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to participate. This means that students have to pass a minimum of 5 classes for quarter 2. If they are not passing five classes, they are academically ineligible for third quarter sports. For our 8th graders thinking about high school Fall Sports, they have to have 5 passing grades in May for the Spring Semester. So, grades do matter for our short term and long term goals.

Thank you for your continued support at Jardine Middle School. It is always our goal to create a positive partnership with parents to ensure the success of each one of our students.

Happy Holidays. It is my sincere hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving Break which turned out to be just a little longer with a snow day. With that said, we have just about three weeks of learning before the Winter Vacation.

In the next couple of weeks, all of our students will be participating in the Winter Scantron Assessments in both Math

and Reading. This is a wonderful mid year assessment that gives our staff and families information on the progress of our students. By participating in the assessments, this helps keep a pulse on how each of our students are growing in their own learn-ing. Please encourage your student to try their very best on this assessment so it gives us a true and accurate reading of their performance. This will help guide our teaching staff to provide additional instructional supports in the small group and whole group learning environment.

Boys Basketball will be starting right after the Winter Break. Just a reminder that according to KSHSAA and district policies, students have to be in good standing

A Message From Your Principal - Mr. Haire

School Bus Safety - Mr. Haag

Parents and Students - Riding on the school bus is a privilege and not a “right.” School bus safety is one thing we take very seriously. The main goal of a bus driver is to transport your students from point A to point B safely. Every time a student does something out of line it takes the driver’s eyes off of the road. This could be a student being too loud, not

sitting properly, showing bullying behavior, inappropriate language, etc. Depending on the severity of the action, if a student receives a bus misconduct notice, the following consequences will occur: First write up - Verbal warning or a 3 day suspension from the bus. Second write up - 3 - 5 school day suspension from the bus. Third write up - 5 - 10 school day suspension from the bus. Fourth write up - 1 month suspension from the bus.

Fifth write up - your student will be suspended from the bus for the remainder of the school year. We do reserve the write to issue a higher consequence depending on the action of the students involved. Please help us help your students to be safe on the bus and help the bus drivers instead of work against them.

UPCOMING EVENTS

See our Website for more details under the Calendar Tab:

https://www.topekapublicschools.net/Page/31 Dec. 3 Chorus Concert 6:30 PM Dec. 4 Girls Basketball @ 3:10 PM B team @ RMS V/JV @ JMS Dec. 6 Girls Basketball @ 3:10 PM B team @ JMS V/JV @ CMS Dec. 8 Harvesters 9:00 AM Dec. 10 Band Concert 7PM Dec. 11 Girls Basketball @ 3:10 PM B team @ JMS V/JV @ LMS Dec. 13 Girls Bball Tourney 3:10 PM Dec. 14 All School Dance 3PM Dec. 18 Girls Bball Tourney 3:10 PM Dec. 19 Girls Bball Classic 6PM @ HPHS Dec. 20 Boys Basketball Parent Meeting 5:30 PM Dec. 21 End of 2nd Quarter Dec. 24– January 7– WINTER BREAK- NO SCHOOL Jan. 8 School Resumes Boys Bball Practice Begins Jan. 12 Harvesters 9:00 AM Jan. 15 6th Grade Honor Roll 7:50 AM Jan. 16 7th Grade Honor Roll 7:50 AM Jan. 17 8th Grade Honor Roll 7:50 AM PTO Meeting 7:00 PM Jan. 21 NO SCHOOL– MLK Day Jan. 28 Boys Basketball @ 3:10 PM B team @ JMS V/JV @ CMS Jan. 31 Boys Basketball @ 3:10 PM B team @ JMS V/JV @ RMS

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Hard to believe we are already in the 2nd nine weeks! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to

us if you have any questions or concerns.

Ms. Sparks—Social Worker— 235-7189

Ms. Robbins—Psychologist—730-7604

FRONTLINES - Ms. McGee & Ms. Rias Hello Parents! If you still have enrollment fees due, you should have received a

letter from USD 501 Business Office. That letter states that the last day to pay

fees for this school year is December 7. You can pay the following ways-

Online at tps501.revtrak

Directly at Jardine Middle School

TPS Business Office– ATTN: Melanie Whitmore; 624 SW 24th St. Topeka, Ks.

66611

AFTER December 7, USD 501 Business office will be preparing your acct to send

to Zimmerman & Zimmerman for collections.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact Ms. Katie or Ms. Nicole in the front office

at 730-8100.

