Information about Registration

It's time for registration again.

Mount Jordan Middle School will host a walk-in registration. Parents should come to registration with paperwork filled out. You should have received a registration packet in the mail. If you did not receive a packet, please contact the school in advance of registration to obtain the requisite paperwork. Additional packets will be available on the "day of" registration.

• 7th Grade Registration is Monday, August 8th from 7:00 AM-3:00 PM
• 8th Grade Registration is Tuesday, August 9th from 7:00 AM-3:00 PM
• 9th Grade Registration is Wednesday, August 10th from 7:00 AM-3:00 PM

If you have more than one child attending Mount Jordan, please choose the day that correlates with the youngest child.

A few things to be prepared for:

1) School pictures will be taken during registration, so make sure you're ready with your best smile.

2) ALL 7th GRADERS MUST HAVE STATE MANDATED IMMUNIZATIONS. This year we have organized Community Nursing Services to provide on-site immunizations during the 7th grade registration day from 8:00 AM-10:30 Am.

3) Please consider joining PTSA. There is a GREEN packet in your registration materials that details several PTSA projects. There is a required membership fee for PTSA. It is $4.00. We hope parents AND their students will consider joining this important organization.

4) PTSA is selling t-shirts and hoodies and backpacks. THIS IS NOT A FUNDRAISER! We are selling the items at cost. The intent is to increase school unity and school spirit by providing an opportunity to by logo-ed items. T-shirts are $5.00; Hoodies are $15.00, Backpacks are $5.00.

5) Please consider buying a memory book (year book). This year, the students who join PTSA will help with some aspects of the memory book. Books are handed out at the end of the school year and are always a big hit! THIS IS A PTSA FUNDRAISER.

6) Save the date for the Back to School Night "Hot Dog Hello." This is a big hit among students and parents alike. This year the date is Thursday, August 25th. More information to follow.

7) PE Clothes are available for purchase at registration. You will be able to see the actual clothes (for size), purchase and pick up during registration.

If you have any questions about registration, feel free to call the school office. There will be many volunteers to help you through the registration process on your assigned day.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Please Shop at the Bangerter Crossing Harmons on Feb 10th to Support Mount Jordan Middle School

This Thursday is Harmons annual PTA Day event. Mount Jordan Middle School is being sponsored by the Bangeter Crossing Store.

Location: 125 East 13800 South Draper, UT 84020

This location is easily accessible from the freeway. Even if this is not the Harmons that you usually patronize, please consider making the extra effort on this day. MJMS will share 5% of the sales that day with others schools sponsored by this store location.

The event is from 12:00 PM-7:00 PM. There are always great sales and activities for the family, and you'll see lots of PTA members volunteering throughout the store.

Last year this event yielded a donation for over $800.00 to our school!!!

This is from the Harmons website:

Each year we sponsor a PTA Day and donate a portion of our sales to local schools. To encourage the community to shop at our stores that day, we work with local Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and invite students, parents and teachers to help us by decorating our stores and even helping to bag groceries. Over the past 21 years, our customers have raised more than $650,000 for schools in our communities.

The 22nd Annual Harmons PTA Day will be held on Thursday, February 10th, 2011. Our goal this year is to raise $50,000 for 64 different area schools, from Ogden to St. George, taking part in this year's event, from Ogden to St. George.

All 13 Harmons locations will offer special sale prices on items throughout the store and will donate five percent of the net sales to the local schools. Fun activities and games for kids and families will be held from noon to 7pm. In addition to PTA Day, Harmons is also encouraging customers to help young readers by donating no longer needed books. You can drop off books to Reading Tree book bins at 12 Harmons locations from Ogden to Orem. The non-profit organization accepts new and used books and Harmons' collections bins have generated more than 27 tons of books to be donated since collection started last year.

The Mount Jordan PTSA is pleased to announce the recipients of our 2010-2011 Teacher Grants

When planning the 2010-2011 budget, the Mount Jordan PTSA board allocated money for "teacher grants." The idea was that teachers could submit a proposal for a classroom project or need that would then be reviewed by the PTSA for possible funding. This year, we are pleased to announce that THREE projects have been funded!

The following teachers (group of teachers) have been awarded grant money for their projects:

Mr. Pfeil- $100.00
Mr. Pfeil requested white boards and dry erasers for his special needs class. These tools will be used for students computing Math problems.

Mrs. Washburn-$100.00
Mrs. Washburn's project is called "Mightier than a Pen." She requested money for a "smart pen" that records audio as a student uses the pen to write. You can then upload the content of the pen and link the audio to the written word. This will be particularly useful for a contingency of learners who learn best by hearing.

Team Titanic: Mrs. Mitchell, Mrs. Mumford, Mrs. Soriano, Mrs. Spencer-Wise, Ms. Mouton, and Mrs. Hansen-$400.00
This group of teachers have proposed a cross curricular project to help 7th graders learn about the Titanic disaster, and they have proposed to focus on how different classes of passengers were affected by the event (wealthy/upper class; middle class; lower class/immigrants/steerage passengers). This one is sure to cause a buzz among the 7th grade!

Congratulations to all of those who received funding for these important classroom projects!

Jordan High Registration Orientation for all 9th Graders on Tuesday, February 8th

Ready to be a big, bad......

??

9th Graders and their parents are invited to Registration Orientation!

Where: Jordan High Auditorium, 95 East Beetdigger Blvd

Time: 7:00 PM

What: Important information about high school registration

Following registration, parents and students are invited to attend the "Digger Fair" in the Tech Atrium. This is an opportunity to learn more about programs and classes offered at Jordan High.

