From the desk of our principal, Mr. Clifford…

It’s hard to believe that we are a full month into the second semester, but we are off and running. I am so proud of the work taking place in our classrooms. We recently celebrated our first semester achievements, and we had more than 20 students make the honor roll for the first time in their junior high career. I know this isn’t simply a reflection of our efforts here at school, but also an indication of the work taking place at home. I appreciate you reinforcing the importance of hav-ing a good work ethic, self-discipline, and making education a priority.

I want to share with you that our ISTEP window opens up on February 29th and will carry through until spring break. I ask that you avoid scheduling appointments during this time and really prioritize school attendance. I know that the ISTEP test has been a major point of contention, and legitimate con-cerns have been well-documented. However, there is still im-portant information that we pull from the results to guide fu-ture planning and programming. It isn’t the only source of pro-gram data we use for reflection and growth, but it most cer-tainly has its place. High numbers in attendance and partici-pation help me ensure that I have the best picture of what is taking place in our classrooms.

By now you have likely received a few of my “Pirate Post” one calls. With a new endeavor such as this, I welcome any feedback. It is my intention for those calls to provide im-portant reminders, as well as highlight some of the great things taking place at GJHS. However, I do not want them to be lengthy or a waste of time. Let me know what you think and have a great February!

GREENSBURG JR HIGH SCHOOL

505 E. CENTRAL AVE. GREENSBURG, IN 47240 TELEPHONE (812) 663-7523 FAX (812) 663-9425

PRINCIPAL: MR. MATT CLIFFORD ASSIST. PRINCIPAL: MRS. DEBBIE SMITH COUNSELORS: MRS. KARA SCHEIDLER MRS. NICOLE SMITH A.D.: MR. JOHN RIGNEY ASSIST. A.D.: DAN MANUS

GJHS ON THE WEB:

greensburg.k12.in.us

2015-2016 FEBRUARY NEWS

@GJHSPrincipal

Coming Events… FRI, DEC 18 LAST DAY OF 1ST SEMESTER MON, DEC 21-JAN 4 CHRISTMAS BREAK MON, JAN 4 NO SCHOOL PROFESSIONAL DAY TUE, JAN 5 CLASSES RESUME FOR STUDENTS WED, JAN 18 NO SCHOOL; MARTIN LUTHER KING; UNLESS MAKE-UP

The date for the Band, Choir, and Art Spring Festival Concert has changed!!! It is now Tuesday, May 17th! Please put this in

your calendars!

Greensburg Jr. High School is once again partnering with Gleaners Food Bank. The school receives free food each month to help feed families at GJHS who need extra assistance. If you would like to visit our food pantry, located across the street from GJHS, you MUST make an appointment EACH MONTH with either Mrs. Smith or Mrs. Scheidler by calling the school at: 663-7523. You will then pick a time during the designated hours to visit the food pantry. Food Pantry Dates & Times are:

*If school is closed due to inclement weather, then the food pantry will not be available*

Library Media Center NEWS

Remember, the AR quiz list is available on-line at http://www.arbookfind.com/. This makes it easy to utilize the Greensburg-Decatur Co. Public Library’s won-derful selection of books. By checking the AR Book Find-er website, you can quickly determine whether or not there is an AR quiz for the book of your choice.

Parents, you may track your student’s AR reading by signing up for e-mail notification through Renaissance Home Connect. The LMC’s webpage, http://www.greensburg.k12.in.us/gjhs/Library/index.htm, provides a link to Renaissance Home Connect. The Home Connect page gives students and parents a way to track AR progress from any computer with an internet connection. Log-on requires your stu-dent’s GJHS username and password—the same ones used to log-on to a school computer. Users immediately see recent AR activity. The “Email Setup” link at the upper right enables parents to enter up to six E-mail addresses. Once this is enabled, parents receive e-mail notification as soon as their student has taken an AR Quiz. Parents immediately know what quiz was taken and what score was re-ceived!

The LMC homepage also provides links for World Book and In-spire. These sites often provide valuable help with research pro-jects. World Book requires a password which may be obtained here in the LMC. Inspire may require a password if you use a national in-ternet service provider. This password may be obtained by clicking the “About” tab’s “Passwords/Access” option. A temporary pass-word is immediately sent by E-mail. A “permanent” (good for one year) password is then sent to you by mail.

Mrs. Knight

Are you looking for a coat to wear this winter? Check out the GJHS letter jacket. Students need a place to wear their Academ-ic and Sports letters and pins. The school has several in stock and cost is $120.00. XXL and larger sizes may need to be ordered. Jackets for Christmas may need to be ordered by November 20th. Checks should be made payable to GJHS.

The Greensburg Junior High School offers the school letter jacket for $120.00. It is a wool jacket, royal blue and black with a snap button front and the “Greensburg Pirates” logo on the back. Sizes come in small, medi-um, large, XLarge, XXLarge, XXXLarge. The 4XL will be additional $35.00. Many businesses in the area offer a variety of fonts and graphics if you are interested. Several students will have their name, academic and sport letters sewn on the jacket. You may pur-chase the “Year of Graduation” numbers for $7.00/set. If you want the letter jacket as a Christmas gift, you must order by October 20th. Please call the office for more information. Order forms will be available at the office.

