January 10 7th Grade Ski Club—3:30-9:30 January 14-18 National Crossing Guard Appreciation Week January 16 Student Council—7:00 AM in the Small Gym January 17 8th Grade Ski Club—3:30-9:30 January 18 End of Quarter 2

Early Release—11:20 January 21 ROCKS Tubing—3:30-8:00 PM 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

Jan. 9

2018

Learning, Leadership and Laughter…The JRG Journey

Gator News

J.R. Gerritts Middle School • 545 S. John St. • Kimberly, WI • 920-788-7905

a Glance ACP and LMC

Mini Course

Information

ROCKS

Mr. Hoerth’s Ex. Tech Photo of the Week Winner

Theme: Holidays

Congratulations to this week’s winner:

Madeline Calmes

Attendance Messages Your child’s safety is our top priority. For this reason, we send a message home via phone, email 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 voicemail 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 788-7905.

JRG Frequent Walkers can walk the track during their lunch recess. Students use a QR code to scan each lap they complete around our track. It’s a great healthy activity option to add to other recess options such as intramurals and activities in our LMC. All 7th graders will have the opportunity to join the Frequent Walker program second semester as an intramural activity. Safe Routes to School is an international movement that promotes walking and biking to school. This program started in Denmark in the 1970s to address the number of accidents and fatalities near schools, and by the year 2000 had reached communities across the United States. Our portion of the state is served by East Central Wisconsin Safe Routes to School, who provided the training, software, and prize incentives to get our program started. To learn more about the Frequent Walker program, contact Megan Berger, Health teacher at JRG.

JRG Students Frequent Walker Program Update In October, JRG started a frequent walker program during 7th grade lunch recess, created in partnership with Safe Routes to School. Since then, our Frequent Walker students have tracked 266 miles! Going into the holiday break, there were 42 walkers who had participated, and 13 walkers who achieved at least 5 miles, another 5 participants at or above the 10 mile mark, and 2 students who have reached 15 miles! Our highest mileage walker is Lily Schaefer with 30.62 miles walked or jogged. Lily has earned a gift card of her choice for her accomplishments. Congratulations, Lily!

New Clubs Starting In addition to Coding and Art Club, which students are still able to join, 2 new clubs are beginning in January. Please see pages 8 and 10 of this newsletter for information regarding dates and times for Junk Box Wars and Chess Club.

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.

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2 Great Events For JRG Students Prior to Break On December 18, 7th and 8th Grade band students entertained the audience in their best fashion during their Winter Concert. Music for all ages was performed. Congratulations to Mr. Hietpas, Mr. O’Donnell and all of the band students at JRG for their hard work and wonderful performance! On December 21, 7th Grade students participated in the annual Health Fair put on by District Nurse Kathy Verstegen and members of the High School Life Force club. Students were introduced to many aspects of healthy living including the adverse effects of alcohol and drug use.

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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:

12/17/18: Overnight Mini Course applications being accepted- 8th grade ONLY

1/3/19: A Mini Course registration form and a booklet describing all course options will be sent home. A Parent Signature is REQUIRED on the registration form for your student to sign-up for mini courses. ***Please note the amount of money each course costs is listed. Your signature gives your child permission to spend that amount of money.

1/10/19: 8th Grade Mini Course Sign-Up

1/11/19: 7th Grade Mini Course Sign-Up

1/21/19: Permission slips will be passed out

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 423-4105 if you have any questions!

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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 email 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.

Wisconsin Crossing Guard Recognition Week January 14-18 has been designated Wisconsin’s Adult School Crossing Guard Recognition Week. Please take a moment to thank your crossing guard for their efforts in helping assist students get safely to and from school each day.

Wisconsin DOT Aviation Art Contest The International Aviation Art Contest is now underway. The Bureau of Aeronautics at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, in partnership with the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO), is pleased to invite Wisconsin students to create a work of art that celebrates the adventures and excitement of the world of flight. This year's theme focuses on 'My Dream to Fly.' Entries will be judged on the creative use of the theme. The top three entries in each of the age categories will receive a Certificate of Achievement and will advance to the national competition. The top three entries and an honorable mention for each group also will be exhibited at the Wisconsin State Capitol Rotunda. Contest deadline is January 18, 2019. Please see the official contest brochure at http://wisconsindot.gov/artcontest .

