Greetings Margaret Mead Community,
Please see below for information about Fostering Academic Achievement and Creating a Positive Culture as our standards of success at Mead.
Fostering Academic Achievement
Conferences: The portal to sign up for conferences is now open until Wednesday, November 20 at 12:00 pm. School District 54 is making it easier than ever for families to schedule conferences with teachers. We’ve partnered with “PTC Wizard” to provide a mobile-friendly and easy-to-use system that creates a simple and streamlined scheduling experience. To login and schedule a conference, please visit HERE and enter your Infinite Campus Parent Portal Username and Password. The system will show you options for all the students in your household after you login. Once you’re in the system, you’ll be able to select your student’s teacher(s) and your preferred dates and times. After you confirm the date and time, please select In-Person or Virtual conference. If you are having trouble finding the In-Person/Virtual selection button, please refer to the help guide below. If you select virtual, your conference will occur over Zoom. To request a translator for your conference, please type in “translator” and the preferred language in the comment box during the confirmation step. If you would like to change or delete any scheduled conferences, you can do so by logging in again with the same information. We encourage you to bookmark the website HERE on your phone, tablet, or desktop to review and to make any changes if you should have any. For more detailed information on how to login and navigate the site, please view our guide below. If you have any questions, please call our Front Office at 847-357-6000 or email Mrs. Marlega at [email protected]
The schedule for conferences is below:
- November 25:
- 11:00 am-5:00 pm: Conference (in-person or Zoom)
- 5:00-5:30 pm: Dinner break
- 5:30-7:00 pm: Conferences (in-person or Zoom)
- November 26:
- 7:30-9:00 am: Conferences (in-person or Zoom)
- 9:00 am: Happy Thanksgiving!
We look forward to connecting with you at our parent-teacher conferences today and tomorrow. Our goal for conferences is to increase our collaborative relationship between home and school with the common goal of ensuring your student’s success. Please see below for reminders for your visit:
- Please make sure your student attends the conference with you.
- When arriving for conferences, please come to Door 1 (our main entrance) and our front office staff will let you in to proceed to your conference location.
- While at Mead, please visit our “lost and found” table by Door 2 to see if you can locate items your student potentially lost at Mead!
- Our Creation Studio will also be open for coffee/refreshments as a place to unwind between your conference times. Our PTA will also have an informational table in the Creation Studio and we will be selling novels that your student will be able to use during their Language Arts class in upcoming units.
- If you were unable to sign up for a conference with a particular teacher, then you can email the teacher and they will reach out to you to update you on your student’s progress (please note that teachers will have full schedules and will not be available for “drop-in” conferences on Monday or Tuesday)
Whole Child Report Cards: The first trimester Whole Child Report Cards will be available on Monday, November 18 online in the District 54 Parent Portal. You can also quickly access report cards by visiting families.sd54.org and logging in using your portal password. We hope that all families will check the report cards and use the information to celebrate with their children their academic successes. I am very proud of our students. If you don’t remember your password or you have not previously logged on to the portal, please contact [email protected] or (847) 357-5110.
VFW Award Winners: We would like to congratulate the three finalists in the 2024 VFW Post 9284 Patriot Pen Contest; Chase R., Yashvi P., and Vessy K.! These three students have received invitations to the VFW’s awards night program where the placement winners will be announced. The winners will receive a certificate, a medal, and a monetary scholarship reward. The Veterans of Elk Grove VFW Post 9284 thank all of the students for their entries. Please apply with your entry next year! Also, congratulations to our very own Mr. Fletcher for being named the 2024 VFW Post 9284 Teacher of the Year! Mr. Fletcher is a veteran of the armed services and espouses the values and characteristics required to receive this distinguished award!
Academic Support: If your student requires support with mathematics, language arts, science, or social studies or just help with organization, then please see below on various ways that we provide support at Mead to ensure your student’s success.
- The D54 Infinite Campus Parent Portal provides access for parents and students to information including viewing assignments, attendance, grades, academic schedule, and teacher comments. If you currently do not have a Parent Portal account, please email [email protected] or you can call our front office at 1-847-357-6000 and our secretaries can assist you. If you have previously created a Parent Portal account and cannot recall your username or password, then you can reset them yourself from the parent portal by selecting “forgot password”. You can also pay for optional instructional device insurance through your parent portal account.
- Chromebooks: We use the organizational tools on the Google platform via Chromebook to help develop your student’s organizational skills and learn responsibility. This platform also serves as a communication tool between home and school. Please remind your student to charge their Chromebook nightly and to bring their power cord with them to school every day. For more information about Chromebooks, please click here: What is a Chromebook? In addition, please click on this link: Parent/Community Instructions for Accessing their Child’s Google Calendar for helpful information for you to help your student manage their Google Calendar.
- Mead Homework Website: On a daily basis, you can see what assignments your student has to complete and to see when they have upcoming tests/assessments by visiting our Mead homepage and clicking on our Mead Homework Website—you can click on this LINK to begin using it now. Be sure to bookmark this site to stay up on your student’s assignment list!
- After-School Academic Content Study Halls: Our language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science teachers will be hosting after-school content study halls that will be open to all students who either need academic support from content specialists or just want a quiet place to study with peers at Mead. The study hall schedule will be provided to your student soon—we encourage them to take advantage of these opportunities. Please know that teachers are also available by appointment by emailing your student’s teachers to request extra help either before or after school.
