Welcome back, Jardine Jaguars!

We are off to a very good start of the school year. Our first two and a half weeks have been very successful as teachers are building strong relationships with students and starting to challenge them academically. Students have started taking all of the beginning of the year assessments with MAP and Fastbridge that give some great Math and Reading data on each of our students as they grow in their individual learning.

Students checked out their chromebooks during the first week of school. I want to remind parents and families to have an onboarding process in place at home to monitor your student's online usage as well as ensuring technology is charged each morning to assure they are prepared for learning. This is a required school supply they MUST have with them everyday, charged and ready to go. If students do not bring their chromebook, they will be sent to the office to call home to see if it can be delivered. If not, they will have a paper/pencil assignment to complete and every teacher they do not have a chromebook for has been asked to make a contact home. There will be NO classroom loaners this year. I also encourage families to have conversations with their students in regards to taking care of their chromebook, as families will be responsible for paying for damage and repair to those devices.

As we progress throughout the first quarter, we are here to partner with you to ensure the success of each of your students as they grow academically and socially. Please check your emails (both personal and Synergy) and voicemails on a routine basis for important information from the school. Teachers will use only Board approved communication programs to reach out to parents and families. These approved programs are:

• Google Mail
• Google Classroom
• Synergy Email
• School Messenger (administration)
• Parent Square (more information to come out about this program)

School Website -

Our Jardine School Website is full of useful information from our school calendar (at the bottom of the main page), student handbook link, athletics schedules, and more. Please check the website out frequently as we will be adding things to it throughout the year. Here is the link:

https://jardine.topekapublicschools.net/

Easily pay School Fees online! Create your free MySchoolBucks account to conveniently and securely pay for your student’s school fees online or with the mobile app.

With MySchoolBucks you’ll be able to quickly browse school items in our School Store, be notified when fees are due, and make payments from anywhere!

Get Started Today:

1. Go to myschoolbucks.com or download the mobile app

2. Create your free account and add your students using their school name / student ID

3. Add school items or invoices to your cart

4. Check out using your credit / debit card or electronic check
   
   

If you need assistance with your account, you can find helpful how-to videos and answers to commonly asked questions by visiting myschoolbucks.com. Or, you can contact MySchoolBucks directly by logging into your account to start a chat conversation or give them a call at (855) 832-5226.

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Click this link for a step by step with pictures!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qL34CZPfQvHPEog9rNYRTaYB1DmqG5eG/view?usp=drive_link

We would like to welcome all students and parents to a new year at Jardine Middle School. Mr. Falk is the counselor for the 6th and 8th grade (last name A-M). Mr. Barber is the counselor for the 7th grade and 8th Grade (last name N-Z). Jardine Guidance Counselors provide services for students regarding academics, career planning, and personal/social needs. Students may request to meet with a counselor by completing a “Request to See” form which can be found on the Jardine Website under the “Student Resources” tab.

Jardine Safe School Policy Statements

• All students and staff have the right to be safe at school.

• Behaviors that compromise student safety will not be tolerated.

• All known safety issues are to be reported to a counselor, administrator, school resource officer, or trusted Jardine staff member.

• Parents are encouraged to report any safety concerns to school officials.

Jardine students and staff:

• Will not spread rumors, bully others, use physical violence, racial or sexual harassment.

• When safe, will help others who are victims of these behaviors.

• Will include students who feel left out

• Will tell an adult at home and school when we know a student is a victim of these actions or any unsafe behavior.

Spreading rumors is defined as passing unwanted, untrue or hurtful information about another student verbally, in writing, e-mail, or by repeating and/or encouraging rumors by receiving rumors (verbally or in writing). Frequently, extreme conflicts, threats of violence, or violence are a result of rumors.

Bullying is identified as any ongoing physical or verbal mistreatment that involves an imbalance of power and the victim is exposed repeatedly to negative actions on the part of one or more students.

Threats & Physical Violence occurs when anyone inflicts or threatens to inflict physical or emotional injury upon another student’s body or feelings.

Racial Harassment

(Board Policy #8110) “The Board of Education is committed to providing a positive and productive learning and working environment, free from discrimination, including harassment, on the basis of race, color, or national origin. Discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, or national origin (‘racial harassment’) shall not be tolerated in the school district. Racial harassment of employees or students of the district by Board members, administrators, certificated or support personnel, students, vendors, or any other person having business or other contact with the school district is strictly prohibited.” Jardine supports and follows the district guidelines.

