The BULLetin
January 16, 2020
Upcoming Events
- Practice SAT 01/17/20
- Spelling Bee Final 02/04/20
- Murphy Trivia Night 02/22/20
- The Music Man Jr. performances 03/12 and 03/13
Principal's Message
Good evening!
We're two weeks into the second semester and going strong. Many people have reached out and shared some kind words...thank you for that. Please continue to reach out to me or Heather Viall with any questions, concerns, compliments, or feedback. We appreciate everything you provide.
For the last several weeks, we've been discussing and planning for the ISA (8th grade only) and IAR (all grade levels) in March/April. More information on this will be forthcoming.
I hope everyone's new year has started off well...we're already mid-January and I have a feeling that the next few months are going to fly by. I'm already preparing for August to go to Kindergarten in the fall...we're getting him registered soon, which is crazy!
Be sure to get your table for our Trivia Night on February 22nd...there is a cap to the event!
It's cold out again and it looks like we're supposed to get more crummy weather...stay safe and keep warm.
-Laura Bingham
5-Essentials Survey for Parents
- Parents--we're only at a 7% completion for our families...we'd would truly appreciate your time in completing the 5 Essentials parent survey. Your participation in the parent portion of the survey will help us understand the conditions at your child’s school and guide improvement. Your identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child. To participate as a parent, please visit http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent/ and enter Kendall county, then the appropriate school to begin.
Murphy PTO Volunteer Opportunity
The Murphy PTO is excited to run the concession stand for the Girl's Basketball home games this year! We are looking for volunteers to help us out. It's a lot of fun and helps the PTO raise funds to put toward student activities, classroom grants and much more! It's also a great way for your student to earn service hours. Please consider signing up for a shift (or two)!
We are looking for 2 people for each shift. Please note that student volunteers must be accompanied by an adult volunteer (if signing up yourself and your student, you may take both available slots on the sign-up page). We can't do this without you, so a big thanks in advance to everyone who signs up!
PTO
The Murphy PTO does not do any fundraising as a PTO. Instead we ask families to make an annual donation to the PTO. These donations help us to provide classroom grants, student events, staff appreciation, community awareness and much more. Please consider making a donation. In addition, any family who donates $25 or more will receive one free ticket to the Murphy Monster Mash!
The PTO can accept credit card payments for annual donations. You can also make your family’s annual donation via SignUp Genius by clicking on this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0445aaaa22ab9-20192020 UPDATED LINK. If you prefer to send your donation in with your student, please print out the form below and send it to school with your student.
For more information on the Murphy PTO, upcoming PTO events or volunteer opportunities, please contact PTO President Missy Dziewiatkowski at missyd71@gmail.com or 630-999-3927. Please also follow us on Facebook for PTO events and updates (Murphy PTO-Home of the Mavericks).
Murphy Trivia Night!
Murphy Musical
Murphy Spelling Bee Finalists
Congratulations to the following students who advanced to the Murphy Spelling Bee Final that will be held Tuesday, February 4th.
Olivia Schwab
Ahmed Faisal
Ria Cherukuri
Sneha Ganesan
Emila Busuioc
Acintya Sai Yoganth
Josh Betito
Niraj Viju Sulaja
Mustafa Siddiqui
Swara Patil
Good luck to all of our finalists!
Service Hour Opportunity
Yearbooks are On Sale
LOOK FORWARD TO LOOKING BACK
Capture the good times with a yearbook that your student will hold on to forever.
Every Student. Every Day.
Mr. Malnati
Mrs. Schultz
- The students were asked to use higher-level thinking questions to be skeptical of student's explanations of answers. They collaboratively worked together to order integers from least to greatest, with and without number lines. The students completed a graphic organizer that grouped positive and negative key terms respectively. Then they were given different real-world situations and had to decipher what integer the word problem was representing while searching for the key term. Ex: Tyler lost 5 dollars= -5.
- Students worked together with multiple partners to compare and order rational numbers.
Mavericks Make a Difference
We are continuing our Mavericks Make a Difference Volunteer Program this year. Students who acquire 25 volunteer hours per year (current 8th graders only need 50, 6th and 7th graders need 75) throughout their time at Murphy Junior High will be recognized at 8th grade promotion night. Below is a list of volunteer opportunities throughout the surrounding communities. Please fill out the following form to track your hours. Forms are due to Brian Falli on or before Friday, April 24.
Service Hour Verification Form
Oswego Lions Club Youth Service Awards Program- At the end of the Lions Club Service Year in June 2020, any District 308 student volunteers (ages 11-18) who have completed at least 25 hours of qualified and approved service work will receive an award from the Oswego Lions Club recognizing them as a Lions Young Leader in Service. See the flyer for more information.