SUPPORT CORNER - Ms. Sparks

The Topeka Public Schools, Unified School District No. 501 is committed to affirmative action and equal opportunity. No person shall, on the basis of age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, disability, national origin or ancestry be denied lawful access to any appropriate educational service, program or activity provided by the school district. The Title VI and Title IX compliance coordinator is the Assistant Superintendent for Teach-ing/Learning/Administration. The Section 504/Title II compliance coordinator is the Coordinator of College and Career Ready Services. For employment, the EEO/AA officer is the General Director of Human Resources. All compliance coordina-tors may be contacted at 624 SW 24th Street, Topeka, KS 66611-1294, (785) 295-3000. The clerk of the Board of Education has been designated to receive and redirect or handle inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies, regulations and proce-dures. The clerk may be contacted by calling (785) 295-3045 or by writing to 624 SW 24th Street, Topeka, KS 66611-1294.

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Activities, Activities, Activities - Mr. Snyder

MATH RULES!!!!! - The Math Team

JC Watts onCe said, “everyone tried to define this thing Called CharaCter.

it is not hard. CharaCter is doing What’s right When nobody’s looking.”

our girl’s basketball team has Continued from last year’s suCCess. the

varsity, junior varsity, and B team are undefeated to this point of the

season. The city championship will be December 19th at Highland Park High

School.

With the semester, ending the boy’s basketball season Will begin soon. i

have visited with students that concerning eligibility, KSHSAA has a rule

that students must pass five of the six classes in order to be eligible for

the season. We also require our student athletes to pass all classes in or-

der to play during the week. A check on progress happens each Friday

and the student/athlete has until the day of the game to improve

grades. This does not mean turning in late work at 2:00 the day of the

game will allow the student/athlete the opportunity to play. If you

have questions please give me a call.

6th Grade Math- Scantron mid-year assessments will start before Christmas. Students will finish Module 2

by the middle of December. When we return from winter break, we will start Module 3, rational numbers.

This involves using a coordinate plane (two dimensional figures), integers (positive and negative numbers and

their representation), and absolute value (the distance from zero on a number line).

7th Grade Math- We finished up our unit over rational numbers and will now move into our expressions and

equations unit (algebra). In this unit, students will 1) create algebraic expressions from verbal phrases, 2) they

will write real-world contexts for algebraic expressions and will use algebraic expressions to represent

real-world situations, and 3) will also use the order of operations to evaluate algebraic expressions for given

values of variables. Our students will begin to see that everything we have discussed up to this point in the

school year will be skills they need to solve algebraic equations.

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Gifted students have composed poems for the MLK Living the Dream Poetry Contest with the

theme, “The Time is Always Right to Do What is Right.” Students also completed their

country position papers for Topeka Model UN and Document Based Questions Formative

Writing Essays. Upcoming dates to keep in mind are; January 14 (Jardine hosts Scholar

Bowl Meet); January 21 (Resolutions Due for Topeka Model UN); February 11 (Cair Paravel

Scholar Bowl Meet); February 25 and 26 (Topeka Model UN, Ramada Inn Downtown); April 6

(SUM Day). Lesson plans are online at https://sites.google.com/a/tps501.org/norman-r-

spero/lesson-plans and contain specific details and standards for each week’s lessons.

Additionally, students have access to lessons at Classroom Google.

MORE JARDINE BASICS - Mr. Haag

GIFTED LANGUAGE ARTS - Dr. Spero

Doors open - 7:15 AM (unless it is below 32 degrees or there is inclement

weather).

Breakfast served - 7:20 AM - 7:40 AM.

School begins - 7:50 AM

School ends - 2:45 PM (bus riders dismissed at 2:40 PM)

Cell phones are to be turned off and put away from 7:15 AM - 2:45 PM.

Students who fail to follow this rule are subject to consequences as spelled out in the student handbook located on the Jardine website. Dress Code: Coats, hats and bandanas belong in student lockers. Hoods from Hoodies will be kept down at all times. Clothing or belt buckles which contain obscene lan-guage, alcohol, weapon, or drug advertisement are not acceptable. Any clothing or accessories that would hinder the education of others or shows too much skin is not acceptable. Exposure of under garments or sagging pants is not accepta-ble. In all cases in which students have inappropriate clothing they will first be given the option of correcting the situation. If they refuse, it will become a disci-plinary matter and a consequence will result. Backpacks, etc.: All gym bags/purses/large backpacks/string bags are to be placed in lockers during the school day and are not allowed to be carried to class. Spreading rumors is not tolerated. It is defined as passing unwanted, untrue or hurtful information about another student verbally, in writing, e-mail, or by re-peating and/or encouraging rumors by receiving rumors (verbally or in writing). Frequently, extreme conflicts, threats of violence, or violence are a result of ru-mors.