If your student is not going to attend Jordan High, it is requested that you call the high school at 801-826-6230 and ask to speak to the registrar. Other questions related to school choice permit students can also be answered by the registrar.

Please plan on attending this important event.

Please Attend the Spring Student Success Night

Thursday, January 13th 6:30 PM-8:15 PM
Mount Jordan Middle School
Enter through the main doors; volunteers will be there to direct you to your classes.

There will be three "blocks" of time which each consist of 25 minutes. Parent may choose from 3 of the following 5 class offerings:

U of U and BYU Orientation Programs

• Representatives from the University of Utah will discuss "Connecting U Days." This is a campus visit program designed to meet the needs of the individual student and his/her parent.
• Representatives from BYU will be there to answer questions about campus tours and orientation programs for parents and students.

Learn more about the EXPLORE test results (taken in Fall 2010 by all 9th graders) and the new differentiated diploma policy for the Canyons School District

Learn about choices available to your student through the Canyons Technical Education Center.

Learn about concurrent enrollment opportunities available to your student. (Concurrent enrollment is when a student is enrolled in a course that is credited toward high school graduation requirements AND community college credit.)

Learn about the Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP). The Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) is a simple, sound plan to stretch your child's educational dollars and provide some wonderful tax incentives.

PLEASE ATTEND THIS IMPORTANT EVENT!

IMPORTANT: Volunteers needed for Thursday, November 4th!

Hello, Mt. Jordan Parents.

We are in desperate need of some volunteers for THIS THURSDAY from 8:45 to 11:15. It is Reality Town for the 9th grade. We need about 40 volunteers total and are FAR short of that goal. If there is any way you can rearrange your schedule to be there, it would be appreciated.

I know you don't all have 9th graders - but one day you will. This will give you a sneak peek at Reality Town and may even help you prepare your 7th or 8th grader for the experience.

If you can't arrange child care or job hours, check with extended family. Perhaps Grandma or Grandpa can help out - either with the kids, or at the school. It is only for an hour and a half and provides a great service for our students.

If you are able to come, please fill out the volunteer application on the Canyons District Website (see below) and let Sheri Tait or me know. Sheri can be reached at sheri@7taits.com or 801-576-0567. I can be reached at steph.yorgason@comcast.net or 801-816-3909.

Volunteer application: https://spreadsheets.google.com/a/csdapps.org/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dERtOEFkc3Mxa1c5WEh0T0piYWtQT3c6MQ#gid=0

Please consider ways to make yourself available for this opportunity.

Thanks,
Stephanie Yorgason
Mt. Jordan Middle PTSA President

Student Success Week a Success!!!

Click HERE to see the article in the Salt Lake Tribune on Student Success Night.


Middle-school students are urged to plan for future now
By Natalie Dicou
The Salt Lake Tribune
Published Oct 10, 2010 04:20PM
Updated Oct 13, 2010 02:51PM

Sandy • Angie Peffer remembers what it was like to be a young immigrant student hearing about something called the ACT. The Mount Jordan Middle School parent thought at the time it sounded like a foreign language.

Peffer moved to the United States from Samoa when she was 12. Her parents knew little about the U.S. school system or how to prepare their daughter for college.

“I was kind of just put in school. I was on my own,” Peffer said. “My parents were very supportive. They encouraged school very much, but there was nobody out there saying, ‘This is what an ACT is.’ I just took it without really knowing what it was.”

Peffer wants parents at her children’s school — where one out of four students is a minority — to avoid the confusion. She hopes moms and dads will gain a firm grasp on the ACT, the widely accepted college-admittance test, and everything else they need to know to guide their kids toward post-high school education and successful careers.

Last year, she organized a special night for parents and students to learn the ins and outs of applying to and paying for college, “Student Success Night.” The Sandy school’s Parent Teacher Student Association has made the night a tradition, holding a second event last week.

About 100 parents and middle-schoolers filed into the school after hours, choosing from five 20-minute classes with such titles as: “Steps to College,” “Paying for College” and “Basic Study Skills.”

“We have a lot of first-generation college-goers,” said Assistant Principal Matt Watts. “A lot of the kids want to go to college, but they don’t know where to begin.”

That’s where folks like Pepper Poulsen come in. The Jordan High counselor spent the evening teaching “Steps to College” to a packed classroom of moms, dads and future grads.

"This is our feeder school,” she said, “so, anything we can do to prepare kids, we’ll commit to doing it. We just appreciate them asking us to come.”

Poulsen said if she could make a single point, it’s that every year counts, noting kids often don’t realize their ninth-grade transcript counts toward their high school grade point average.

Jean Juengel, 19, who has temporary custody of her younger brother, James, a ninth-grader, attended “Student Success Night” to get a head start on planning for her brother’s future.

“I just graduated two years ago, and went straight to college,” Juengel said. “Then I found out there were hundreds of scholarships that I could’ve applied for my senior year and gotten, which would’ve helped me pay for college, but I didn’t know about them. So, I think it’s really great that they started doing this.”

Assistant Principal Doug Hallenbeck said students should begin thinking about college while they’re still in middle school.

“The sooner they can make choices, the better they can make high school work for them,” Hallenbeck said. “Middle school is about exploration, and we want to make sure they have opportunities to explore all the different career choices that are out there.”

This doesn’t mean every student must set his or her sights on a four-year college degree, Hallenbeck said. Some might choose a two-year school, trade school or military service. But he emphasized the job market requires some sort of post-high school training.

Peffer wished more families would have attended. She hopes the event — another is scheduled for the spring — will continue to gain momentum.

“We’re hoping as we do it every year that more and more parents will be aware and know that there’s help here,” Peffer said.

ndicou@sltrib.com