FAQ's

This page addresses some of the com­mon ques­tions that par­ents and stu­dents have about poli­cies at our school. If you have other ques­tions, please call us at 386 – 329-​0588. We’ll be glad to help you.

1. My child brought home a paper about a sum­mer read­ing assign­ment. What is that all about? Is it required? The Sum­mer Read­ing Project is in its sec­ond year here at JMS and all stu­dents that will be enrolled in JMS for the upcom­ing year are required to com­plete it. A long list of books is pro­vided. These include the 2012 Sun­shine State Young Reader Award Titles as well as clas­sics that are avail­able online. Stu­dents should pick one book to read dur­ing the sum­mer and them choose one of the 15 pos­si­ble projects to com­plete. This project will be due in their read­ing or lan­guage arts class dur­ing the first few weeks of school. There will also be a require­ment for stu­dents to take an Accel­er­ated Read­ing test on their cho­sen book and then use these points for a grade in their read­ing and lan­guage arts class. If you did not receive this paper, it is avail­able on our site for down­load.
   
   
2. Are back­packs allowed at school? — Yes. How­ever, there are no lock­ers avail­able except in PE. Overly large back­packs could be a trip­ping haz­ard in class­rooms, so please select size accord­ingly.
   
   
3. Do stu­dents get text­books for their classes? Yes. Most classes do have assigned text­books. Each stu­dent will receive a book that is meant to be kept at home. Teach­ers have class­room sets so stu­dents do not have to carry heavy books back and forth each day. Stu­dents are respon­si­ble for their text­books and must turn in books at the end of the year. Books that are not turned in or are dam­aged must be paid for.

4. Are cell phones allowed at school? — Yes. Stu­dents may carry cell phones at school, but our pol­icy is that stu­dents may not use their cell phones dur­ing school hours and must be turned off dur­ing those times. Cell phones may be kept in a purse, pocket, or even on a clip (on a belt, waist­band, or pocket) as long as it is not in use. If a stu­dent has their phone in their hand any where on school grounds (bath­room, class­room, library, lunch­room, etc.) it may be con­sid­ered in use and sub­ject to con­fis­ca­tion. The first time a cell phone is con­fis­cated it will be sent to the Dean’s office. The par­ent will be respon­si­ble for retriev­ing the cell phone from the Dean. Stu­dents who repeat­edly break the rules will be sub­ject to dis­ci­pli­nary action as well. (Note: Cell phones are a high theft item at school. If your child does not need his or her cell phone at school it may be prefer­able for him or her to leave it at home.)
   
   
5. Are stu­dents allowed to wear flip-​flops? — Yes. Stu­dents may wear flip-​flops and slide-​style san­dals at school. Flip flops do not pro­vide as much pro­tec­tion to the foot as a reg­u­lar shoe and should be avoided in classes like P.E. or Agri­cul­ture. (Note: Bed­room slip­pers are not con­sid­ered flip-​flops and are not allowed at school.)
   
6. Are stu­dents allowed to bring MP3 play­ers or hand-​held video games to school? — No. These items are not allowed at school and are sub­ject to con­fis­ca­tion. Many stu­dents choose to bring them to school because they are small and easy to con­ceal and use them to lis­ten to or play games on the bus or between classes. Keep in mind that, just like cell phones, these are also high theft items and are almost never recov­ered after they are reported lost or stolen.

7. How can I email my child’s teach­ers? Most admin­is­tra­tors, teach­ers and staff have an email address with the fol­low­ing for­mat: first ini­tial, last name @putnamschools.org. Those with the same ini­tial and last name will have num­bers added to their email addresses. We don’t post teacher emails on the site due to heavy spam­ming that they will receive by hav­ing their emails made pub­lic. If you are unsure of what your child’s teacher’s email is please con­tact the main office at 386−329−0588.You can also check the fac­ulty and staff page for first and last names of our teach­ers, staff, and administrators.

8. What kind of sup­plies does my child need? For most classes, stu­dents will use three prong fold­ers with pock­ets, pen­cils, and paper. Teach­ers would really appre­ci­ate items like tis­sues and hand san­i­tizer. Stu­dents are usu­ally given sup­ply lists if the teacher needs them to use spe­cific items. For the start of school, how­ever, fold­ers, note­book paper, and pen­cils will be enough to get them going.

9. What is the dress code for JMS stu­dents? Jenk­ins Mid­dle School fol­lows the NEW county dress code. Please read it before pur­chas­ing school clothes for your child. A com­plete copy of the dress code can be found on the Put­nam Schools web­site and the JMS ver­sion is located from a link on the right of this web site. Here are some basics: Shirts must have col­lars and sleeves. Cloth­ing can­not have holes. Shorts and skirts must touch the knee. Bot­tom wear must fit at the waist. Shirts must be tucked in.

10. How can I stay up to date with JMS events and activ­i­ties? Visit our web­sites at http://​jmsea​gles​.com and http://​jmsreads​.com or find us on Face­book! Jenk­ins Mid­dle School has sev­eral pages. Our main page is Jenk­ins Mid­dle where we will accept your friend request or if you would rather “like” us, look for our page, “Robert H. Jenk­ins, Jr. Mid­dle School. There are also sev­eral other Face­book pages as well: “Jenk­ins Mid­dle School Library Media Cen­ter”, “Jenk­ins Medi­a­Cen­ter”, “Jenk­ins Phys­i­calE­d­u­ca­tion”, “Gid­dings Lan­gArts”, “Con­nelly Lan­guageArts”, “MsDrew Jenk­ins Guid­ance”, “Davy Lan­guageArts”, “JMS Eagles Year­book Staff (2011−2012), “Jenk­ins Mid­dle School Year­book”. There are other Jenk­ins site, but be aware that only the ones listed here are gen­uine and main­tained by JMS teach­ers and staff. As more teach­ers use Face­book for their classes and clubs, those names will be posted here.

11. What clubs and activ­i­ties are avail­able for my child? JMS par­tic­i­pates in sev­eral sports pro­grams. Stu­dents can try out for soc­cer, vol­ley­ball, bas­ket­ball and archery. Avail­able clubs are BETA, S.W.A.T, Builders’ Club, Year­book, JTV, and FFA. We will also have an Eagle Patrol Club for 8^th graders this year.