Morton Junior High School News and Notes

  Each week the counseling department will send out an article, podcast, or video designed to connect you with insights about technology, emotional health, or career pathways related to your teen. Click here to  learn more about the MJHS counseling team .   5 Tips to Reduce Test Anxiety in Children  It's the big test day at school, and your child is  tense, shaky, and complaining  of a stomachache. There’s a name for that: “test anxiety.” Unfortunately, with the increasing prevalence of standardized testing, test anxiety is also on the rise. Most students say that they’re more stressed by schoolwork and tests than by anything else in their lives. 16-20% of students have high test anxiety, and another 18% have moderately high test anxiety. Test anxiety increases mistakes, reduces reasoning and working memory, creates confusion, and lowers test scores. More importantly, it’s harmful to the well-being of our children. With the average American student in publi...

  Parents & Guardians, We will begin our annual standardized testing at the end of this month.  Both the 7th and 8th Grades take the IAR ( Illinois Assessment of Readiness ). The 8th Grade will also take the PreACT 8/9 and the ISA ( Illinois Science Assessment ). These tests provide much-needed insight into how our students are progressing and, in turn, are ready for high school.  This data also helps us evaluate our curriculum, programming, and instructional strategies.  Testing Schedule : -  7th Grade IAR - Mon.-Tue., Mar. 24-25 & Wed-Fri., Apr. 8-10; 8:00-10:15 (one test per day) -  8th Grade IAR - Mon.-Tue., Mar. 24-25 & Wed-Fri., Apr. 8-10; 10:20-12:20 (one test per day) -  8th Grade PreACT 8/9 - Mon., Apr. 13; 8:15-12:00 -  8th Grade ISA - Tue., Apr. 14; 8:15-11:30 & 1:30-3:00 Here are some testing reminders that are critical to our students: Please send WIRED headphones with your students.   AirPod-style wireless ear...

Parents and Guardians,  I’m not trying to startle you, but this email is being sent because your student will be starting high school in the fall!  Since you have already started the course registration process, this probably isn’t much of a surprise!    Please take a few moments to read this letter from our health office. It contains information and details about the State of Illinois Health Record Requirements.  We wanted to share this early to provide time to schedule appointments.  Chris Carter Principal  

Parents & Guardians,  This is just a reminder about the 5Essentials survey we are required to give by the Illinois State Board of Education. In order for us to see the data from the survey, we must have a minimum of 20% of our families respond.  Currently, we are close at 17%.  Please consider taking a few minutes to tell us what you think.  Once we hit 20%, I will stop bothering you!  The survey closes on March 13. Survey link :   http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent/ Privacy Policy :   https://survey.5-essentials.org/privacy/   ISBE Info :  https://www.isbe.net/Pages/5Essentials-Survey.aspx   Thanks so much! Chris Carter Principal

White Team Parents/Guardians,  Each year, the Red & White Club (PTO) coordinates “teacher appreciation” breakfast/snacks/lunch for the staff on or around the first Monday of each month.  Instead of asking all parents each month to consider contributing, we ask one team’s parents each month.  For November, we are asking the 7th Grade’s White Team parents. Please consider donating to this committee for Monday, November 3. This month theme is deli sandwiches.      Here is the link to this month’s sign-up.   Link:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4AA5AF2DAAFBC43-60008558-monday#/   Thank you, Chris Carter Principal

  Each week the counseling department will send out an article, podcast, or video designed to connect you with insights about technology, emotional health, or career pathways related to your teen. Click here to  learn more about the MJHS counseling team . High School is Too Late to Start the Career Conversation Why Middle School: Challenging an Outdated Paradigm with a New Approach The model has remained steady for decades: wait until kids are juniors or seniors in high school to get them thinking seriously about what education-to-career pathways they may want to pursue after graduation. But let’s put ourselves in the shoes of a high school upperclassman for a moment. You have one or two years to make a decision that will alter the course of the rest of your life. You have only a vague idea of the number and variety of career paths that exist. You’re likely being told that a four-year college degree is the only means to a successful and fulfilling career after graduation. And ...