January 2024
A Note from Ms. Palmer, KJHS Principal
Dear Kingsley families,
The second semester is off to a great start here at KJHS and we are looking forward to the months to come. The spring semester at the middle school level is always bittersweet as we prepare to say good-bye to our eighth grade class while getting ready to welome our incoming sixth graders. It is a time of transition for all and we enjoy seeing the growth and development of our students as they prepare for the next level. Thank you for sharing this journey with us!
Ms. Palmer
KJHS Updates
K-Cart Wish List
The KJHS K-Cart is an integral part of our PBIS system, providing opportunities on a weekly basis for students to purchase items with the K Cash they earned by showing appropriate school behavior. The K-Cart cost approximately $200/week to operate and we operate it 12 weeks each semester. The KJHS PTO provides a $1000/semester stipend to assist with these costs but that leaves a remaining cost of approximately $1400/semester. BELT students worked concessions throughout the fall semester to help raise funds but they could use some assistance in purchasing K-Cart items for the spring. If you would like to make a donation, please check out the K-Cart Amazon Wish List. Please have any items ordered sent to the address below. In addition, feel free to purchase any of the items locally and drop them off at the KJHS main office. Thanks so much for your support!
Kingsley Junior High School Attn: KCart
303 Kingsley Street
Normal, IL 61761-2941
KJHS Winter Open House: February 21st
KJHS is hosting a Winter Open House on Wednesday, February 21st. This is an opportunity for families to follow their student's schedule and get updates on what is happening in their student's classes. More details will be shared in the February Family Connection.
KJHS PBIS Updates
This month's KJHS PRIDE focus is P is for "Participation". Students will be discussing what it means to participate in learning.
Last month's KJHS PRIDE focus was E for "Excellence". Here is the lesson that was shared schoolwide with students.
KJHS Drama Club Grants
Congratulations to Ms. Jennifer Peterson, the KJHS Drama Club sponsor, on receiving two grants for a total of $2700! Ms. Peterson was awarded both an Illinois Prairie Community Foundation Youth Engaged in Philanthropy grant and a Walmart Community grant to help support the production capabilities of the KJHS Drama Club.
KJHS "Get to Class on Time" Initiative Update
December was a rough month for the "Getting to Class on Time" Initiative but we are pleased to announce that tardiness for the fall semester was down 8.4% in comparison to the Fall 2022 semester.
Continuum of Engagement
Many adult conversations focus on how engaged students are in class. Here at KJHS, we are using the Continuum of Engagement Framework as a way to get students thinking about how engaged they are in their own learning. We encourage you to examine this framework and use this when talking to your student about how engaged they are in their classes when it comes to learning.
Navigating Student Conflicts
Given the fact that we have over 700 students in our KJHS community, conflicts are bound to occur. If your student is experiencing an issue with another student and needs adult assistance to help work things out, please encourage them to complete the "What's Up Kingsley?" form. This will alert the adults in the building to the issue and we will direct the students involved to the KJHS resource best suited to the conflict.
Outside Food & Drink
Just a reminder that while students are allowed to bring lunch from home, they are not allowed to have food from outside restaurants delivered to KJHS during the school day (by family, delivery service, etc.).
PTO Updates & Fundraisers
Below are opportunities to help the KJHS PTO raise money to support the KJHS students and staff by doing things like funding teachers' classroom grant requests to enhance instruction, provide staff with uplifting luncheons and treats, purchase furniture to allow for flexible learning spaces, and much more!
PTO No Hassle Fundraiser: The easiest way to support the important work of the KJHS PTO is to make a donation through our No Hassle Fundraiser.
The PTO is selling Papa Murphy coupon cards for $5. If you are interested in purchasing one, please email the PTO at kjhspto@gmail.com.
The Gobena Coffee Fundraiser is an ongoing one and an excellent opportunity to try some new, local coffee as well as raise money to help the PTO support our KJHS teachers.
