Gator Bytes. Learning, Leadership and Laughter...The JRG Journey. Jan

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1 Gator Bytes Jan Learning, Leadership and Laughter...The JRG Journey J.R. Gerritts Middle School * 545 S. John St. * Kimberly, WI * January 24 7th Grade Ski Club 3:30-9:30 January 30 Student Council 7:00 AM in the Small Gym January 31 8th Grade Ski Club 3:30-9:30 February 1 Mini Course Forms and Money Due February 7 7th Grade Ski Club 3:30-9:30 February Mini Courses February 15 No School February 19 ROCKS The Lion King at the PAC 6:00-10:30 February 21 8th Grade Ski Club 3:30-9:30 February 28 7th Grade Ski Club 3:30-9:30 Please See Page 4 or the JRG Calendar of Events for Specific Club Dates and Times JRG Teachers Achieve National Board Certified Teacher Status A number of JRG teachers were recently recognized for attaining or renewing their status as National Board Certified Teachers, the highest professional credential possible for teachers in the country. Nationwide, only 3% of teachers have pursued and obtained National Board Certification. JRG s Megan Berger (Health) and Martin O Donnell (Band) were recognized for earning National Board status for the first time, while Jason Jansen (Science and Math), Jodi King (Math) and Aimee Froze (Computer Science) were recognized for renewing their certification, along with KHS Math teacher Stacy Shrode. All four had achieved their initial certification teen years ago. The National board Certification process supports the Kimberly Area School Districts values of excellence, professional growth, collaboration, and giving our students what they need to be successful. Congratulations to our JRG teachers for attaining this recognition! To learn more about National Board Certification, click here. Community Connections: Thank You For Sharing your Expertise Thank you to all of the parents and community members that volunteered their time to talk to our students about their jobs in our community on Friday, January 18. Parent involvement is very important to the Academic and Career Planning (ACP) process, and we encourage even more parent participation as we schedule upcoming events. Out students loved hearing about the realworld work experiences of our parents and community members! 8th Grade Parents Thank you to the many of you that have attended 8th Grade Individual Conferences with either Brad Demmin or Shannon Steif where we discussed potential schedule options for freshman year of high school. The Kimberly High School counselors will be coming to JRG on Thursday, January 31 to help students better understand high school life and the scheduling options for freshman year. They will be presenting this information in your child s math classes. At the conclusion of their presentation, they will provide a final scheduling form. Families will have until Wednesday, February 6th, to return the scheduling forms back to their child s math teacher. After the January 31 presentations, the high school counselors will send out an with instructions about next steps. This will include information about how 8th graders will input their selections into Career Cruising and encouraging students to watch an informational video about how the classes will be inputted. If you have any follow up questions, please reach out to Brad Demmin or Kim Kane in Student Services. Yearbook Sale Open Through February Students who have not purchased a yearbook were given a notice on Monday as a reminder that books are still available to order. Yearbooks are only available for purchase through Jostens this year. Please see page 11 for detailed information and a link to Jostens website. Order deadline is February 25.

2 Gator Bytes J.R. Gerritts Middle School Page 2 JRG Mini Courses 2019: Everything You Need to Know! Mini Courses are a two-day opportunity for your child to be exposed to and explore new and exciting experiences. Our staff will provide a variety of engaging courses revolving around various interests, hobbies and life skills for your child to choose from. Courses vary in length and location, allowing students to take up to three courses based on their choices! Mini Courses are both engaging and align with our ACP work around career, college and life exploration. Through this experience, students will be exposed to at least one career field or industry in a fun, exciting way. Important Dates: 2/1/19: ALL Money (cash or check) & permission slips are due. Money and permission slips must be turned in TOGETHER. 2/8/2019: Mini Course Run-through day 2/13-2/14/19: Mini Courses 2018! Mini Courses are a privilege While we want every child to experience Mini Courses in its entirety, Mini Courses are a privilege. Students who disrupt the learning environment will be removed from the mini course. If students on overnight courses do not follow our community values, the leader of that course will be contacting the child s parent/guardian to pick up the student from that course. *Contact Student Services at if you have any questions! Les and Dar Stumpf Youth Arts Scholarships The Les and Dar Stumpf youth arts scholarship was established to provide financial assistance to area students in grades K- 12 interested in an art discipline. Scholarship applications are due April 1, Recipients will be selected at the discretion of the Stumpf Scholarship Selection Committee. Award amounts will vary, but are limited to no more than $500 per child per year. Scholarship checks are made payable to the provider of the service. Please visit for detailed scholarship information and application.

