Joyce Clark Middle School

Dear Families, Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Trunk or Treat event last night! We truly enjoyed seeing all the little monsters, goblins, and princesses of every size. It was a wonderful evening filled with laughter and community. We’d also like to extend our appreciation to the families who continue working closely with JCMS to promote responsibility with their teenagers. The majority of our students are doing a fantastic job carrying their school IDs each day, and it truly makes life easier at JCMS! • Picture Day ran smoothly thanks to those who had their IDs on hand. • Lunch and bus dismissal are faster and more organized. • Most importantly, IDs help us ensure every student is safe, accounted for, and easily identifiable for security purposes. A little housekeeping: • Students without an ID need to purchase one for $5 in the front office. • If an ID is not scanning or working properly, students should come to the front office during lunchtime or after school so we can troubleshoot the issue. • Please remind your student that they must have their ID to ride the bus. Students who forget or misplace their ID will not be allowed to board. Additionally, students should remain in their designated bus lines; many have missed their buses because they are distracted by their phones or chatting with friends. Thank you for your continued support and partnership in helping our Coyotes stay respectful, responsible, safe, and ready to learn each day! Warm regards, Principal Paz, JCMS

💜 🎨🎃 JCMS has talent! 🎃🎨💜 Check out these incredible artists! Mrs. H, our amazing Dean of Students, kicked off a “Decorate Your Pumpkin” contest, and some of the designs are absolutely extraordinary! We love seeing our students’ creativity shine. Enjoy these masterpieces!

💜Please come out to support our JCMS PTSO. Every little bit helps 💜

🐘 DON'T FORGET🐘 📷 PICTURE DAY 📷 💜Tuesday, 10/28 💜

🎉 Spirit & Red Ribbon Week 🎉 Let’s show our Coyote pride and commitment to staying drug-free all week long! Monday, 10/27: “Our Pack Stays Drug-Free!” 🐾 Wear your Coyote gear or purple to show your pride! Tuesday, 10/28: “Picture a Drug-Free Future!” 📸 Dress your best for Picture Day! Wednesday, 10/29: “Stay Hidden from Drugs!” 🕵️ Wear camo or dress like a spy to stay undercover! Thursday, 10/30: “Follow Your Dreams and Stay Drug-Free!” 😴 Come cozy in your pajamas!

On Friday, October 24th, we hosted a school-wide Rock, Paper, Scissors (RPS) Tournament as our Quarter 2 PBIS Booster event! Students and staff had an absolute blast. Laughter, cheer, & friendly competition filled our campus ! Many students have already asked if we can do it again, and the answer is… ABSOLUTELY! We love having fun just as much as our students do. Honestly, it’s hard to say who’s more competitive! 🤣

Round 2 of Spirit Week for the 25-26 school year. Enjoy Day 1 highlights of TWIN DAY 💜💜

Join us for a special event hosted by our PTSO! 🎉 We’re wrapping up the last day of the Book Fair and collecting canned goods for our community food drive. Bring a can (or two!) to help support our students and local families in need. Enjoy some snacks 😋, good company, and a great cause! Thank you in advance for your support — together, we make a difference! 💜💜💜

In one week, JCMS will be hosting a Trunk or Treat Car and Bike show! Wednesday, October 29, 4-6 pm. Come and enjoy the fun! See flyer for details.

Dear Parents and Guardians, We have noticed that some students are not moving with a sense of urgency between classes. Many stop to chat or linger, even when encouraged to move along. As a result, some have accumulated an excessive number of tardies, in some cases, over 40, while on campus during first quarter. Quarter 2 will be different. Beginning Monday, October 20, our security team, administration, and law enforcement partners will begin conducting hall sweeps throughout the day. Any student who is not in class when the bell rings will be escorted to the front office and will be required to call their parent or guardian to notify them each time they were late to class. Tardies will be documented throughout the day, every day. Students who accumulate six or more tardies over time will be placed on a Tardy Contract. Consequences will follow our progressive discipline guidelines, which include lunch detention, after school detention, in-house suspension, out-of-school suspension, and finally, removal from an elective. Students removed from an elective will be placed in a life skills class, where they will learn about responsibility, time management, and other habits that support success in school and beyond. We ask for your partnership in reinforcing the importance of punctuality. Please take a moment this weekend to speak with your child and remind them that this policy goes into effect Monday. We understand that many students are doing a great job getting from point A to point B on time, and we truly appreciate their efforts! Four minutes is more than enough time to get across our campus, and we’re helping students build habits that will serve them well at Buena, where the campus is much larger and passing periods are only five minutes. Thank you for your continued support!