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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: 10, 14, 17, 21, 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 10, 24 February 7, 28 8th Grade Nights: January 17, 31 February 21

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Weather Cancellations and Delays Winter is right around the corner. 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 email 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 email 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-105.7FM, 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.

The Kimberly Area School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, (including limited English proficiency), ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, homelessness status, sex, including transgender status, change of sex or gender identity, disability,

age (except as authorized by law), military status or physical, mental, emotional, or learning disability in any of its student programs or activities.

J.R. Gerritts Middle School * 545 S. John Street * Kimberly, WI 54136 (P) 920-788-7905 (F) 920-788-7914 (E) JRG@kimberly.k12.wi.us

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.

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Are you on our mailing list? We want to ensure parents of young children (age 0-5) in our District are on our mailing list, so you can receive information relative to your child’s age group, such as early childhood screening information or 4K and 5K registration information. We also need to have information for all children age 0-21 for state reporting. Click on this link https://goo.gl/DFjSne to complete the census form, or complete and mail the census form found here https://goo.gl/TkNvX6. If you know of other families with children in our District that may not be in our system, please help us by sharing this information with them.

Junior Achievement Technical Careers Challenge Are you looking for an AWESOME career exploration opportunity for your students and/or children? Don’t miss the 2019 Junior Achievement Technical Careers Challenge. Registration is now open! Students are welcome to attend with their school or on their own. This year’s event is open to both 7th and 8th graders; with challenge preference being awarded to 8th graders first. The flyer is available on page 10 of this newsletter. For detailed information and to register, visit www.fvtc.edu/mscorner and click on “Junior Achievement Technical Careers Challenge”.

SCIENCE CLUB

What is it? Junk Box Wars is a science club for 7th and 8th graders at JRG. Teams of students work together to solve a challenge using a “junkbox” filled with everyday items.

When is it? Junkbox Wars Club will meet 3rd quarter, most Mondays and Tuesdays, 3:00-4:00

Upcoming dates:

Jan 21 and 22

Jan 28 and 29

Feb 4 and 5

New members may join at any time

Where? Meet Mr. Jansen, room 217.

One person’s junk is another person’s treasure!

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Board Game/

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Yearbooks are only

available for

purchase through the

Jostens website.

Project Starfish Intended to Help Families in Financial Need Limited Financial Assistance is available for activities, events and programs at JRG Middle School through Project Starfish. In partnership with U. S. Ventures, Inc., JRG is proud to Continue its participation with Project Starfish. Project Starfish provides an opportunity for students to develop a plan to volunteer within the school community and "pay it forward" in an effort to make a difference to others. This could be anything from helping clean up school property; helping in the office, weeding, or an approved project the student may self select. Participants in Project Starfish remain confidential, must demonstrate financial hardship and must complete their volunteer work prior to the activity. Forms to participate in Project Starfish can be picked up in the Student Services office. Submission of a request does not guarantee assistance.

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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

Family Move - Outside of the Kimberly Area School District

When a family moves outside of the Kimberly Area School District, students may continue to attend the school where they are currently enrolled if they qualify for a Tuition Waiver (obtained from the district office). Students who qualify for a Tuition Waiver are entitled to continue their enrollment through the waiver period. However, they are required to apply for Open Enrollment during the next Open Enrollment application period if they want to remain in the Kimberly Area School District after the Tuition Waiver has expired. For additional information, please contact Jen Bixler at (920)423-4166 or email her at jbixler@kimberly.k12.wi.us

Family Move - Within the Kimberly Area School District

When a family move occurs within the Kimberly Area School District, students may continue to attend the school where they are currently enrolled even though their residence has changed to another Kimberly Area School District attendance area. Parents who wish to have their student(s) remain in the same school after a move within the school district must complete the School Request Form located on the district website under Student & Parents>Enrollment>Attendance and return it to the district office Attn: Sara Vogel. For additional information regarding school request contact Sara Vogel at (920)423-4122.

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Rob DeLain KASD Homeless Liaison

920.788.7905

Kristine Nadolski 608.267.7338