Mandarino Minutes: Mandarino Minutes for 9-9-22

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Happy New Year! -

Welcome back to the 2022-2023 school year! We hope that the first week of school has gone well for your children! We have loved building relationships with them this week!

*Please read the blog weekly! This is updated every Friday. And check out our school website at: https://sjschools.org/upton-middle-school

Have a great school year and see you Tuesday evening!

Back to School Night this Tuesday-

This Tuesday, September 13th will be Back to School Night beginning at 6:30 PM. You will report to your son/daughter's first hour class. Their homework that night will be to tell you who that 1st hour teacher is and the room number. We will have students in the hallway to help direct you as well. We look forward to you getting a taste of their schedules and a chance to meet the teachers.

1st Late Start Wednesday-

Next Wednesday, September 14th is our 1st late start of the school year. As a reminder, school begins at 8:45 am. Buses run on an hour delay. The school will open at 8:15 am. Breakfast will also be available beginning at 8:15 am.

Parent Portal for PowerSchool-

If you have not set up your Parent Portal in PowerSchool yet, please do that by following the instructions at:

https://sjschools.org/parent-portal-by-powerschool-piv

Picture Day for Those Not at Start-Up Day-

If your daughter/son missed start-up day we will be having our next round of pictures on Wednesday, September 28th.

Media Center after school-

The media center will be open after school beginning Monday, September 12th, until 3:30pm . Your child is allowed to go to the media center to work quietly on homework or read.

Attendance Calls-

If your child will be absent from school, please call the attendance line at 269-926-3400, option 1. This line is open 24 hours a day. We ask that you call by 9:00am if your child will be absent. Make sure you leave your name, your child’s name and reason for the absence. If your child is ill, please list symptoms of illness.

Cyber Safety Talk-

We will have a Cyber Safety Talk with students on Thursday, September 15th. This will be presented by the Berrien County Prosecutor's office and the Berrien County Sheriff's department. We feel this is very important information for our students to hear.

Washington DC Parent Meeting

(8th grade parents only)-

There will be a Washington DC 2023 trip meeting on Wednesday, September 14th at 7pm. This is for families that are NOT signed up yet but interested in attending the trip. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Catania at jcatania@sjschools.org.

Message from our Superintendent-

Dear SJPS Families,

On Monday, September 12, 2022 beginning at 3:00 p.m., the Berrien County Emergency Management Department will conduct a test of the wireless emergency alert (WEA) system in parts of the city of St. Joseph and in Benton Harbor. This alert will sound automatically sometime between 3:00 - 3:15 p.m. on September 12, 2022. The automatic alert sounds similar to an Amber Alert.

Individuals with cellular devices, with enabled emergency alerts, and who are within or near the designated targeted testing zone will hear an emergency alert sound from their device and see the following message displayed on their device:

“TEST. Go to https://www.fcc.gov/wea to provide feedback on your receipt of this test.”

Although there are no SJPS facilities located within the targeted testing zone, students may be traveling from school to locations that reside within or near the targeted testing zone, including students riding SJPS buses. In addition, it is possible that the WEA test could occur on devices of individuals who are located outside of the targeted testing zone. We recommend communicating with your child about the WEA test in advance so that they are not alarmed if alerts were to sound from their or another individual’s device.

Additional information about the test of the wireless emergency alert system can be found HERE, including a map of the targeted testing area, a video about the WEA system, an explanation of the purpose of the test, and other details regarding the test of the system. The Berrien County Emergency Management Team encourages adults receiving the alert to complete the survey to provide feedback on their experience with the WEA test.

Automatic emergency alerts can be disabled in a cellular device within the settings app of the device. If you or your child do not want to receive the test alert or any automatic emergency alerts, the alerts must be disabled prior to the time of testing.

Sincerely,

Jenny Fee

Transportation & Bus Questions-

If you are still wanting to sign your child up to ride the bus, please contact the transportation department at 269-926-3900.

Upton Athletics-

Upton Fall athletic schedules are located on the Upton website at:

https://sjschools.org/upton-athletics-overview/schedules

2022-2023 Meal Update from SJPS Food Service Department

The waivers for free breakfast and lunch ended on June 30, 2022. What this means for St. Joseph Public School families is that your student(s) will start being charged for breakfast and

lunch.Breakfast will be offered daily in all our school cafeterias. Breakfast is $2.25 at Upton. Breakfast meal consists of entrée choice, fruit choice and milk.

Lunch will also be offered on full school days in all cafeterias. Student lunch prices are $3.00 for Upton & High School. Lunch meal consists of entrée choice, vegetable, fruit, and milk. All school menus will be posted on your Upton's website. Menus are subject to change without notice.

Ala carte items will be available for purchase at Upton Middle School and SJPS High School. Prices for these items will be available at these cafeterias. Students at all schools may

purchase ala carte milk for $0.75. Students are not allowed to charge any ala carte items at any time. Please see the SJPS charging policy on the district website for more details. We

recommend having funds deposited into your student’s lunch account in advance. This can be done by sending cash or check with your student to school in an envelope labeled with student

name. Collection and deposits will be made daily into accounts. Parents also can pay online with debit/credit card by creating an account at http://stjosephmi.familyportal.cloud. We strongly encourage parents to fill out a free and reduced application if they feel they will qualify. These applications are available

for pick up at Upton and are also available online at:

http://stjosephmi.familyportal.cloud. This new site that will allow you to fill out a free and reduced application, check lunch

account balances, make deposits, and more, all on one site! It is very user-friendly and there are short tutorials to walk you through the process. If you have used sendmoneytoschool.com inthe past, your information will transfer over once you have set up an account. Use the link above.

Breakfast and lunch are an important part of your child’s day, and we strive to make it nutritious and fun. If you have any questions please call or email Demrhy Youngquist at 269-926-3127 or dyoungquist@sjschools.org and I will be happy to help you.

Yearbook-

To place an order for a yearbook, you need to do that on the following website:

Website: yearbookordercenter.com

Upton code: 40020

Deadline for the $30 with a name stamp is 9/22. After that it will increase as time goes on. More information will be coming on this. If you have any questions, please email Mrs. Byerle at Mbyerle@sjschools.org.

Upton Twitter account-

We have a twitter account at Upton Middle School this year that you can follow. Here is the link:

https://twitter.com/SJUptonBears

Upton Bears Student Credit Union Information-

Below is the link for a short video regarding our Upton Bears Student Credit Union. There will be a table set up during Back to School Night on 9/13 with information for parents about Upton Bears SCU.

https://youtu.be/5ZNOXlyavKo