Trunk or Treat at JCMS. Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2025 Time: 4:00pm - 6:00pm Come join the fun!!!

Lunch applications were due at the end of September. We did our best to send reminders during registration days and at the beginning of the school year, and we appreciate all parents who submitted their applications on time. However, we still have many outstanding applications. As a result, free and reduced lunch benefits are no longer active in our system for those students. To avoid being charged full price for meals, please submit your lunch application as soon as possible. You may request a paper copy from our office or for faster results, please complete the application online through our District website: svusd68.org

It was a hot summer! Our security guards have been a constant presence on campus, braving the elements daily during morning duty, passing periods, and all the way through dismissal. To show appreciation, Principal Paz gifted our JCMS security team with hats to help protect them from the sun. They were very thankful and will wear them proudly! 💜💜💜

Thank you to all the parents who reached out and confirmed their required parent-teacher conferences. At this time, all available conference slots have been filled. If you would like to schedule a conference for a specific class, please contact that teacher directly, and they will do their best to accommodate you as soon as possible. Thank you!

Dear Coyote Families, We will be holding Parent-Teacher Conferences on Thursday, October 16th, and Friday, October 17th. As a result, students will be released at 12:30 p.m. on both days. Please note that bus riders will arrive approximately 3.5 hours earlier than usual. Some conferences have been requested by teachers, but families are also welcome to schedule a meeting if they wish. To set up a conference, please reach out directly to your child’s teacher(s). We look forward to seeing you and partnering together for your child’s success!

It's Scholastic book fair time-October 22-24! It will be held in the library and will be open 30 minutes before school, during lunch and 30 minutes after school. Set up an eWallet today! Check out our book fair home page for more information and to set up your eWallet. https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/joyceclarkmiddleschool WE NEED VOLUNTEERS TO HELP WITH THE FAIR! If you would like to help us out please click on the link below and fill out the form. https://forms.gle/wA81drmyj3tkWuDK6 Want some delicious pizza or wings? Come to our Vinny's dine-out on Monday, October 27 from 4-8 pm. and support JCMS while you eat!

Dear Coyote Families, We hope you enjoyed a restful and fun Fall Break! We wanted to share an update regarding our recent master schedule adjustment. Our goal was to ensure that our 7th graders were not eating lunch so early in the day and to create a more balanced schedule for all students. In addition, after reviewing data from our recent benchmark assessments, we identified students who would benefit from additional academic support. For some, this meant replacing one elective with a Title I support class to help strengthen foundational skills. Students receiving this extra support will remain in the Title I class through the end of the quarter, unless they show significant improvement before then. We appreciate your continued support and partnership as we work to meet the needs of every student. We’re happy to share that our new schedule was successfully implemented with minimal disruptions. Thank you for being an important part of our Coyote community! If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our office.

📢 Half Day Reminder!

Today is a half day for all SVUSD schools:
✅ Buena releases at 10:30 AM
✅ Elementary schools release at 11:15 AM
✅ JCMS releases at 12:30 PM
✅ Preschool will have its normal afternoon session

🍂 Next week is Fall Break — enjoy the time off!
📅 Classes resume on Tuesday, October 14.

#SVUSD #AchievingExcellenceTogether #FallBreak

💜💜💜Thank you for keeping our school looking great! 💜💜💜 We appreciate you!

Mullets, side pony's, and manes- oh my!