Jackson students return to school

Classes resumed today, Sept. 2, for approximately 9,700 students in the Jackson School District. Administrators said the total enrollment in the K-12 district is about the same as in 2009-10.

“The beginning of the school year is always very exciting for us and for the students,” Jackson Superintendent of Schools Thomas Gialanella said. “For the students, it is a new beginning and a chance to start fresh in a new school year. For the staff, it is a chance to bring them along the continuum of instruction we have designed for them, to bring them one step further toward preparing them for the real world.”

This year the district is making an allout effort to go green and to help the environment. As part of a continuing effort to save money, conserve natural resources and increase efficiency, the district is changing the way students, staff and parents will be thinking about paper, printing and energy, administrators said.

The e-Backpack is one part of those plans, and administrators said great strides have recently been made to implement district wide energy-saving practices and to reduce, reuse and recycle.

This year the district is taking even bigger steps by using technology as a tool to increase parental involvement and awareness while decreasing costs. On Aug. 17 the district mailed letters to parents with new log-ins and passwords for tools that can help parents get and stay connected.

Logging in to the Portal and Parentlink systems is the way that parents will view their child’s schedule, teacher assignment, interim reports and report cards. The information was not mailed to students’ homes.

Parents are being asked to make certain that the district has an email address (or addresses) where electronic notifications may be sent.

Parents who do not have Internet access should contact their child’s school so they can receive important information in a different way.

“We are really hoping our parents work together with us to help strengthen this home-school connection,” Gialanella said. “In the end, it will be the students who benefit.”

In other news, the district will be instituting a $50 participation fee for sports (fee applies to each sports season) and a $25 participation fee for other activities (fee applies to each activity). Those fees will be capped at $250 per family per year, according to the district.

The following clubs at Jackson Memorial and Jackson Liberty high schools require a fee: Art Club, chorus, color guard, Drama Club, FBLA, Interact Club, jazz band, Key Club, the literary magazine, marching band, Math League, percussion, school newspaper, school musical, Spirit Band, stage crew, Science League, weightlifting, woodwind choir, World Language Club, and yearbook.

The following clubs at the McAuliffe and Goetz middle schools require a fee: Builders Club, Drama Club, Spirit Band, FBLA, Math League, newspaper and yearbook.

Three schools in Jackson have new principals this year.

At Jackson Memorial High School, Kevin DiEugenio is the new principal. He was previously the principal at the McAuliffe Middle School. DiEugenio succeeds Tony Gaita, who retired.

At the McAuliffe Middle School, Robert Rotante is the new principal. He was formerly the principal at the Crawford-Rodriguez Elementary School.

Adriann Jean-Denis is the new principal at the Crawford-Rodriguez Elementary School.

For more information, visit the Internet website at www.jacksonsd.org.

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