Dear parents/guardians,
Happy Sunday Patriots! Let’s go JAGS! We need a touchdown against those pesky JETS. It is the fourth quarter and we are down by 1 point. But I did not want to wait any longer to get this out to you. I spent the weekend in Washington DC to see Army vs Navy. We did not bring home a win, sadly. But there is always next year. It was so cold in that stadium and this Florida girl struggled to stay warm. I am so happy to be back in the city of Jacksonville now. We did not have a single formation due to the cold weather. This week we have a holiday celebration with themed dress down days to start our holiday spirit. We have $5 dress down days M-F, if your cadet wants to dress down for all five, we have a special for $20 for the week. Bring cast to your first/sixth period teacher.
Monday – Holiday Hat Day with Jeans and any shirt
Tuesday – Ugly sweater with Jeans
Wednesday – PJ and picture with Santa
Thursday – Candy Cane day – Dress in red and white
Friday – Holiday colors and crocs
Glasses were delivered to thirty-nine cadets! It was awesome to witness these cadets to get their glasses compliments of Heiken. I am sending out the information again. If we get thirty more cadets who need glasses, the vision van will come to JSMAL again, screen the cadets, and get any cadet who needs them. I am attaching t he application to this email.
Sidebar…. Yay Jags…. another touchdown for #7! Jags in the lead!
Town meetings with Dr. Bernier - Do you have thoughts about what works well in our school district? Ideas for improvement or concerns? You are invited to attend and engage with Superintendent Dr. Bernier in a discussion about the current state and future of Duval County Public Schools. All events begin at 6 p.m. and will conclude at 7:30 p.m. I had the pleasure of going to the one at JWJ last Thursday and it was excellent. Dr. Bernier is truly listening to parents, and he gives a great state of the district review of how we are doing and his priorities. He listened intently to each parent and had a slew of staff to jot those down and get back to each parent.
Dec. 17 - Alfred I. DuPont Middle School
2710 DuPont Ave., 32217
Jan. 14 - Kernan Middle School
2271 Kernan Blvd. S., 32246
Jan. 16 - Highlands Middle School
10913 Pine Estates Rd. E., 32218
Jan. 21 - Chaffee Trail Middle School
11770 Sam Caruso Way, 32221
Jan. 23 - Arlington Middle School
8141 Lone Star Rd., 32211
Please plan to join Dr. Bernier and share your views on the future of our district! This would be a great time to tell him why JSMAL needs to stay right here on Burma Road and not be considered for consolidation into any other school.
Free Health Services - Duval County Public Schools' continued partnership with Hazel Health allows each student to receive high-quality telehealth care at no cost to their families. Students can receive virtual medical care or teletherapy at school or at home on any smartphone, tablet, or computer. All Hazel Health visits are safe and confidential. Hazel Health providers are available to all students, regardless of insurance and there is not out of pocket expense for the family to initiate a visit. Providers are available Monday-Friday 7 am-5 pm. Visits can also be initiated at home. Consent forms are good for the duration of time that the student is with DCPS. See attached flyers for more information.
JSMAL library is ready for cadet use! – Ms. Kampfer, our test coordinator, has been spending all her free time in the library (media center) reorganizing, sorting, cataloging, and getting it ready for our cadets to use. This Monday and Tuesday, your cadets will come during their ELA class to the library so she can introduce them to the library and teach them how to find and check out books.
Sidebar #2 - NOOOOOO….Jets just scored. 25-22, Jets lead with a little over three minutes in the game. Keep your fingers crossed Patriots!
December Fest – SLA Dec 18 10-1pm. Our SLA program will be having a holiday festival on December 18, from 10 to 1pm.
Coach Thompson is bringing back the Sneaker Ball! Open to all cadets! Date: Jan 17, 2025, Time: 6-8. Dress Attire: Formal with favorite sneakers! Cost: $20-includes dinner. Concessions: will be available bring money. Pay online on SchoolCashonline.com.
Calendar Events this week:
Monday, Dec 16 – (B Day)
Tuesday, Dec 17 – (A Day)
Wednesday, Dec 18 – (B Day) SLA December Fest from 10-1pm. Early dismissal at a1:40pm.
Thursday, Dec 19 – (A Day)
Friday, Dec 20 – (B Day) End of 2nd quarter.
Monday, Dec 23-Jan 6 – Winter Break.
Coming soon:
Monday, Jan 6 – Teacher planning day. No school.
Tuesday, Jan 7 – Start of the third quarter. First day back to school.
Saturday, Jan 11 – All Middle and High Schools open for families to check out. 9am – 3pm.
Monday, Jan 13 – 2nd quarter report cards come out this week.
Thursday, Jan 16 – SAC meeting at 5:30pm in the media center.
Tamara Roper
Proud Principal
JSMAL Vision: We exist to ensure that all cadets value and demonstrate leadership, character, citizenship, physical development, and academic excellence.