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Monitoring Student Progress
Infinite Campus: Infinite Campus is the main tool that we use to communicate students' progress and attendance with our KJHS families. You can set the Infinite Campus to send you notifications regarding your student's attendance and grades. Don't have the app yet? Visit the Unit 5 link to the Infinite Campus Parent Portal and download the app. Here are some helpful hints:
a. When looking up the district, enter "mcl", select "Illinois" and then hit "search". McLean County Unit 5 will pop up.
b. Your username and password are the same ones you use to log into IC on a computer. Don't remember your password? Call the KJHS Guidance Office (309) 557- 4899 and we will reset your password so you can get access to your account. Trying to access after office hours? Drop Ms. Palmer an email (palmere@unit5.org) and she will get you set up as soon as she can.
The online gradebooks in Infinite Campus should reflect your student's current performance in their classes. If you have a question about what is appearing online in the gradebook, please reach out to your student's teachers. Please remember that KJHS uses standards based teaching and learning. Here's a reminder of what those numbers you are seeing represent. Want to learn more? Check out the Unit 5 SBG Guide.
Who Do I Contact at KJHS?
Knowing who to contact at KJHS about certain issues can be challenging. We hope this mini-guide helps as to who to contact first when you are needing assistance.
Absences (partial or full day): KJHS Attendance line (309-557-4456)
Classroom level issues (grades, behavior, etc.): Your student's teacher(s)
General questions about KJHS: KJHS Main Office line (309 - 557-4407)
Student information/registration updates: KJHS Guidance office (557-4899)
Sports related questions: Mrs. Menken (557-4862 or menkenk@unit5.org) or Mr. Davis (557 - 4962 or davissy@unit5.org)
Student behavior issues: Student's AP
Last name A-K: Mr. Larson (557-4858 or larsond@unit5.org)
Last name L-Z: Mr. Davis (557 - 4962 or davissy@unit5.org)
Student schedules: KJHS Guidance office (557-4899)
Student support services: KJHS Guidance office (557-4899)
Technology Tip: Snap Chat
We are seeing an increasing number of student conflicts at KJHS caused by social media usage, especially Snap Chat. Given this, we wanted to share some insights into Snap Chat from our friends at Decatur Public Schools in Alabama. We hope the information below will help our Kingsley families provide guidance to students in the usage (or elimination) of this app.
Does your child use Snapchat? It's a popular app with teenagers used for creating multimedia messages referred to as "snaps" that consist of a photo or a short video, and can be edited to include filters and effects, text captions, and drawings. While the premise behind the app seems innocent, it can lead to problems if used inappropriately. With school about to start, be sure you are up to speed on all that snapshot offers(good and bad).
Snapchat offers extra protections for 13-to-17-year-olds, including requiring teens to be mutually connected or in their respective phone contacts before they can start communicating.
Please follow the links below to learn more about tools parents can access to learn more about Snapchat safety:
Snap has a set of in-app parental tools called Family Center. The goal of these tools is to help parents get insight into how their teens are using Snapchat, including who they are communicating with and what public content they are viewing. https://values.snap.com/safety/family-center
Easily report concerning accounts to Snap’s 24/7 Trust and Safety team. You can learn more here: https://values.snap.com/safety/safety-reporting
Here is a list of important actions to help protect your teens on Snapchat.
FAMILY AND FRIENDS ONLY: Tell your teen to only invite and accept Friends on Snapchat if they are friends in real life or family members. Encourage them to check their Friends List regularly to make sure they still want to be in touch with each friend.
LOCATION AND PRIVACY SETTINGS: Talk to your teen about their location and privacy settings. At Snapchat, privacy settings are turned on by default, so people can only see the things you want to share, for as long as you want to share them.
IN-APP REPORTING: Make sure your teen knows how to use our in-app reporting tools and that we don’t tell Snapchatters who reported them. These reports go directly to our 24/7 Trust and Safety team to investigate and take appropriate action. We also offer reporting tools on our website for those who don’t use Snapchat – which any parent can easily use.
THINK BEFORE YOU SEND: Remind your teen that, as with sharing anything online, it’s important to be really careful about sending anyone – even a partner or close friend – personal or sensitive images and information. Snaps and Chats may delete by default, but there are ways to capture images from a phone or other device without a person’s consent. This is true despite Snapchat sending a notification in some instances when a screenshot is taken.
JOIN FAMILY CENTER: Make sure you and your teen are signed up for Snapchat’s Family Center.