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GYM SHORTS - Mrs. Remer & Mr. Coffman

This quarter P.E. activities will be:

Hantis (hand tennis)

Basketball skills

Twelve team basketball half court tournament

Fitness testing

Scooter cageball

Pinball

Tug-of-war

Doctor doctor

Ultimate frisbee

Eclipse ball

Fencing

Volleyball skills

Eight team volleyball tournament PACER TEST HIGHLIGHTS

Male-

Trevontae Richardson (8th) 135

Tristen Thacher (8th) 135

Jaydon Winans (8th) 148

Xavier Alexander (8th) 148

Female-

Soraya Montgomery (8th) 100

Ala’Jah Brooks (8th) 104

Alexandria Baxter (6th) 106

Haley Carpenter (8th) 109

RECORD HOLDERS-

Female– Zahra Lewis (6th) 152 WOW!!!!

Male– Malachi Berg (8th) 164 FANTASTIC!!!!

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Reading and Writing is so Exciting - Ms. Appelhanz

Winter break is fast approaching and there is no better time than to catch up on some good reading! I know what

you’re thinking….if I’m not in school, why should I read? Here are a few reasons why it’s important to read EVERY DAY.

1. Reading keeps your mind active. Reading helps keep your brain engaged and prevents it from losing its “power.” Just like any other muscle in your body, the brain needs exercise to keep it strong and healthy. So, if you don’t use it, you lose it – and we want you to remember everything you’ve learned in school so far! 2. Knowledge. Everything you read fills your head with new information, and you never know when it might come in handy. 3. Improved Focus and Concentration. Our internet-crazed world draws our attention in a million different directions: checking our email, sending a text message, skyping, gaming, etc...It can lead to high levels of stress

and reduce productivity. When you read a book, all of your attention is focused on the story – the rest of the world just falls away and you become absorbed with every detail. 4. FREE Entertainment. Libraries have books on every subject you can think of. They constantly get in new books so you’ll never run out of reading material. There are also many sources online where you can download free e-books, so go hunting for a new book to read!

So, grab a hot cup of cocoa, put on your favorite pajamas and fuzzy slippers and get lost in a book over the break. Your brain will thank you for it later!

6th Grade: Morlock/Wooten/Du Bois:: We will be starting Collection 3 in the textbook; reading “The Best Christmas Pageant” and reviewing Fact & Opinion.

7th Grade: Martin/Barnett/Morlock: We are wrapping up our 2nd collection in the textbook and will begin the 3rd one after winter break. We will be reading an anchor novel in the near future that will be determined later.

8th Grade: Watson/Du Bois/Pumford: In the next few weeks, we will begin our third collection of the year, "A Move Towards Freedom" that will focus on significant historical figures and accounts that represent a period on time in which our country saw a massive shift in the rights of a large portion of our population. We will examine works by prolific authors and subjects such as Walt Whitman and Freder-ick Douglass. We will also read a novel about Emmett Till, a famously tragic story about a young black victim of a vicious hate crime that occurred in the 40s. Although it is a work of historical fiction, it still works to inspire students to examine racism through a histori-cal lens.

*All grades will be taking the mid-year Scantron test on December 6th & 7th. This test is a performance uch progress students have made so far this year. It is also used to assess which skills need more attention to prepare for the annual State Assessments in April.

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LIBRARY NEWS - Mrs. Gilliland

All grade levels were instructed on how to use the card catalog system for finding library books for their pleasure reading. The 7th grade Science classes completed a research project about waves and energy while the 8th grade Science class researched a hereditary disease. All students are successfully manipulating their chromebooks for educational re-search and reading.

Please encourage your students to be reading 100 minutes a week outside the school day for our iread20 program. Our minute goal for the year is 235,000. Attached is the iread20 log the students are responsible for filling out. A big thank you to our PTO for providing small rewards as students complete a weekly reading log.

Name:_____________________________________________________________

Week of: ______________________ LA Teacher________________ Block____________

Parent/Guardian Signature__________________________________________________

Goal: 100 minutes each week Please turn log into your LA teacher or Mrs. Gilliland every Monday!!

