JMS Weekly Update
October 25, 2020
Dear JMS Families,
This week's update contains new information about the following:
- Material Pick-up Q2 - Cyber Cohort
- School Picture Ordering Information
- School Picture Make-up/Retakes
- Halloween Costumes (at home & at school)
Please reach out to myself or Ms. Deet if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Dr. Sarah Shaw, Principal
Ms. Katelyn Deet, Assistant Principal
Weekly Schedule
Monday - Day 3
Tuesday - Day 4
Wednesday - Day 5
Thursday - Day 1
Friday - Day 2
Monday (11/2) - Day 3
Tuesday (11/3) - No school - Election Day
Wednesday (11/4) - Day 4
New Information
Material Pick Up - Quarter 2 - Cyber Cohort - 10/28, 10/29
Quarter 2 of the 2020-2021 academic year begins during the week of November 2, 2020.
In order to provide all students with a dynamic learning experience, we are asking students that are participating in the cyber cohort to pick up materials at JMS for the second quarter on the following days:
- Wednesday, October 28th - 7:45AM - 5:30PM
- Thursday, October 29th - 3:15PM - 5:30PM
Students should enter the library through the D-28 entrance to gather their materials.
Please contact Ms. Deet if you have any questions or if you need alternate accommodations.
School Picture Ordering Information/Uploading Pictures for the Yearbook
We will be sharing instructions for online ordering in the next few weeks. Families will be able to preview the picture before deciding whether to place an order.
If you do not feel comfortable coming to the building professional photos you can submit your child's portrait at yearbookforever.com. Please see the attached flyer and tutorial video here for how to upload.
General photos can also be emailed to Ms. Beckett at abeckett@mtlsd.net, but all student portraits must be submitted through the website or app mentioned above no later than November 15, 2020.
We are excited to have your child a part of our yearbook this year. Access code is: jmslebo
Picture Day Make-Up/Retakes - 11/9, 11/11, 11/13
Make-up pictures and retakes are scheduled for following dates:
- Cohort A: Monday, November 9th
- Cyber: Wednesday, November 11th from 3:15pm-4:15pm
- Cohort B: Friday, November 13th
Please contact Ms. Deet with any questions.
Halloween Costumes
Students are allowed to wear a costume for Halloween on Friday (from home or in school), as long as the costume falls within the rules below. If you are learning from home on Friday, turn on your camera so we can see your costume!
Students in Cohorts A and Cyber are welcome to send pictures of their costumes to Dr. Shaw. Pictures will be added to the yearbook and shared on social media.
Halloween costumes must comply with the student dress code, found in the Student Handbook:
- No brief and/or revealing clothing
- No clothing with messages that: 1) Are suggestive, obscene, vulgar, offensive or libelous, that degenerate others on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation or disability. 2) Advertise or promote drugs, alcohol, tobacco or violence.
- Students are permitted to wear a hat as part of a costume.
- Students are not permitted to wear costume masks or completely paint their face.
- Students must be identifiable when in costume.
- Small amounts of makeup are permitted, such as makeup to create a scar or to add cat whiskers to the face.
- Students are not permitted to have look-alike weapons as part of their costume per school district policy GBGB/JICI.
- Students are still required to participate in PE and should dress appropriately.
- Students are required to follow the COVID-19 masking guidelines.
- Administration reserves the right to make the final decision on the appropriateness of Halloween costumes. Students will be required to change if a costume is determined to be inappropriate.
We have a few new attendance codes and have updated the attendance FAQ for you. In this document you will find information about the attendance codes, what to do about early dismissals/late arrivals, pre-approved absences and absence excuses.
JMS Yearbooks are on sale now through January 1, 2021. We will be working throughout the year to collect pictures from the children who are working at home. If you have pictures that you would like to share with the yearbook, please email them to Ms. Beckett at abeckett@mtlsd.net.
Prices:
- Now- Thursday, October 31 at 11:59 PM: $40
- Friday, November 1 at 12:00 AM- Wednesday, January 1 at 11:59 PM: $45
Limited extras will be sold on the last day of school for $50. 8th Grade Advertisements are also for sale from now until January 1 for $30. Order your yearbook and take out an 8th grade ad TODAY! yearbookforever.com
District Seeking Substitute Custodians
LEBO families, do you know someone who would enjoy working for the school district?
The Mt Lebanon School District Facilities Department is seeking Substitute Custodians. This position creates clean and healthy learning environments!
Hours: Mon-Fri 2:30 pm -11 pm (Hours can be flexible at the HS )
Part time or full time available, position can lead to a permanent position with great benefits and good earning potential.
Apply today by going to www.mtlsd.org, then clicking About Us, Employment Opportunities, Substitute Custodian/Maintenance
Please feel free to call with any questions.
Jennifer Powell
Facilities Dept
412-344-2009
Resources For Families
The MTLSD School Counselors in partnership with The Allegheny Children's Initiative Inc., have compiled a list of social services resources that may be helpful to you and your family. Please take a look and reach out to these organizations. They are here to help with any of the following:
- Food
- Rent/Mortgage
- Utilities
- Pets
- Abuse
- Mental Health
- General Assistance
Safe2Say Something is a youth violence prevention program run by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. The program teaches youth and adults how to recognize warning signs and signals, especially within social media, from individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others and to “say something” BEFORE it is too late. With Safe2Say Something, it’s easy and confidential to report safety concerns to help prevent violence and tragedies.
