Sep 29th
vol. 4
Reminders:
Any forgotten items that are being dropped off at school will be brought in and placed on the table next to our security desk. Students are responsible for checking the table and picking up their belongings. Students are aware and this is read in the announcements every morning. Students will not be called down to collect these items. We want to limit the number of interruptions to class instruction throughout the day.
Team Happenings:
Highlights:
As we finish the first month of the school year, we want to highlight some of the content, projects, and activities students have been working on. Please click on your child's team to learn more.
Social Institute- Advisory
Our Advisory Program has been running for over 25 years. It is an intricate part of our school culture and climate. The Advisory Program provides early adolescents with the stability needed to cope with the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical changes experienced during the middle school years. The program aims to provide a point of security for every student in the school environment by building a positive relationship with at least one adult, other than their school counselor, who is known as their advisor.
Last week, we kicked off our Advisory program for the 2023-2024 school year. This year, we are fortunate to introduce a new program, The Social Institute, to complement our existing program. The Social Institute (TSI) is an online platform with a variety of interactive topics and lessons that incorporate both technology and SEL (Social Emotional Learning). For the first Advisory lesson, students in all grades participated in the Intro lesson: Taking Control of Your Health, Happiness, and Future Success. The study focused on striking a balance, having a growth mindset, communication, and demonstrating empathy.
After each Advisory lesson, we will post a blurb about each grade level's task in this newsletter. The continued conversations at home about these lessons are very important. We encourage families to engage their children in discussions about the lessons and their takeaways.
We are looking forward to another great year!
Thank you to all who attended one of The Social Institute Presentations this past Wednesday. Andrea Jenkins, the Director of Partner Success from The Social Institute, shared resources and walked attendees through a #WinAtSocial Lesson that included the same Concentration Challenge students experienced last Friday, September 22nd in Advisory. (Go to bit.ly/concentrationchallenge, to try the challenge!)
As part of the school's partnership with The Social Institute, you receive exclusive access to the Parent Toolkit, which includes a full library of content specifically for families. All co-created with students and experts around the country.
Platform Playbooks feature expert breakdowns of the most popular apps and platforms and offer tips on how students can use them positively. TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, ChatGPT, Fortnite... the list goes on and on!
Family Huddles help you reinforce the important modern-day life skills that your child is learning at school. These topics align with #WinAtSocial Lessons to extend discussion beyond the classroom and encourage students to huddle with their families.
Click HERE to activate your parent account. The invite code is 2760D6C62940E9. Please reach out to our Tech Coach, Nicole Finnegan, at nfinnegan@summit.k12.nj.us with any questions or issues signing up.
Week of Respect
Next week is Week of Respect, a nationally recognized week bringing awareness to showing Respect and standing up to bullying. We encourage you to have family conversations related to showing Respect for all people, regardless of our differences. To bring attention to this critical topic at LCJSMS, we will be holding a Spirit Week:
Monday: Team up against Bullying- Wear your favorite sports apparel
Tuesday: Wear Green: Show Respect to your school, community, and the environment
Wednesday: Work it Out Wednesday. Wear workout apparel to show you can peacefully work out conflicts with your peers.
Thursday: Put Bullying to Bed! Wear pajamas
Friday: LCJSMS shows Respect! Wear School Spirit Apparel to show school unity.
We will be hosting various activities to bring awareness to showing Respect to all within our school building. We hope these conversations can be continued at home!
Stephen Hill Presentation
We are pleased to announce that on Monday, October 16th, 2023, 7:00pm - 8:30pm, Summit Public Schools in partnership with the Summit Educational Foundation is hosting a special program for parents featuring Stephen Hill, a renowned national speaker on substance use prevention and mental health.
Stephen has a truly inspiring comeback story that everyone must hear. He is the founder of Speak Sobriety, a young person in recovery, bestselling author, recovery coach, and a defense attorney. His story was the main feature in Surviving the Hill, a recently released documentary on the drug epidemic focusing on prevention and recovery.
He has presented in front of thousands of people for over 500 schools and coalitions across the country. Through knowledge gained from his own personal and professional experience, Stephen shows parents how to build resilient kids to make healthy choices and overcome adversity.
You will also hear from Stephen’s father, Kevin Hill. Kevin will speak from a parent’s perspective on living with a child suffering from substance use disorder and now the parent of a young man in recovery.
Stephen will be speaking with our 8th grade students during the school day on Tuesday, October 17th. Parents are highly encouraged to attend the evening program as this is an amazing opportunity for parents to have a meaningful conversation with their children about the messages and lessons from Stephen’s story.
This event will be held at Summit High School, 125 Kent Pl Blvd, Summit, NJ 07901.
Doors open at 6:30pm. We look forward to seeing you there!
8th Grade Community Service Opportunities- Supporting Civic Engagement In Summit
Tiny Forest Service Project Rescheduled
Date change due to weather - only Oct. 7 now. Summit's Environmental Commission will be preparing the Tiny Forest for winter between 8:30-11 am on Saturday, Oct. 7. All are welcome. Please bring gloves (we will have extras available). 8th graders can earn Community Service hours. Email summit.nj.ec@gmail.com with questions. Park at the Community Center (100 Morris Ave) and walk down past the baseball field to reach the Tiny Forest.
Jefferson School PTO
The Jefferson School PTO is hosting the annual Fall Festival on Saturday, October 14th, from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. This is a fun, community-wide event with pony rides, a petting zoo, bounce houses, raffles, various carnival games, and more! Please consider volunteering for this fun event!
*Please bring any paperwork that needs to be signed with you to the event. We will sign it that day.
Summit Challenge Supports Cancer Cares - Community Service Opportunity
The Summit Challenge supports Cancer Cares programs for patients and families in need. This will be taking place on Sunday, October 15th at Mount Carmel in Berkeley Heights.
We are looking for 10-15 volunteers for set-up on Saturday, October 14th from 9am-12pm. This would include stuffing gift bags for participants, organizing t-shirt sizes, unboxing medals, helping to set out signs along the course and more. On the day of the event Sunday, October 15th we need help from another 10-15 kids in the kids village with face painting, cheering on participants at the race, handing out medals, water stations and more.
Anyone interested can reach out directly to Andrea Smith at Asmith2@sh-cares.org.
*Please remember to check the daily announcements and our website for more community service opportunities.
Student Identification Badges (Student IDs)
Our school district is placing a strong focus on school safety and security. As such, we are intensifying our focus on students wearing their student IDs at all times throughout the school day. Students who are not wearing their IDs could incur disciplinary consequences, after a certain number of infractions (3 or more per month). We would appreciate the support of our parent community in emphasizing that message at home.