Embedded Files
August 26-30
August 26-30
We had a great couple days back to school last week. Thank you for all your efforts to create a warm and welcoming learning environment for our students. Additionally, thank you for your support in starting the school year with establishing school expectations and working to establish respect agreements.
Respect Agreements and Whole School Acknowledgement - Burro Bucks
Respect Agreements and Whole School Acknowledgement - Burro Bucks
If you have not had the chance to get these posted, please work to get them up and refer to them when behaviors are not matching what has been discussed. Additionally, please use our SCHOOL WIDE acknowledgement system of the Burro Bucks to reinforce positive behaviors. If you need help or clarification on these expectations let me know as soon as possible so we can work to have whole school alignment.
Staff Meetings this week
Staff Meetings this week
We will meet tomorrow morning at 7:55 for our regular weekly staff meeting. Meeting agenda is attached.
Please note, that we will start to do mini PDs at these Monday meetings. We will alternate from information dissemination one week to mini PD to the next. Meetings must end by 8:05 to give teachers a chance to get to classes. We will need to start earlier going forward to make sure we end by 8:05. Next week, we will start at 7:50.
We have an after school meeting this week at 3:00 in the cafeteria (as long as there is no citrus) for LIFE presentation and School Nurse presentation for health issues.
Student HAndbook and PBIS HAndbook
Student HAndbook and PBIS HAndbook
Printed copies of student handbook are in the staff lounge. Please grab the needed copies for your students. Additionally, printed copies of our PBIS handbook are available. Please take 1 copy and review.
Fire Drill - August 29th @8:30 w/Fire Dept
Fire Drill - August 29th @8:30 w/Fire Dept
Please review your fire drill procedures. We will have a drill on August 29th with the Fire Dept. This is a planned drill.
Feel free to add any feedback to the document below, which will be shared after the fire drill. Also, please review the school safety document that is also attached.
PD RoadMap & Updated ITSt/Goals
PD RoadMap & Updated ITSt/Goals
Please see attached PD Road Map for the year with updated If - Then - So - Therefore & Smart Goals. The chalk talk posters are in Justin's office for teams to continue to add comments, suggestions, and questions.
DAtes for your diary
DAtes for your diary
August Dates:
Monday, August 26th - Staff Meeting in room 101 at 7:50-8:10
Wednesday, August 28th - Staff Meeting in Cafeteria at 3:00 - Health and Life Board Meeting
Thursday, August 29th - Fire Drill at 8:30 with Fire Dept
September Dates:
Monday, September 2nd - Labor Day - No School
Wednesday, September 4th - Dept Heads - 7:15 Rm 101
Thursday, September 5th - Team Leads - 3:00-3:30 - Justin's Office
Monday, September 9th - Students Carry Reports
Tuesday, September 10th - PBIS 7:15 - Rm 106
Wednesday, September 11th - Guiding Coalition 7:15 Library
Wednesday, September 18th - Professional Development 1:15-3:30 - Behavior Focus
Wednesday, September 25th - Dept Heads 7:15 - Rm 101
Danielson Training - District Office - 4:00-5:30
Thursday, September 26th - Team Leads - 3:00 - 3:30 - Location TBD
Friday, September 27th - Full School Extended Advisory
Thursday, October 3rd - Conferences
Friday, October 4th - No School
August 19-23
August 19-23
Welcome Back!
Welcome Back!
Last week was a busy week for many of our teachers involved in the variety of training opportunities as well as with late registration. We also started with football!
This is the big week! We have the district opening assembly on Monday, August 19th, with the breakfast starting at 7:00. If you didn't get your picture taken, this will be an opportunity to do so before the presentation begins at 8:00.
All Jenifer staff will meet in the gym at 1:00. This is a bit of a change as we were to meet in the cafeteria. We will meet together as a staff till 2:30. We will also need to have Terri, Anita, Candy, Sidney, Bonnie, Sandy, Brooke, Brienna, Sheneen, Karlene, Christine and Victoria at JMS from 12:00-4:00 on Monday, August 19th. Also on Monday, all furniture changes from classes need to be completed.