Sexual Harassment is defined as unwanted and unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature. Sexual Harassment can be in verbal, written, physical, or nonverbal form. Sexual harassment will not be tolerated at Jardine Middle School.

Students and parents are encouraged to report these behaviors by completing a Safety Report which can be found on the Jardine website under the “Student Resources” tab.

Welcome to a new year here at Jardine Middle School. We at Jardine Middle School want parents and students to know that every student has an opportunity to participate in after school activities.

To begin the school year our fall activities are: Volleyball, coached by Mr. Falk, Ms. Marvin, Mrs Bisconer, and Mrs. Tincher. Girls Tennis, coached Mrs. Abellon. Football, coached by Mr. Brown, Mr.Fairfield, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Patchen and Mr. Doss.. Cross Country is coached by Mr.Barber and Mr. Taylor. All students participating must have a physical on file and have maintained grades set by KSHSAA and USD 501 regulations.

We will check grades each week prior to an event; if a student-athlete has an F in any class they will not be allowed to play. Our coaches and I will go over concussion protocols with our student-athletes. Jardine will have a certified trainer for our athletes; parents will need to sign a release form in order to be seen.

I want to remind all spectators about KSHSAA rule 52 on sportsmanship. We want everyone to be courteous to all participants, coaches, and officials. Jardine will win with character and lose with dignity, let us be positive role models for our student-athletes.

This year our drama department is presenting the play "Spaghetti Western,” directed by Mrs. Orand and Mrs. Tincher. We encourage all students from 6th, 7th and 8th grade to participate. Play try-outs are September 8-10 and the performance will be in November.

Parents-

Gracemed will be at JMS September 8th & 9th. Pink forms were sent home with students concerning this. If you would like for your student to be seen please fill out the form and return to me. I have

extra forms to hand out if needed.

If you have a student that needs medications of any kind please make sure that a correct medication form has been filled out and given to the school nurse. All forms need to have a doctor's signature and also a parents signature.

All students attending classes must receive appropriate immunizations in all required series or be in the process of receiving the series unless there is a medical or religious exemption. Students are given

30 school days to have completed the required immunizations. Letters will be sent home with students concerning what they will need.

If you have any questions please let me know.

I am so happy to be back in the library for the 2026-2027 school year. My name is Mrs. Fitzgerald and this is my second year here at Jardine and tenth year as a School Media Specialist.

While all the student's were enjoying summer I was preparing the library books and rearranging the library in Genres. So far the students love the different sections and are able to find the type of books they are looking for. Classes will begin to come to the library starting August 24th for checkout only for 2 weeks.

The Bookfair then will be in the library September 8th-11th. Our hours for the book fair is 7:30-9:45, then from 10:30-4:00. Students are able to come during AB or the end of the day to buy from the fair. Once the fair is over I will begin teaching lessons on Genres, our library system Destiny and Beanstack.

Welcome back parents and students for the 2026-2027 school year. My name is Dana Fitzgerald and I teach the media class. This is my second year teaching this class.

So far this year, we have been getting to know each other in class, setting goals for the first semester. Starting August 24th we will be learning about the history of yearbooks and comparing the past with the present yearbooks. Then we will be coming up with the theme that we want to bring to life in this year's book.

In the next newsletter I will know more about how much we are going to be selling them for and the deadlines to get your orders in.

I CAN BE SUCCESSFUL IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASS!

We are excited for our 2025-26 students in our Physical Education classes and we are doing very well. Don’t get me wrong there are PE trials and tribulations that come with the start of a new school year. Allow me to share a few of these so you can inquire with your students to see how they are adjusting to a new PE class with new expectations.

Some PE students face minor hardships:

• learning a new schedule and finding the locker room/gym location in the allotted three minute passing time.

• making sure their clothes and tennis shoes are appropriate for exercise.

• remembering to pull their hair back for safety and hygiene purposes.

• making sure they take off their jewelry for class. This way jewelry doesn't get broken or harm others during activities.

Again, please check with your PE student to make sure they are successful and encourage them to ask any questions. We will gladly help make their transition easier.