Temporary Changes in Busing
If you are wanting your child to ride a different bus on a certain day (i.e. , they are riding home with a friend), please contact the Transportation Office (309-557- 4287) to make this arrangement as they will need to notify the bus driver. Please do this as early as possible in order to ensure that the message is communicated. KJHS cannot make this arrangement for you.
8th Grade Updates
8th Grade Dance
Over the past few years, KJHS has hosted an 8th grade dance as one of the closing activities of the school year. This event is held in May and is planned/organized by the 8th grade parents. If you would like to be involved on the 8th grade dance planning committee, please let Ms. Palmer (palmere@unit5.org) know by the end of January. If we do not have parent volunteers, we will not be holding the dance.
Upcoming High School Transition Dates
3/22 - Last day to make changes to IUnit 5 high school course requests
8th Grade Expectations
The 8th grade teams worked with students in the second quarter to clarify expectations of students as learners in the classroom. Each team created a slide (Team 8-1; Team 8-2) with basic expectations, which they already discussed in class, and we ask that you discuss these expectations with your student so we are all on the same page. Thank you!
Unit 5 Updates
Unit 5 Podcast
Want to know more about Unit 5? Check out our new podcast, Inside Unit 5!
This monthly podcast is dedicated to highlighting information and news for Unit 5’s parents, students, educators, and community members.
Athletics & Clubs
Stream Team is Bringing KJHS Home Games to Your Home!
Want to enjoy KJHS home games from the comfort of your own home? Check out our Kingsley Activities You Tube page for live streams of all home events and enjoy how our student led Stream Team broadcasts each and every game!
Kingsley Clubs and Activities
Incoming students & families often ask "how can my child get involved & participate in the Kingsley community?" Great question!
Off of the main page of the Kingsley website, there is an "extracurriculars" page with our club and activity information. For students, we post club information in the daily announcements & on "What's Kickin' at Kingsley?" bulletin boards throughout the school. Here is a list of our current clubs:
Black Student Union Flobinet Choir Not In Our School
Board Game Club GSA Percussion Club
Byte by Byte Club Harry Potter Club Pokemon Club
Chess Club Jazz Band Rubix Cube Club
Drama Club Kingsley Bible Club Speech/Debate Team
D&D/MTG Club Kingsley News Spirit Club
FCCLA Kingsley Stream Team Tech Club
Fellowship of Student Athletes (FCA) Kingsley Student Council Yearbook
KJHS Book Club Crochet Club Animal Wellness Club
KJHS PTO
KJHS PTO Happenings
Next Meeting
The next KJHS PTO meeting is Monday, January 22 at 6:30 pm in the KJHS IMC.
Fundraiser
PTO No Hassle Fundraiser: The easiest way to support the important work of the KJHS PTO is to make a donation through our No Hassle Fundraiser.
The PTO is selling Papa Murphy coupon cards for $5. If you are interested in purchasing one, please email the PTO at kjhspto@gmail.com.
The Gobena Coffee Fundraiser is an ongoing one and an excellent opportunity to try some new, local coffee as well as raise
Want more information on the KJHS PTO?
Visit the KJHS PTO Web Site
Dates to Note
January
22: KJHS PTO meeting (6:30 pm, KJHS IMC)
February
2: Early Release Day (11:45 am)
19: Presidents Day (No School)
20: Teacher Institute Day (No School)
21: Winter Open House (Time TBA)
March
4: Early Release Day (11:45 am)
25 - 29: Spring Break
Stay Up to Date!
Be sure to mark school holidays, teacher institute days, and early release days on your calendar!
Daily Announcements are shown each lunch period daily & posted on the main page of the KJHS website.
Stay Connected
To stay connected to our Kingsley community, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, &/or Twitter.
You can also visit our school website for additional information. Please be patient as changes are being made to the website to ensure the most updated information is provided.
At any time you can also reach out by email to palmere@unit5.org
#KingsleyCARES
Student Council is putting on a dance from 3:45 - 5:30 in the KJHS cafeteria. The theme is "Winter Glow" and tickets are on sale now. Attendance is limited to 250 students and students with a 2nd quarter ISS or OSS will not be allowed to attend the event.