On Tuesday, August 20th, we will have WEB orientation for grade 6 students. We will have all of our grade 6 attend along with grade 8 WEB leaders. There will be a BBQ at the end of the orientation around 12:00.
Back to School Night will be on Tuesday, August 20th from 5:00-7:00PM. We will also have ice cream for BTSN!
And of course the big day will be August 21st! This is our first day with students. We will run grade level welcome back assemblies on our first day. This is a bit of a change, as we were planning to do this on Friday, August 21st.
Welcome back JMS Students and Families
Welcome back JMS Students and Families
The attached letter will be shared with all JMS families today. It details some of the events that we have scheduled for next week as well as answers some FAQs. I'm sharing with staff so you are aware of what has been shared with our families.
Welcome Back JMS Students and Families, 8_16_2024.pdf
First Day of School Schedule
First Day of School Schedule
Attached below is the bell schedule for JMS. Please have a look at the First Day Schedule "C Day" tab for the schedule on Day 1. You will notice that we have an extended period of time for all grades with core teachers. The objective for this extended period of time is to welcome back students and start working on expectations with respect agreements and PBIS lessons. Additionally, each team will have a welcome back grade level assemblies. These assemblies will be 20min.
The presentation for the assembly is attached and will be updated by Wednesday. It will be very similar to last year's assembly.
24-25 Jenifer Middle School Leadership and Committees
24-25 Jenifer Middle School Leadership and Committees
Please see the updated roles allocations for our leadership teams and committees. Let me know if you have questions about the functions of the different committees. Also attached are the committee meetings dates, which Brandee has added to our school calendar.
Guiding Coalition and Dept Heads Meeting
Guiding Coalition and Dept Heads Meeting
Wednesday, August 14th - Guiding Coalition & Department Heads - This PD focused on continuing our work from the June Data Days. We reviewed and updated collective commitments, refined our IF/THEN/SO/THEREFORE + SMART GOALS, and developed a PD Road Map sketch that will be shared with staff. All the work from these this day is attached. Thank you to the Guiding Coalition and Dept Heads for all their work!
Duty Schedule 2024-25
Duty Schedule 2024-25
Attached is the duty schedule for the year. Teams will need to go through and add their coverage dates. Reminder that if you are covering detentions you cannot cover after school duty. We would all like to be in two places at the same time, but clearly this is not possible. Additionally, we anticipate increased after school detentions and decreased lunch detentions this year.
DAtes for your diary
DAtes for your diary
August Dates:
Monday, August 19th - All Teachers Back
7:00 - Breakfast at LHS
8:00 - District Welcome Back Opening Assembly
12:00-4:00 - Selected Classified Back to Jenifer
1:00-2:00 - Staff Meeting at Jenifer Cafeteria
Tuesday, August 20th -
WEB Orientation - 8-12 (Selected Grade 8s and all Grade 6)
Back To School Night (BTSN) - 5:00-7:00
Wednesday, August 21st - FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL :) - Welcome back assemblies and extended core classes.
Friday, August 23rd - Extended Advisory - Schedules have been adjusted in Powerschool for extended advisory Friday.
Monday, August 26th - Staff Meeting in room 101 at 7:50-8:10
Wednesday, August 28th - Staff Meeting in Cafeteria at 3:00 - Health and Life Board Meeting
Thursday, August 29th - Fire Drill at 8:30 with Fire Dept
August 12-16
August 12-16
The week before school starts will be full of learning experiences for our students and staff. For students, we will have two days of WEB orientation for our grade 8s. This will serve as the foundation for their development as leaders and mentors for our grade 6s transitioning to the Middle School. We will also see students and families at school on Thursday, August 15th for Late Registration.
For staff, we see several PD opportunities throughout the week. Our SPED teachers and Ms. Brotnov will participate in Corrective Reading PD and our ELA teachers will get training in the new ELA curriculum they are piloting this year. Additionally, the Guiding Coalition and Dept Heads will work on refining our IF/THEN/SO/THEREFORE + SMART GOALS, and develop a PD Road Map.
