Thomas Jefferson Middle School’s new name may be Ezekiel Gillespie or Maya Angelou. The MMSD Board of Education votes February 27 at the Board Meeting held at Jefferson in the lecture hall at 6:00pm. If you’d like to share feedback with the Board about the final names ahead of this vote, use the form below – Board members would appreciate hearing from you!

The Board’s regular meeting on Feb. 27 will be held in person at Jefferson Middle School. Before the vote, there will be time for public comment at the beginning of the meeting; members of the community can submit written feedback or register to speak – details here.

All information about the Jefferson renaming process can be found here.

March 27th & 28th

Hosted on the UW-Madison Campus

Celebrating its 11th year, Latino Youth Summit is free two-day STEAM and college preparatory program for Latinx 7th and 8th grade students in the Dane County and surrounding areas across the state. Summit participants gather onto UW-Madison’s campus learning about the transition from middle school to high school to college, exploring possible college majors and career paths and learning about the resources available in the Dane County community to continue this exploration beyond the summit. Students attend workshops through a culturally relevant curriculum focusing on learning opportunities with Latinx identities and college admissions pathways.

For more information contact kate.ryan@wisc.edu or visit our website https://precollege.wisc.edu/latino-youth-summit/

On February 9th, there are TWO WAYS that you can support our school! Donate to our Staff Conference Meal and Dine out at Panera before/after your conference and Jefferson will get 20% back!

Welcome back to Jefferson – we hope everyone had a restful, happy winter break! The Jefferson PTO is working on some great things for 2023. Keep an eye on the this page and on our calendar for events and information. If you’d like to help us plan, or simply help out at an event, CLICK HERE!

Jefferson Middle School PTO is a non-profit organization that is run completely on donations and fundraising. We would love your input on how we raise funds:

The Committee has narrowed down the original list of 42 proposals. The four names remaining for consideration are:

• Eston Hemings Jefferson
• Ezekiel Gillespie
• Sally Hemings
• Maya Angelou

Following Board policy, a (virtual) public hearing has been scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 6, 2022. The meeting will be live-streamed via the Board of Education’s YouTube channel. The community is invited to participate in the hearing by submitting written comments or registering to speak. Please note the following time frame:

• Written comments can be submitted via the Board of Education portal at noon Friday, December 2 through 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 6.
• The registration portal to speak during the hearing will open at noon on Tuesday, December 6, and will close at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 6.

The Ad Hoc Committee will meet immediately following the public hearing. At that time, they will determine which name(s) to forward to the Board of Education. The Board will receive the names at the January 9, 2023 Instruction Work Group meeting. The Board may vote on the renaming as soon as the January 30, 2023 Regular meeting. At both of these Board meetings, there will be time for public comment where the community can submit written feedback or register to speak.

Additionally, public input/comments can be given at any time to the committee via the Jefferson Renaming webpage (scroll to the bottom of the page).

On 11/17, our Jefferson staff has a long day of class and then parent/teacher conferences in the evening. We are organizing a meal for them! Click below for more info and to help:

The Jefferson Parent Teacher Organization is back for 2022-2023!

We are excited to bring the Jefferson Community together once again. The staff needs it, the parents need it and most of all, the kids need it! Sometimes hearing “PTO” can feel intimidating, we get that. We are more successful as a team of hundreds doing small things, rather than a few doing the impossible. If we can band together and do a few small things each year, we can help Jefferson become a thriving, successful bright spot in MMSD once again!