Dr. Kelly Cooke
Principal
Mr. Robert Hayzler
Asst. Principal/Anti-Bullying Specialist
Noreen Risko
Interim Asst. Principal
Mrs. Kathy Tobia
Asst. Principal
Ms. Joanne Martino
SAC
Mrs. Liz Conley
Nurse, X5720
School Hours: 7:35 am - 2:15 pm
1000 Weldon Rd.
Oak Ridge, NJ 07438
(973) 697-1980
Fax (973) 697-1348
MS Home Webpage: April 2019
Thank you for visiting our school’s homepage! JTMS students continue to shine off and on stage!
On April 12th and 13th, the Jefferson Township Middle School Players put on Peter Pan, Jr. Friday’s crowd was almost standing room only! Over 90 students participated in the production, be it on the stage, behind the stage, working the lights, fitting costumes, doing hair and makeup for the cast, and working the sound board. They all worked very hard to put on a wonderful theatrical experience for young and old alike! A big round of applause for our students as well as staff members who played a vital role in the production’s success! Thank you to Mrs. Miskimon, Ms. Schreck, Mrs. Escolano, Ms. Koenig, Mrs. Cella, and Ms. Wermert for all of the efforts and support you give to our Middle School students!
Another shout-out goes to JTMS’s School Counselors, Mrs. Carroll, Miss Ellingson, and Miss Rusynko! With their amazing efforts, JTMS was one of 71 schools in 21 states to receive the American School Counselor Association’s RAMP designation 2019. RAMP schools are recognized for aligning with the criteria in the American School Counselors National Model. These schools are committed to delivering a comprehensive, data-informed school counseling program. All RAMP schools will be honored at the ASCA annual conference in Boston, Massachusetts, this summer. Kudos to our JTMS counselors!
During the month of April, our Middle School students engaged in a variety of learning experiences which included:
Amazing learning activities at JTMS!
Please be reminded that state testing, NJSLA, will take place between May 1st and May 10th. A letter was sent home on April 24th outlining testing details and scheduling.
Thank you for visiting and please be sure to check out our webpage, on the left, for upcoming events, announcements, and activities for JTMS students. In addition, please be sure to review your child’s progress in the Parent Portal as well as access your child’s food services account balance in the “Food Services” tab. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Dr. Cooke
Principal
Every Middle School from across Morris County present one 8th grade student as their recipient for the honor of the Morris County Middle School Leadership Award.
On Wednesday night, May 1, 2019, the Morris County Superintendents honored each school’s recipient at a dinner ceremony in Whippany, NJ. Students were honored for their actions and deeds that represent model citizenship and leadership in their respective school communities. The students recognized, were those that demonstrated academic, extracurricular, and community leadership qualities.
I am pleased to report that our Middle School’s 8th grade representative, Katelynn Peterson, did a fantastic job addressing a crowd of 230 people from across Morris County. Katelynn accepted her award with grace and conveyed her love for our Jefferson Township Community.
Mrs. Howe, Superintendent of Schools, and I were proud and privileged to have shared in this special leadership award ceremony with Katelynn and her family.
Congratulations Katelynn on a job well done!
Members of the JTMS Tri-M helped at the Jefferson Art Committee's Senior Citizen Big Band Bash. Students help serve food, clean tables, clean up afterwards and join in on the dance floor while dancing to the sounds of the Jefferson Community Jazz Band.
JTMS Duct Tape March Madness Winner-Mr. DiDonato!
At the end of March, the Red Cross Club collected items to benefit the animals of the Jefferson Township Municipal Pound. The collection was a huge success, and the JTMS community was able to donate several boxes filled with cat and dog food, treats, toys, blankets, towels, and cleaning supplies. Go Falcon Family!
Our Annual JTMS Staff vs. Student Basketball Game!
And the winners are.....JTMS STAFF!
The JTMS Tri-M Honor Society members hosted their 3rd annual Musical Petting Zoo this past Saturday. We had over 50 kids go through and try out the different instruments. The age range of the participants were from 9 months old up to adult ages. It was a fun day of music, games, and community.
Over the weekend we received an update from Kenya on the construction of the safe home. We are happy to report that much progress has been made since the end of January when we sent the funds for phase 2.