We will also be very busy preparing for the start of the school year. We will all kick the school year off with the district opening assembly next week on Monday, August 19th. Breakfast starts at 7:00 at LHS and then the assembly will follow starting at 8:00 in the P1FCU Performing Arts Center.
Please watch for additional communication this week for more detailed information for the start of the year.
For those who are still out traveling the world, stay safe and enjoy the last days of summer.
Professional Development this week
Professional Development this week
Tuesday, August 13th - Corrective Reading - This PD will be for our Sped Team and Cindy Brotnov. We will meet in the library at 8:00AM.
Wednesday, August 14th - Guiding Coalition & Department Heads - This PD will be focused on continuing our work from the June Data Days. Our next steps will be to review our collective commitments, refine our IF/THEN/SO/THEREFORE + SMART GOALS, and develop a PD Road Map that will be shared with staff next week. We will meet in room 106 for this PD.
Thursday, August 15th - ELA Curriculum Training - This PD will be held at the district office and will be for all our teachers piloting our ELA Curriculum this year. This will be from 8-11 and will be at the CRC. Make sure you bring your device.
Next Week August 19-23
Next Week August 19-23
You will have received a letter from the district office welcoming you back from summer break and informing you of our district assembly scheduled for August 19th. There is a breakfast that starts at 7:00AM and then the assembly starts at 8:00. Remember to wear your Jenifer colors and Burro shirts. If you do not have one yet, we can hook you up before next week. Whatever you do, DO NOT wear green.
On August 19th at 1:00PM - We will have our welcome back staff meeting in the cafeteria. Selected classified staff will also need to attend.
On August 20th we will have WEB Orientation for our Grade 6 Students and Back to School Night from 5:00 - 7:00PM. All families are invited to attend. You will need to update our Staff Welcome Back Presentation attached here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_hmkJprPWv6nAfKvZPvzE56tfzkGO7VbJfex-o2fzmU/edit#slide=id.g23bd256167d_0_0
On August 21st we will welcome all students back for the first day of school
On August 23rd we will have welcome back to school assemblies by grade level. Schedule will be shared.
Old Furniture & Resources
Old Furniture & Resources
All miscellaneous furniture/resource/supply pictured here (insert picture) is up for grabs until August 16th. At this point we want all this to be removed.
Please let us know if you decide to take anything for your classroom.
WEB Team
WEB Team
WEB Team is planning for grade 8 WEB training on Monday, August 12th and Tuesday August 13th. Training will take place from 8-1 for our grade 8 student leaders. This training will help our grade 8 students act as leaders and mentors for our grade 6 students.
WEB is an important part of the transition for grade 6 students entering Middle School. WEB will help our grade 6 students succeed in Middle School.
Thank you to our WEB coordinators for supporting a positive transition for our students and promoting a positive school culture.
SPED Team
SPED Team
Our Sped Team have been working hard to get a jump on the start of the school year. Lots of work to get learning spaces updated and prepared to welcome students next week.
Bethany will work with our grade 8 Team
Tatyana will work with our grade 7 Team
Kinsey will work with our grade 6 Team
They will start reaching out to teams to schedule meetings this week so we are prepared to support students when they return next week.
PBIS Team
PBIS Team
Training for Tier 1 and 2 - Aug 5 - 7, 8-4:30
Training for Tier 1 and 2 - Aug 5 - 7, 8-4:30
Big thanks to all the teachers that joined the PBIS training last week. Thank you Quinn, Katy, Kinsey, Cheyenne, Feliza, Jessi, and Brandon for learning about strategies to support behaviors at the tier 2 level. Thank you Toni, Morgan, and Will for joining for the Tier 1 booster training.
We are in a great place to align our behavior supports and interventions this year.
Interns for 24-25
Interns for 24-25
We have interns that are joining us for semester 1. Molly Young will be in Grade 8 with Lindsey Falkenstein and Baylee Leavitt will be with Ali McCall for counseling.
