IMPORTANT TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION - For a list of temporary bus stops, please see our weather page.

Highlights from the Weekly School Messenger Call for the Week of February 19th

Here are the Highlights from the Weekly School Messenger Call for the Week of February 19th!

As a reminder, tomorrow is President’s Day and we have school tomorrow. It is one of the hurricane makeup days as a result of Hurricane Ian.

Bell Schedule Changes in January

We begin our day earlier at 8:21AM and still end the day at 2:52PM. This will make up the time from the hurricane days. Please make sure that you set your schedules accordingly.

February is Black History Month

February is Black History Month and we have been celebrating Black History Month during RANCH classes. We would like to thank and acknowledge those who have contributed to Black History for Black History is American History.

Tardies, Getting to First Period on Time, and Being Late to School

Parents and guardians, I need your help. Students are arriving to school on time, but not going to class on time. Seems unusual, but here we are. Please talk with your children about being to class on time. Leaving five to ten minutes earlier will assist everyone with getting to school on time. As a reminder, we will be closing our gates at 8:30AM. Please make sure that you are on time each day to each and every period. If students are not in class on time, students will be marked tardy and there will be disciplinary consequences.

Grad Bash Tickets for the Class of 2023

Grad Bash tickets for the Class of 2023 are on sale online via Rycor! Tickets are $115 each and include your ticket to the park and transportation. Students will not be allowed to drive themselves nor will they be able to use passes.

Senior Graduation and End of Year Information

Seniors received a lot of information regarding graduation and the end of the school year. This information is posted on our website and we are updating it with more information as we receive it! Please make sure that you review it. We will also be sending a mailout to you in February! (https://jwmhs.pasco.k12.fl.us/class-of-2023-graduation-and-end-of-year-information/)

Congratulations and Best Wishes!

Congratulations to our Girls #MustangWeightlifting Team who competed at the State Championship this weekend! We are proud to announce that we have a STATE CHAMPION! Izzy Guillan not only won the State Championship in both Olympic and Traditional weightlifting, but was the overall State Champion for the State of Florida! She also broke a State Record! Alyssa Barcz place 3rd and Addison Smith place 3rd. The team placed 5th in Olympic and 7th in Traditional! What an amazing accomplishment for our Mustangs! Congratulations!

Congratulations to our Boys #MustangLacrosse team who began the season with three dominating wins over Cypress Creek, Land o’ Lakes, and Canterbury. We are very proud of you!

Congratulations to #MustangIndoorPercussion who placed 1st at their competition and to JV #WinterGuard who placed 2nd!

Best wishes to our teams competing this week, especially as we start our Spring Sports like Lacrosse, Baseball, Softball, Track, Boys Weightlifting and Tennis! Play with integrity and good sportsmanship! Go Mustangs!

Course Selection for the 2023-2024 School Year

9th, 10th, and 11th grade Parents can now check what their students entered for the 23-24 course selection in their myStudent parent portal under class requests. If your student hasn’t entered their selections, please reach out to the appropriate grade level AP or counselor for assistance.

Junior Students to Take the SAT on March 1st

As a reminder, all Juniors will be taking the SAT for free at school on Wednesday, March 1st. Please do not schedule any appointments this day as testing will be during periods 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th and students who test will be eating 5th lunch. Students must complete all sections in order to receive a score. Scores can be reported to colleges and can be used to earn Math & ELA concordance scores for graduation. Students will be notified of their testing locations by the end of the week. This is important for students to take seriously and we ask that parents speak to their children regarding taking it seriously.

New Teachers Have Been Hired

We have hired some new teachers and we will be changing student schedules. Once we have made the change, we will not be able to change students’ schedules back. We thank you for your understanding!

Parking and Second Semester

We know that many of you will turn 16 and receive cars from Santa. Please know that we currently have a waiting list for parking. In order to get on the waiting list, you must apply. Please go to our website for more information. Unless you have an assigned spot, you cannot park on campus.

