Jerome School District and Jiffy Lube/Burton Group announce the Excellence in Education recipients for November 2022: Jefferson Elementary School Teacher Sharmy Steele; Jerome Middle School Teacher Jodi Pavkov; and Child Nutrition Department Secretary Francisca Peralta. The Excellence in Education award recognizes the outstanding work by the staff in the district and schools. The Jerome School District Superintendent, along with a committee of representatives from each building, reviews nominations received by staff, parents, students and community members, and then each month selects 1 elementary certified, 1 secondary certified, and 1 classified staff member consisting of para-professionals, maintenance, food service, secretaries, to receive the award. Guidelines for selection are: Recipients must be a current employee of the Jerome School District; for Certified Nominations: recipient must hold a valid Idaho teacher or pupil personnel certificate; for Classified Nominations: recipient must be employed in any non-certified position;  Administrators are not eligible for this recognition; Students, parents, administrators, or fellow staff members may nominate the individual;  The recognition is for those who go above and beyond in making difference in the life of an individual student or lives of a group of students. The Excellence in Education Award recipients for November, 2022 are: 1. Elementary certified recipient: Sharmy Steele . With classroom experience of 2 years, Sharmy is teaching at Jefferson Elementary School but has years of music experience outside of the classroom. She was nominated by a parent with this nomination: Ms. Steele took over the Jefferson music teaching, and had a tough act to follow, she has done amazing things with the kids and their school programs. She makes all the students feel valued and loved. My own daughter who takes a while to warm up to adults, surprised me one day in a local store. She saw Ms. Steele and ran over and enveloped her in a hug, any teacher that creates that kind of connection and warmth and welcome to students, in my book is a great teacher. You can tell she truly cares about students and wants them to become better singers and musicians. Ms. Steele has made an amazing impact on my daughter and her school and that is why I am nominating her for this award. 2. Secondary certified recipient: Jodi Pavkov . As a Jerome Middle School Teacher, Jodi has taught for 25 years with 15 years in Jerome. She was nominated by two middle school teachers, with these comments: Jodi always goes above and beyond to help her students and other staff. She teachers her students how to make decisions, plan events, and speak in front of peers and teachers alike. There is hardly a day that I can't find her well past office hours working in her classroom, or at the very least responding to emails. She always listens to concerns and questions from staff and students and does her best to try and find a solution. She takes initiative when problems arise. I have also seen her reach out to the ELA team and ask for assistance. She is always ready and willing to support other committees, departments, or extracurricular activities (such as sports and drama). Jodi is the English Language Arts department head, teaches 8th grade ELA and leadership classes. She is active in the community and the school. Jodi Pavkov works tirelessly to run a leadership group at Jerome Middle School. She puts countless additional hours into working with her students in order to make sure people are made to feel included and valued at our school. She is often the target of grumbling because you can't please everyone all of the time, yet she smiles and continues making extraordinary efforts to make everyone's school experience positive, inclusive, and fun! 3. Classified staff recipient: Francisca Peralta . As the secretary for the Jerome School District Food Services Department, Francisca has been employed with the district for 7 years. Francisca received the nomination from a co-worker which included this information: Francisca is the rock that stabilizes the Food Service department. She goes above and beyond for our staff, for our customers and day to day in her job. She maintains great professionalism no matter the circumstance all while balancing 3 children and a full-time college workload. It is vastly recognizable that Francisca has stepped up to fulfil her workload as well as assist the Food Service Director while away on maternity leave. Without her outstanding work in our department, Food Service would have several pitfalls. We all know the challenges Food Service has faced this year with changing back to charging for meals but Francisca has powered our department through with grace. Francisca worked through the hardest time in our department with the director out of the office. She has been playing the roll of secretary and director for the past two months, which is the most critical time for the department and not an easy task. We have all seen the bumps in the road but without her those would have been mountains in the road. She has taken work home with her without question. Her family has come second for the past few weeks and I would like to pay it back to her by giving her the recognition she deserves. The Excellence in Education Award program began in 2016 and continues through the 2022-23 school year and has recognized the district’s outstanding teachers and classified staff each month, for a full list of award recipients contact the district office. The Jerome School District presents each recipient a plaque with a $50 gift card provided by Jiffy Lube/Burton Group at the monthly school board meetings.

Hello Parents, JMS Community School has a Parent Assessment we would love you to fill out. We need this information so that we can try to address the barriers and needs of our students and their families. If you filled this out during Parent Teacher Conferences, you do NOT need to fill it out again. It is in English and Spanish. We appreciate your feedback. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc9Uc8hERULEur-HJtllOwPjmzwwy_ERm6SNIHRGMIxiZEaMw/viewform

Horizon Elementary 3rd Graders will be honoring our veterans with a concert, Friday, November 11th at 9:45 a.m. at Horizon Elementary. All families and veterans are invited to join us. We are also collecting donations for the "Magic Valley 9/11 Flag Memorial" to help raise money to purchase Magic Valley's own giant flag to be flown in the canyon each September 11th. Donations will be accepted all week.

