Dear Parents,

Welcome to the 08-09 school year. I am pleased to serve as your principal for a second year. I am looking forward to working with the students, parents, and the community of Johnston Middle School again this year and to continue assisting with your child’s academic, social, and behavioral growth.

It is my pleasure to announce that for the 08-09 school year we have added a mentorship class into the schedule. Mentorship class will be held every Tuesday and Thursday before fifth period for approximately 20 minutes. Since every teacher will act in the capacity of a mentor, class sizes will be around 22, which will afford your child more access to staff members and to one on one contact with an adult in the building. The goals of the mentorship class are to improve each child’s connectedness to school and to provide access to an adult who will monitor your child’s grades, attendance, and citizenship, as well as involve your child in team building exercises, sustained silent reading, and mini lessons dealing with issues touching the lives of all adolescents each and every day. Each mentor will advise his/her students a little differently as the needs of the students will drive the class.

On another note, the entire district will be implementing a new online system for communicating with parents called ParentLink. Parents will need to register for a password on line or at the school. One advantage of this program over others is that parents will only need one password for all children whether they are in high school, middle school, or elementary school. I look forward to this upcoming year with anticipation and high aspirations for your child’s success at Johnston Middle School.

I look forward to this upcoming year with anticipation and high aspirations for your child's success at Johnston Middle School.

Sincerely,

Lisa Rustand

Principal