Week of November 30, 2025 Newsletter

At West Jackson Middle School, our mission is to empower students, educators, and our community for success. We bring this to life through our Three Panther Pathways: Achievement, Collaboration, and Engagement.

Each week, we’ll highlight how our students, teachers, and families are demonstrating these pathways—whether it’s through academic excellence, teamwork, or innovative learning experiences.

How Can You Get Involved?
We’d love to hear from YOU! If you see a great example of the Panther Pathways in action—whether it’s your student showing leadership, a teacher going above and beyond, or a community member supporting our school—share it with us! Email rhawk@jcss.us or tag us on social media using #PantherPathways to be featured in an upcoming newsletter.

Together, we make WJMS a place where every Panther thrives!

School Announcements

Dec. 2nd Spelling Bee
Dec. 3rd MAP Testing
Dec. 3rd Winter Sports Pics
Dec. 4th MAP Testing
Dec. 8th-10th Holiday Meals
Dec 1st - Dec. 17th Nickels for NICU

Upcoming Dates

It's tiiiiiime! Let's get in the holiday spirit with a dress up theme to help us swing into the break. Take a look at this week's themes and plan to join us in making the hallways festive and fun!

We are eager to see the growth of our students with this round of Winter MAP testing. Please be sure to have students bring in a charged Chromebook to school on Wednesday and Thursday.

We are excited to offer the Coffee Shop Showcase! Come enjoy an evening with a warm cup of coffee and the beautiful sounds of the WJMS Chorus. Please consider volunteering to help at this link: https://bit.ly/CoffeeShopShowcaseVolunteer25

Dear WJMS Families,

We are so excited to host you for our WJMS Holiday Meals Dec. 8-10! In order to help our cafeteria staff prepare for the number of guests attending, we ask that families reserve meal tickets in advance using the link below.

We are also looking for parent volunteers to help on the days you are not joining your student. If you’re able to support us, please sign up using the volunteer link.

Finally, don’t forget to download the Raptor Safe app and complete your registration before arriving on campus. This will significantly speed up the check-in process and help our lines move smoothly.

Meal Ticket Reservation

Volunteer Sign-Up

Thank you for helping make our Holiday Meals special for our students and families!

Details:

6th Grade – Monday, December 8; 6th Graders eat with their 3rd period teacher
7th Grade – Tuesday, December 9; 7th Graders eat with their 2nd period teacher
8th Grade – Wednesday, December 10; 8th Graders eat with their 4th period teacher

Please arrive 15 minutes before your child’s lunch time for check-in and ticket pick-up. (Your child’s lunch teacher will share the specific lunch time.)

Claws up everybody! Our school is partnering up with the Athens Rock Lobsters to offer a free ticket to an ice hockey game. All your student has to do is log their reading minutes for each month until January 1st. When they reach 1,000 minutes, they have earned a free ticket to a game! See the flier for more information and remind your student to check their Canvas announcements and Clever page for their Google form to log their reading!

What an awesome opportunity for our students of JCSS and their families! Take a look at how you can help build our community and get watch the Falcons!

Our 2025-2026 Yearbook is on sale! Scan the QR Code or go to the website to order your student's copy today!

School Updates

Please download the Box Tops App using our referral code TD9F6SH7 or by scanning this QR code and our school will get $5. Each time you shop, just scan your receipt in the box tops app and money will go back to our school.

Shop for you and help our school! Link your Kroger card to our school and each time you shop, our school will get a percentage back.

Get the apps! Stay up to date on our school's communication, your student's course work, and your student's course grades.

Click the links below to learn about logging in to the apps and further navigation.

If you need further assistance, contact Ms. Hawk at rhawk@jcss.us

Needing to drop your student off at school early? Enroll for our Before School Care which opens every instructional day at 6:30AM.

School Information

We are thrilled to announce all JCSS schools are adopting the Raptor Safe mobile application as part of our ongoing commitment to enhancing school safety, while streamlining visitor management check-in at our schools. The Raptor Safe app builds upon existing visitor procedures, offering a more convenient and secure check-in process for visitors. Learn more by visiting www.jacksonschoolsga.org/raptorsafe.

WJMS Families, it is incredibly important that students are coming to school each day with their Chromebooks and that the Chromebook is fully charged. When students do not have their resources, it puts the student behind in daily assignments which have to be completed at a later time. Please help us by reminding your student to have their supplies and be best prepared for the day!

As a reminder, students should not bring in any outside food from restaurants. This will help with concerns about food safety, potential disruptions in the classroom, managing food allergies among students, and maintaining the cleanliness of the school environment.

🔗Click here for the current lunch menus for your school.

Thank you for your help!

Families, please remember that 1st period instruction begins promptly at 8:45 AM each day. To ensure students are in class and ready to learn on time, they need to be in the building no later than 8:40 AM. This allows them time to get to their classrooms and prepare for the day ahead.

Thank you for your help in supporting a smooth start to the school day!

Your best school supply is a library card! JCSS has partnered with the Piedmont Regional Library System, and conveniently, your student ID number acts as a library card for your public library! The public library provides free access to books and online resources to help you succeed, as well as fun resources that help develop a lifelong love of reading.

To view the 2025-26 calendar, click here.

Get involved at WJMS!

Birthday Shout Outs

Give your student a birthday shoutout on our digital signage. Click here to order your shoutout!

Boost your business and sponsor our school!

We are looking for dedicated families and businesses to sponsor our school. This is a great chance for you to give back to the community of students that becoming great leaders! Email wjmspantherspto@gmail.com for more information.

Snapshots From Around WJMS

Our Snapshot Spotlight this week is Ms. Habeeb's ELT class. During her ELT time, students are learning about the origins of cursive writing, how to create letters and words, and using these skills to create fall crafts with cursive writing! Another reason that we are #onlythebestatwjms!

7 Mindsets of the Month

This month's 7 Mindset is We Are Connected and we are proud to acknowledge Ms. Katie Amerson and 6th grader, Cade Stapp. They exhibit and value empathy, community, and supportive relationships. We are so thankful for their hard work and the way that they continue to show that we are #onlythebestatwjms!