CJHS Charger Connection

A Warm Welcome Back, Chargers!

I hope you and your families are safe and doing well following the storms that moved through our community this weekend. We know that some families may have experienced damage or disruptions, and our thoughts are with everyone who was impacted. If our school can assist in any way, please reach out to Mrs. Mables.

Our staff is incredibly excited to welcome our students back to Chiddix Junior High this week! We have been working hard to prepare for a wonderful school year, and we cannot wait to see our Chargers back in the building.

We also look forward to welcoming families to our Open Houses this week. 6th Grade Open House will be held on Wednesday, August 19, from 6:00–7:00 PM, and 7th & 8th Grade Open House will be held on Thursday, August 20, from 6:00–7:00 PM. As a reminder, any 7th or 8th grade students who were unable to attend Sneak Peek and would like to place items in their lockers and decorate them may do so on Wednesday, August 19, during the 6th Grade Open House. Please note that 7th and 8th grade teachers will not be present that evening.

We are excited to connect with you, welcome you into our school, and begin Charging Forward Together!

Mrs. Christina Mables
Principal, Chiddix Junior High School

You won't want to miss the updates! Follow us now for news and updates from students and staff.

• Wednesday, August 19th - 6th Grade Open House 6:00 PM - 7:00
• Thursday, August 20th - First Day of School for All Students
• Thursday, August 20th - 7th/8th Grade Open House 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
• Wednesday, August 26th - PBIS Expectation Stations
• Thursday, August 27th - Picture Day
• Friday, August 28 - Bus Evacuation Drill
• Monday, August 31st - 100 Caring Adults at 8:15 AM - 8:45 AM

Items required for PE

• Gray t-shirt (last name on the back)

• Black athletic shorts or sweatpants (it’s ok if they have stripes & logos)

• Athletic shoes

• PE Lock

• Deodorant is recommended, and plastic lotions/sprays are optional.

Locks may be purchased in the main office for $18 for the pair ($9 for a single), or you can bring them from home or buy at any store.

Clothes can be purchased online through the CJHS PE Website or by using the link below during the OPEN Ordering Dates.

https://selectspiritwear.com/collections/chiddix-jr-high-phys-ed

OPEN ORDERING DATES:

July 27th-August 22nd

December 14th-January 11th

We are excited to partner with Meltdown Creative Works for our spirit wear this school year. Ordering is available now until August 28th. Put your order in as soon as possible. All orders will be delivered to your home.

Chiddix Baseball Spirit Wear

Here is the link for the spirit wear store:

https://selectspiritwear.com/collections/chiddix-baseball

Here is the link to the spirit wear store: https://orders.minervapromotions.com/chiddix_jh_xc/shop/home. The store closes Monday, August 10th at 9 am.

This year, we are offering shirts and sweatshirts with an optional back design. When placing your order, you'll be able to choose whether you'd like your apparel with or without the back design.

Please note we will be offering a before school supervision program for families that are interested. Students will be supervised by a teacher from 7:20 a.m. - 8:20 a.m. At that time, students would join the rest of the students in the gym/cafeteria. Parents will be responsible for transporting their child to school each day.

The program fee is $85.00 per quarter (which equates to about $2.00 per day). The fee needs to be paid prior to the quarter starting. There will be no refund if a student does not attend on any given day. Students that are continued disruptions may be removed from the program.

Part of our mission to keep all of our stakeholders safe involves teaching best practices for responding to emergency situations. Over the past few years, we have worked to strengthen these practices with our first responders throughout our area. Our school community has adopted and practiced the Standard Response Protocols by the ILoveUGuys Foundation. The standard response protocols are based on five actions that can be done to respond to all emergencies.

• HOLD - During a HOLD, students would stay in their classroom with the teacher and wait for an all-clear before moving to the next class. We might call a HOLD for a spill or other unsafe situation in the hallway.

• SECURE - We would call a SECURE if there was an unsafe event happening outside of the school. Exterior doors are all checked and students are not allowed to leave the building until it is safe.

• LOCKDOWN - A LOCKDOWN would be called if an extremely unsafe situation existed in the school. Students and staff would lockdown their classrooms until police could secure the building.

• EVACUATE - In the case of a fire, gas leak, or any other situation that makes the inside of the building unsafe, we would EVACUATE the building using plans that are posted in each classroom.

• SHELTER - If weather conditions are unsafe, we would call a SHELTER which would cause students to move to the safest locations within our building.

For more details, a parent handout is linked here. The handout is also available in Spanish and linked here.

As a matter of teaching and learning how to respond in an emergency, every other year, the last three actions are practiced with our first responder agencies in our Law Enforcement and Fire Drills. This will include leaving campus and moving students to our primary reunification site at Eastview Church. Under the School Safety Drill Act, a law enforcement drill must be observed within the first 90 days of school. This year, Chiddix Junior High School will practice our safety drill on Friday, August 30. We will NOT be leaving our campus to go to Eastview.

Warmly,

Christina Mables

Chiddix Junior High School Principal

Bus Routes Available

Bus route information for the 2026-2027 school year is now available.

New this school year, Unit 5 is transitioning to My Ride K-12, a new system that allows families to track their student’s bus in real time. My Ride K-12 the most up-to-date transportation information and helps families better know when the bus is approaching their stop.

Please have your child at the bus stop 5 minutes before the scheduled pick-up time.

We ask families to check their transportation information again before the start of school, even if you've already checked, as routes and times may change.

MY RIDE K-12 BUS ROUTE INFO

Families can access their student’s transportation information using My Ride K-12 - https://myridek12.tylerapp.com/. My Ride K-12 will show all of your student(s) transportation information, including bus routes and real-time bus GPS locations. Information in My Ride will update daily.

To learn how to use My Ride K-12, please go to the Bus Tracking page on the district website.

Families who do not want to use My Ride can continue to view their student’s regular morning and afternoon bus routes in the Infinite Campus Parent Portal. Infinite Campus will update twice a week.

INFINITE CAMPUS BUS ROUTE INFO

To view the routes in Infinite Campus:

1. Log in to your Parent Portal.

2. Click "More" on the left side.

3. Select Transportation from the drop-down menu in the center of the page.

4. To see routes for your other students, click their name in the top right corner.

FirstView, which families may have previously signed up for, will continue to operate at the beginning of the school year as we transition to My Ride K-12. FirstView will be phased out by September 15. Families are encouraged to begin using My Ride K-12 now to become familiar with the system.

Swiping IDs on buses for safety

Students will be given ID badges to swipe upon entering and exiting the school bus. IDs should be used for all bus transportation, including travel to and from school, field trips, and sporting events. This is an important safety measure that helps us locate students in the event of an emergency.

If a student forgets their ID, the driver will swipe one for them, but this may delay departure. We ask families to support our safety and security efforts by making sure students have their ID badge before heading to the bus stop each day.

Students should have either received their IDs at registration or can expect to receive them within the first week of school. If your student does not have an ID by the end of the first full week of school, please contact their school's office to obtain one.

Christina Mables, Principal

Daniel Tripp, Associate Principal, 8th Grade & 7th Grade Last Name A-K administrator

Courtney Eddleman, Assistant Principal, 6th Grade & 7th Grade Last Name L-Z administrator

Email: mablesc@unit5.org
Website: https://www.unit5.org/Domain/25

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083691408763
Location: 300 South Walnut Street, Normal, IL, USA
Phone: 309-557-4405