Highlights from the Weekly School Messenger Call for the Week of October 2nd

Here are the Highlights from the Weekly School Messenger Call for the Week of October 2nd!

Welcome back! We hope that everyone is safe and that you are ready for a great Homecoming Week as we go Back to the Future!

Changes in the Schedule for this Week due to Hurricane Ian and Important Events for the Week

The Bell Schedule for Homecoming Week is different due to our activities. Please make sure that you review it accordingly. It can be found on our website (Information can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/JWMHSHomecoming) and is part of this email.

We will have an Early Release Day this Wednesday, October 5th and the ERD Homecoming Bell Schedule can be found in the document above.

On Monday, Mustang Football will travel to LOLHS for football. The game will begin at 7:00PM.

If you are interested in playing softball there is an informational meeting on Monday, October 3rd at 5:15PM at the softball field.

At our Homecoming Game on Friday night, we will be asking for donations for Hurricane Ian Relief. We will send out more information this week.

The Flu Shot Clinic – October 3rd

If you are interested in having your child receive the flu shot at JWMHS, we will be doing so on October 3rd. You will need the consent form. This is not required for students, but is a service that is offered for those interested.

Homecoming 2022 Information

Great Scott! Homecoming begins tomorrow! Information can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/JWMHSHomecoming.

We will have shown an informational video in RANCH that explains each of the days of Homecoming Week and the bell schedules and dress up days.

  • Monday is Decade Day
  • Tuesday is Character Day
  • Wednesday is Future Day
  • Thursday is Western Day and
  • Friday is Spirit Day

The All Activity Homecoming Wristbands ($40) and individual Homecoming Dance wristbands ($35) are now on sale. Individual activity tickets are on sale during lunches if you do not want to purchase the All Activity Homecoming Wristband. We will also sell individual Homecoming Dance wristbands to JWMHS students ONLY at the door on Saturday, October 8th for $40 each. You will need to have a Dance Number in order to purchase an All Activity Homecoming Wristband or an Individual Dance Wristband. When you come and pick up your wristbands, you must have your JWMHS Student Behavior Expectations Agreement printed and signed by a parent. Non JWMHS Guest Request Forms must be completed and approved prior to picking up the ticket for the guest. These are due at noon on October 7th to the Main Office. Of note, the wristband does NOT include a ticket to the Homecoming Game on Friday, October 7th. These must be purchased on goFan for $6 each.

Students and guests to the Homecoming Dance must have a picture ID to enter. You can use an ID from middle school, last year’s ID, a drivers license, a learners permit, a passport, or anything with a picture on it. You can also use a printout of your myStudent screen if there is a picture in the system of you (please go to Student Services for a printout). If a non-JWMHS guest does not have a picture ID, we will not be able to admit them to the dance. We also recommend taking a picture of it and having it on your phone instead of bringing it to the dance.

Wristband PickUp

If you purchased an All-Activity Wristband, they are available on Monday. Please come to the Front Office before school and during all lunches. You must have your JWMHS Student Behavior Expectations Agreement signed by a parent when you do so.

Dance Only Wristbands will be passed out beginning Wednesday during lunches. You must have your JWMHS Student Behavior Expectations Agreement signed by a parent when you do so.

Parent Dance Expectations Meeting Online Course

We have sent out invitations to students’ myLearning accounts so that parents and guardians can complete the Parent Dance Meeting Expectations Online Course if it has been requested.

If you still need to request this course or let us know that you have a former Mustang who has a dance number, please complete the following link: https://tinyurl.com/JWMHSDanceMtg.

If you requested the course during Hurricane Ian, I will be adding those to myLearning tonight and tomorrow. Please be patient.

Dance numbers were passed out last week to all students during RANCH. We will continue to pass out dance numbers through the week. We will work with all of you who would like to attend the Homecoming Dance. Please be patient and courteous.

Loss of Privilege

If you have received a Loss of Privilege (LOP) letter, please email your assistant principal directly to see what you need to do to appeal this ruling.

We are holding after school detention and lunch detention so that students can make up time. Please see your administrator. We will work with all of you who would like to attend the Homecoming Dance. Please be patient and courteous and take care of your business.

Remember, you have 5 absences in each quarter that do not count toward LOP.

RANCH is an attendance taking class.

Absence notes can be accepted until 72 hours after your return to school. 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 (September 20th) 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!

Hispanic Heritage Month

In RANCH, we have been reviewing different contributions from Hispanic Americans and will continue to do so throughout Hispanic Heritage Month. We would like to thank all of those of Hispanic descent who have helped to make the United States of America what it is today!

New Mathematics Teachers!

We have been given an opportunity to hire new math teachers to lower the class sizes of our math classes. As a result, there will be schedule changes that could affect student schedules in the next two weeks. We understand that change is hard. However, the only constant is change. If your child receives a schedule change, please know that they are done randomly and we will not be able to return to the original schedule. Also, please know that we do not have room in our online lab to make schedule changes to online, so please do not ask us. We appreciate your cooperation and understand.

Freshmen MustangU TShirt

We have only had 75 members of the Class of 2026 order their FREE MustangU TShirt. Please go to our Online School Spirit Store and order your tshirt today.

SAVE THE DATE – PSAT – October 25th

The PSAT will be administered on October 25th on our campus. 10th grade students are automatically registered to take the PSAT, and the district pays for their test! 9th and 11th grade students are encouraged to test as the PSAT is great practice for the SAT and provides students with an opportunity to explore their academic strengths for college readiness!  It is important for 11th grade students to test as they may use their scores to qualify for Nation Merit Scholarships. 9th and 11th grade students can pay the $20 registration fee on RYCOR by clicking on the PSAT icon!

SAVE THE DATE – Financial Aid Night Seminar – Being Rescheduled!

Seniors! We will be rescheduling the Senior Financial Aid Night Seminar that will be hosted at JWMHS by Mrs. Chamberlin! Stay tuned!

SAVE THE DATE – Underclassmen Picture Makeups – Being Rescheduled!

If you are an underclassmen who has not has his or her picture taken please make sure that you sit for your picture when we have it as it will be rescheduled for another day and not this Thursday. This will be the last time you can have your picture taken and be included in the Stampede Yearbook!

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.

Attached 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 8:40AM. If a student arrives after 8:40AM, 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.

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/

Hooray! Your Mustang Gear for your donation has arrived! If you made a donation during the first month of school, please complete the online form that we send this week via email so that we can provide you Mustang Gear! We will be sending home a separate communication to all those who we have on file for doing so as well, so be on the lookout! And, thank you for your donation!

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 dot 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 play a sport must complete all of their 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

We will not have an Around the RANCH newsletter this week. As we move forward, I would again ask that you please read it as it has a lot of important information and you can find the one from last week here: https://www.smore.com/ujwh4

Let’s keep #MustangExcellence going and have another great week in #MustangNation and show our #MustangSpirit during Homecoming Week as we travel Back to the Future!

Have a great evening!

Go Mustangs!

~ Ms. Schultz

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