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Espanol
 Dear Jackson Families,
I hope this message finds you well and as excited as we are after a successful first week of the 2024-2025 school year! I am thrilled to share that our students have settled in beautifully, setting the tone for what promises to be an incredible year ahead. Our staff is also settling in, though we find we have markedly less energy than our students seem to and many of us ended our days this week with a well-earned nap!
We are fortunate to have a brand-new team of administrators this year, each bringing a wealth of experience, passion, and enthusiasm for our community. I encourage you to take a moment to read more about each of them in our newsletter below. When you have the chance to meet them, please extend a warm welcome and know that they are here to support your children and our school family throughout your time at LJ.
This week, our assistant principals and dean led Student Rights and Responsibilities assemblies, where we reviewed behavior expectations and norms with all students. These assemblies are a vital part of our school culture, and we hold them twice each year—at the start of the school year and again at the beginning of the second semester. Starting next week, we will begin fully enforcing consequences for behavior infractions, including cell phone use during the day and class tardiness. Please take a moment to talk with your child about the importance of following school rules, being on time for class, and keeping their cell phones put away during the school day. For those students still getting the hang of finding their classrooms, rest assured that we will continue to have adult assistance in the hallways until every student feels comfortable and confident as they navigate our school.
We are excited to launch our Yondr cell phone pilot program on September 3rd. On that day, each student will receive a Yondr pouch through their Advisory class, and they will begin using it immediately to store their cell phones, Earpods, and Earbuds. We ask that all other non-FCPS electronic devices be left at home or stored in backpacks for the entire school day. Your support in discussing these rules with your children is greatly appreciated.
Finally, student laptops will be distributed on August 26th and 27th. Please make sure to review the Fairfax County Public Schools’ Acceptable Use Policy with your child to ensure they understand the expectations for safe and responsible technology use.
Thank you all for your support in making this first week at Jackson one of the most enjoyable and smooth opening weeks in my 16 years of public education service. It has truly been a joy to see our school community come together this week!
Sincerely,
R. Jones
August 30th - September 2nd- Holidays ( Labor Day Break)
October 3rd- Rosh Hashanah- Schools and Offices Closed
When students need to miss school, it is important for parents/guardians to communicate those absences with the school. This can be done by calling the attendance phone line at 703-204-8282 or by using the online reporting form which can be accessed by CLICKING HERE or on our Luther Jackson Middle School website. Please DO NOT report absences through the Talking Points app.
 Hello Luther Jackson Middle School community! My name is Chris Butzer, and I am joining you all this year as an assistant principal at LJMS. This is my first year at Jackson and my 20th year working in education. Prior to working here, I was an assistant principal at Westbriar Elementary School. I also have been an instructional coach and a middle school science teacher throughout my career. I am very excited to join you all at Jackson as I started my career in middle school and really missed working with 7th and 8th grade students during my past few years in elementary school. It has been an awesome start to the school year, and I can’t wait to meet more of our families at upcoming events. Please come say hi and introduce yourself…I would love to meet everyone and learn more about what makes your student(s) special. Please reach out any time you have any questions or concerns. And thank you for our ongoing partnership to support our students.
 Hi Jackson families! I am Raine Bradley, and I am so excited to join the Jackson team as an Assistant Principal this year! I've previously served as a middle and high school assistant principal and SOSA within FCPS. My passion lies in supporting students and seeing my students find success and reach their goals. I can't wait to get to know you all this year and I look forward to working with you!
 My name is Dr. LaKenya Wright, and I am so pleased to join the Jackson community as a permanent assistant principal this year! I previously served as an acting AP at Jackson, and quickly grew to love the community, school, and students. My goal is to ensure each and every one of our students has the support they need to be successful academically and personally. I can't wait to get to know all of you this year and look forward to getting to know you. When I am not at school, I spend my time with my family and my fur babies, Goldie and Oliver. They are the best cats in the world and keep me entertained and energized when I'm not with my students.
 Hello Tigers! My name is Mr. Nicholas Zubieta, and I’m excited to join the Luther Jackson Middle School community as the Director of Student Services. With over 10 years of experience in Fairfax County Public Schools, I’ve supported social emotional and academic programming across multiple schools. I’m passionate about supervising the Student Services Department, Fine Arts Department and AVID program. Through my experience and passion for working in schools, my hope is to continue uplifting our community. I look forward to meeting and collaborating with our students and their families to ensure a positive and successful school year. Let’s make it a great one together!
Thank you to all the families who joined us for Tiger Time on Thursday, 8/15! We had an amazing time connecting with you. If you weren't able to complete the necessary registration forms, please log into ParentVUE and head to the Online Forms tab in the top right corner of the main page. For assistance, feel free to contact our registrar, Ms. Carbajal at smcarbajal@fcps.edu. For address changes, please make sure to come to Student Services to provide appropriate documentation.
The first week of school was a blast, and our students are off to a great start! Our counselors are thrilled to have students back in the building. Please note that counselors are not making elective changes at this time, as students' elective classes are based on their original course selections. Semester-long electives will change beginning January 28th. For any other schedule concerns, please reach out to your student's counselor.
Counselors are assigned by alphabet and your first point of contact for any question or concerns you might have.
The Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology online application portal will open Monday, October 21st, at 4:00PM. Representatives from TJHSST will be giving an information presentation on Tuesday, September 10th, at 2:30PM in the LJMS auditorium. The presentation is approximately 30 minutes with additional time for questions and answers. Both students and parents are invited to attend. No registration is necessary. Please note that students attending this information session will need to sign up for a second after school session if they are not leaving school with a parent after the presentation. Please contact Mr. Tickle at BRTickle@fcps.edu or 703 204 8124 for questions or for help with the application process. For more information, please go to the TJ Admissions webpage at https://www.fcps.edu/tjadmissions.
FCPS has tools to help parents know more about their child’s activity on any FCPS device. These tools are provided at no cost to families by Lightspeed, the school division’s internet content filtering service.
Parents may sign up for a weekly Parent Report, which will provide a list of the top sites your child visited. The report also offers parents the ability to sign up for free access to the Internet Use Parent Portal. Through the portal, parents may pause their child’s access to the internet on their FCPS device during non-school hours.
Learn more about Lightspeed Parent Reports.
Join PTA: The LJMS PTA serves as a bridge between our school's administration, teachers, and parents, fostering a supportive student environment. PTA membership for the new school year is now open, and you are welcome to join and donate online at https://jacksonmspta.org/
Would you like to volunteer for the PTA? Contact president@jacksonmspta.org
PTA Meeting: We are excited to extend a special invitation to you for the upcoming Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) meeting. This meeting is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. before the Back to School Night (BTSN) in the school auditorium on Tuesday, September 17th.
Food Pantry: Did you know that LJMS runs a food pantry in the school to support families in need? Please consider signing up for distributions at
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904084DA8AC2EAA8-ljms2#/
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