Oswego Lions Club Flyer Oswego Lions Club Service Hour Tracking Sheet
Ongoing events:
Marklund - Serving people with autism spectrum disorder and other special needs https://www.marklund.org/volunteer/
Giving DuPage - This website connects volunteers with volunteer opportunities in DuPage County https://givingdupage.org/volunteer-portal-2/
Project Linus
https://www.projectlinus.org/volunteer/volunteer.php?StateKey=IL#tgt
Arbor Day https://www.arborday.org/takeaction/
Oswego Natural Resources https://www.oswegolandparkdistrict.org/get-involved/volunteers/#1
Plainfield Public Library https://plainfieldpubliclibrary.org/about/volunteer-opportunities/
Feed My Starving Children https://www.fmsc.org/volunteer-listing/?chosen_mode=Site%20or%20Event%20Name&search_term=Aurora,%20IL&miles=25&minimum_spots=1&time=Any%20Time%20of%20Day&search_start=2019-08-19&search_end=2019-11-17
Fox Valley Park District (under 14 must have a parent) https://www.foxvalleyparkdistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/VolunteerInterestForm_Fillable.pdf
Kendall County Forest Preserve https://www.co.kendall.il.us/forest-preserve/volunteer-opportunities/
Village of Montgomery https://ci.montgomery.il.us/201/Volunteer-Opportunities
Gigi’s Playhouse https://gigisplayhouse.org/foxvalley/fox-valley-volunteer-interest
Naperville Area Humane Society - must have adult https://www.naperhumane.org/volunteer
Habitat for Humanity https://www.habitat.org/volunteer/near-you/youth-programs
Oswego Senior Center http://oswegoseniorcenter.org/volunteer/day-to-day-volunteer-opportunities/
Kendall County Food Pantry https://www.kccfoodpantry.org/get-involved/
Weekly Cat Care at Aurora Petsmart/Naperville Petco https://www.volunteermatch.org/search/opp2902893.jsp
- Association for Individual Development https://www.aidcares.org/volunteer/
Student Services Spotlight
8th Graders - Join OEHS Class of 2024 Google Classroom
Current 8th graders - OEHS has a google classroom for you to join! This will include important high school information such as course selection information, Naviance directions and tips, and other relevant high school information. To join, use the course code below.
Course code - 5a374fr
6th/7th Grade Course Selection Information
Counselors presented elective information to current 6th and 7th graders this week. Students selected electives for the 2020-2021 school year before winter break. This process was done through TylerSIS. Students will meet with counselors to verify elective selections and to select back-up electives.
Important Dates
1/10 - Teacher recommendations for core courses for current 6th/7th graders are due
1/22 - 1:1 elective verification meetings with counselors (6th grade) through ELA
1/23 - 1:1 elective verification meetings with counselors (7th grade) through ELA
Course Recommendations for 2020-2021
Teachers have made recommendations for core courses (ELA, Math, Social Studies, Science) for next year. They will have discussions with students who are recommended for honors courses. If you have questions regarding a recommendation, please contact your student’s teacher directly.
Elyssa’s Mission SOS/ACT Refresher - 7th Grade 1/14
Murphy Junior High partners with Elyssa’s Mission (a nonprofit organization dedicated to suicide prevention) to provide depression awareness and suicide prevention training for our students as part of the Signs of Suicide® Prevention Program (SOS).
The SOS® program teaches our students the ACT message if they hear someone talking about hurting themselves or others: Acknowledge, Care, Tell. Please talk with your students about the importance of reaching out to a trusted adult in those situations.
The 2017-18 school year was the first year we implemented this program at all three grade levels. In subsequent years, the full SOS® program is presented to 6th grade and 8th grade classes only. 7th grade receives an abbreviated presentation from Student Services staff to review the ACT message and signs of suicide/depression. This presentation will be on Tuesday, January 14th through PE/Health classes. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your student’s counselor or social worker.
Elyssa’s Mission Parent resources
Elyssa’s Mission website: http://elyssasmission.org
Elyssa’s Mission Parent Presentation:
http://elyssasmission.org/suicide-prevention-training/
Student Absences
If your student is absent, please feel free to email teachers directly for missed homework. Counselors are willing to help facilitate homework collection; however, emailing teachers is often more expeditious. To find contact information for your child’s teachers, please use the staff list here: Teacher Directory. You can also check teacher websites and/or Google Classroom for homework.
The Maverick Way Outside of School
Murphy Junior High students are doing amazing things in the classroom as well as demonstrating “The Maverick Way” outside of school. If any student is demonstrating “The Maverick Way” outside of school we want to know about it! Please contact Brian Falli at bfalli@sd308.org or Brandi Zawacki at bzawacki@sd308.org.
*Don’t forget to include pictures in your email.
The Maverick Way Outside of School
Caira Zupo recently volunteered her time at Marklund in Geneva, a facility that serves children and adults with special needs and autism. Caira and her family helped the residents open gifts which is something Caira loves doing at Marklund each year.
Upcoming Events
01/17
- Shortened school day- 11:40 dismissal
01/20
- No School-MLK Day
If you are looking for directions to AWAY events, this link will provide directions to many area schools.
Use the "Murphy Building Calendar" link below to see all the things going on at Murphy Junior High.
Contact Us
Mission Statement
Murphy Junior High School is an inclusive and supportive community that promotes student success by ensuring ALL students are college and career ready.
Vision Statement
Every student. Every day. Grow. Inspire. Empower.
Email: lbingham@sd308.org
Website: www.sd308.org/murphy
Location: 26923 Grande Park Boulevard, Plainfield, IL, United States
Phone: (630) 608-5100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/murphy308/
Twitter: @murphy308