New Teacher Orientation
New Teacher Orientation
Please make sure you extend a warm welcome to Tatyana, Julian, Bethany, and Kevin when you see them. Please ask them how they are transitioning and offer your support. They have already spent the last week working through new teacher orientation. There is much work to do to make sure they are prepared for the start of the year and feel supported throughout the the year.
This year the leadership team along with mentors will have regularly scheduled meetings with our new teachers. This will provide direct and timely support.
Educational Readings
Educational Readings
Attached below are several readings that have been shared with me. Two of the readings focus on behavior and classroom management. As a school, we will focus on defiance and insubordination and strategies to manage this misbehavior. Both articles provide some strategies that we can all benefit from when dealing with the challenging behavior of defiance/insubordination.
The other reading relates to mismatch between student grades and student achievement. The article provides some pretty interesting insights to why students might receive grades that actually don't represent what students know.
Order in the classroom Publication_in_Leadership.pdfDiffusers.pdfNearly 60% of grades don’t match student test scores _ K-12 Dive.pdfLibrary Policy Update
Library Policy Update
Last year we created the building review/censorship committee to review any materials that may be found in our library that may be considered "Harmful to Minors". There have been some updates to the law and our district has updated policy 4070. Please note that this law also applies to classroom libraries. So, if there are any materials that would be deemed "Harmful to Minors" as defined by law, it would be recommended that the teacher remove those books from their classroom library.
Libraries - Policy update - https://go.boarddocs.com/id/lisd1/Board.nsf/Public# - Policy Update to 4070- Procedures for Reconsideration of Materials Deemed “Harmful to Minors”
If you have questions please let me know.
Successful Registration
Successful Registration
We had a great turnout for registration last week. Great to see so many students and families back in the building. Grade 6 students were so excited to see their new school!
Thank you to Brandee, Amanda, Lori P., Lori H. Mike, Ali, and Bonnie for all their help in making registration a great success.
DAtes for your diary
DAtes for your diary
August Dates:
Monday, August 12th -
Day 1 of WEB Training - 8:00-1:00
Tuesday, August 13th -
Day 2 of WEB Training - 8:00-1:00
Wednesday, August 14th and 15th
Guiding Coalition & Department Heads - Meetings to finalize PD Plans for the year
ELA Curriculum Training
Late Registration for students on the 15th from 8:00-3:00
Monday, August 19th - All Teachers Back
7:00 - Breakfast at LHS
8:00 - District Welcome Back Opening Assembly
12:00-4:00 - Selected Classified Back to Jenifer
1:00-2:00 - Staff Meeting at Jenifer Cafeteria
Tuesday, August 20th -
WEB Orientation - 8-12 (Selected Grade 8s and all Grade 6)
Back To School Night (BTSN) - 5:00-7:00
Wednesday, August 21st - FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL :)
Friday, August 23rd - Grade Level Welcome Back Assemblies
Summer Recharge!!!
Summer Recharge!!!
I look forward to hearing how each of you spent your time in the summer. Summer is such a great time to take the opportunity to rest and recharge. This was the first summer that I spent with my family in Idaho. What a difference this summer was in comparison to last summer. No moves around the world, no new job, and no effort to find housing for my family.
Instead, we were able to enjoy some of the great things Idaho has to offer. We did a couple camping trips around Idaho, which included on of my favorite places on the planet, the beautiful Selway. There is something about visiting the Selway that revitalizes people. We also floated on the Grande Ronde, biked the Hiawatha Trail, dug for garnets at Emerald Creek, and got our adrenaline fix at Silverwood.
My mom also came for a visit from Egypt and Emma's mom is currently visiting us from Canada. It's been a great summer and an extremely HOT summer. Did you know that we've had several record high temperatures this summer and July 22 is supposedly the hottest day ever recorded (Source)? Thank goodness we have the rivers nearby to help us continue to beat the heat!
IASA Conference July 31 - August 1
IASA Conference July 31 - August 1
And just like that, the summer of 2024 starts to come to a close. Quinn and I went back to work last week as we attended the IASA conference. I really enjoy these conferences and find it a great way to ease back into work mode. It's great to connect with administrators in our district and learn from other administrators from around Idaho.
