December 13, 2023
Good Afternoon JMS families,
As we approach the holidays and the end of another wonderful year at JMS, I want to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude for our incredible school community.
I want to express my deepest appreciation to our dedicated teachers and staff who work tirelessly to create a positive and engaging learning environment for our students. Their commitment to education and the well being of each child is truly commendable and I am incredibly fortunate to have such an outstanding team.
Parents, of course, are such a critical part of all we hope to accomplish on behalf of our JMS students. I am grateful to you for masterfully doing what I know firsthand is the hardest, most rewarding and joyous job of all. The growth and achievements we have witnessed in our students this year are testament to the strong partnership between home and school. Thank you for entrusting us with your most precious gift.
I am grateful to our wonderful, talented, creative, inquisitive, optimistic, resourceful and resilient students. Often, they make us laugh, sometimes they make us cry, but always they make us think. Most of all, they make us better!
Holiday Celebrations: There are several fun events and JMS traditions planned for our student's next week. Please look for more information about these events from your child’s classroom teacher.
- Monday, December 18th-22nd - Gingerbread Expo - FA-LA-LA-LA Flannel Day: Kindergarten students will celebrate the AESOP Fable, The Gingerbread Man. Throughout the week Kindergarten students will prepare for the Gingerbread EXPO and design, build and present a collaborative gingerbread house STEM project. Students and staff are encouraged to wear flannel!
- Tuesday, December 19th - Winter Solstice White Out! - As we approach the longest night of the year, students and staff are encouraged to dress all in white.
- Wednesday, December 20th - Ugly Sweater Day- Early Release Day - Students and staff are encouraged to wear their most festive Holiday attire!
- Thursday, December 21st - Grinch Day: All students and staff will celebrate Dr. Seuss’s, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Students are encouraged to wear green or dress up like a Who from Whoville! Be on the lookout for the Grinch!
- Friday, December 22nd - Polar Express Day: First grade students and staff will celebrate Chris Van Allsburg's, The Polar Express. All students are encouraged to get ready “for a long winter’s nap” and wear pajama’s/bathrobes, First grade students are encouraged to bring a canned/non-perishable food item or paper product for their “Ticket to Ride ''. A special read-aloud of the story for first grade is planned for that morning.
JMS Kindness Challenge: As you may know, our motto at JMS is Be Safe, Be Kind, and Be Responsible. Our school community (students and staff) have been issued a Kindness Challenge for the remaining weeks of school in December. Our goal is to engage in as many acts of kindness as we can! Each kind act will be recorded and displayed on a paper chain in the hallway at JMS. We would like to extend participation in the JMS Kindness Challenge to families. If your child demonstrates kindness at home or anywhere else in the community, please share the act of kindness with us by completing the Google Survey below:
Our goal is to reach 500 acts of kindness by Wednesday, December 20th. As of writing this email we have 158! We will track our progress daily as we strive to make our goal. If we accomplish our goal we will celebrate with a special kindness event/celebration on Wednesday, December 21st.
Early Release - Students will be dismissed early on Wednesday December 20th at 12:45.
Free Popcorn Friday! - Popcorn will be available for all students free of charge next Friday, December 22nd. Thank you MES PTO!
Lost and Found- Our lost and found continues to grow by the day! If your child is missing anything please have them check the lost and found. All remaining items will be bagged and donated on Friday, December 22nd.
This will be my last weekly parent update of 2023! On behalf of the staff at JMS, we wish you a safe and joyous holiday season. May the coming year bring you prosperity, good health and happiness!
Tim O’Connell
JMS Principal