Student’s Name __________________________________________

Parent’s Name ___________________________________________

Phone __________________________________________________

Size __________Payment Cash ___________ CK _____________

February 18th 3:30-5:30

March, April, May TBA

G.J.H.S. PARNERS WITH...

GJHS Academic Team

The GJHS Academic team com-

peted in their second conference meet of

the season at Glendale Middle School. The

Math Team, made up of Charlie Pumph-

rey, Eli Anderson, Charlotte Anderson,

Yurika Shiromitsu, and Matthew Stewart

placed first in the conference. GJHS will be

hosting a conference meet on Saturday, January 16, 2015.

EAT SCHOOL BREAKFAST!

Breakfast price

$1.30

Breakfast served on

2 hr. delay morn-

ings

Your body needs FUEL

to keep it working well throughout the day!

Breakfast served

7:30-7:50 am

GJHS Archery 2015-2016 News The 20115-2016 GJHS Ar-chery Team is the highest scoring team in GJHS his-tory! The team scored a 3256 at the 2016 NASP State Qualifier on Friday, January 15. The archers are anxiously awaiting confirmation on the 2016 NASP State Tournament.

Great job, Pirate Archers! The next Archery competition will be at the Sweetheart Shoot on Saturday, Feb. 13, at the Greensburg High School.

AND, they are super smart: TEAM AVERAGE 3.6 GPA after 1st semester grading period. Woohoo! For GJHS Archery information, please contact Darci Kovacich: dkovacich@greensburg.k12.in.us

Yearbook order forms will be passed out today during

4th period. You may order online at "Lifetouch" or you

may return order form to the office. The cost is $17.

Checks should be made payable to Lifetouch. Orders

are not due until Feb. 26. Extra order forms are availa-

ble in the black tower by the office.

Greensburg Jr. High School Free Clothing/Toy Drive December 2015 This year in a combined effort with the Greensburg School Staff, parents, friends and family, we had our largest clothing/toy drive ever. We moved the location to the school’s auxiliary gym to help accommodate all the wonderful donations. Each year the school sends letters to families that are less for-tunate, unemployed, or who have a hard time making ends meet. Many people donated gently used clothing, shoes, toys, household items, and coats. The toys were most impressive this year. Donations of brand new toys were delivered by a lo-cal church. This year we had 140+ families who stopped in and shopped. We had accumulated 50 tables stacked full of clothes, shoes, toys, plus other great articles. Many families expressed sin-cere appreciation for the chance to have some nice things for Christmas since they were on a limited budget and could not afford it. I would like to take this time to thank everyone who helped with the project. Especially, Matt Clifford, Deb Smith, Lisa Hayes, Janet and Don McClure, Mary Ann Fry, Cathy Wilson, Jenny Porter, and Casey Hershberger and her students. A spe-cial thanks to the GJHS students who helped sort and move clothing, boxes, and tables. You were tremendous help. Also, thanks to Marshall Beard and Stephanie Beard who gave up their Saturday morning. This could not have happened without everyone’s hard work and dedication! Sincerely, Sue Burkhart Greensburg Junior High School

GJHS Track Season 2016

The Track season is quickly approaching and we are looking forward to another great season. The track call out meeting is planned for some time in January and will be announced at school. Right now we are planning on beginning preseason after Valentine’s Day (open to any athlete not already in a school sport). Mandatory season will start in March. Please listen for announcements and watch the newsletter for further information. Our track program could not be complete without the terrific help from parents and friends. Please let us know if you could volunteer to time the running events or officiate field events, etc. Helpers should be at the track by 4:45-5:00 p.m. Volunteers will receive free family passes to all the home meets. Workers are a very important aspect for our track program and we appreciate everyone’s help. The GJHS Track program said good-bye to Ms. Sonja Linville as she began her new position as Greens-burg High School Assistant Principal. Congratulations Ms. Linville, good luck! We are so fortunate to welcome two new coaches who will be splitting the distance coaching position that became available. Mr. Matt Slaven, who also is the Cross Country coach, will be joining us. Ms. Rayann Spicer will also begin her coaching debut as distance coach. We welcome them to the “track family”. We look forward to very exciting season this year! Hope you can join us at the track meets and cheer on the athletes! More information or a practice schedule and the track schedule will be available later. GJHS 812-663-7523 Sue Burkhart Boys & Girls, GJHS Head Track Coach Shot put, discus/pole vault Ext. 1702 Evan Ulery Sprints, hurdles, relays Ext. 1807 Mr. Matt Slaven Ext. 1830 Ms. Rayann Spicer Ext. 1803 Distance, mid-distance, relays Ext. 1825 High School 812-663-4774 Zach Baker High and long jump Ext. 1241 CALENDER

Thank you to all who participated in our annual Washing-ton D.C. Gift Certificate Fundraiser. This year

we sold over $42,000 worth of gift certificates to local area businesses! 8th Graders going

on the Washington D.C. Trip; the last installment of $205 is due the week of March 2. Please see Mr. Tindall if you have any questions.

HELP WITH HOMEWORK! Homework Club is available to any student after school on Mon-

days and Thursdays until 3:45. To attend, students must turn in a signed permission slip. Permission slips are located in the guidance office.

Want free Math or Science Homework Help? Call Rose-Hulman’s

Homework Hotline toll free at 1-877-ASK-ROSE. The tutors are Rose-Hulman college students and they answer calls from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Sun-day through Thursday. Remember, it’s a free service and a free call!