I really enjoyed the messages shared by the Keynote speakers Ron Clark from the https://ronclarkacademy.com/ and Sean Covel who is an author and producer of every native Idahoan's favorite movie, Napoleon Dynamite.
Ron Clark suggests that we should have high expectations for all of our students and push our students to meet the learning targets we would set for our highest achievers. He used this approach at different schools and achieved excellent results for his students. He also wants students to enjoy learning and their time at school (don't we all). The school he has developed includes a house system to foster belonging and community. Lastly, he suggests that everyone give an extra 1% to improve their performance. What's the little thing that we can do to improve?
Sean Covel focused his message on "How can we do it?". This was an interesting shift as I have come to think of Simon Sinek's focus of "Start with Why" as the means to approach our work. However, Sean really discussed how we should approach our work with the focus of solving problems.
I also attended workshops on Improving Math Achievement, CHAT GPT, The basics of 504s, and Conflict Resolution. All these workshops provided strategies to improve some of the work that we will need to do in the coming year. Normalizing the use if Ai and Chat GPT to save us time is something that I would like us to help each other with during the coming year.
New Staff and Classrooms
New Staff and Classrooms
Our new teachers have been to Jenifer during the summer and I have been able to spend some time with them to help get them adjusted. Additionally, the Sped Team (Katy and Kinsey) have work closely during the summer getting Bethany and Tatyana adjusted and settled before the rush of the new year begins. Julian is excited to join us in his new role and has been busy getting his classroom ready and meeting with Feliza and Cheyenne. I met with Kevin last week and work on getting some logistics sorted as he is transferring to Jenifer from McSorely. We are really lucky to have these new team members join us and I know you all well help them make a successful transition to Jenifer.
Part of the transition will come from help from mentors. Thanks you mentors for supporting our new staff at Jenifer.
New Teacher and Mentor Paring:
· Bethany is with Katy Helt
· Kevin is with Jeremy Feucht
· Tatyana is with Kinsey Zellerhoff
· Julian is with Cheyenne Hudson
New Teacher Orientation starts on Monday, August 5th. New teachers will start coming to Jenifer this week.
You will have seen that we have hired some of our coaches for this year with the appointments of:
McKenzie Sly, Assistant Cheer Coach
Gabby Johnson, No-Cut Volleyball Coach
We are still on the hunt for several more coaches. We are looking for several football coaches that we need to fill ASAP.
We also have Victoria Raulerson joining us as a Special Education Instructional Assistant and we have Angela Stegner joining us as our Computer Tech. Angie will be shared with McSorely, but spend 60% of her time at Jenifer. Angie's schedule is attached: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IopGNDed-QDZv7xXYzxjCzgtuGLaBSGR5GMR1OelgFs/edit?usp=sharing. We also welcome back Angie O’Brien to Jenifer for Grade 6 Choir.
Lastly, Maria Lacey has submitted her resignation as she has secured a teaching position at Clearwater Valley Jr-Sr High School. Please extend her your congratulations when you have a chance. She will be missed!
Attached below is the new teacher orientation schedule, JMS Teams for 24-25, and some pics of teachers working in their classrooms over the past couple weeks.
PBIS Training August 5-7
PBIS Training August 5-7
We have a large number of our PBIS team attending the training start on Monday, August 5th.
This is the message I have from Diana Morgan about the training:
Hello,
We are looking forward to seeing you and your teams next week for Tier 2 Training on Monday, August 5th and Tuesday, August 6th. Training details are included below:
Date: Monday, August 5th – Tuesday, August 6th
Location: DeAtley Career Technical Education Center - 3125 Cecil Andrus Way Lewiston, ID 83501
Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/itbs-tier-2-clarkston-registration-851280682437?aff=oddtdtcreator
Training logistics:
Start time: 8:30am
Lunch: on you own - 1hr 15min
End: 4:30pm
PD Credit: 1 continuing education credit will be available for purchase for attendees present for all training days and to complete a reflection assignment.