Pick Up, Drop Off, and Parking Lots

Please help us by dropping off and picking up such that students are entering and exiting the car next to the sidewalk in the Red Car Loop only. We are having a problem with students being dropped off on Photonics Blvd. near the bus loop as well as in Orange and the front of the school. Please only drop off students in our Red Car Loop. We want to keep children safe and we are very concerned that a student is going to get hit so that people can save a few minutes each morning.

Mustang Legacy Bricks

A great Senior Graduation present is a Mustang Legacy Brick! Celebrate the traditions and legacy of JWMHS by purchasing a piece of history. All funds for purchasing a Mustang Legacy Brick will be used for campus improvements, classroom activities, and other school priorities. And, your name will be a permanent part of our campus!

https://jwmhs.pasco.k12.fl.us/mustang-legacy-bricks/

Here are some links you will need to make your school year successful:

Reminders and Announcements

Parent Bill of Rights Acknowledgements in myStudent

If you have not logged into your Parent Portal of myStudent, we ask that you do so this week. There are consent forms that need to be completed as a result of the Parents Bill of Rights legislation. We would like to partner with you regarding making decisions for your child that are consistent with your wishes as a parent/guardian. Please help us do so by completing this important paperwork. Login here: Login to your Parent Portal and Complete the Forms Required for the New Year: https://pasco.focusschoolsoftware.com/focus/index.php?skipSSO

Changes can be made by following the directions that we are providing on our website (https://jwmhs.pasco.k12.fl.us/how-to-for-parents-and-students/). We would encourage you to review what you have already done if you have said no to anything as there have been changes made to further explain each of the items.

Student Parking

As students come to school each day, they should park in their assigned parking spot. If students do not have a parking spot, they cannot drive to school until they have a parking space. If a student does not have a spot, please apply on our website, but know that there are not many spots available. Please see Mrs. Baldwin for more information.

Bicycle Parking

If you ride a bike to school, please park them in the middle of campus near the RED Building outside of Room 528. There is an alcove there where you can do so safely. We encourage you to bring a bike lock so that you bike remains safe. Do NOT park or attach your bike to the fences. If you do, we will cut the locks and move them to the assigned parking area. (jwmhs bike parking.png)

Pick Up, Drop Off, and Parking Lots

Please remind your children that in the Red Car Loop that they should remain on the sidewalks and not walk through this active parking lot. Please help us by dropping off and picking up such that students are entering and exiting the car next to the sidewalk in the Red Car Loop only. We are having a problem with students being dropped off on Photonics Blvd. near the bus loop. This is causing traffic to back up and for busses to not be able to get into the bus loop. Please only drop off students in our Red Car Loop. We want to keep children safe and we are very concerned that a student is going to get hit so that people can save a few minutes each morning.

Included is a picture of the routes that you can use to enter the campus off of Little Road and Jaguar Trail (routes for entering campus.png). All of this information can also be found here: https://jwmhs.pasco.k12.fl.us/parking-driving-bicycles-and-fencing-at-jwmhs/

Gates and Arrival at School

The gates will remain open each day until 8:30AM. If a student arrives after 8:30AM, he or she must go to Student Services and check in there as the gates will close and should remain closed for security. Do not prop open gates or put items in gates so that the gates remain open. If you arrive to campus on time, you should not need to worry about having to use these gates. If you arrive late to campus, please do not ask someone to come and open the gate. Please follow our expectations and report to Student Services. Violations of these expectations will result in disciplinary action. Please arrive in your classes on time each day, as being on time is important now and in and the future.

Breakfast and Lunch and Outside Food

Breakfast is served each morning until 8:20AM when the warning bell will sound.

