School Transitions

Welcome incoming 6th-graders!

Important dates for incoming 6th-graders

Dates for the Connections choice program
February 9 at 5:30 PM: Incoming 6th Grade Questions and Answers Zoom Event [See the FAQs]
March 17 and 21: Incoming Elementary visits on Zoom
March 25: Parent/Student Input forms due
April 22: Music Registration forms due

Letters to Parents

Feb 2, 2022

Dear Parents of Incoming JLS Middle School 6th Graders,

Welcome to JLS! In just a few short months, your student will enter the wonderful world of middle school. We are excited to meet our new 6th grade class, and eagerly look forward to welcoming them to our amazing school in the fall. The purpose of this notification is to give you an overview of the activities, which will take place in the next few months as your child begins their transition to middle school.

Please click on the link for our 2022 Incoming 6th Grade Introduction Letter with the timeline and included translations.

Sincerely,

JLS Middle School Administrative Team

Feb 2, 2022

Hello Incoming 6th Grade Families,

We cannot wait for you to join our community, and we hope your 5th grader is looking forward to becoming a Panther at JLS Middle School!

Here is a Welcome Video for all students (and their families) to enjoy. Please watch this 15-minute video together as a family.

If you have any questions, please join us for our "Incoming 6th Grade Questions and Answers" Zoom Event on Wednesday, February 9, 2022 at 5:30 PM

Zoom Link: https://pausd.zoom.us/j/91951861478
Zoom ID: 919 5186 1478

To make our Zoom Meeting as effective as possible, please submit any questions to our online form: 2022 Question Submission. Please submit questions by 12:00 PM on Monday, February 7, 2022. We will present information pertaining to the questions we receive and hopefully have some time to answer some live questions too. This Zoom will not be recorded, however, our Administrative Team will create an FAQ of the questions we receive.

We hope that the video and our Q&A Zoom will help you and your child understand the JLS community and look forward to joining us at JLS in August.

See you soon!

Warm regards,
Chris Grierson, JLS Principal ( cgrierson@pausd.org)

Additional Contact Information:
Adriana Flores-Ragade, 2022-23 6th Grade Counselor ( afloresragade@pausd.org)
Hanisi Accetta, 2022-23 6th Grade Administrator ( haccetta@pausd.org)

* Here is the link to the Mandarin translation of this document.

* Here is the link to the Spanish translation of this document.

June 13, 2022

Dear Families of Rising 6th Graders,

All PAUSD students participate in a 6th grade music class. All students must choose a music class. Below is some information about band, choir, and orchestra.

CHOIR: This class is for students who enjoy singing and performing. We study vocal fundamentals (proper singing voice, singing in tune, part singing, solfege) and music theory/literacy (note names, rhythms, sight singing). Students will have the opportunity to audition for more advanced extra-curricular groups (Honor Choir, All-State Jr. High Choir) as they rise through the grade levels.

BAND: This class is for students who want to play a wind instrument or percussion in a concert band and builds upon skills they learned on the instrument they played in 5th grade. Students have the opportunity to switch to other instruments (Oboe, Bassoon, Saxophone, French horn, Tuba, Percussion) at the discretion of the middle school band director. Students will have the opportunity to audition for more advanced extra-curricular groups (Jazz Band, Honor Band, All-State Jr. High Band) as they rise through the grade levels.

ORCHESTRA: This class is for students who want to play in a string orchestra and builds upon skills they learned on the instrument they played in 5th grade. Sixth graders can switch to another instrument (Violin, Viola, Cello or Bass) at the discretion of the middle school orchestra director. Students will have the opportunity to audition for more advanced extra-curricular groups (Honor Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, All-State Jr. High Orchestra) as they rise through the grade levels.

New to PAUSD? Welcome!

JLS is an exciting and dynamic school community that believes every student possesses a range of talents and interests. Our goal is to cultivate these talents by providing an environment where students feel connected, valued and inspired. Our staff is dedicated to making sure all of our students achieve their fullest potential.

Please see the PAUSD website for information about enrolling in our schools.

Our school website (you are here) contains a lot of information about our community. Please take some time to explore. If you have questions, please email Joan Scherer, JLS Registrar (jscherer@pausd.org) in the JLS Guidance Office. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Warm Regards,

Chris Grierson, JLS Principal

Transitioning within JLS

February 2, 2022

Hello 6th and 7th Grade Families,

The process for JLS students to request their elective courses for next year will start next week! This is an exciting time that many students and families often look forward to, but we also know that it can be a little stressful. In order to best support our students through this process, we want you to have the information of what to expect and when. By the last week of February, students will submit their requests for elective courses using PAUSD’s Infinite Campus (IC) data system, with their parent’s acknowledgement.

To ensure students and families have the information needed to request their elective courses, everyone will have access to the following resources:

JLS Electives website
JLS 2022-23 Course Catalog (description of courses)
a “How To” video describing how to request courses
a Zoom Q&A session for students and families to ask questions

Here is our Timeline:

During PRIME Classes on Wednesday, February 9: Course Request Materials will be broadly distributed. The JLS Electives Website, JLS Course Catalog, and Video Instructions on “How To” submit course requests will be shared with all students and posted on Schoology. This information will also be made available for all JLS parents through ParentSquare.
Between February 9 and February 25: School counselors, along with our guidance secretary, will be available to answer questions.
During PRIME Classes on Tuesday, February 15: Teachers will check in with students to remind them about the course request process and answer questions. (Note: Due to the 4-day week, February 14-17, we have a special schedule.)
5:30-6:20 PM, Wednesday, February 23: Join us for a Family Q&A Zoom about requesting elective courses. JLS counselors, administrators and representatives from JLS electives classes will be available to answer questions.
Friday, February 25: Deadline for submitting a paper copy of the JLS Course Request Form with parent signature.

We look forward to helping our students make this exciting transition to their next grade level as smooth as possible! If you have any questions regarding this process, please reach out to your child’s counselor:

Donna Hankins, 6th Grade Counselor (dhankins@pausd.org)
Arvind Arya, 7th Grade Counselor (aarya@pausd.org)

During our next JLS Community Zoom on Friday, February 4, 2022 at 8:45-9:30 AM we will present this information again, as well as answer any questions.

You can expect more information about this process to come to your ParentSquare account on Wednesday, February 9, 2022.

Thank you

Chris Grierson, JLS Principal (cgrierson@pausd.org)

Transitioning to high school

Please see Important dates for 8th Grade Students and Families in 2022.

Students will be enrolled at their neighborhood high school for 9th Grade. To check your student's neighborhood school, visit PAUSD's school finder website. If, for some reason, you believe your student should attend a different school, please visit the Placement and Transfers Information website (see Transfers Within PAUSD).

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