Author: Mr. Jenson

We have several major things happening this week to be aware of before dancing off to Fall Break. The most crucial is that the quarter ends on Thursday. Please make sure you take a look at Skyward and are aware of grades before they are finalized.

Fall Break begins on Friday of this week for students, meaning there will be no school on Friday. We come back on Halloween, and you can check out the guidelines below for costumes on that front. We also have choir concerts tonight, and band and orchestra concerts tomorrow night. Check out our School Calendar for times and other upcoming events.

As a school, we are also looking forward to focusing on our core values of Kindness, Courage and Respect throughout the rest of the school year. We’ll include summaries of our efforts on that front going forward, so stay tuned!

Halloween Dress Guidelines

Halloween is a great chance to see the personality and creativity of our students. We want the day to be fun, and we also want to be able to have a productive day in class. With that in mind, what follows is a list of guidelines to help us do both:

• The School Dress Code and the Student Code of Conduct still apply
• Students should come to school already dressed with any makeup already applied
• Students should avoid costumes that degrade any other group of people
• We must be able to easily see who you are
  • Avoid masks worn on the face, except for use as personal protective equipment
  • Makeup or other costume additions must still allow us to identify you
• We must be able to move in the halls and function in class, including avoiding disruptions to teachers and other students
• Costumes must be safe, and make others feel safe
  • No weapons or facsimiles of weapons
• Footwear must be worn all day

Above all, if you’re aren’t sure you should wear it, just don’t. We can’t wait to see what you come up with, and be sure to check our social media channels for pics of our costume contest.

Tickets Available Now for Newsies Jr.

Tickets are now available for Newsies JR. Performances are November 10, 11, 12, 14, and 15. You can find information here.

Smith’s Gives Back to Schools

Do you shop at Smith’s? Would you like to reward South Jordan Middle School?

You can link your Shopper Card to give a part of your shopping dollar to our school!

Last week’s college week was exciting, and we have some great events coming up over the next few weeks. Our band, choir and orchestra concerts are next week, and you can see our upcoming calendar of events on our website here.

Digital Citizenship Assembly Tomorrow

We live in an increasingly digital world, and we want our students to be examples of excellent digital citizenship. One of the ways we reinforce that goal is our digital citizenship assembly tomorrow, following this bell schedule. It’s put on by Net Positive (formerly NetSmartz) and has been an annual staple of SoJo for years. It’s a great chance to talk to your kids at home about their online activity, both in terms of what they put out into the world and what they will encounter from others.

Tickets Available Now for Newsies Jr.

Tickets are now available for Newsies JR. Performances are November 10, 11, 12, 14, and 15. You can find information here.

We’re fresh off of parent conferences, and we hope that you were able to communicate with teachers about anything and everything you’d hoped for. If not, please remember that teachers are reachable before and after school, via email, phone or in-person all year long. Here’s what we have coming up at SoJo:

Picture Retakes on Thursday, October 6th

If the picture you got wasn’t what you’d hoped, or you missed the first picture day, we’ll be having retakes this Thursday. There was some confusion with the photographer last time, so hats are allowed as long as they are school appropriate, since they are allowed by the school dress code. 

Tickets Available Now for Newsies Jr.

Tickets are now available for Newsies JR. Performances are November 10, 11, 12, 14, and 15. You can find information here.

It’s College Week!

Just a reminder that this week is College Week. Our counselors have been hard at work putting together everything from door decorating to games and treats every day in the lunchroom. There will even be a student/faculty tug-of-war on Friday! Here’s the schedule:

• Monday: School Shirts – Remember where you come from
• Tuesday: Dress to Impress – Dress like you would for an interview
• Wednesday: Bright Colors – Your future is bright
• Thursday: Wear Blue or Green – USU vs UVU Day
• Friday: Wear Red or Blue – U of U vs BYU Day

It’s college week! Check out our kickoff video here.

Here’s the schedule for the week:

Monday – SoJo Shirts

Tuesday – Dress to Impress

Wednesday – Bright Colors

Thursday – Blue or Green (college gear)

Friday – Red or Blue (College Gear)  & Tug-of-War with Faculty at Lunches

Parent-Teacher Conferences Wed (Virtual) & Thurs (In-Person)

Parent-Teacher Conferences are this week! We’ll have a virtual night on Wednesday, Sept. 28 and in-person conferences on Thursday, Sept. 29. Both nights will run from 4 – 7:30 pm. Students won’t have school on Friday, Sept. 30. For the virtual night on Wednesday, you can schedule an appointment in Skyward and access Zoom links here. You don’t need an appointment for the in-person conferences in the gym/cafe on Thursday.

On that subject, remember that we have so many ways to communicate. Please don’t feel you need to wait to talk to a teacher if you have a concern, question, or compliment. Parent conferences are an official chance to meet with them if you’d like, but you can call, email, or set up an appointment with a teacher all year long.

Again, this means that no school will be held on Friday, September 30th.

We will also be selling memory books from previous years on Thursday night for $5 while supplies last. See this flier for more information.

Free Family Skate Night @ Classic Fun Center on Monday, Sept. 26th

Our wonderful PTSA has arranged for SoJo students and their families to get free admission to skating at Classic Fun Center in Sandy on Monday, Sept. 26th from 5:30 – 8:30 pm. If you don’t have your own skates, you can rent them (or a scooter or rollerblades) for $3. You can also upgrade to unlimited activities for just $10. Check out this flier for more details.

