The Middle School Minute

Important Dates

November 12- Musical Preview Assembly
November 16- School Assembly- Dr. Atem
November 23- Trimester 1 Exams Early Dismissal 12:06 p.m.
November 24- Trimester 1 Exams Early Dismissal 12:06 p.m.
November 25-27- No School, Thanksgiving Break
November 30- Begin Trimester 2
December 21-January 3- No School, Winter Break
January 18- No School
February 12- No School
February 15- No School
March 11- Trimester 2 Exams Early Dismissal 12:06 p.m.
March 12- Trimester 2 Exams Early Dismissal 12:06 p.m.
March 15- Begin Trimester 3
March 26-April 4- No School, Spring Break
May 26- 8th Grade Honors Night 6:00-7:30 p.m.
May 31- No School, Memorial Day
June 4- 8th Grade Farewell Dance 7:00-10:00 p.m.
June 10- Trimester 3 Exams Early Dismissal 12:06 p.m.
June 11- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL Trimester 3 Exams Early Dismissal 12:06 p.m.

2026-2027 District Calendar (click here)

SJMS Office Hours: School days from 7:15 a.m.-3:15 p.m.

In This Edition...

New Topics

Trimester 1 Exam Schedule
High School Musical- Legally Blonde
Dr. Atem Guest Speaker
Infinite Campus Parent Portal and Trimester 2 Schedules

Old Topics

What Are You Learning?

Trimester 1 Exam Schedule

Please make every effort to attend on exam days. It is the practice of SJMS not to give exams early to preserve the integrity of the assessments. Students who miss exam days can make arrangements with their teachers to make them up after the conclusion of the exam period. Thank you!

High School Musical- Legally Blonde

Next Thursday, November 12th, students will walk over to the high school for a preview of this fall's high school musical Legally Blonde. Families interested in purchasing tickets to performances on November 13, 14 and 15, can do so at sjdrama.ludus.com.

Dr. Atem Guest Speaker

SJMS is holding an assembly on Monday, November 16th in the morning to give students the opportunity to hear Dr. Jacob Atem speak.

Dr. Jacob Atem went from being a child refugee in South Sudan to a leader in global health. Forced to flee his burning home at just six years old, he survived a dangerous 2,000-mile walk across East Africa and lived for nine years in a refugee camp. After moving to the U.S. as a teenager, he worked hard in school, earned his doctorate, and started a health organization to build medical clinics for families in need. Today, Dr. Atem uses his inspiring story of courage and strength to teach others how to help refugees, improve healthcare, and make the world a better place.

Dr. Atem's presentation directly connects to what our students are learning in class. As part of our literature units in 6th-8th grade, students explore how real people endure hardship, displacement, and loss. Hearing Dr. Atem’s story will allow students to connect these themes to a living history, giving them a firsthand perspective on courage, survival, and the power of giving back.

If you wish to opt your child out of this assembly, please email (halleada@sjredwings.org) Mrs. Hallead, SJMS Principal, by Friday, November 13th at Noon.

Infinite Campus Parent Portal and Trimester 2 Schedules

Trimester 2 class schedules will be finalized on the afternoon of November 24th for students and families to access through their Infinite Campus accounts. We will not send paper copies. To access Infinite Campus, please follow these directions:

Log in to the Parent Portal here: https://bit.ly/3A7s25a
New to St. Johns Public Schools? You must first request an activation code and you can do that here: https://bit.ly/3vMOSfF

Once you’ve received your activation code, you can follow the directions here: https://bit.ly/3QcQ4kO

Having issues with Infinite Campus? Check here for answers: https://bit.ly/3byWlZ2 or email ichelpdesk@sjredwings.org

Download the Campus Parent or Campus Student app for your mobile device! Available in the App Store or Google Play! Keep up with grades, attendance, and contact your child’s teachers more easily!

SJMS Schedule Corrections:

Students will receive their completed class schedule for second trimester. School counselors are available to make academic adjustments if there is an error in a schedule (see the reasons below). Note: There should be very few schedule changes necessary as students request the courses they wish to take. Some student requests cannot be accommodated due to schedule conflicts.

Schedule corrections will be made for the following reasons:

Academic misplacement -- student is placed in the wrong level of class
Missing academic class -- student is missing a core class, English Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, or Science.
Missing grade level expectation
To balance classes

Schedules will not be changed for the following reasons:

To have classes with friends
Student does not like the teacher
Parent does not like the teacher
The class or classwork is perceived by the student to be too difficult or too easy
Personality conflicts with another student

Requesting to Talk with the School Counselor

All students have access to request to talk with a school counselor on their school-issued chromebooks (it opens up as its own tab, and all classes should have the request form in their Google Classrooms as well). The form can also be found here: https://bit.ly/3HTVQTM

What Are You Learning?

Students are 3x more likely to retain information if they can put into their own words the daily learning target for a given lesson. At SJMS, we challenge students to tell us "What are you learning?" You can support us at home and reinforce learning by asking your student what they were expected to learn in each class for the day. They should be able to tell you about the specific topic they worked on!