Dust Devil Weekly Update

August 13, 2021

Principal's Message

Good Afternoon Dust Devils!

I am so excited to get this year started; I can already feel those first-day butterflies. We are now four days from the start of school, and I bet kids are making sure that the first-day outfit is ready to go. One quick reminder school will begin at 8:00 am. This year, we will have multiple late start collaboration days, and this calendar denotes all of the late start days.

Students are chomping at the bit to get their schedules. We have run into some obstacles opening the StudentVUE and our new Clever student login. Our update to Clever has forced us to create new email addresses for all of our students. Thus not letting them sign into StudentVue and keeping them from seeing their schedule online. Families have the following options to obtain the schedules:

Paper copies of the student schedules will be available to students Monday, and Tuesday between 7:00 am - 4:00 pm in the Joan MacQueen Office.
Parents can log into ParentVUE and see the schedules starting on Monday, August 16th.
Period 1 class lists will be posted on the fences in front of the school on Monday, August 16th, at 4:00 pm. Then students will be given their entire schedule in their Period 1 class on the first day of school.

On the first day of school, during student's first-period class, students will also get their new email address and password to access StudentVUE. If students have questions about accessing any of the digital programs available at JMMS, support is open every day.

On Tuesday, August 24th, we will be hosting our 2021-22 Virtual Back to School Night. The event will start at 5:45 pm with a short message from the principal, and at 6:00 pm, you can join the JMMS staff for Virtual Classroom Visits and an overview of your child's classes.

We are also looking for hard-working students to join our Yearbook and ASB teams. If your child is interested in joining either one of those teams, please encourage them to fill out the applications linked at the bottom of this edition of the Weekly Update. We also have opportunities for students to work as Teaching Assistants if they are not interested in the electives we are currently offering.

If your child does not have a learning device (Chromebook, computer, etc.) and needs one, email the Joan MacQueen Dean of Students, Stephanie Bautista.

Thank you for all you do to support our Dust Devils :)

Sincerely,

Casey Currigan, Principal

Joan MacQueen Middle School

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Chromebook Protection Plan

One of the best $25 investments you can make this school year is the AUSD Chromebook Protection Plan. If your child's Chromebook is damaged accidentally, we can get you a new one at no additional cost with this plan. The deadline to purchase the insurance is September 3. The cost to replace a broken Chromebook is $200.00. It is a good deal for 99% of middle school students. Click here for more information.

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7th Grade Elective Wheel

There is an overwhelming desire by our 7th-grade students to learn about nutrition and basic kitchen skills in our Culinary Arts class. We have incorporated the course into our 7th grade elective wheel to support every student interested in our Culinary Arts Class. All seventh-grade students not enrolled in our Engineering Class will participate in our 7th grade elective rotation. The other classes in the cycle are Imagineering, Art, and Introduction to Spanish.

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Financial Literacy

All sixth-grade students who enrolled in the 6th-grade elective wheel will participate in a Financial Literacy class through Junior Achievement. We are looking forward to incorporating more relevant financial literacy skills into our future electives.

Family Handbook

All of the information you need to navigate a year in middle school.

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Mad Science Mornings

We are happy to announce that we will be offering three different sessions of MAD Science during the upcoming school year. Each session is made up of four classes on recurring Tuesdays, beginning at 7:00 am before school. The 1st session will start on September 6th, and more registration information will be forthcoming.

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Volunteers

We are happy to announce that Volunteers will once again be allowed to join us on campus. Although we will be making sure our protocols are effective before we begin to relax our procedures. We are looking at October 4th as our tentative date to ease the policies.

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Field Trips

Another exciting announcement concerns Student Field Trips. They are back on, and we are looking forward to exploring all that San Diego County has to offer. Keep an eye out for more information from your child's teacher.

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Associated Student Body

Applications are now being accepted for students who are interested in participating in Student Government. Join Mrs. Tompkins in planning school events and providing the school and district feedback on plans and initiatives. If you are interested please fill out this online form. Enrollment in this class will not interfere with the elective that you selected. For example, if you signed up for Engineering you can be enrolled in Engineering and ASB at the same time. The class will replace your period 5/6 Learning Strategies Class.

ASB Application

Teacher Assistant

Yearbook Application