February 21 7th and 8th Grade Ski Club—3:30-9:30 February 25 Yearbook Order Deadline—see page 9 February 28 7th and 8th Grade Ski Club—3:30-9:30 (Last) March 7-9 Spring Musical March 10 Daylight Saving Time Begins—Turn clocks ahead one hour March 14 Early Release—2:00

Parent-Teacher Conferences—4:00-7:00 March 15 Early Release—11:20 March 20 Student Council—7:00 AM March 25 End of Quarter 3 March 26-27 8th Grade College Tours

Please See Page 6 or the JRG

Website Calendar of Events for Specific Club

Dates and Times

Feb. 20

2019 Gator Bytes Learning, Leadership and Laughter...The JRG Journey

J.R. Gerritts Middle School * 545 S. John St. * Kimberly, WI * 920-788-7905

Yearbook Sale—Deadline is February 25 Students who have not purchased a yearbook were given a final notice this morning as a reminder that books are still available to order. Yearbooks are only available for purchase through Jostens this year. Please see page 9 for detailed information and a link to Jostens website. Order deadline is February 25.

Student—Staff Basketball Game is March 15 Ask Your Student About Their TLC Raffle Basket

The JRG Student Council is hosting our annual student-staff basketball game on March 15th to benefit the YMCA’s Annual Campaign. Every year, our goal is to raise over $1,000 to benefit the local Heart of the Valley YMCA which helps many of our students in need and their families. One way that we’re asking JRG families to help out is to contribute to their TLC's Raffle Basket. Each TLC has chosen a theme and is gathering items or money to support that theme. The baskets will be raffled off during the game on Friday. Please ask your son/daughter about his/her basket theme. Thank you in advance for your support of the YMCA!

**NEW: SCRAPBOOKING CLUB Begins Monday, Feb. 25 in Room 230

Mondays from 3-5

You need to be a ROCKS member to join this club. If you aren’t, please stop in Student Services to sign the ROCKS paperwork.

Cost: $5. This will cover the initial cost of glue sticks.

Sign up with Mrs. Kane in Student Services.

Clean up begins around 4:45

Open to anyone who enjoys creating pages with their pictures.

Come when you can—regular attendance is not required.

Bring enough photos every time, and any special materials you want for your pages

Bring snacks (nut free)

Dates: February 25 March 4, 11, 18, 25 April 1

Upcoming March Events Our spring Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on March 14 from 4:00-7:00 PM. This is a one-night event (as opposed to the two nights of fall conferences). Please join us if you can. If you can’t attend but have questions about your student’s progress, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our teachers via email or phone. One of the primary reasons for JRG’s success is our amazing and supportive families, so thank you for all you do to support your child at home. JRG’s spring musical, Seussical the Musical, will be performed on March 7, 8 and 9 in our auditorium. Ticket information will be available soon. Show Times are 7:00 all three evenings, and 2:00 matinee on Saturday. It’s another great opportunity to celebrate and enjoy the arts at JRG. 8th Grade students will be participating in College Tours on March 26 and 27. Students will have the opportunity to explore Fox Valley Technical College, UW Green Bay, and Marian University. Detailed information and permission forms will be provided in the coming weeks.

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Kimberly Choirs Fill Lawrence Chapel JRG Choir students entertained a full audience at the Lawrence University Chapel on February 7 during the 3rd Annual Kimberly Choral Festival. Choir students in grades 5 through 12 performed as individual grades, and again as a full ensemble nearing 500 students for a grand finale. The Chapel was sold out, with nearly 1,200 people in attendance. Congratulations to Mr. Leih and our talented JRG and other district vocalists!

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Another Successful Year of Mini-Courses Here's a sampling from our annual Mini-Courses, held this past Wednesday and Thursday. Over the past several years, we have adjusted the focus of our Mini-Courses to support Academic and Career Planning (ACP). All courses include a focus on at least two aspects of Career, College and Life Readiness. Plus, they are a blast and our kids (and teachers) look forward to them every year.

YRBS Opt Out Form

Our school is taking part in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey sponsored by the Department of

Public Instruction. The survey will ask about health behaviors that keep young people healthy, as

well as behaviors that result in unintentional and intentional injuries, tobacco use, and alcohol and

other drug use. It will also ask about bullying, sexual risk behaviors (mostly for high school

students), online risk behaviors, stress and anxiety, self-harm, dietary behavior and physical

activity. It also focuses on positive things like strong connections to the school and to other people.

Students will be asked to fill out an anonymous, online questionnaire that takes about 25-35

minutes to complete. They will take the survey during regular class time.

Completing this anonymous survey will cause little or no risk to your child. The only potential risk

is that some students might find certain questions to be sensitive. The survey has been designed to

protect your child’s privacy. Students will not put their names on the survey and it does not ask

for student IDs or any other individual identifiers. The classroom setting will be set up like a test

so that students’ answers remain private. The school will only not have access to individual

students’ answers and no class or student will ever be mentioned by name in a report of the results.