JTMS Awarded Kindness Matters Certificate
Sixth graders were given the assignment to research an influential person who contributed to the social reform of civil liberties and the Civil Rights Movement during the 19th and 20th centuries, both for the minority races and gender equality. Students cooperatively and independently conducted research on this person and created a trifold project which includes an informative essay, a timeline, and related images. Students will “become” their person or an “expert” on their person during our Living Museumpresentations and show their knowledge by responding to pre-arranged questions.
Project Kind Sandwich Making at JTMS!
Project Stay Gold Visiting the Elementary Schools
Jefferson Gold visits Stokes State Forest for an environmental education experience
Tri M Induction Ceremony
Pictures from the JTMS field trip to Stokes State Forest!
Celebrating Grandparents day 2018 at JTMS!
Photo's from JTMS back to school night! The entire evening was a tremendous success!
Jefferson Java is a school community-based project run by the Middle School Life Skills classes. We provide a hot beverage service to the staff and faculty which teaches students a variety of skills while having fun!
Students completed a clay unit in which they had to create 2 utilitarian forms. Students created mugs and boxes. They ended the unit by testing their mugs to see if they were truly useful and could hold liquid. Students enjoyed root beer floats and all mugs were proven to be successful in holding the yummy liquid.
More than one hundred and fifty students and staff at JTMS gathered together to cleanup the campus. The Student Council, Red Cross Club, and Garden Club sponsored this school-wide cleanup on May 16th. Participants picked up at least forty bags of trash and recycling! This event was part of the “Slam Dunk the Junk” program run by the MCMUA and Morris County Clean Communities. This program is part of a statewide initiative sponsored by the New Jersey Clean Communities Council which focuses on conducting cleanups, enforcing anti-litter regulations, and changing the attitudes about littering. By participating in the clean up, the Middle School is now entitled to receive a $500.00 grant to purchase receptacles for either recyclables or trash. Way to go JTMS students and staff!
Sixth grade students practiced, reviewed, and reinforced their problem-solving skills for the grade level curriculum standards: ratios, rates, unit rates, fractions, decimal, percent of a number, graphing, discount/tip, order of operations, algebraic expressions, solving equations, inequalities, box plots, measure of central tendencies and finding the MAD. Students used various problem-solving packets, Do Nows, the LinkIt Progress Monitoring program, and online assessments to help prepare for the NJSLA.
Students finished their study of water on Earth and will soon begin a unit on Astronomy. Both teams recently visited the Sterling Hill Mine in Ogdensburg for their 6th grade field trip which reinforced many curricular science topics for this year. The Six Blue team is preparing for their Environmental Art Museum event to be held in late May. Students’ upcycled items will be on display as well as their “Bigger Picture” art projects completed in class. There will also be presentations given by the students throughout the evening. The six Gold Team recently researched the environmental problem in Lake Hopatcong due to the introduction of silica dust. Students wrote letters to Mayor Eric Wilsusen to express their concerns with the pollution issue.
The sixth grade Social Studies department has been breaking down culminating events that led to the Civil War through a series of activities that utilized technology, document analysis and group based activities. In doing so, students reviewed the Election of 1860, broke down the different candidates and their viewpoints and voted on the candidates in a team wide election. Students then reviewed a series of 19th century political cartoons that covered the important election of 1860.
6th grade students started the marking period working on narrative writing. From there they began a unit on dystopian novels and recently have been assigned a spring book club novel to read, as part of this study. In addition, both the Blue and Gold teams attended a field trip to the Ogdensburg Sterling Mine and Museum.
Students brainstormed how to find the area of the roof of the Rockaway mall based on an overhead photo. This lead to a lesson on decomposing shapes to find the area of irregular figures.
7th grade Language Arts students studied the unit, Overcoming Adversity and have just completed the novel, Freak the Mighty. Students continued the process of making annotations while they read and used the information gathered to create a character study newspaper for one of the characters from the novel.
In seventh grade math, students reviewed probability with dice, spinners and the tossing of a coin. Students also continued to work on their skills through the LinkIt Progress Monitoring program.
In science, students are in the process of dissecting worms and frogs. They are applying knowledge from previous units of study on cells, classification, and evolution to enrich their dissection experience.
In seventh grade social studies, students have been learning about micro and macro economics. As part of the study, students will examine and analyze the four main economic systems and understand how businesses and individuals make economic choices.
Students classified triangles by sides and by angles. They also learned how to find the missing angle when given the measurements of two angles.