As a reminder, we are a closed campus and students CANNOT have food delivered to school via services such as Uber Eats, etc. Food from outside vendors such as Chick Fil A, etc. cannot be dropped off by parents and guardians. It is not allowed in our cafeteria. Violations of this will result in the confiscation of the food until the end of the school day. For the school and school district, if we are found in violation of this policy, we can lose our Federal funding for our School Lunch Program. Please follow our rules.

Loss of Privilege and Attendance

We want to remind students that you need to be in school. Unexcused absences count toward Loss of Privilege. And, as a reminder, RANCH is an attendance taking class.

Absence notes can be accepted until 72 hours after your return to school from an absence. You can deliver them in person or use the link on our website: https://jwmhs.pasco.k12.fl.us/mform/view.php?id=12087. We will not accept a note for an absence after the 72 hour period. For example, any absence after Tuesday of last week (January 17th) will no longer be accepted to excuse the absence.

Be in school every day and Loss of Privilege (LOP) will not be an issue for you in the future!

Leaving Campus Without Permission & Loss of Privilege

If students are found leaving campus and/or subsequently returning and they drive to school, the first time that this occurs the student will lose parking privileges for two weeks. After the second time, the student will lose parking privileges for the remainder of the semester. There will also be other consequences assigned. If a student does not drive, there will be different consequences assigned. And, as a reminder, if you are found opening gates to let people in, you can also be assigned discipline and lose privileges. Student-Athletes need to be aware that violations such as this can also have consequences assigned by your coaches.

Healthy Student Forms and the Clinic

We have previously sent home a Healthy Student Form. This will allow your child to receive Tylenol or Ibubrofin in the Clinic. Please make sure that you complete this form if you would like for the Clinic, School Nurse, and Clinic Assistant to help in these matters. Then, please return it to your RANCH teacher or Student Services.

Mustang Spirit

Would you like Mustang Spirit Gear? Here is the link to our online Mustang Spirit Store to purchase Mustang Gear: https://tinyurl.com/JWMHSSpiritStore

You will get free Mustang gear for donating to our Mustang Excellence Fund or to our Staff and Faculty Appreciation Fund. If you have already made this donation, we thank you in advance. These donations will help us throughout this school year as we recognize our Mustangs for their hard work and excellence! There is still time to make these donations and get your free Mustang gear! Here is the link to make a donation: https://www.studentquickpay.com/pasco/

Mustang Athletics

As a reminder, we will be enforcing our Event Security Policies (https://jwmhs.pasco.k12.fl.us/wp-content/uploads/jwmhs/2019/08/front.USE_.2.pdf) and want to remind you that only bags that are clear plastic, clear vinyl, clear Ziploc bags, small clutch-type purses no larger than 4 inches by 6 inches, diaper bags, and medically necessary items are permitted inside an event venue. No other bags of any kind are permitted except for properly credentialed school and professional photographer’s camera bags. Please go to our website to review these policies and procedures. If you travel to other schools and other school districts, they will also have policies and procedures that they will enforce. Please adhere to their directions and expectations and be a good representative of JW Mitchell High School!

Any student who wants to try out for a sport must complete all of the paperwork on www.AthleticClearance.com prior to tryouts. All of this information can be found on the Mitchell website under Athletics and then Forms. Athletic fees must be paid online one week after you are on the team. Please do not pay the athletic participation fees until you have made the team. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Dixon via email at rdixon@pasco.k12.fl.us or at 727-774-9382.

Keeping Campus Clean

Any drink containers or food wrappers need to be disposed of in our commons area garbage cans and not classroom garbage cans or recycle bins. Keep our campus clean, including the cafeteria and patio areas. Please take pride in your school and keep it clean!

Around the RANCH Newsletter

There will not be an Around the Ranch Newsletter this week.

Please make sure that you are checking our website for a full transcript of the email that has gone out to Mustang Families are there are many reminders and announcements that do not get repeated every single week.

I hope that we can find a way each day to show kindness. Kindness can change everything. Let’s make Mustang Nation the best place to be!

Have a great evening!

Go Mustangs!