Spirit Night @ Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt on Monday, Sept. 26th

Do you love both SoJo and FroYo? If so, mention that you’re with South Jordan Middle School at Menchies on Monday, Sept. 26th between 3 and 10 pm, and a portion of your purchase will go to the school through our wonderful PTSA.

Early Morning Drop-Off

Just a reminder that the school doesn’t open until 7:30 am. As it gets colder, please be aware so that your child isn’t left out in the cold.

PTSA Reflections Contest

Want to show off your talents? Enter this year’s PTSA Reflections contest. You can find rules and the online entry form here. Entries are due October 1st, and you can enter original works in the categories of Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, 2D Visual Arts, and 3D Visual Arts. The Reflections Theme for 2022-23 is “Show Your Voice.”

Memory Book Baby Pics w/No Names

The Memory Book Committee has received a ton of amazing 9th grade baby photos. We have a handful that do not have names and need to be identified. Parents please check this link to see if your child is one of them. If your child’s photo is there, email the baby number and name to sojoyearbook@gmail.com asap. Photos were due last week, but if this serves as a reminder to you feel free to upload it to ReplayIt Private Photo Submission Site. Include your email and the student full name so they don’t end up on our unidentified baby list.

Community Council Meeting Oct. 3rd @ 4 pm

We have our first community council meeting soon. If you’d like to attend, join us on Monday, October 3rd at 4 pm. The tentative agenda for the meeting is to elect positions, review our Land Trust, TSSA, and Safe Walking Route plans, and to discuss any concerns from members of the committee.

We have a great set of events coming up, and as always, you can see our upcoming calendar of events on our website here.

Parent-Teacher Conferences Next Week

Parent-Teacher Conferences are just around the corner. We’ll have a virtual night on Wednesday, Sept. 28 and in-person conferences on Thursday, Sept. 29. Both nights will run from 4 – 7:30 pm. Students won’t have school on Friday, Sept. 30. For the virtual night on Wednesday, you can schedule an appointment in Skyward.

On that subject, remember that we have so many ways to communicate. Please don’t feel you need to wait to talk to a teacher if you have a concern, question, or compliment. Parent conferences are an official chance to meet with them if you’d like, but you can call, email, or set up an appointment with a teacher all year long.

Free Family Skate Night @ Classic Fun Center on Monday, Sept. 26th

Our wonderful PTSA has arranged for SoJo students and their families to get free admission to skating at Classic Fun Center in Sandy on Monday, Sept. 26th from 5:30 – 8:30 pm. If you don’t have your own skates, you can rent them (or a scooter or rollerblades) for $3. You can also upgrade to unlimited activities for just $10. Check out this flier for more details.

Spirit Night @ Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt on Monday, Sept. 26th

Do you love both SoJo and FroYo? If so, mention that you’re with South Jordan Middle School at Menchies on Monday, Sept. 26th between 3 and 10 pm, and a portion of your purchase will go to the school through our wonderful PTSA.

Early Morning Drop-Off

Just a reminder that the school doesn’t open until 7:30 am. As it gets colder, please be aware so that your child isn’t left out in the cold waiting for the doors to unlock or staff to arrive.

PTSA Reflections Contest

Want to show off your talents? Enter this year’s PTSA Reflections contest. You can find rules and the online entry form here. Entries are due October 1st, and you can enter original works in the categories of Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, 2D Visual Arts, and 3D Visual Arts. The Reflections Theme for 2022-23 is “Show Your Voice.”

Good morning, SoJo! As always, you can see our upcoming calendar of events on our website here. Most importantly for this week, remember that students don’t have school on Friday. It’s a teacher professional development day, so we’ll be here, but students won’t be.

It’s also good to note that Parent-Teacher Conferences are just around the corner. We’ll have a virtual night on Wednesday, Sept. 28 and in-person conferences on Thursday, Sept. 29. Students won’t have school on Friday, Sept. 30. On that subject, remember that we have so many ways to communicate. Please don’t feel you need to wait to talk to a teacher if you have a concern, question, or compliment. Parent conferences are an official chance to meet with them if you’d like, but you can call, email, or set up an appointment with a teacher all year long.

PTSA Reflections Contest

Want to show off your talents? Enter this year’s PTSA Reflections contest. You can find rules and the online entry form here. Entries are due October 1st, and you can enter original works in the categories of Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, 2D Visual Arts, and 3D Visual Arts. The Reflections Theme for 2022-23 is “Show Your Voice.”

9th Grade Baby Photos due by Sept. 16th

9th Grade Baby Photos Needed for the Memory Book! The deadline to submit photos is Sept 16th. Don’t miss out on getting your student’s photo published. Only submit one baby photo, current photos not needed! Include your students name and your email address. You can submit the photo here, or there is a QR code on the image. If you are still having trouble, email sojoyearbook@gmail.com.

Want to show off your talents? Enter this year’s PTSA Reflections contest. You can find rules and the online entry form here. Entries are due October 1st, and you can enter original works in the categories of Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, 2D Visual Arts, and 3D Visual Arts. The Reflections Theme for 2022-23 is “Show Your Voice.”