Your child will get no benefit right away from taking part in the survey. However, the results of

this survey do help students by providing schools and the community with information that is used

to improve health and safety programs. We would like all selected students to take part in the

survey, but the survey is voluntary. No action will be taken against you, or your child, if your

child does not take part. Students can skip any question that they do not wish to answer. In addition,

students may stop participating in the survey at any point without penalty. If you have questions

about the survey, you may ask your child’s teacher or school counselor. If they cannot answer

your questions, they can direct you to the proper person at the Department of Public Instruction.

Please read the section below. If you do not want your child to take part in the survey, check

the box, sign and date the form and return the form to the school no later than Wednesday,

Feb. 27. Signing and returning this form will dismiss your child from taking the survey. If you

have no objection to your child taking part in the survey, you should do nothing with this

form. Thank you.

Child’s name: __________________________________________ Grade: ___________

I have read this form and know what the survey is about.

[ ] My child MAY NOT take part in this survey.

Parent’s signature:___________________________________ Date:_________________

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JRG Club Information Student Must Be a ROCKS Member to participate

Dates are also listed on the JRG Events Calendar

Coding Club—3:00-4:00 (click here for an informational Scratch commercial) Contact: Ms. Froze, Room 111 (afroze@kimberly.k12.wi.us) February: 21, 25, 28 March: 4, 7, 11, 18, 21, 25, 28

Ski Club—3:30-9:30 Contact: Mr. Verboomen (7th Grade), Room 214 (cverboomen@kimberly.k12.wi.us) Mr. Hank (8th Grade), Room 109 (ahank@kimberly.k12.wi.us) 7th and 8th Grade Nights: February 21, 28

Junk Box Wars—3:00-4:00 (new members can join any time!) Contact: Mr. Jansen, Room 217 (jjansen@kimberly.k12.wi.us) February: 25-26

Chess Club—3:00-4:00 (new members can join any time!) Contact: Mr. Ott, Room 131 (sott@kimberly.k12.wi.us) February: 21, 26, 28

Art Club—3:00-4:00 (new members can join any time!) Contact: Ms. Dagesse, Room 436 (rdagesse@kimberly.k12.wi.us) February: 25 March: 4, 11, 18 April: 1, 8, 22, 29 May: 6, 13

Scrapbooking Club—3:00-5:00 (new members can join any time!) Contact: Ms. Van Zeeland, Room 230 (kvanzeeland@kimberly.k12.wi.us) February: 25 March: 4, 11, 18, 25 April: 1

Emergency Medications Please be aware that emergency medications that are provided for use during the school day will not be accessible after school hours. Parents and students plan ahead to have emergency medication available during after school activities such as clubs and sports. If an emergency arises and a student does not have their emergency medication available, 911 will be called.

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Follow JRG on Instagram, ‘Like’ Us on Facebook JRG can be found on Facebook at Facebook.com/JRGerritts. In addition, JRG is now on Instagram at JRGMSOfficial.

These resources are used to provide occasional school-wide updates and for reminders about various upcoming events. Families also find it's fun to check out the hundreds of pictures of students participating in events, activities and other learning experiences at JRG.

Additional Opportunities Available on the KASD Community Events Page While many community opportunities are included in our weekly newsletters, additional events and opportunities are also posted on the District webpage under Community Events, or by clicking here. Links to items such as Park and Rec opportunities, community dances, educational opportunities, speakers, and local festivals can be found there. Online registration for Village of Kimberly Baseball starts February 4, 2019 Youth Volleyball League at J.R. Gerritts - February through April, 2019 Darboy Kiwanis will host Super Science Saturday March 9, 2019 from 9:30 a.m.- 12:00 p.m. Kimberly Park & Rec Spring Break Babysitting Class, April 15, 2019 Kimberly Park & Rec Spring Break Canvas Painting Class, April 16, 2019 Kimberly Park & Rec Spring Break Tumbling Tots Class April 18, 2019 Combined Locks Recreation Dept. Baseball, Softball and Tee Ball Registration is open online Summer 2019 YMCA Camp Nan A Bo Sho Flyer

The Kimberly Area School District does not discriminate against pupils on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status, sexual orientation or physical, mental, emotional or learning disability or handicap in its educational programs or activities. Federal law prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of

age, race, color, national origin, sex, religion or handicap.

J. R. Gerritts Middle School 545 S. John Street s Kimberly, WI 54136

(P) 920-788-7905 (F) 920-788-7914 (E) JRG@Kimberly.k12.wi.us

Attendance Messages Your child’s safety is our top priority. For this reason, we send a message home via phone, email and text if a student has been marked absent for 2 or more periods. This is not intended to be a negative message, but rather a verification that your student is safe. At times, our voicemail system has been known to drop, or not save messages properly which may be why we try to contact you even though you have called in prior to the start of the school day. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact us at 788-7905.

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