April 13 Tornado Drill—1:45

Coding Club—3:00-4:00

April 14-21 No School

April 24 Art Club—3:05-4:15

Coding Club—3:00-4:00

April 27 Gator Tales—during lunch hours

May 1 Art Club—3:05-4:15

Coding Club—3:00-4:00

May 4 New Student Orientation—6:00-7:15

May 8 Art Club—3:05-4:15

Coding Club—3:00-4:00

May 12 Early Release—11:20

Talent Show

ROCKS Lock-In—Badger Sports Park—10:00 PM-6:00 AM

May 15 Art Club—3:05-4:15

Coding Club—3:00-4:00

Spring Concert—6:00-8:00

May 29 Memorial Day—No School

May 30 Coding Club—3:00-4:00

June 6 Chromebook Turn-In

8th Grade Recognition—6:00-8:30

June 8 Class Trips

Last Day of School

April 12

2017 Gator Bytes Learning, Leadership and Laughter...The JRG Journey

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

Severe Weather Awareness Week Severe Weather Awareness Week is April 17-21 with the Statewide tornado drill being held on Thursday, April 20. Because classes will not be in session during this time, JRG will be holding its own tornado drill on Thursday, April 13 at 1:45 PM.

Spinners and Other Fidget Items No Longer Allowed at JRG As of Monday, April 10, “spinners” will no longer be allowed to be out during the school day. This means that students will have to put the spinners away once TLC begins, and will not be allowed again until the school day has ended. This ban has been put into effect due to the distraction they have become to many students. This ban also includes fidget cubes and any other fidget item.

Staff Appreciation Luncheon, Thursday, May 4 In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, we need your help thanking the fantastic staff at JRG! On Thursday, May 4, we will be hosting our annual Staff Appreciation Luncheon. Please consider signing up to provide a dish to pass (with recipe) on May 4. Please click here to be taken to the SignUp Genius page which has detailed information concerning the luncheon and available options for dishes and assistance.

Congratulations to KASD Music Programs The Kimberly Area School District has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation of the NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education. KASD is one of 4% of districts across the nation receiving the prestigious award in 2017.

The Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students. To qualify for the Best Communities designation, KASD answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and community music-making programs. Responses were verified with school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.

Dodgeball and Food Drive Success Thank you to everyone that donated items to Loaves and Fishes food pantry last week. In all, we collected 175 items! The 8th graders retained the Spirit Stick by a 120-55 margin. Thank you to all who participated in both the dodgeball tournament and the food drive!

Congratulations to JRG’s Sophie Heinan Sophie Heinan, an 8th grader at JRG, has been nominated to receive a 2017 Fox Cities Youth Service Day Award on April 28th at Liberty Hall Conference Center. Sophie was nominated by Mr. Handrich for her outstanding volunteer work in the community.

Emergency Medications Please be aware that emergency medications that are provided for use during the school day will not be accessible before or after school hours. Parents and students must plan ahead to have emergency medication available during 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.

Mandatory Sports Meeting for Incoming Freshman Kimberly High School will be hosting a mandatory 2017 Fall Sport Sign Up Night for all incoming Freshman on Sunday, May 21 at 6:00 PM in the High School auditorium. All incoming freshmen athletes, new/transfer student athletes, as well as any student fall athlete who is a first time participant in athletics at Kimberly High School, along with a parent, MUST attend the Athletic Orientation Meeting in the Kimberly High School auditorium on Sunday, May 21st at 6:00 PM.

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JRG Process for Students Who Are Feeling Sick At School (Hint: It does not include texting mom or dad to say, “Come pick me up!” ) This has been an interesting year for student illness, with a higher number of students than normal missing school due to illness or becoming sick at school. For students, and sometimes for parents, it can be easy to communicate via text about illness. However, we ask that students please follow the process below if they are feeling ill while at school:

1. Inform their teacher that they are not feeling well. The teacher and student then determine whether the student needs to go to the health room.

2. If needed, come to the health room so that our health assistant can assess the situation. Our health assistant is trained in our district’s medical procedures and has access to a district nurse for consultation if needed.

3. If needed, the health assistant will contact the parent for further consultation or to request that the student be picked up from school.

If students directly text parents and request to be picked up due to illness, it creates a situation in which neither the school nor the parent have an opportunity to assess the situation and determine if the student needs to go home. If you receive a text from your student of this nature, please remind them that they should request to go to the health room. If you are aware that a student may have a specific health-related need during the day, we encourage you to contact the office to let us know so that we can better support your child. Students are aware that they should not be texting parents asking to be picked up due to illness, and that if they do, it is considered a violation of our technology policies. In the huge majority of cases, this means that they will receive a warning not to repeat the behavior in the future, and the problem is typically resolved at that point. If you have questions about this practice, please contact our Dean of Students, Mr. Bumgardner.

Thank you for supporting safety, health and school attendance at JRG!

Thank You To Our Local Businesses For Their Support Each quarter, Honor Roll students at JRG are rewarded with gift certificates from local businesses in our community for a job well done. We would like to extend a thank you to Culver’s for providing ice cream to our first quarter honor roll students; A&W for providing a free float to our second quarter honor roll students; and to Pizza Ranch for providing a $5 certificate to our third quarter honor roll students. Please take a moment to say thank you and support the businesses who so generously support our students!

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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

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Stay Updated on Community Events Remember to go to the Kimberly Area School District Website and click on Community Events for more great opportunities, activities, programs and events!