Good morning Comet families, staff, students, and community members. Last night, the JCS school board voted unanimously to move our athletics to the Cascades Conference beginning the 2023/24 school year.
This was not an easy decision given the history that JCS has had with the Big 8 but it is the right one for our students. It provides them more athletic opportunities, including JV. This will be especially true for our lady Comets. It will allow our bowling team a shot at winning a league championship. It will provide our football team points to be eligible for the postseason. There are some challenges but they are not insurmountable. The average distance to a Big 8 school is 21.1 miles. The average distance to a Cascade Conference school is 29.6 miles. We think the benefits outweigh the distance.
We are excited to provide this new opportunity to our Comet athletes and we look forward to what the future will bring. Go Comets!
The Jonesville Community School Board will have four openings this year. There are two six year terms, one four year term, and one two year term available. Please be sure to specify which one you are running for. The deadline is July 26th by 4:00 pm. You can either come to JCS central off at 115 East st. to get a petition for signatures, or go to the county clerk's office and pay $100. Come be a part of the Comet community!
Comet families! As you have probably heard, we have been in talks about a potential athletic conference change to the Cascades conference. This is something that has been, loosely, discussed for years but a formal invitation was sent out to JCS on June 10th. We have had committee meetings that included community members, coaches, board members, principals, etc. so that we can hear all the perspectives. We also held a community engagement meeting last night.
We know the history of the Big 8 goes back many decades and has a proud tradition, so why even have this discussion? With declining enrollment amongst schools, other Big 8 schools have had to cut athletic opportunities altogether whether it's golf or JV sports to name a couple. This has limited the opportunities for our students and has made finding make up games very challenging. In meetings with the Big 8, they have said they will work to bring those programs back but there is uncertainty with that due to enrollments and budgets. Please take a look at the attached form to see offerings of the Big 8 and Cascades to get a better idea.
A couple of questions from the community have been about the history and the distances. History is important and tradition matters no doubt about it. However, it doesn’t solve the opportunity issue for our kids today. If that history deprives our kids of what could be a better future then we have to think about that. As for the distance difference, the average distance increases from 28.71 in the Big 8 to 37.2 in the Cascades Conference.
I know this is no small decision for our community. The other schools in the Big 8 have good people and kids and want what is best for their students. This is not a reflection of them at all. However, we also have to advocate for our kids and when you remove all other aspects, this is what is best for them. The coaches, JCS staff, and community members we have engaged with have all been supportive but with good questions. The board will vote on whether to make this switch on Monday, June 27th. If it passes, this will take effect in the ‘23/24 school year. Whether it passes or not, we look forward to great things from our Comet athletes. Go Comets!
The Jonesville Community School Board will have four openings this year. There are three trustee positions and one secretary position. The deadline is July 26th by 4:00 pm. You can either come to JCS central office at 115 East st. to get a petition and signatures, or go to the county clerk's office and pay $100. Be sure to check the terms because they are different. Come be a part of the great things going on in JCS! Go Comets!
Comet families! Jonesville Community Schools has been in conversations with the Cascades Conference about moving to their league. Last week, they extended a formal invitation to the Cascade Conference. I am well aware of the history that Jonesville has with the Big 8 and this is not a decision to be taken lightly, so we have had small committee meetings with community members and staff about this potential move.
We would now like to extend an invitation to the larger community about this. We will be holding a Q&A on Tuesday, June 21st for families interested at the Jonesville High School at 6:00. Please come with any questions you may have.
This is an exciting opportunity for JCS, but I want to be sure that all questions and concerns are answered before a formal decision is made. We hope to see you then! Go Comets!!!
Jonesville Mission will be providing their fresh food boxes tomorrow at the Carl Fast Memorial Park at 4:00.
The Jonesville Mission Church will have their fresh food giveaway at 501 Olds St. tomorrow (4/27). All community members are welcome!
Jonesville Mission is now adding another day for their food baskets. In addition to the second Friday of every month, they will now be handing out food baskets every fourth Wednesday which is tomorrow. There is a location change for this pickup though. The location for this pickup is at 501 Olds st location in front of Martinrea. It's from 4-6.
Reminder about our Special Education Millage discussion tonight at Jonesville High School in the cafetorium at 5:30. See you there!
This is a reminder that our town hall meeting discussing the Special Education millage will be held tomorrow at Jonesville High School at 5:30. If you look at this data it shows that a house value of $155,000 would have an increase of around $13 a month. Come out tomorrow to ask any questions you have!
The Jonesville Quiz Bowl team competed in Grand Ledge recently and earned a trophy! The team has improved each time they've competed. Go Comets!
Comet families! The Great Start Readiness Program is holding a “Winter Fun” event this coming Sunday afternoon at our central office building (115 East St). It will be from 2:00-3:00. Families will build snowmen, snow angels, snow painting, sledding, etc. Come on out!
The Fresh Food Giveaway brought to you by Jonesville Mission will be held this Friday at the G Carl Fast Park from 4-5 pm. All families are welcome!
The JCS study session has been canceled for tonight. The reschedule date is TBD. Have a good night!
Good afternoon Comet families! This is Superintendent Weatherwax calling to let you know that tomorrow Thursday, February 3rd JCS will be closed as the snowfall is expected to continue throughout the day tomorrow.
I hope you have a great evening and go Comets!
JCS will be closed due to weather Wednesday, February 2nd. Stay safe!
Jonesville is sending 5 kids to the state competition for the National Elk's Hoop Shoot Competition. Congratulations to Blayke Taipalus, Brady Barrett, Corbin Grimm, Melanie Nichols, and Kira VanKampen!
Jonesville is sending 5 kids to the state competition for the National Elk's Hoop Shoot Competition. Congratulations to Blayke Taipalus, Brady Barrett, Corbin Grimm, Melanie Nichols, and Kira VanKampen!
Jonesville Mission will be holding their food distribution tomorrow (Friday, 1/14/22) at Carl Fast park from 4:00-5:00 pm. All families are welcome! This food distribution will be held every second Friday of each month. Thank you to Jonesville Mission for providing this!
It's school board appreciation month and Jonesville Community Schools would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to our school board members for their service to the district. I can honestly say, we have a school board who cares deeply about the staff and students. We are very fortunate. If you see any of these people: Travis Berlin, Tom Thompson, Sid Halley, Sherri Groves, Kayla Lewis, Scott Campbell or Abe Graves please extend your gratitude to them.