We have had a full five weeks of school.  I don’t know about you and your student(s) but the Casperson household has had some late nights and some long weekends, filled with school work, study sessions and JDHS activities.  Along with the return to a more typical school year we have had our share of celebration, stress and appreciation for the time we have outside of school to decompress.  I truly believe that one of the lessons that teaching and learning in a pandemic taught us is to work to find balance.  Invest in school as needed to learn, and take time outside of school to find ways to enjoy the great outdoors and those around you. 

In this newsletter you will find an article by the JDHS Site Council on Canvas/PowerSchool and using them as tools to support academic growth with your student(s).  By the time our kids get into high school many of us believe we have aged ourselves out of the ability to help them with their coursework.  While that may be true as far as content goes (I aged out of math quite a while ago) there are several ways we can stay connected with our student to support their habits.  Asking open-ended questions about what they are learning, or how they can apply what they are learning are two easy ways to engage routinely with your high schooler.  Something as simple as “ 3 goods and 1 bummer” can elicit a wide range of information about their high school experience, environment and peer relationships.  We encourage you to add that type of interaction to your toolkit as you and your student navigate their JDHS experience. 

For those of you looking ahead already to October and the days for fall conferences please know these will be virtual.  We know that Zoom and telephonic conferences can be challenging but we have also received a lot of feedback from parents that it helps ease the burden of multiple conferences, often across grade levels and schools.  Being able to schedule conferences for multiple high school teachers (and/or students) and eliminate transportation/time off of work for travel appears to outweigh the very real benefits that in person conferences can have as far as connections and relationships; at least for this first conference round.  So, mark your calendars now.  October 17th and 18th, JDHS fall conferences.  9-12 and 1-4.  Once October rolls around you will get specific information from classroom teachers on how to secure your time slots.