South Jordan Middle SchoolJust a quick reminder that we will be holding a Lockdown Drill during Prowl (9:50 to 10:20 am) on Thursday, January 18. The drill will include practice inside the classroom and will also include an evacuation outside. Students will be going outside and should dress appropriately for potentially snowy conditions.
End of 2nd Quarter and Holiday Next Week
2nd Quarter ends on Friday, January 12. We will observe MLK day on Monday, January 15 and there will be no school for students on Tuesday, January 16. 3rd Quarter begins Wednesday, January 17.
Lockdown Drill Thursday January 18
We will be holding a Lockdown Drill on Thursday, January 18. The drill will include practice inside the classroom and will also include an evacuation. Students will be going outside and should dress appropriately for potentially snowy conditions. Students will be learning about the drill on Wednesday, January 17.
2nd Semester Schedule Changes
We have done our very best to get you as much of what you requested in the spring as possible. Due to the logistics of balancing the schedules of 1200+ students, we do not make changes to student schedules unless a mistake has been made. If you have questions or feel there is a mistake, please contact your counselor.
Also, please be sure to recheck your schedule before the first day of semester. We’ll remind you, but there are rare instances where staffing changes require minor schedule adjustments and it’s always a good idea to check in again on Skyward the day before we start to make sure there are no surprises.
Upcoming 2024-25 Course Selection Information
It’s that time of year again where we give everyone a chance to help us plan what to offer next year. Students will be able to request courses for the following year on the following schedule:
All course selection happens in Skyward, and our counselors will be providing more information to students during school in the coming weeks. Current 9th graders heading to Bingham will complete registration in March or later. With all types of registration, these are just the dates to plan for, but we’ll be sending more information out as the dates get closer.
Questions About Snow Days/Virtual Learning
We’ve received some questions about what the process looks like when we have a virtual day due to inclimate weather. This is a last-resort option, and you will be notified via Skylert and on district websites by 6 am should that become necessary. In the event of a virtual learning day, students will have work on their Canvas course pages by 10 am, and can get help from teachers via Zoom from 10 am – 12 pm. We’ll send out links and more information should a virtual day become necessary at any point. Again, we hope it’s not.
Heroes Among Us Rescheduled
Heroes Among Us Rescheduled: Due to anticipated weather conditions forecasted for Wednesday, January 10, the ‘Heroes Among Us’ event is postponed to April 2024. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Performing Arts & Sports Photos of Your Students Needed for Memory Book ASAP!
If your student performed was in SJMS’s choir, band, dance or orchestra holiday concerts, is in a high school marching band or drum line, or plays a freshman high school sport, we need your action and candid photos for memory book collage pages! Some of the best memory book photos come directly from parents. Concert photos are due ASAP. All others are requested by January 30th. Upload photos using the link below to be considered for publishing. Email questions to sojoyearbook@gmail.com
https://images.jostens.com/0Dtqrefryv3dR0VBuRip1Ug
User ID: 0Dtqrefryv3dR0VBuRip1Ug
It’s time to vote for our 9th grade ‘Most Likely to…’ for the memory book. Anyone at the school can nominate a 9th grader, but the person you nominate must BE a 9th grader. Also, only one nomination per category or your nominations won’t be counted.
December Fundraiser for Primary Children’s Hospital (THIS WEEK ONLY)
Our annual fundraiser will be for Primary Children’s Hospital this year. Our SBO’s are setting a goal of raising $5,000, and have a wide variety of activities planned over this week. If you have a chance and the means to give, it’s a great cause and one that benefits many of our own students. All proceeds will go directly to Primary Children’s Hospital.
Students can bring cash and coin to school and compete in Money Wars, and parents wishing to contribute can do so by visiting this link and donating to Primary Children’s directly. The link ties donations to our school so that we can still add it to our total. Some of the rewards for meeting goals including getting pied in the face (Mr. Jenson), Ice Bucketed (Mr. Ricks & SBO’s), and students shaving their heads (SBO’s). There are some raffle prizes and other fun lunchtime activities along the way. It’s safe to say that if you’ve lived in Utah for very long, you know someone personally who has benefitted from the excellent care at Primary Children’s, and we’re excited to do our part to help their cause.
Did you miss the incredible video our SBO’s put together? Or do you just want to watch it over and over because it’s so amazing? You’re in luck!! Here it is:
December Fundraiser for Primary Children’s Hospital
Our annual fundraiser will be for Primary Children’s Hospital this year. Our SBO’s are setting a goal of raising $5,000, and have a wide variety of activities planned over the coming week. If you have a chance and the means to give, it’s a great cause and one that benefits many of our own students. All proceeds will go directly to Primary Children’s Hospital.