In the eighth grade Language Arts classes, students completed Unit 3 which focused on nonfiction writing and the Holocaust. During Unit 4, students will be creating a Vision Board and a Capstone Essay focusing on self reflection.
Students in eighth grade Math classes spent the last week applying their knowledge of transformations in the real world while analyzing company logos based off of reflections, translations, and rotations.
In Social Studies, students are about to embark on their last Socratic Seminar; examining whether the Black Plague was actually a positive thing for Medieval Europe. In addition, students are presenting their Year-Long Assessment Projects mid-May. Family members have been invited to attend. The MS-PTA has arranged for volunteers to assist signing in our guests. We are very grateful for the community support!
Eighth grade science just finished their Junior Solar Sprint project with a trip to the first round of solar sprints. We had 3 out of 5 student groups placed in the top 12 for speed. One student will move on to the Inter-County finals with a finish in 3rd place for speed. We have studied electricity and magnetism and will be working toward a final engineering and design project in the next few weeks.
6th Grade World Language: Students are exploring and describing habitats around the world in the target language. Students will begin creating final projects in which they describe a famous habitat, such as the Sahara Desert, by using animal, objects, and weather vocabulary.
7th Grade World Language: Students are discussing their future vacation plans. They are incorporating their preferences and will soon be creating a vacation itinerary and researching a popular tourist destination in a country that speaks the language they are learning.
8th Grade World Language: Students are exploring possible future careers and describing needed skills, college classes, and university degrees in the target language. Students are conversing about different job requirements and possible career paths they would like to take in the future.
Students in 21st Century Researchers classes brainstormed research topics and are now working on creating strong research questions. The junior journalists, in Speak Up and Write All About It are beginning their broadcasting project. Students are currently learning about the different positions within a newsroom and will be analyzing a few news programs before scripting and filming their own news program.
In Computer Science Discoveries, students started exploring JavaScript. Through multiple coding activities, students learned how to use conditions, Boolean expressions, and the properties of characters to create animations. Learning about these many techniques allowed students to apply and create their own personal Interactive Greeting Card.
In language arts, the sixth grade students started off the fourth marking period by crafting their own original stories using either a story starter or image to jumpstart their imagination. The seventh grade students read the novel Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick where they explored characters trying to overcome adversity. The students will continue to analyze how characters overcome adversity within their upcoming book clubs. In eighth grade, the students will wrap up their current book club novels and switch gears by working on a capstone essay and vision board which will be completed in reflections of themselves.
In all mathematics classes, students have been refining their mathematics skills to prepare for NJSLA. Students explored the different tools they would be able to use on the state assessment through the NJSLA/PARCC website as well as the mathematical reference sheet. In addition, students reviewed probability with dice, spinners, and the toss of a coin.
During the Babysitting Unit, students in the 7th and 8th grade F&CS classes invited children to come into the classroom for a cooking experience during Bring Your Child To Work Day. A fun time was had by all participants!
Forensics students just completed their unit on identifying an individual using fingerprints, blood evidence, DNA, and handwriting analysis. Students also completed a case study on OJ Simpson in order to determine whether or not we agree with his final verdict. Students will begin their final project related to creating their own crime scene using evidence.
Members of the JTMS Tri-M Honor Society had a great time helping at the Senior Citizen Big Band Bash in the beginning of May! Also, the JTMS Bands performed beautifully at the Spring Concert which featured the 6th, 7th, 8th, and Select bands. Students just finalized their preparations for the High Notes Festival at Dorney Park. The band and chorus students are well on their way and excited to be attending the park while engaged in a fun day of music, rides, and games!
In Robotics, students completed a unit on 3D printing where they had the opportunity to create a project that was printed using the TinkerCad software. Students recently began working on a unit about Prosthesis. In doing so, students will look at the organizations that 3D print prosthesis are used on a daily basis. In addition, students are creating a model of a prosthetic arm using the EV3 lego kits. How exciting!
The students began the time by moving through the Engineering Process in order to create boats that were capable of holding increasingly heavy loads. During the first-half of May, students created catapults that were capable of launching mini-marshmallows at a target located a small distance away. A new group of students have recently started STEM and are currently learning about lab safety procedures and the Engineering Process.
The students spent the beginning of the month researching Newton’s three laws of motion. In doing so, they drafted blueprints for potential roller coasters they could build. Using all of this information, the students have been building their proposed roller coasters out of card stock.