BOOK/AUTHOR HIGHLIGHT!!

Top 10 Fiction Titles about Christmas! 1. The Angel Tree- F BEN 2. The Christmas Thief-F CLA 3. Sam I Am-F COO 4. The True Story of Christmas- F FIN 5. Who is Stealing the 12 Days of Christmas-F FRE 6. All Through The Night-F CLA 7. The Girls Revenge-F NAY 8. The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman-F PLU 9. A Christmas Carol-F DIC 10. Remember Me When I am Dead-F YOR

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Total

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What’s going on in Science??? - The Science Team 6th Grade Science… Hello from the Science Department. Sixth-grade Science is now finishing up the Chemistry Unit. We have explored models of atoms, how to read the Periodic Table of Elements, and investigated physical and chemical properties of substances. Be sure to ask your student about their Element Super-Hero / Villain. We will finish with looking at molecules and compounds. December will have us doing a Module on Electricity and Magnetism. The new year we will be starting our Module on Life Sciences. The major focus will be on the structures and functions of cells. This will also include the use of microscopes to explore microorganisms.

7th Grade Science… Dear parents and students– We are completing learning all about waves and moving on to chemistry concepts. Students will learning states of matter, chemical processes and equations. Students will also be doing experiments and labs to learn about balancing chemical equations!

8th Grade Science finished up the unit on sexual reproduction and healthy relationships just before Thanksgiving break. Through the rest of the semester, we will be looking to the unit on space and exploring it, size and scale. Students will also learn the relationship between the Earth and the Moon including the theory behind their creation and the why the moon has phases. Due to the recent snow days, we are a little behind schedule meaning we will either have to shorten the unit, or we might divide the unit up and do half after the winter break.

ART NEWS - Ms. Latham

Jardine artist have so much to celebrate as they recently hosted their first art show. The show was a success and some of the works

have been chosen to be shown and entered in the I have a dream contest. All work that is selected to show will be on display at the

Brown Versus Board Museum in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King. In our last quarter of the first semester, our young artist are learning

about the various forms of sculpture and form. Students just recently finished up a unit on clay where they created work with a variety

of hand building techniques. Each students created a clay coil pot and then transitioned on to learn about sculpting. Artist used a variety

of hand building techniques to sculpt a gargoyle. while meeting specific objectives of the lesson, students were given plenty of creative

freedom within reason and so there are no two alike. Students have learned the tedious processes of clay and will begin glazing their

ware to bring home in the next couple of weeks.

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For December, we will have a couple new assignments and projects before we finish the semester out. I tell the students everyday to check their Powerschool to stay on top of their work! Our next project will be a Choose Your Own Adventure using Google Slides, Forms and/or a new app called Metaverse. Please don’t hesitate to email me at besau@tps501.org if you have any questions.

COMPUTER APPLICATIONS - Mr. Esau

SOCIAL STUDIES - Ms. Morelli

6th Grade Social Studies

We are now into the Egyptian civilization. We will be exploring the people that settled along the Nile River valley that developed one of the most intriguing and long lasting civilizations. Pyramids, tombs, afterlife, and so much more. Information about the Egypt project will be coming home soon so students can start planning and creating. After Christmas break, we will be starting Ancient Greece. Happy Holidays from us here at Jardine.

7th grade Social Studies

We will be wrapping up Geography with learning about the Amazon Rainforest. 7th grade students will begin Kansas History. We will examine early cultures, learning about the Native Americans who lived in this area, and those moved here by the United States government. Students will have projects and guest speakers. Kansas is rich in history and some of it includes war, bloodshed, and injustices. It also includes the pioneer spirit, work ethic, and determination. It is an exciting history.

In 8th Grade United States History

Students in 8th Grade U.S. History have just finished their first big history project and essay. They have been working hard and expanding their minds at the same time. We are finishing up our unit on Manifest Destiny and then will discuss the differences between the Northern and Southern Regions of the U.S. When we return from winter break the students will be learning about the causes of the American Civil War.

