Dear Thomas Jefferson Middle School Families,

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year!  I am happy to extend a warm welcome to Ms. Jahari Jacobs, who will be the shared-time assistant principal between both middle schools.  Ms. Jacobs has been diligently familiarizing herself with our school, faculty, campus and program needs and looks forward to meeting our Patriots in September. 

We have been working hard over the summer, planning for our students’ return. We will open our doors on Thursday, September 5th at 8:20 am. Please have your child enter through their designated grade level entrance (see below). Students should bring a printed or handwritten copy of their schedule which can be located in Skyward. Students reporting to school without a schedule may result in missing a class due to long wait times in the offices.   

Below are important details about the 2024-2025 school year:

Skyward 

The portal to inform you of your child’s teachers and schedule will be open on Monday, August 26th. 

Your child’s schedule must include Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science, Physical Education and a World Language as well as two electives, lunch and WIN (recess for grade 5 only). If any of these courses are missing, please notify your child’s counselor immediately so that your child can have a full schedule prior to the first day of school. 

If you need assistance with logging into your account, please contact the counseling office at 201-833-5475. 

Counselors can be reached via email: Mr. Davis (Grades 5 & 8)    Ms. Martino (Grades 6 & 7)    

Schoolwide Positive Behavior Expectations

Our TJ Core Values are RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, and READINESS TO LEARN!

Please take a moment to review the PBIS Matrix with your child.

Our Student/Parent Handbook is located on our school webpage under the “Families” tab. Please be sure to review this with your child.

Attendance

Absences do not need to be called into the office. If your child has a medically excused absence, a doctor’s note must be provided to Nurse Chan. For any religious observance related absences, please email 

Ms. Fernandez in the Attendance office. For extended absences, homework may be requested by emailing your child’s teachers directly. Please note that vacations and emergency travel will not be excused.

If your child has any health needs, please reach out to our school nurse, Ms. Chan. Only the nurse may administer medication. If your child has diabetes and/or asthma or any other life-threatening or chronic illness, please contact Nurse Chan regarding an individual health care plan.

Arrival

Parents may park and walk students to the designated grade level entry:

Grade 5 - Fycke Lane garden

Grade 6 - Teaneck Road flagpole

Grade 7 - Salem Street circle closest to Hartwell St.

Grade 8 - Salem Street circle closest to Salem St.

Parents can begin dropping students off at 8:20 am. There is no staff supervision prior to 8:20 am so parents must stay with their child if arriving earlier. 

5th grade students will line up by homeroom on the first day only. 5th grade teachers will have signs with their names for students to be able to identify them during arrival. 

After 8:30 am, students will be required to go to the main door on the Salem Street circle and ring the bell to gain entry into the building. Arriving after 8:30 am is considered tardy. 4 tardies will result in an after school detention and parents will be required to sign students into the main office for any late arrivals thereafter.

Departure

Students must exit the building through their designated grade level door.

Please be courteous to our neighbors and do not block driveways or double park while picking up your child. 

Most of our students are walkers. Please drive carefully and follow all traffic laws on and around our campus. Our speed zone is 25 miles per hour but exercise caution and always keep your eyes on the road. 

If your child is a walker, please remind him/her to be respectful of the property of others, walk on sidewalks and keep their heads up to avoid any accidents. Cell phones are a distraction and can cause injury when someone is not paying attention. 

Security

In an effort to maintain the safety of our school community, visiting the building without an appointment is strictly prohibited. 

If you have an appointment, you must have your state issued identification to gain entry to the building through the security officer.

Although we discourage picking up students early, we understand emergencies arise. Please be sure you call the main office before arriving at the building and notify Ms. Gomez of your reason for picking up your child beforehand. The main office number is 201-833-5471.

Please carefully review all of the visiting guidelines on page 11 of our Student/Parent Handbook.

Breakfast/Lunch

Students are encouraged to bring their own water bottle to school as long as it is not glass. There are water refilling stations as well as water fountains throughout the building.

Your child must know their Student ID number in order to purchase breakfast and/or lunch. 

All lunch accounts must be replenished online. We strongly encourage using the prepayment method. The main office does not accept any payments for lunch accounts. 

Please review the Maschio's Food Services Webpage with price information and links to the menu.  Please complete the Free & Reduced Lunch Application if needed. If your child received free/reduced lunch last year, this will continue for the month of September only. Another application must be completed for this school year by September 15th.

Lunch deliveries (Uber Eats/Door Dash, etc.) are not allowed during the school day. Students must bring packed lunch to school at the start of the day if they are not eating from the cafeteria. Should your child forget to bring a packed lunch from home, the cafeteria will provide your child with lunch and a balance will be owed the next school day. We appreciate your understanding in ensuring the safety and security of our school community.

If your child would like to purchase breakfast at the school, the cafeteria will be selling grab and go breakfast in the lobby at 8:20am beginning Monday, September 16th. 

Chromebooks

7th and 8th grade students will receive their assigned Chromebooks from the Technology Department and are required to bring their devices to school and back home every day. Please be sure it is fully charged. Chargers must be kept at home as we do not have any replacement chargers if they are lost in the building.

5th and 6th grade students will have access to Chromebooks in the classroom when teachers sign up to use the carts for the day. Technology will be limited based on supply and demand. 

All students have email addresses and Google accounts (access to Google Documents, Sheets, Classroom, etc.) 

Email addresses are student first name.student last name @students.teaneckschools.org

Example: [email protected]

Passwords are the first three letters of the student’s last name with the first letter capitalized and the student’s ID number (can be found in Skyward) 

Example: Oda12345

Other important information can be found on our school and district website; this includes the district calendar, important save the dates, access to your child’s lunch account, Parent Resources and our Student/Parent Handbook. Please take a few moments to review our school website and follow our social media pages (links at the bottom of this letter). 

We try our best to be a paperless school. As such, most of our communication will be via email. Please verify that all of your information is accurate in Skyward. Any updates to email addresses, phone numbers or emergency contacts can be made through our Counseling Office by calling Ms. Fernandez at 201-833-5475.  Our school notifications and happenings are posted on our website in our Weekly Patriot Bulletin under the “For Families” tab. 

The TJ faculty and staff are committed to enhancing student achievement, promoting character education, and providing opportunities to discuss specific areas of focus. We are dedicated to upholding our motto of lifelong learning in a caring environment and are excited to partner with you to ensure your child’s success. 

We look forward to welcoming back our students next month and greeting our newest Patriots in the fifth grade and newcomers to Teaneck. Please save the date for our Back To School Night on September 24th at 6:30 pm. We cannot wait to meet you during this event.  

Enjoy the remainder of the summer break.

Sincerely,

Nina Odatalla

Principal

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