May 18, 2020

Dear Madison Community,

We will be holding our April PTSA meeting via Zoom TONIGHT on Monday, May 18th at 7pm.  Our Principal Greg Hood, Director of Student Services Tim Buckley, administrators, teachers, parents and students are invited to share information and ideas.  We will also be presenting the PTSA slate for 2020-2021.  The meeting ID is 883 4329 5423.  Password is 815617.    We will be voting on our 2020-2021 Executive Board at tonight's virtual meeting.  Our proposed slate is below and further information on our candidates is available on our PTSA website.  Thank you to our nominating committee members: Elizabeth Copeland, Shelly Koshuta and Sarah Helmicki. President: Christopher Lande Vice President: Sonya Marsden Vice President: Beth Eachus Treasurer: Tarah Weaver Secretary: Sarah Lundquist If you are interested in becoming more involved in the PTSA in any way, as always, please contact PTSA President Beth Eachus at president@jmhsptsa.org.

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The PTSA kicked off our annual JMHS Triple I Awards! In 2002, a JMHS parent, Maria Coyle, developed a teacher and staff recognition award titled the Triple I Award. “Triple I” stands for Innovate-Instruct-Impact and the awards are designed to acknowledge the teachers that have been exceptional educators in the eye of their peers, their students, and the students’ parents. Nominations are being accepted now through May 22nd for this year’s awards. Nomination Form here. DUE MAY 22, 2020 (If you have questions contact 1stvicepresident@jmhsptsa.org) Please take this time to say thank you and let the teachers and staff know that you appreciate everything they do.  One idea might be to email a letter, card, poem, video, or message of appreciation.  Every day is a great day to thank a teacher!

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And thank you for the many, many donations that have been made to the Madison Pantry!   At this time, if you want to support our Madison students and their families, we recommend making a Food Bank donation to our Madison Pantry at the following link: https://jmhsptsa.org/jmhs-food-pantry/.   We are a 501c3 and the funds are most flexible to address the needs of our families in this ever-changing situation.  We are distributing grocery gift cards weekly to our students in need and their families.  

Huge thanks to Caboose Commons for providing fresh food to some of our Madison families who are food insecure.  We have been able to provide grocery gift cards and some nonperishable items but the milk, eggs, produce, ground beef and toilet paper are so greatly appreciated!  Please support the Caboose's efforts to care for those in our community who need our help.  (note: please select Grocery Delivery; Takeout; Community Donations to purchase food for our Madison families in need)

We are also working very closely with the Vienna Student Food Initiative, a partnership with BELONG!, Christ Church Vienna, First Baptist Church of Vienna, Vienna Presbyterian Church, Vienna Baptist Church, and Madison PTSA in direct coordination with the administration and social workers at schools in the Madison High School Pyramid. Thoreau Middle School in Vienna is a Grab and Go locations and our Madison students and families can receive food at that location as well.  Both breakfast and lunch are available for pick up between 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.  The food is FREE for anyone 18 and younger and $2 for adults over 18.  Any child qualifies. Thank you for your caring and continued support!    

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Our PTSA partner Educational Connections is hosting virtual mock SAT and ACT tests.  If any JMHS student would like to participate in a free virtual mock test on May 23, 30 or Jun 6, please go to this link.  The code is TPCLIENT for the free test.  A practice test serves two purposes: • It provides a baseline score so that students understand their natural strengths and weaknesses. • It provides practice with content, pacing, and stamina in a simulated testing environment. To get the most accurate results, Educational Connections only uses official full-length tests published by the College Board and the ACT.  

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Teen Mental Health Discussion

It is hard enough for families to know what is typical teen behavior and what is cause for concern without pandemic conditions. The range of reactions and how teens are coping with this current situation is broad and often new. Join the Eric Monday Foundation for an online discussion entitled “Navigating Teens and Mental Health Concerns During Times of Uncertainty.” This lunchtime discussion will be held this Wednesday, May 20 at 12:00 noon, led by Eileen Long-Farias, a psychotherapist at the Integrated Psychotherapy Institute and Director of Education at The Women’s Center, and Shirley Clark, former CEO of The Women’s Center. Advance registration is required.

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Senior Survey: This was emailed to all seniors and needs to be completed by every senior. This is the only official means to let Madison know what our students’ plans are for next year which includes getting their final transcript sent to the college of their choice. This also lets us comprise the information on college admissions which is vital for all future students. The survey can also be found in the Student Services 2020 Google Classroom. The JMHS PTSA is still selling Senior 2020 Yard signs, please click here: ANG- scroll down until you see the Lawn Sign link to  purchase a sign and it should be delivered it to your home within a week!  

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Fairfax County Government provides a parent support line and will begin hosting an online Parent Café on Monday evenings, where parents can connect with each other to process through and share different strategies for managing schedules, stress, children’s distance learning, and other concerns. The Parent Café will be held on Monday evenings from 7:30-8:30 pm over Zoom conferencing software. Further details about parent support services and the Parent Café are available here.

Be well and be safe and thank you for always supporting our Madison community!

And, please, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at president@jmhsptsa.org.  

Beth Eachus

PTSA President