Activities in August/September:

Expectations, learning our daily, warm up routine, weekly Boy’s Town lessons, learning locations for fire, tornado, secured campus, and lockdown drills, universal attention signal, Two Team Pinball, Four Team Pinball, Deck Ring, Lacrosse, Steal the Stuff, Frizz, Go For the Gold, Reaction Ball, H-Ball, Bocce Ball, Relays, Doctor, Doctor, Football Skills, Four Down Football, Ball Tag, Tennis, Floor Hockey, Bean Bag Bowling, Scooter Bowling, Weights, Fitness Kickball, Flip Flop, Kickball and Kooshball.

Mr. Mitchell and I would like to thank all parents for sharing their amazing, healthy and kind students with us this year. We are looking forward to a fantastic 2025-26.

Mrs. Remer

bremer@tps501.org

Mr. Mitchell

kmitchell@tps501.org

Welcome to 8th Grade FACS!

Dear Families,

Welcome to a new and exciting school year! I'm thrilled to have your student in 8th Grade Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) this year. This class offers an incredible opportunity for your child to develop essential life skills while earning high school credit.

Why This Class Matters

Because this course counts toward high school credit, it is imperative that students maintain strong grades throughout the year. The grade your student earns will become part of their high school transcript and contribute to their grade point average (GPA). As they enter high school next year, starting with a high GPA will open doors for academic opportunities, scholarships, and future success.

What We'll Be Learning

This year, we'll focus on practical skills that will prepare students for life after graduation, including:

• Social Skills – Building positive relationships and effective communication

• Financial Literacy – Budgeting, saving, and making smart money decisions

• Work Skills – Professional behavior, teamwork, and workplace expectations

• Career Exploration – Discovering career paths that match interests and strengths

• Post-Secondary Options – Exploring college, military service, trade schools, and other pathways

We'll also continue our popular foods labs later in the year, where students will apply nutrition knowledge and cooking skills in hands-on activities!

Classroom Expectations

To help every student succeed, I ask that your child:

• Show respect for classmates, teachers, and the learning environment

• Come ready to learn each day

• Bring a fully charged Chromebook daily for assignments and activities

Let's Stay Connected

I'm excited to partner with you this year to help your student thrive! Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions or concerns.

Email: jwentz@tps501.org

(opens in new tab)

Here's to a fantastic year of growth, learning, and success!

Warm regards,
Janet Wentz
8th Grade FACS Teacher

6th Grade:

We are off to a great start in 6th grade math! 6th graders will be extending 5th grade knowledge of decimals as we work to add, subtract, multiply, and divide multi digit decimals. Decimals differ from 5th grade as 6th graders should become fluent in long division and use multi-digit decimals that extend past the hundredths place. We will also do some work with Greatest Common Factor and Least Common Multiple to prepare for fractions and the distributive property. Please encourage your student to charge their chromebook regularly to be prepared for class. Thank you!

7th Grade:

Students in the 7th grade will be learning and working with rational numbers this month. All four basic operations (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division) with positive and negative integers will also be a part of their learning experiences and activities. Doing these 4 operations with positive and negative fractions will also be a part of October learning.

8th Grade:

As our Eighth graders get closer to high school math classes they will be spending time working with equations and expressions. This month they will work to become fluent in solving one, two, and multi step equations and inequalities including those in which the variable is on both sides of the equal sign or inequality symbol. As students solve word problems, the variable in our problems will relate to real world mathematical situations. All of their 6th and 7th grade knowledge will come together as they work on this fluency. Algebra students will also be working with equations, but will work to solve more than one variable, compound inequalities, and rearrange formulas. Algebra students also work to explain and justify solutions and steps in solving equations and inequalities.

It’s amazing how quickly summer flies by! Before we know it, the halls are buzzing, backpacks are packed, and students are ready to dive back into the fascinating world of history.

This year, each grade level has an exciting journey ahead! 6th grade students will travel back in time to explore the mysteries and achievements of Ancient History. 7th grade students will discover how Geography shapes the world around us and influences the people, places, and cultures we study. And for 8th grade United States History, it’s time for a revolution—the American Revolution, that is! We will be working our way through the birth of our country and the successes and failures along the way.

Get ready for a year filled with exploration, discovery, important questions, and, of course, plenty of history!

Welcome to Science!