Here’s how it works:
- Submit a report through the Safe2SaySomething system
- Crisis center reviews, assesses and processes all submissions
- Crisis center sends all submissions to school administration and/or law enforcement for intervention
- If needed, crisis center may contact tipster anonymously through the app
Athletics
7th & 8th Grade Wrestling - October 26th
To those 7th and 8th grade students who are interested In joining the Mt. Lebanon Junior High Wrestling Team, report to the high school on October 26th at 3:15pm.
While there you will sign-up and complete our initial weight assessment. Hope to see you there.
If you have any questions please contact Coach Nader - (724) 757-1118 (text/voice) - Michaelnader160@gmail.com
Click the link above for a few important items that you need to take care of in order to try-out for the team.
We are excited to announce that we are now offering the convenience of online registration for our athletic programs through partner company, FamilyID (www.familyid.com). FamilyID is a secure registration platform that provides you with an easy, user-friendly way to register for our programs, and helps us to be more administratively efficient and environmentally responsible. When you register through FamilyID, you enter your information once for multiple uses, multiple kids and multiple programs.
Technology
Families In Need of Technology
As we prepare to start the 2020-2021 school year, we are asking families who need to borrow student technology to please complete the form linked below:
Be sure to list every student for whom you need to borrow a device on this form. Once you have submitted your form, you will receive status emails including device pickup details from an @mtlsd.net email address. Please also be sure to whitelist @mtlsd.net email addresses with your email provider to ensure that you receive these communications from us.
Please direct any and all questions regarding loaned equipment to our support address: RemoteSupport@mtlsd.net
JMS PTA Information
JMS PTA membership drive is open. In a typical year, your membership fee to the JMS PTA helps to meet our budget commitments to various PTA-sponsored school programs. This year we have reduced the membership cost to $15, to cover primarily the national and state dues and fees associated with the organization, and we have included an option to make a donation, 100% of which goes to JMS PTA-supported activities. Membership includes one vote per household at PTA meetings, inclusion in the Membership Directory, and PTA Newsletters. Families can link a second parent's email to their first at no additional cost or decide to purchase memberships for two parents. Membership Toolkit has a mobile app for your convenience.
You will be prompted to update your family's information, opt in or out of the directory, and update your child's team, optional phone contact info, and the elementary school from which they came.
Please join us!
Help JMS Earn Money While You Shop!
AmazonSmile
If you haven’t used AmazonSmile Before:
- Go to smile.amazon.com and sign in with your regular Amazon username and password.
- You will be prompted to choose a charity. You should enter "Jefferson Middle School PTA Inc” into the search box that appears. It will say "Pittsburgh, PA" as the location for the charity.
- Make sure whenever you check out, you always go to smile.amazon.com on your browser.
If you already use AmazonSmile:
- Go to smile.amazon.com and sign in with your username and password
- Make sure the charity you’ve selected is "Jefferson Middle School PTA Inc." This information is located under the search bar where it says “supporting”.
- If it isn’t, you can change it by clicking on the charity and selecting “change”
- This will bring you to a page where you can search for “Jefferson Middle School PTA Inc” and allow you to switch charities.
- Make sure whenever you check out, you always go to smile.amazon.com to checkout.
- If you shop on the Amazon app. Please activate Amazon Smile on your mobile app by opening the app and finding ’Settings’ in the main menu (☰). Tap on ‘AmazonSmile’ and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on AmazonSmile on your phone.
Box Tops
Clipping Box Tops is an easy way to earn money for our school. Each Box Top is worth 10 cents, so don't forget to physically and electronically clip the for us! The clipped Box Tops can be turned into the office.
See Box Tops for more information on how to scan Box Tops and to download the app. Receipts must be scanned within 14 days for the Box Tops to be scanned electronically.
Giant Eagle
Giant Eagle Support our students! Enroll your Giant Eagle Advantage Card and earn points for FREE educational rewards with every shopping trip.
Click here to register your card. Our school code is 3369. The Giant Eagle card program is also easy to use - just register your card and shop away as usual!
Office Depot/Office Max
Office Depot/Office Max has a school rewards program. When shopping, remember to ask the cashier to tag Jefferson Middle School. For online orders, enter our school ID (Thomas Jefferson Middle School ID:70088453 Pittsburgh, PA) on the Thank You Confirmation page.
Jefferson Middle School
The Jefferson Middle School learning community has an exceptional reputation for its dedicated teachers, staff and parents working together to provide learning experiences for our children that include high expectations, a challenging curriculum and a shared commitment to provide the best education possible for each and every student.
Email: sshaw@mtlsd.net
Website: https://jms.mtlsd.org/
Location: 21 Moffett Street, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Phone: (412) 344-2120
Facebook: facebook.com/jmslebo
Twitter: @JMSMTLSD