Christmas for Kids Event
Each December, the Jordan Education Foundation partners with local community organizations to sponsor the Christmas for Kids Event. Each school nominates deserving students, and we celebrate them with a shopping experience at Walmart. You can be part of this amazing event by providing your time or financial support. Each student is given a gift card and they shop with an adult volunteer from the community. Go to the JEF site to register to Shop with a Student on Saturday, December 9. Chaperones are needed for approximately one hour between 8:00 and 10:00 AM. You can also donate by going to the JEF site.
Parking Lot Reminders and Updates
Our parking lot can be…confusing. In fact, we’ve had two accidents on 2700 W in the past several weeks. Please, please take a moment to review the maps found here. Specifically, we’ve been asked by South Jordan Police Department to remind parents that:
We are very aware of the difficulties our parking lot setup and size creates, and we are in the process of officially exploring options for improvement and expansion. We hope to have more official news on that front soon, but please know that we are aware and are working on permanent solutions to make it safer and more user-friendly to parents. We have seen great support on all fronts in seeking and supporting improvements, and we are excited to bring you updates and specifics once we have them.
It’s nearly the end of first quarter. Make sure you’ve checked Skyward and there are no surprises. As a reminder, we have no school all next week. We’ll come back on October 30th to start 2nd Quarter. See below for our Halloween dress guidelines.
We also want to kick off Fall Break right, so we’re celebrating our first-ever CROCtober. Wear your Crocs on Friday, October 20th and we’ll give away some Croc bluetooth speaker jibbitz during lunches on Thursday so that the winners can sport them on Friday.
Get your FREE tickets to Finding Nemo JR at SOJO November 9-14. Tickets are free but they are required for the show. Reserve your tickets HERE. Performances are November 9, 10, 11, 13, and 14 at 7:00 PM and November 11 at 2:00 PM. Doors open 30 minutes before each performance. It’s a great show, and we can’t wait for you to see it!
Please only reserve tickets you actually intend to use. One unintended consequence of not charging for tickets was that patrons would reserve banks of tickets for multiple nights “just in case” and not end up using them. This made it so we had sold out shows where people thought we didn’t have seats, when we really did. Please, please only reserve tickets if you plan to use them, and if something comes up, please go in and cancel your tickets so others can attend.
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:
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.
Dear Parents,
As a precaution, South Jordan Middle School students and staff were evacuated at the end of the school day due to an unusual odor reported inside the building. The South Jordan Fire Department arrived immediately, and after their investigation determined the school is safe and there is no danger to students and staff.
All students are safe and accounted for and were released at the regular dismissal time. After-school activities will resume on a regular schedule.
Tomorrow will be a regular school day.
Safety is our top priority.
Picture Retakes Tomorrow
Picture retakes will be offered tomorrow, October 5th. The link and access code are the same as they were for the original pictures if you didn’t make an order at that time:
https://eastmanadamsonline.com/ordering/access
Access Code: V2GFTQ78
College Week
It’s college week next week, and we have a theme each day that will involve a dress-up options, lunchtime activities, and messaging from our counseling department. Here’s what to look forward to:
Community Council
Our first community council meeting of the year will be held on Monday, October 16th at 4 pm in the main office. The school community council is responsible for our land trust plan, and serves as a method of parent and community input on other plans and issues affecting our school. The meeting is open to the public, and we meet in the main office conference room unless there are enough attendees we need to move to the media center.
Our parent-teacher conferences are this Wednesday (In-Person) and Thursday (Virtual) from 4- 7:30 pm both nights. You do not need an appointment for the in-person night on Wednesday. To schedule an appointment for Thursday, log into Skyward. If you select an appointment for Thursday, you can access the Zoom links here. All Zoom links will be updated by Thursday before the conferences begin.
If you attend conferences in the gym tonight, please be aware of other parents and keep conversations to less than five minutes per teacher. If you need more time than that, we are happy to set up another time to talk.
Above all, please remember that while parent conferences offer a great chance to meet with multiple teachers in a single night, teachers and staff are available year-round via email, phone, or in-person appointment. If there is ever anything you wonder about or would like to address, please don’t feel you have to wait for the conference to bring it up.
In addition, if a line is long or you don’t get the appointment slot you need, just reach out to the teacher and pick another day and time to talk. We love working with your wonderful children, and good two-way communication makes a huge difference for everyone.