This year, students will learn science through OpenSciEd. Instead of beginning with a teacher simply giving students the answer, students begin with an interesting phenomenon, ask questions, investigate, gather evidence, build and revise models, discuss ideas, and develop explanations. The goal is not less rigor—it is deeper thinking and greater student ownership of learning.

What Students Will Be Exploring in August–September

GRADE 6 • UNIT 6.1 — LIGHT & MATTER

Students begin with puzzling situations in which people can look at the same object or setup and see different things. They investigate how light travels and interacts with materials through reflection, transmission, and absorption. Students use evidence and models to explain how light reaching our eyes affects what we see.

Family conversation starter: “What has to happen with light for us to see an object?”

GRADE 7 • UNIT 7.1 — CHEMICAL REACTIONS & MATTER

Students begin with a familiar but surprisingly complex phenomenon: a bath bomb fizzing and appearing to disappear in water. They investigate substances and their properties, look for evidence that new substances form, develop particle-level models of atoms and molecules, and build toward explaining chemical reactions and conservation of matter.

Family conversation starter: “How could you tell whether something new was made during a reaction?”

GRADE 8 • UNIT 8.1 — CONTACT FORCES

Students investigate collisions, forces, motion, and why some impacts cause more damage than others. They analyze evidence, develop models of force interactions and energy transfer, and apply what they learn to engineering questions about reducing damage and protecting objects.

Family conversation starter: “What could change in a collision to reduce the damage?”

6th Grade:

Happy Friday, 6th grade parents! This is Jeff Colombo and I am the 6th grade ELA teacher. This year we are starting a brand new curriculum in class called Amplify. We will be spending lots of time on the digital app reading and becoming better writers. There is also a book and journal version you students will use. This week we focused on details of pictures and texts and the difference between telling and showing in writing. You students wrote and typed a bunch this week and I was impressed by their creativity!

7th Grade:

In 7th grade ELA we are starting off working on sensory details in writing. We are also reviewing figurative language and will be writing some metaphor poems in the near future.

8th Grade:

We are focusing on creating narrative writing pieces with rich sensory descriptions. We will also explore stories from Roald Dahl during this unit to examine narrative writing.

Follow this link to become familiar with our student handbook! This should answer most questions you will have!

This announcement serves as notice of your parental rights to request and receive information and notifications regarding your child’s education in a building receiving Title I, Part A funds under ESSA. Responses to requests and notifications on the part of the school must be completed in a timely manner.

The Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) defines timely as “notification within two weeks”. All notices and information must be, to the extent practicable, provided in a language that the parents can understand [ESEA 1112(e)(4)]. The following information, in accordance with Every Student Succeeds Act, is available to parents and/or guardians upon request:

• Information regarding the professional qualifications of a student’s classroom teachers. Whether a student is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.

• Information on the level of achievement and academic growth of students on state assessments.

• Information regarding the school and school district state report cards. In addition to the above information, schools must provide the following:

• Parent notification if a student has been taught for four or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who does not meet the applicable state certification requirements at the grade level and subject area in which the teacher has been assigned. [ESSA 1112(e)(1)(B)(ii)].

• Parent notification and access to district and building report cards. Annual report card information can be accessed at.https://ksreportcard.ksde.gov/

• Parent notification of English learner participation must be provided within 30 days after the beginning of the school year or within the first two weeks of placement for students who enroll after the start of the school year [ESEA 1112(e)(3)(A-B)].

Please contact Mr. Haag at 785-730-8100 or thaag@tps501.org if you have additional requests, questions, or would like to receive more information.

We Support Equal Opportunities

The Topeka Public Schools, Unified School District No. 501 is committed to affirmative action and equal opportunity. No person shall, on the basis of age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, disability, national origin or ancestry be denied lawful access to any appropriate educational service, program, or activity provided by the school district. For students, the Title VI, Title IX, and Section 504 compliance coordinator is the General Counsel for the district. For employment, the EEO/AA and Title VII compliance officer is the general director of human resources. Compliance coordinators may be contacted at 624 S.W. 24th Street, Topeka, KS 66611-1294, (785) 295-3000. The clerk of the Board of Education has been designated to receive and redirect or handle inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies, regulations, and procedures. The clerk may be contacted by calling (785) 295-3059 or by writing to 624 S.W. 24th Street, Topeka, Kansas 66611-1294.