GIVING THANKS ENGLISH https://www.smore.com/q6akt SPANISH https://www.smore.com/0ng27

CELEBRATING VETERAN'S DAY AND ALL THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE SERVED TO PROTECT OUR FREEDOMS! ENGLISH https://www.smore.com/yw3hv SPANISH https://www.smore.com/1eukr

Anyone in close contact with a student can nominate them for gifted and talented in the areas of intelligence, creativity, leadership and the fine arts. To nominate a student for gifted and talented, please fill out the nomination form below, including an honest rating and a parent/guardian signature, and return to your student’s school’s main office or email to vanessa.turner@jeromeschools.org . If you are not the parent/guardian and would like to nominate a student, you may email for further instructions. Spanish Nomination Form: English Nomination Form: Upon nomination, data will be collected regarding the student, including rating scales, ISIP/ISAT test scores, and any other artifacts. Students will be prescreened based on this information for further testing. Students who are new to the Jerome School District will be tested using the CogAT in October during regular school hours. Students returning to the Jerome School District will take the same test in March. Once testing is complete, the GATE committee will meet to review all data collected on each student to determine placement into the gifted and talented program. If a student is placed into gifted talented, services will begin immediately.

What is a gifted and talented program? The National Association for Gifted Children defines gifted students as those who “perform – or have the capacity to perform – at higher levels compared to others of the same age, experience, and environment.” In general, programs include both enrichment programs, in which students explore an area of the curriculum in more depth or in a more applied way, and acceleration programs, in which students can study areas of the curriculum that are above their chronological age. While GATE programs offer many benefits to students, they may not be right for every child who qualifies. Parents should consider not just whether a program is academically appropriate for their child but also whether it is a good fit for the child culturally and emotionally. Some children may experience poor academic or social self-esteem, given the perceived or real competitiveness within the program. That can lead to unnecessary stress. Parents should ensure the educators who facilitate (gifted and talented) programs understand both the content as well as the social and emotional needs of the students in the program. Families should not be discouraged if a child is tested but doesn’t make the cut. It’s not a death sentence if you’re not gifted, and it’s not the golden goose if you are. For more information please see the National Association of Gifted Children’s FAQ page. https://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/resources/frequently-asked-questions-about-gifted-education Why was my student selected for this screening? The Gifted and Talented coordinator reviews testing data for students in the top 10% of their class to be tested. The coordinator will also ask teachers to make nominations based on their classroom observations for leadership, creativity, and the fine arts. What does the gifted program consist of? For the 2022-2023 school year, student in the gifted and talented program will be given enrichment resources and encouraged to pursue passion projects or new interests. The Gifted Coordinator will push into classes as needed to help with this. Teachers will also provide differentiation to ensure gifted students are being challenged, with help from the coordinator. Will gifted and talented interfere with my child’s participation in the dual immersion program? No, the gifted program will not interfere with the dual immersion program. Students in DI can still be tested and placed into the gifted program without any change to their class. How long will my child be part of gifted and talented if they qualify? Students who qualify for gifted and talented typically stay in the program through graduation from high school. The student’s success is of course priority, and will be monitored to ensure the program continues to be beneficial for the student. Retesting/qualifying each year is not necessary. In the case of a struggling student, a furlough can be granted, or if needed, the student can be exited from the program. What score does my child need to be accepted into the gifted and talented program? Jerome School District is looking for the top 5% of students to be a part of the gifted program. One test score above the 95%ile would not necessarily qualify a student however, as the GATE committee will be looking at the student’s overall performance to determine placement, and whether it is right for the student in question.

Next week is Red Ribbon Week! This year we are focusing on the healthy habits that help us steer clear of drugs. Dress-Up Days: Monday: Pajama Day - It’s easier to steer clear of drugs if you’re taking good care of yourself. Wear your school appropriate cozy pajamas and create chalk art of your self-care ideas and healthy habits during lunch. Tuesday: Team up against drugs - Wear your work out clothes and/or your favorite jersey. Join us for a game of kick ball at lunch. Wednesday: Futures, Friends and Finding yourself. Wear swag from your favorite college. Teachers and staff will join you for lunch to share about their college experiences. Thursday: Superhero Day Superheros aren’t afraid to be kind to everyone, even people they don’t know. Make new friends outside at lunch through a scavenger hunt. Those who finish get a candy! Friday: Scare Away Drugs! Wear your school appropriate Halloween costumes! Dance to follow after school.

THE AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM STARTS TODAY!! JMS is so excited to announce the After-School Program will be starting back up. This is a great opportunity to get caught up on classes before the end of the semester. This will be held in room 121 from 3:10pm-4:10pm.

Did you know that children can suffer academically if they miss 10 percent of school days? That’s just a couple of days each month. Absences add up, whether they’re excused or unexcused. Let’s work together to help all kids attend today so they can achieve tomorrow. #schooleveryday #JMSCommunitySchool