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4 Gator Bytes J.R. Gerritts Middle School Page 4 JRG Club Information Student Must Be a ROCKS Member to participate Dates are also listed on the JRG Events Calendar Coding Club 3:00-4:00 (click here for an informational Scratch commercial) Contact: Ms. Froze, Room 111 (afroze@kimberly.k12.wi.us) January: 24, 28, 31 February: 4, 7, 11, 18, 21, 25, 28 March: 4, 7, 11, 18, 21, 25, 28 Ski Club 3:30-9:30 Contact: Mr. Verboomen (7th Grade), Room 214 (cverboomen@kimberly.k12.wi.us) Mr. Hank (8th Grade), Room 109 (ahank@kimberly.k12.wi.us) 7th Grade Nights: January 24 February 7, 28 8th Grade Nights: January 31 February 21 Junk Box Wars 3:00-4:00 (new members can join any time!) Contact: Mr. Jansen, Room 217 (jjansen@kimberly.k12.wi.us) January: February: 4-5 Chess Club 3:00-4:00 Contact: Mr. Ott, Room 131 (sott@kimberly.k12.wi.us) January: 24, 29, 31 February: 5, 7,19, 21, 26, 28 Art Club 3:00-4:00 Contact: Ms. Dagesse, Room 436 (rdagesse@kimberly.k12.wi.us) See flyer on page 6 for second semester details Emergency Medications Please be aware that emergency medications that are provided for use during the school day will not be accessible after school hours. Parents and students plan ahead to have emergency medication available during after school activities such as clubs and sports. If an emergency arises and a student does not have their emergency medication available, 911 will be called.

5 Gator Bytes J.R. Gerritts Middle School Page 5 Attendance Messages Your child s safety is our top priority. For this reason, we send a message home via phone, and text if a student has been marked absent for 2 or more periods. This is not intended to be a negative message, but rather a verification that your student is safe. At times, our voic system has been known to drop, or not save messages properly which may be why we try to contact you even though you have called in prior to the start of the school day. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact us at Weather Cancellations of Ski Club Trips The JRG Ski Club begins in January. This is a great opportunity for students to experience the Wisconsin winter and have fun with friends. Ski trips will be held in most weather conditions, including significant cold, wind and snow, so students need to be prepared with clothing that will keep them warm and dry. However, there are times when Ski Club may be cancelled. In general, Ski Club may be cancelled if predicted temperatures including wind-chill exceed -25 degrees, or if weather conditions are expected to make travel difficult or unsafe. If Ski Club is cancelled, students and parents will be notified as soon as possible. In many cases, this notification will occur on the day of the trip based on changing weather conditions. In those cases, students are allowed to call home and we will make a room available to store ski equipment overnight if students need to ride the bus home. We will use methods such as and our school Facebook page to keep parents informed. In the event of cancellation, we will attempt to reschedule the trip if possible. Because the fees charged for Ski Club are substantially reduced based on a package cost offered by Nordic Mountain, we are not able to offer refunds for cancellations for students who miss trips. Weather Cancellations and Delays If weather conditions dictate that there will be no school or a delayed start, a decision to keep the schools closed is usually made by 6:00 a.m. Parents with students in school receive a direct call, text and/or from our auto-call system through Infinite Campus since that is the fastest way to communicate with thousands of parents at one time. As a reminder: If you have a new phone number or address, please update your information in the Infinite Campus parent portal or contact your school s secretary to update the portal. Announcements are also sent to local T.V. and radio stations, please tune to local stations such as these rather than call the school directly: WAPL FM, WIXX-101.1FM, WHBY-1150AM, WKFX-104.9FM, WEMI-91.9 FM, WTAQ-97.5FM/1360AM, WWWX-96.9FM and WGEE-93.5FM; and WBAY-TV2, WFRV-TV5, WGBA-TV26, and WLUK-FOX11. If other school events, such as concerts or sporting events are also cancelled because of weather, they are typically communicated through these stations as well. The District s website and Facebook page are not our primary way to communicate school closures, so we ask parents to listen to the auto-call messages or tune in to the radio and T.V. stations listed for the timeliest updates.

6 Gator Bytes J.R. Gerritts Middle School Page 6 Follow JRG on Instagram, Like Us on Facebook JRG can be found on Facebook at Facebook.com/JRGerritts. In addition, JRG is now on Instagram at JRGMSOfficial. These resources are used to provide occasional school-wide updates and for reminders about various upcoming events. Families also find it's fun to check out the hundreds of pictures of students participating in events, activities and other learning experiences at JRG. Additional Opportunities Available on the KASD Community Events Page While many community opportunities are included in our weekly newsletters, additional events and opportunities are also posted on the District webpage under Community Events, or by clicking here. Links to items such as Park and Rec opportunities, community dances, educational opportunities, speakers, and local festivals can be found there. KASA Spring Soccer Registration online- Early bird fees through 2/15/19 Kimberly Little Chute Library Winter Events Schedule Youth Volleyball League at J.R. Gerritts - February through April, 2019 Combined Locks Recreation Dept. Baseball, Softball and Tee Ball Registration is open online Online registration for Village of Kimberly Baseball starts February 4, 2019 Super Science Saturday is March 9, 2019 from 9:30 a.m.- 12:00 p.m. Free family event is hosted by the Darboy Kiwanis The Kimberly Area School District does not discriminate against pupils on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status, sexual orientation or physical, mental, emotional or learning disability or handicap in its educational programs or activities. Federal law prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of age, race, color, national origin, sex, religion or handicap. J. R. Gerritts Middle School 545 S. John Street s Kimberly, WI (P) (F) (E) JRG@Kimberly.k12.wi.us

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