The Spillway

Norris Middle School’s TSA students represented our school with excellence at the Tennessee State Competition, bringing home multiple top finishes across a wide range of events. Their hard work, creativity, and commitment to STEM were on full display.

In STEM Animation, Kaylee Morris and Karliah Sweeney earned an impressive 2nd Place finish. The same duo also secured 3rd Place in Robotics, showcasing both technical skill and teamwork across events.

Our Video Game Design team—Konnor McKenney, Connor Cummis, Myles Clapp, Castle Marlow, and Jace Beck—earned 3rd Place, demonstrating strong design thinking and innovation.

Lillian Hamby had a standout performance, earning 3rd Place in Career Prep and teaming up with Teague Housholder to take 3rd Place in Challenging Technology Issues.

In Prepared Speeches, Amelia Wilder captured 1st Place, while Naomi Vanover followed with an outstanding 2nd Place finish.

Our students also excelled in Leadership Strategies, with Naomi Vanover, Amelia Wilder, and Jordan Clark earning 1st Place, and Ella Poore, Teague Housholder, and Parker Zaruba taking 2nd Place.

In Medical Technology, Naomi Vanover, Keelea Kimball, and Makenzie Kirkpatrick brought home 2nd Place, continuing a strong showing across multiple disciplines.

These results reflect the strength of our STEM program and the dedication of our students and advisors. We are proud of how our Senators continue to compete, lead, and represent Norris at the highest level.

As we begin TCAP testing, we want to take a moment to share a few simple ways to help your child feel confident and prepared. This is an opportunity for our students to demonstrate the learning and growth they’ve shown all year.

A strong start each day makes a difference. Please help your child get a good night’s sleep and eat a healthy breakfast before coming to school. Arriving on time is equally important, as it allows students to settle in and begin testing without added stress. The students will report to their testing groups starting at 7:50 AM

Encourage your child to take their time, read questions carefully, and use the strategies they’ve practiced throughout the year. Remind them that it’s okay if every question doesn’t feel easy—what matters most is giving their best effort and staying focused.

We are proud of the work our students have put in and confident they are ready. Your support at home plays a key role in helping them succeed during this important time.

Thank you for your continued partnership.

Families interested in applying for an out-of-zone (OOZ) or transfer to Norris Middle School should be aware of the following process and expectations outlined by Anderson County Schools.

All transfer requests must be submitted in writing by a parent or guardian and include all required information. Completed applications, along with supporting documents, should be submitted directly to the school. Once reviewed, families will be notified of approval or denial in a timely manner. If approved, parents will then complete the standard registration process.

⏰ Important Timeline

• Application Window: April 1 – May 1
• Notification of Decision: By May 15 (Grades 1–12)

✅ Eligibility Requirements

To be considered for a transfer, students must:

• Maintain a C average or better in all classes
• Have at least 95% attendance from the previous school year
• Have no more than three disciplinary referrals

Please note that providing false or incomplete information may result in denial of the application.

📄 Required Documentation

The following must be submitted with the application:

• Current grades
• Attendance records
• Discipline report

Approved transfers are reviewed annually, and students must continue to meet these expectations to remain enrolled.

⬇️ Accessing the Application

Families can download the transfer application form from the district website or request a copy directly from the school. Be sure to complete all sections and include the required documentation before submission.

Permission Slips went home this week for the 6th grade end of the year field trip to Main Event in Knoxville. Please send back the permission slip and $25 with your child before April 24th.

ELA:

This week in ELA, students prepared for our writing TCAP using WeWillWrite to practice body paragraphs and narrative writing. Students loved getting to compete against their classmates to see whose team could write the strongest! They learned some things they did well on and things they could improve on as we looked over the finalists’ submissions each round.

Next week, students will take Monday to finish preparing for their writing TCAP on Tuesday by doing a practice essay planning sheet, asking questions, and setting goals for their test! Make sure students are getting plenty of rest Monday night and eating a good breakfast on Tuesday so that they can feel extra prepared to do their best on the TCAP! We are so proud of all of our students and know that they will do great! We will finish the week continuing test prep activities for the rest of the ELA TCAPs coming up in a few weeks.

ELA Important Dates:

Tuesday, April 14th - TCAP Writing

Friday, April 17th - Test Passage Practice 5 due

Friday, April 24th - 3 I-Ready lessons due

Math: Next week in math, we will finish covering our remaining standards, including a review of mean, median, mode, and range, as well as exploring different types of data displays. Students will continue preparing for TCAP through spiral reviews and additional review sheets. Please encourage your child to do their best and ask questions whenever they need help understanding a skill.

Math Important Dates:

• TCAP (Math): April 28th & 29th

Social Studies: Monday, we took time to analyze student benchmark performance. Students identified their two areas to strengthen out of our 8 units. They then worked on reviewing resources specific to those two areas. As part of our initiative to begin TNReady review, students worked on mapping skills. Students were able to discuss and compare their map knowledge from the beginning of the school year to now. Students started by identifying continents and oceans by color coding and labeling. They then began to identify each of the ancient civilization locations they have learned about this year. We will continue this map study/review into next week as well to enhance their understanding of the geographical locations. The month of April will consist of an extensive review of each of our units/standards.

Upcoming Social Studies Dates:

• TCAP (Social Studies): May 1st

Science: This week, we began our TNReady review journey. We continued with regular quick checks and class discussions about the most missed questions. We also had some friendly competitions using IXL Lighting Jam sessions to review our Science standards. We have added and will continue to add study resources in Google Classroom. This week we revisited energy as well as weather. Students read articles and answered comprehension questions in addition to viewing a couple EdPuzzle videos that summarized these particular topics.

