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 . Tips for Communicating With Your Teen The teenage years have a lot in common with the terrible twos. During both stages our kids are doing exciting new things, but they’re also pushing boundaries (and buttons) and throwing tantrums. The major developmental task facing both age groups is also the same: kids must pull away from parents and begin to assert their own independence. No wonder they sometimes act as if they think they’re the center of the universe. Click the link to learn more about tips that help you communicate with your teen.

8th Grade Parent / Guardians,  Later on this month, on Thursday, October 29, all 8th Graders will attend the annual Career Spark Expo at the Peoria Civic Center. This interactive, hands-on experience will provide our students with opportunities to learn about dozens of careers in a variety of fields. This event is sponsored by the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council and Junior Achievement of Central Illinois.  Students will be bused from MJHS to the Civic Center and will be gone from the building from 11:00am-2:00pm.  Students will be eating their lunches (hot or cold) before leaving the junior high for the event.   If for some reason you prefer your student not attend, please contact me. We are looking forward to once again attending this event! Chris Carter Principal

Dear Morton Junior High School Families, Illinois School Code (School Safety Drill Act) requires that all schools prepare and practice for a full school evacuation as part of their school drill procedures. Throughout the school year, we practice drills for a variety of purposes.  We conduct annual fire drills, severe weather drills, and bus evacuation drills.  Schools are also required to work in collaboration with local law enforcement to plan and practice a full scale evacuation drill. This fall, MJHS will be participating in a full school evacuation drill in collaboration with the Morton Police Department.  This drill will take place on Tuesday, October 20 at approximately 8:15am.  We anticipate that the drill will last less than two hours from beginning to end.  Upon returning to school, students will go about their day with an adjusted class schedule.   Every student, teacher, and staff member (with the exception of certain school office personnel...

 Parents and Guardians,  We are going to try again tomorrow to conduct our 14th annual Help-a-Thon.  We appreciate everyone’s flexibility with our flip-flopping HAT with Leadership Academy.   Currently , the forecast looks promising.   We are so grateful (and fortunate) that only two locations could not accommodate our schedule change. And we picked up another.   These changes will be communicated with the students tomorrow morning.  Please remind your student to wear his/her HAT t-shirt.  Chris Carter Principal  BTW - Our latest count of pledges places us over $40,000.  Thank you so much for your generosity and support.  

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 .   Benefits of Family Dinners Our belief in the “magic” of family dinners is grounded in research on the physical, mental and emotional benefits of regular family meals. Over three decades of research have shown that regular family meals offer a wide variety of physical, social-emotional and academic benefits. While some of these benefits can be gained through other activities, eating together is the only single activity that is known to provide all of them at the same time. Click here to learn more about the benefits of family dinners - be sure to scroll down and watch the video! 

  Parents / Guardians,  The 2026 Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled from 8:00a-7:00p on Thursday, October 22 & 8:00a to 12:00p on Friday, October 23.     Listed below are TWO DIFFERENT OPTIONS parents can select from when considering what best works for each individual family’s schedule and needs.  OPTION #1 - EMAIL:  I would like an email synopsis from my student’s TEAM of teachers. This will be sent out by Friday, October 23  The deadline to request this is Tuesday, October 20     Click HERE to fill out form OPTIONAL #2 - IN-PERSON CONFERENCE:  I would like to meet IN-PERSON for a 15-minute conference with my student’s TEAM of teachers.  Click the Sign Up link below to sign up for an IN-PERSON conference Select the TEAM your student is on from the tabs at the TOP of the PAGE (very important) Select conference time IN-PERSON Parent-Teacher Conference Sign Up To meet with Music, PE, or Encore teachers...

  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 . You Won’t Know Unless You Go In this episode, we discuss when young people say, “I don’t want to go” or “I’m not going to miss anything,” and how should caregivers respond? We explore the value of encouraging children to show up even when they feel hesitant. We discuss the opportunities young people can discover when they step outside their comfort zone from forming relationships and exploring future careers to learning that they can do hard things, sometimes simply being in the room can make all the difference. We hope you enjoy the episode. Click here to listen to the podcast about encouraging kids to show up .