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This class will soon be coming to an end as December looms close. There never seems to be enough time to spend with the students as we cover so many units that relate to “real life”. We continue to work with the “A-Game” curriculum. Our focus right now is on appearance and as it applies to the work workforce and life in general. We discussed the reasons for dress codes. It's my hope that students are able to see the validity for different dress codes. Next on the agenda is ambition, accountability, acceptance, and finally appreciation and the workplace. We as a class always go back to the first “A” of the curriculum which was attitude. We are learning that with the right attitude all the other “A’s” of the “A-Game” will come easier. We are planning on having one to two more food lab as time allows. Reser’s Fine Foods of Topeka donated tortilla shells and other items so we will have at least one more lab. Please thank Reser’s for giving to our class if you know anyone that is employed there. It has been a great semester and it has flown by. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season.

PTO NEWS

Give without Costing You a Cent! Do you shop at Dillons Food Stores? Do you want to help Jardine Middle School? It’s easy, and it doesn’t cost you a dime to donate! Dillons Food Stores donate $2 million per year to schools and non-profit agencies through their Dillons Community Rewards program. You can help some of these funds come to Jardine Middle School. All you have to do is shop at Dillons and swipe your Plus Shopper's Card! Go to www.dillons.com/communityrewards and create an account using your Plus Shopper’s Card. Then choose Jardine Middle School as your charity of choice by using our code: 47491. Every time you use your Plus Shopper’s Card at Dillons, you'll be giving back to Jardine Middle School. Thank you!

Career and Life Planning - Ms. Wentz

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FROM THE MUSIC AND DRAMA DEPARTMENT - Mrs. Rowe

December is a busy month for Jardine musicians!

6th

Grade Chorus classes and 7th

and 8th

Grade Choir will perform their annual Winter

Concert on Monday, December 3rd in the JMS Commons. The Chorus/Choir portion of

the show will begin at 6:30 pm. The concert is free!

All JMS Band students will be featured at the Winter Band Concert on Monday,

December 10th

at 7:00 pm. The free concert is in the gym.

The 7th

and 8th

Grade Band will support the 19th

Grade Girls Basketball team at the City

Classic on Thursday, December 14th at Highland Park High School. The time will be

announced soon.

7th and 8th Grade Band students will perform during the January 18th Topeka Pilots

Hockey game. We will have family and friends discount ticket information soon!

Congratulations to Moses Babiera (8th, alto saxophone) Malachi Berg (8th, alto

saxophone), Rylee Bigley (8th, alto saxophone), Kushal Mamillapalli (8th, clarinet) and

Chris Rodriguez (8th, drumset) who performed with the Topeka Youth Jazz Workshop

during the first semester session at Washburn University.

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COUNSELOR CORNER -Mr. Falk

During, December and January, Mr. Falk will be reviewing requirements for high school graduation

with 8th grade students and preparing them for high school enrollment. During this process, students

will be completing their 9th grade course requests and drafting their Individual Plan of Study for their

high school career on Career Cruising. Results from Career Cruising assessments will help guide

them through this process. Parents can track their progress in Career Cruising through the students’

Power School account. Please contact Mr. Falk at 730-8115 if you have any questions.

Visitors will be coming to Jardine from the high school to provide students with information regarding

debate, forensics, journalism, vocal music, ROTC, and honors classes. Each high school will also be

hosting a meeting for parents and students to attend during the month of January. Please take ad-

vantage of this great opportunity for parents and students to meet the high school counselors and other

staff members. It will provide information about the enrollment process, class offerings at each high

school, and an opportunity to see the school as a whole. Dates, times, and locations for these meetings

are as follows:

Highland Park High School

Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. in the Highland Park Library

Topeka West High School

Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm. in the Topeka West Auditorium

Topeka High School

Wednesday, January 23, 2019 at 6:00 pm. in the Topeka High Auditorium

High school counselors will be at Jardine on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 to meet with the 8th grade

students. This gives 8th graders a chance to meet one-on-one with a counselor from their assigned high

school. The counselors will look over the students’ Individual Plan of Study, help them enter their

course requests online, and answer any questions the students have regarding high school. This is a

great opportunity for students to begin building a relationship with a counselor at their future school.

Student enrollment information will be shared with parents during Parent/Teacher Conferences on

February 20th and 21st. Make sure to meet with Mr. Falk at this time to review the information and

make changes as needed.

If your student is planning on requesting a transfer to a different high school, it is important that they

complete a transfer application online or receive a paper copy from Mr. Falk. Please submit it online

or return the form to Mr. Falk as soon as possible. If transfers are not approved prior to February

5, 2019, students will only be allowed to pre-enroll with the high school they are assigned to,

based on their attendance area.

Students will be visiting their future high school on May 14, 15, or 16th. Specific dates and times for

the visit will be made at a later date.