- Class Work/Flex Support Program:Starting soon, if your student has 5 or more missing assignments, then your student will take part in our Class Work Support Program to support their missing assignment completion. The Class Work Support Program includes some or all of the following:
- Weekly missing work notices for students to remind them of outstanding assignments past due.
- An Afterschool Class Work Support Study Hall may be required for your student to attend after-school on Thursday to provide a protected time afterschool to hold them accountable and support them in completing their missing assignments.
- A daily Homework Check-In and Check-Out with a Mead staff member may be required to review a daily homework sheet to support your student’s organization.
Eighth Grade High School Transition: District 211 is in the final stages of updating its comprehensive transition guide for the high school graduating Class of 2029. The transition guide highlights important information for families of current 8th grade students. Each District 211 high school has a unique version of the Class of 2029 Transition Guidebook. When available, electronic copies of each high school’s guidebook are on the District 211 webpage devoted to incoming freshman information. Please contact your student’s prospective high school for more information about the high school transition process:
Creating a Positive Culture
Mead PTA: Please join us for our next PTA meeting on Wednesday, November 13 at Starbucks in Elk Grove Village at 7:00 pm. We have an absolutely amazing and dedicated PTA that works diligently to support our students. Our PTA website will be updated frequently with information about how you can support Mead. The Mead website, PTA website, and our community emails serve as wonderful forms of communication to send out regular updates. Please visit our Mead PTA Facebook page for information including how to join the PTA and how to sign up for volunteer opportunities through our PTA. Thank you to the following wonderful volunteers for giving up time this past week to come and serve our students pizza and hot lunch for the first time this school year:
- 11/13- McTeacher Night: Thank you to the Mead PTA for hosting an upcoming McTeacher Night on Wednesday, November 13 from 4:00-7:00 pm. On this night, if you show the attached flyer and say, “I’m with Mead”, then 20% of sales go to the Mead PTA! Mr. Ross, Mr. Csuk, and several other Mead staff members will be at Mead during the McTeacher Night to serve our Mustangs and their families their dinners! We look forward to a strong Mead Made turnout at the McDonalds on Meacham and Nerge Roads on this night!
- Donuts with Grownups: We are excited to invite the special grownups in our students’ lives for our annual Donuts with Grownups on Friday, November 15 from 7:00-7:50 am. At this event, we are inviting our Mustangs to bring an adult in their lives to the Mead gymnasium for a light breakfast in the Mead Gymnasium. At 7:30 am, the Mustangs will take their special adult to their 1st period class to watch the morning announcements on Mead TV. Mustangs and their special adult will enter through Door 5. All visitors on this day are encourage to bring the following items to donate to our soldiers overseas to celebrate Veteran’s Day: Toothpaste, Floss, Deodorant, Shaving cream, Mouthwash, Body wash, and Shampoo
- Volunteers Needed:
- We need volunteers to serve our students hot lunch—if you are interested, then please sign up HERE. If you have any questions, the please email the PTA Hot Lunch Team at [email protected]
- If you are interested in volunteering to serve pizza slices on Tuesdays to our students, then sign up HERE and choose the time(s) you prefer!
- Mead Spirit Wear Shop: Thank you to our wonderful Mead PTA for facilitating our Mead Spirit Wear Shop! To access the online shop, please click on this LINK and shop away–the spirit wear shop is open 24 hours a day 365 days a year! Once you have placed your order, your items will be delivered to Mead JH. For current Mead students, we will send your ordered items home with your Mustang. A portion of the purchase will support the Mead PTA.
Winter Coats: If your student is in need of a winter coat, then please contact our front office to get connected with one of our Guidance Department members with your name and preferred size.
Boys Basketball/Cheer/Poms: Boys basketball, cheer, and poms play/perform on 11/12 vs. Keller, 11/14 @ Addams, 11/18 @ South, 11/21 @ Frost, 12/3 vs. Eisenhower, 12/5 @ Keller, 12/9 vs. Addams, 12/10 vs. Lincoln Prairie, 12/13, 12/16, & 12/17 @ D54 Conference Tournament. Good luck, Mustangs!
Clubs/Intramural Sports: Please encourage your student to get involved in these upcoming offerings: Tennis Club, Soccer, and Mead TV. Please visit our Clubs and Intramural Sports page on our website for more information and downloadable permission slips for these clubs and intramural sports!
Upcoming Dates:
- Friday, November 15: Mead PTA “Donuts with Grownups”
- Wednesday, November 20: Choir Concert
- Monday, November 25 and Tuesday, November 26: Conferences
- Wednesday, November 27 through Friday, November 29: Thanksgiving Break
- Monday, December 2-Wednesday, December 4: Winter MAP-mathematics test
- Monday, December 2: Band Concert
- Wednesday, December 4-Thursday, December 5: Winter MAP-ELA test
- Wednesday, December 11: Orchestra Concert
- Friday, December 20: Staff vs. Student Basketball Game
- December 21-January 5: Winter Break
- January 6: School resumes
- January 20: No school
Please visit our Mead JHS Website for the building calendar. Don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and watch our YouTube Channel to stay updated with the latest news and information about the great things happening at Mead. As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your continued support and commitment to ensuring your student’s educational success.
Have a great week,
Scott
Mead Junior High