Highlights from the Weekly School Messenger Call for the Week of October 9th

Here are the Highlights from the Weekly School Messenger Call for the Week of October 9th!

We hope that everyone had a great Homecoming Week. We are now getting ready to end Quarter One of the 2022-2023 School Year. How fast time flies!

End of Quarter One

As you review quarter grades with your child, please remember that the grades reported on your child’s final transcript are semester grades. A semester grade is made up of the grades from the two quarters and a semester final. So, while quarter grades are important, they are only part of the end result. Students still have an opportunity to improve grades and learn and master standards.

Congratulations! And Best Wishes!

Congratulations to Chloe Nichols and Chris Ferrini, the Homecoming Queen and King, and Sophia Chianella and Drayk Simmons, the Homecoming Princess and Prince!

Congratulations to our Boys #MustangCrossCountry Team who placed 2nd and Girls #MustangCrossCountry Team who placed 4th. Hunter Veins and Brenton Lovely finished in the Top 10! Best wishes to #MustangCrossCountry in their SAC races this week.

Congratulations to our Girls #MustangSwimAndDive Team who won the SAC Meet this weekend! The Boys came in 3rd! And, congratulations to Regan Bright who is a 2 time Individual SAC Champion in the 200 Freestyle and the 100 Fly!

Best wishes to the #MarchingMustangs as they compete this weekend! If you have not heard them play, you are truly missing out!

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 (October 4th) 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!

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. As soon as they are delivered we will begin distributing them again.

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 – Underclassmen Picture Makeups – October 26th!

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 Wednesday, October 26th. 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.

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 8:40AM. 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! We have already handed out gear to more than 150 students, but many student did not complete the form that we needed completed in order for students to get their Mustang Gear. Please complete the online form that we sent previously 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 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 Winter 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

Please read our Around the RANCH newsletter this week. There is a lot of important information and you can find it here: https://www.smore.com/4wpus

Let’s keep #MustangExcellence going and have another great week in #MustangNation!

Have a great evening!

Go Mustangs!

~ Ms. Schultz

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