News and events - November 20, 2025

You won’t want to miss this magical show—come support our talented student performers and experience the enchantment of Disney's Beauty and the Beast Jr.!

Beauty and the Beast JR. tells the story of Belle, an adventurous young girl, and the Beast, her hideous captor who is actually a young prince trapped under a spell. In order to break the spell, the Beast must learn to love another and earn her love in return – before time runs out. With the help of the castle’s enchanted staff, including a loving teapot, a charming candelabra, and a nervous mantel clock, Belle and the Beast find a beautiful friendship and love that neither knew was possible. Beauty and the Beast JR. features classic songs from the Academy Award®-winning film score such as “Be Our Guest” and “Belle,” as well as original songs from the 1994 Tony®-nominated Broadway musical.

The performances are Friday, November 21 at 7 PM, and Saturday, November 22 at 3 and 7 PM in Jaguar Gym 1. Tickets are sold at the door-- $10 family, $5 adults, $2 students. The doors will open a half hour before each performance. Come early to get a good seat!

To give everyone one last chance to participate and reach our goal, we're excited to announce we've extended our fundraiser until December 5!

So far, 24% of students have registered and shared their unique links—a fantastic start! With the upcoming holiday break, this is the perfect time to get your friends and family involved and help us achieve 100% participation!

Three Simple Ways to Make a Difference:

• Register & Share: Register your student (use code BENMX) and share their unique link with family and friends. They can purchase wonderful holiday gifts or make a donation!

• Direct Donation via Fundraising Page: Quick and easy way to support our students.

• Direct Donation to JMS: Simple donation method to benefit our school. You can donate through School Pay, look for: JMS Fundraiser Donation 2025

Thank you for helping us reach our goal and support our school community!

There is no school the week of November 24.

Nov. 24 - Staff Development - No School

Nov. 25 - Grading Day for teachers - No School

Nov. 26 - Conference conversion day - No School

Nov. 27 & 28 - Thanksgiving Break - No School

Trimester 1 report cards will be available online in the ParentVUE and StudentVUE app after 3 pm on Wednesday, November 26.

🔄 What’s Shifting?

📌 In-person conference hours are shifting from 6 hours → 3 hours per term (Fall & Winter). 📌Teachers will also offer 8 hours of scheduled office hours throughout the year for more flexible connections.

💬 What Are Office Hours?

Office hours give you multiple ways to connect with your child’s teacher:

🏫 In-Person 💻 Virtual 📞 Phone Call

If you need a conference, you can choose a time that works best for your family from the teacher’s shared office hours. Please coordinate directly with the teacher for these requests.

💡 Why This Shift?

• Real-Time Access: View grades, assignments, attendance, and behavior anytime in ParentVUE.
  

• Timely Support: Conferences twice a year can feel rushed or too late to make an impact.
  

• Flexible & Meaningful: Flexible opportunities to meet with your child’s teacher and partner in their success.

👨‍👩‍👧 We Still Value In-Person Connections

This shift doesn’t reduce connections—it expands opportunities to meet with teachers throughout the year in meaningful ways.

As a part of district budget reductions, individual Volunteer Service Coordinator (VSC) positions at secondary sites were eliminated. This means there will no longer be a dedicated VSC at each secondary school. We have moved to a centralized model to manage all volunteer needs. Volunteers are still a very important part of our school community and we will continue to work to support volunteer needs in our buildings and process volunteer applications in accordance with district risk management procedures.

Take a minute and complete Jackson MS Volunteer Application for this school year and check out the Current Volunteer Opportunities at JMS. Send a message to MSVolunteerServicese@ahschools.us if you have general questions about volunteering or need assistance with the volunteer paperwork.

Join us at the JMS Observatory to look at stars, the moon, constellations, and anything else we can find in space. Public viewings will be held , along with special event nights, as long as the sky is clear, when something of interest is happening in the sky above us. Weather is always an issue so if it is cloudy, raining, or snowing, the public viewing will be cancelled. Dress for the weather as the temperature of the dome is the same as that of the outdoors.

Please check the Observatory page on the JMS website at 6:00 p.m. on viewing dates to make sure

viewing has not been cancelled.

Tuesday, December 2: 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Thursday, December 4: 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Tuesday, December 9: 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Thursday, December 11: 7:00 - 9:00 pm

Directions to the Observatory

Yearbooks for the 2025-2026 school year are now on sale. Prices will increase on December 1, so take advantage of the reduced prices and buy one soon.

New this year: All pre-ordered books include personalization.

iTags included on all pre-ordered yearbooks

This is done while purchasing your book online.

Books were in high demand last year and sold out quickly, so make sure you reserve yours now!

Order yearbook here.