summer and winter games. Fresh off of his 2nd Paralympic gold medal, he is setting his sights on Paris 2024 while maintaining his place on the USA Hockey National Sled Hockey team. After the 2022 season of paddling, he is now ranked #10 in the world and is the Pan American Champion.

Jack has spent his summers touring the country speaking about his experiences at corporate events, with professional athletes, and volunteering as a mentor/counselor at Camp No Limits. He graduated in May of 2020 from The College of New Jersey with a degree in Biomedical Engineering.

The hallway decorating event was also part of the Colt Cup competition. A team of judges reviewed all of the 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade displays, and then decided on their first place, second place, and third place honorees so that Colt Cup points could be awarded accordingly. The eighth grade took first place, followed by the sixth grade in second place and the seventh grade in third place.

We thank our student council advisors, Mrs. Cromwell and Mrs. Jeczo, for facilitating this event. We congratulate all of our students for doing an outstanding job of filling our hallways with such bright, positive displays.