Materials to bring:
Your school’s ITBS Example PBIS Handbook binder (please let us know if you need a new one)
Laptops (computing device that can connect to the internet and download and edit provided templates) - time will be provided for teams to create necessary documents to support implementation.
Any existing PBIS materials (e.g., PBIS handbook, matrix, flowchart, values)
Snacks as needed
Attendance:
A building administrator must be present at both days of training.
The school wide facilitator must be present at both days of training.
As much as possible, your school's full Tier 2 PBIS team should be present for both days of training.
List of suggested team members - depending on school size and organization this may be the same or different as your Tier 1 Team
Administrator (required)
School wide facilitator (required)
Counselor/ School Psychologist
Interventionist/ Behavior Specialist
District coach (if applicable)
Other team members with helpful perspectives (e.g., SPED teacher, assistant principal, classroom teacher with behavioral expertise, district representative) - up to discretion of the team/admin
*If a team member is unable to attend training, please communicate that with us as soon as possible.
Here are out PBIS Team members attending:
Here are out PBIS Team members attending:
Katy Helt
Kinsey Zellerhoff
Jessie McFarland
Cheyenne Linja
Feliza Doering
Brandon Hoyt
Will Thompson
Aaron DeLane
Quinn Aldous
ELA Curriculum & Training on August 15th
ELA Curriculum & Training on August 15th
The ELA Curriculum Resources have arrived! We will work on getting these distributed as soon as possible.
We also know that we have training scheduled for Thursday next week for StudySync.
Thursday, August 15, in the CRC
8:00 - 11:00 am
Grades 6-8, piloting teachers, leads, principals
Registration this week
Registration this week
This week sees JMS register all our students back from summer break.
Tuesday, August 6th is for grade 8
Wednesday, August 7th is for grade 7
Thursday, August 8th is for grade 6
All staff can come in and get their pictures taken this week from 8-3
Facilities Upgrades - Intercoms and backboards
Facilities Upgrades - Intercoms and backboards
3 New Backboards
3 New Backboards
Three new backboards have been added over the summer.
Can you spot the intercoms?
Can you spot the intercoms?
You shouls be able to see all the new intercoms installed
So many Intercoms
So many Intercoms
Intercoms will allow announcements to be heard outside and during transitions
DAtes for your diary
DAtes for your diary
We have a busy two weeks ahead with orientations, registrations, and training. Please have a look at the dates below and connect with me if you have any questions.
July Dates:
July 30-August 2 - Idaho Association of School Administrators
Aaron and Quinn away for IASA conference - https://www.idschadm.org/page/iasa-conferences
August Dates:
Monday, August 5th -
Day 1 of New Teacher Orientation
Day 1 of PBIS TIER 2 TRAINING - 8:00-3:30 @ DeAtley Center
Tuesday, August 6th -
New Teachers @ Jenifer 08:00-11:30 - Leadership Team + Mentors w/New Teachers
Day 2 of PBIS TIER 2 TRAINING - 8:00-3:30 @ DeAtley Center
Day 1 of Registration (Grade 8) - 8:00-3:00
Wednesday, August 7th -
New Teacher Training Continued
Day 1 of PBIS Training TIER 1 - Booster - 8:00-3:30 @ DeAtley Center
Day 2 of Registration (Grade 7) - 8:00-3:00
Thursday, August 8th -
Day 3 of Registration (Grade 6) - 8:00-3:00
Monday, August 12th -
Day 1 of WEB Training - 8:00-1:00
Tuesday, August 13th -
Day 2 of WEB Training - 8:00-1:00
Wednesday, August 14th and 15th
Guiding Coalition & Department Heads - Meetings to finalize PD Plans for the year
ELA Curriculum Training
Late Registration for students on the 15th from 8:00-3:00
Monday, August 19th - All Teachers Back
7:00 - Breakfast at LHS
8:00 - District Welcome Back Opening Assembly
Tuesday, August 20th -
WEB Orientation - 8-12 (Selected Grade 8s and all Grade 6)
Back To School Night (BTSN) - 5:00-7:00
Wednesday, August 21st - FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL :)
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