Dust Devil Weekly

What a week to be a Dust Devil! We started out the week celebrating “Red Ribbon Week” by dressing in red. Each day we celebrated in a different way and the students had a great time showing off their spirit. By Friday, our students brought their Spooky Spirit to JMMS with their amazing costumes! It was so much fun to see the creative costumes on campus!

Of course, we also had a Wednesday “surprise” this week. Thank you to everyone for your patience and understanding as we worked tirelessly and quickly to restore power on campus so our students could return on Thursday.

Quarter 2 is under way and we have posted Quarter 1 Report Card grades to StudentVue/ParentVue. Please check on your child’s grades and progress for Quarter 1. As always, if you have any questions, please contact your child’s teachers. We are excited to head into Quarter 2 building up our school community!

This year we will be honoring students who have achieved a GPA of 3.0 or higher, as well as having Gs or higher for Work Habits and Citizenship, by placing them on a “Dean’s List”. Students who are on the “Dean’s List” will earn a special activity or celebration. For Quarter 1 our students will celebrate with an Ice Cream Party. Students will get time to celebrate outside of class. We are proud of our first group of students to make the “Dean’s List”.

Thank you to ASB for planning an awesome Spirit Spooktacular! Our students enjoyed Spirit Days and lunch activities that focused our attention on “Red Ribbon Week”. The students had a blast wearing red, sports jerseys, sunglasses and culminating the week with Halloween Costume Day!

Happy Halloween to all of our Dust Devil families! On Friday, our students came ready to celebrate. We saw so many creative costumes. Students also had a good time finding teachers on campus to see which “idiom” they were representing...they found “two peas in a pod”, “dead ringer”, “money talks”, “butterflies in my stomach” and many more! We hope that you have a safe and fun-filled Halloween this weekend.

We will hold Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences the week of November 15-19. We will be on a minimum day schedule for the entire week of conferences. Dismissal will be at 11:30 am each day. Conferences will be held in the Gym on a “drop-in” basis based on last name. Please see the letter attached here. 2021 Parent Conference Letter. We will also send this communication separately to all families. We look forward to seeing our families and discussing your child’s progress.

As we were reminded this week, there are times when we need to quickly get accurate information to our JMMS families. Please make sure that you have your current contact information on file in the office. You can also download the AUSD app to your mobile device. Be sure to always check our JMMS Facebook page as well as the AUSD Facebook page for updates. Let's stay connected!

Thank you to the parents that visited us on Friday morning for Coffee with the Principal and the Deans. This time is a wonderful opportunity to connect with the Leadership team. We appreciate your input and questions. Please consider joining us for the next Coffee with the Principal and Deans.

Last week we shared the “No Place for Hate” Pledge that JMMS has adopted on campus. This past week our students discussed the Pledge in class and signed the Pledge to show support for erasing hate on our campus. Please take a moment to ask your child about the Pledge. We are excited to continue moving forward with our goals of making JMMS a bully-free space for all students.

Attention parents! Please make sure to communicate with the Joan MacQueen front office regarding any changes in personal information, contact numbers and/or addresses. It is important that the office has all of the most current information in case of emergencies. You can call the office with updates or email Laura Garbani at lgarbani@alpineschools.net or Lindsay McDowell at lmcdowell@alpineschools.net. Thank you for your cooperation!

Fall is here and soon our days will start to cool down. Joan MacQueen students have the option of bringing sweatpants for P.E. Pants need to be a solid black, blue or grey color. Sweatpants should not have any writing on them.

Do you want to give a special shout out on our electronic Marquee to your child on their birthday? Well, here is your chance!

Attention parents and students: JMMS Spirit Wear is back! Free shipping will be available starting today without a minimum purchase. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to show your school spirit on Fridays. Fridays are Dust Devil Day. Our JMMS wear is available here.

COVID testing will be held in the JMMS staff parking lot on Wednesdays between 7:30 am and 12:30 pm. Testing is open to staff and the community. Please pre-register at https://www.covxlabs.com/prereg-form

• Child Nutrition Assistant - The Child Nutrition Assistant classification performs routine assigned food services and food handling duties which may be performed in a preparation kitchen and/or satellite service cafeteria. This is an entry level classification in the Child Nutrition job family. A Child Nutrition Assistant works in coordination with and follows the lead of a Lead Child Nutrition Assistant.
• Instructional Assistant, Special Education - Under the direction of a Special Education teacher or other assigned administrator, assist in the instructional program and behavioral management of students in Special Day Class, Resource Specialist Programs and/or any other regular education of special education program.
• Campus Safety Assistant - Under general supervision of the school principal or his designated agent, a student supervisor supervises children in playground activities.
  Supervises students maintaining order to ensure safe conduct. Encourages children to observe fundamental courtesies while in lunch area. Encourages children to learn to play with others in social groups and observe the rules of the game.
  

Email: rnewman@alpineschools.net
Website: https://alpineunionsdca.sites.thrillshare.com/o/jmms
Location: 2001 Tavern Road, Alpine, CA, USA
Phone: 619 445-3245
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Joan.MacQueen
Twitter: @MacQueenMS

We are continuing to explore the formation of a JMMS PTA. According to the 9th District PTA, we need to have 15-20 interested parents to begin the process. Please consider being a part of the JMMS PTA Planning Group. Contact Mrs. McIntyre at mmcintyre@alpineschools.net if you are interested or have any questions.