Dust Devil Weekly

It sure hasn’t felt like the middle of October, has it? Hopefully the warm weather is now giving way to more seasonably cooler weather, and it will now actually feel like the Fall!

We are moving into Red Ribbon Week at JMMS, and it is always fun to see students and staff dressed in the appropriate themes. We will soon see folks clad in red clothing, retro dress, funky glasses, and cozy PJs. This is a good time to remind everyone that face and body paint is not part of the spirit wear guidelines. We can all refrain from this practice while still displaying the wonderful spirit that JMMS Dust Devils are known for.

We are now in the final push for Trimester 1, which will be ending on November 3rd. This is the time for all students to double check to ensure that their work has been completed, and that they earn every point they can before the grading period closes.

In this edition, along with a close look into JMMS campus life, we turn our focus to the reason for the JMMS cell phone policy! I hope you enjoy this edition of the Dust Devil Weekly.

This week we are shining our focus on cell phones at school. Joan MacQueens policy on personal cell phones is that all cell phones are to be powered off and stored inside a student’s book bag during the entirety of the school day. We understand that from time to time it is necessary for students to make an important phone call home. In those cases, students will be permitted to make that call provided they do two simple things:

1. They should ask their teacher to go to the office to make a phone call.

2. Once at the office, they explain to school staff that they need to call, and they will be permitted to use their phone, or the school phone to call home.

This policy is designed to limit distractions, disruptions, and conflicts during the school day, where the priority should be placed on learning. Students asking to use the restroom multiple times a day to check their phones interferes with this priority.

In order to limit distractions, phones may be confiscated for the day if a staff member sees a student using their phone without permission. Phones are returned at the end of the school day. Should a student violate the policy multiple times, we may hold the phone until a family member is able to come to pick up the phone.

We are grateful for the home-school partnership regarding cell phones. Together we can limit instructional disruptions and keep the focus where it should be–student achievement.