Upcoming Science Dates:

• April 20-24: SHARK WEEK! Students will be encouraged to wear shark themed clothes! We will finish the week with a marine geologist guest speaker.

• TCAP (Science): April 30th

7th Grade Announcements: We are taking two field trips in May. On May 4, we are going to Cove Lake. The cost of the field trip is $12, and must be paid by cash with exact change. On May 14, we are going to Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge. Both permission slips went home on Tuesday. These are due April 27, 2026.

ELA:

This week students began reading “The Canterbury Tales” and learned all about Medieval literature. Students will also complete a practice writing prompt assignment to get them ready for the writing TCAP next week. Next week students will complete their writing portion of the TCAP and continue reading “Canterbury Tales.”

Social Studies:

This week we finished up our Scientific Revolution unit by completing the readings, watching a Crash Course video, analyzing the various scientists and their contributions through a Pear Deck, reviewing using the Quizizz platform, and taking the unit test. After the unit test, students began reading through the Geography of the Americas Pear Deck in preparation for our next short unit, the indigenous Civilizations of the Americas.

Science:

Students are working to wrap up their 7th grade content with a look into biotechnology. We will be able to draw on prior knowledge of chemical properties and body systems to help select bio-compatible materials. We then will embark on a journey that helps students review and prepare for the TN Science TCAP test.

Math:

We will continue to review for the upcoming TCAP. Please encourage your students to complete their iReady lessons.

ELA 8 will be taking the ELA TCAP Part I on Tuesday, April 14th. Please make sure all students arrive at school on time and are prepared for success. We believe that all of our students will do fantastically!

Mrs. Cox's class will be working through writing revisions and doing remediation for 8.RL.CS.4-5 standards.

Ms. Spiker's class will be working on their Literary Movements projects. With projects spanning 400 years of literature, the students will explore how themes reflect culture and history. Students will be presenting with their groups on either Thursday or Friday. 8th grade math students will begin an intensive, topic-specific, daily review of all standards on Monday. This review will continue for the two weeks leading up to our TNReady Math test. We will be working hard to make sure we feel confident about our skills! Please remind students to stay on top of iReady assignments, as well.

8th grade math students will begin a daily, topic-specific review beginning on Monday and continuing for the next two weeks leading up to the TNReady Math Test. We want students to feel confident about the many math skills they have learned this year. Also, please remember, students have two iReady lessons due each week.

Science Update: This week, our young scientists worked on their spiral review as we prepare for upcoming state testing. We kicked things off by revisiting Unit 3, focusing on our PS1 and PS2 standards and reinforcing key concepts. Looking ahead, we will transition back into our Earth's Place in the Universe standards next week, continuing to build on our knowledge and skills. Next week, students should be prepared for an open-note quiz on Wednesday, so be sure to review notes and materials. To reward students for their hard work we ended this week with an egg hunt review game, I am so proud of our young scientist!

Social Studies is taking notes and discussing Reconstruction. We are looking at the three plans for Reconstruction after the Civil War, whose goal was how to rebuild the country, bring the southern states back into the Union, and secure rights for all African Americans. We also looked at the three Amendments for the Reconstruction, the 13th, 14th, and 15th, and how the South tried to resist them. We also covered the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, and Tennessee after the war.

Spring is in full bloom in Mrs. Johnson's class! We’ve begun preparing our garden area to plant the flowers and plants we collected during our field trip. Our planting includes watermelon, pumpkins, strawberries, squash, tomatoes, and a variety of flowers. These exciting activities align perfectly with our new unit on Plants, Gardens, and Fields.

Life Skills This Week

In our life skills sessions this week, students will be making crescent roll sandwiches using our new air fryer. Additionally, they have started new classroom jobs that focus on office skills, such as shredding papers, watering both indoor and outdoor plants, and maintaining a neat living space.

As we approach our trip to Williamsburg, I have a couple of reminders to go over.

1. All refunds have now concluded. This is now the time where we are finalizing rooms, restaurants, and museum/attraction tickets for the trip. It will be very difficult if we start having students removed last minute.

2. Medicine, along with medical forms, needs to be turned in no later than a week from today, Friday, April 17th, to the front office. Reminder: All medicine must be turned into a zip-locked bag with the medical form for that specific medicine that's being taken on the trip. Note: Any further questions on medicine, you can contact me @Harrison Calhoun, @Emily Bayne or @Katrina Ahlstedt

3. Our Final Parent meeting will be Wednesday, April 29th, @6PM in the cafeteria.

4. Our final afterschool student meeting will be Wednesday, May 6th, from 2 to 2:30 PM in Mr. Calhoun's room.

Starting today, we will officially be one month away from the trip. I am so excited to take your kids on a trip that they will surely never forget. Thanks again for your support!

Greetings Witches and Wizards!

Please mark your calendars- we have one more regular meeting on Thursday, April 23 until 4:30. Students should try to finish Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, so we can wrap up our magical book discussion.

In addition, we will have our end-of-year celebration on Thursday, May 7th, until 5 PM. This will be a murder mystery activity and potluck. More information will be coming soon via email!

Please reach out to dspiker@acs.ac with any questions.

Tonight is 8th grade night for our baseball team.

We host North at ACHS. The ceremony will start at 5:45 and first pitch at 6:30. They then head to North on Tuesday. The team travels to Greenback on Thursday.

Softball will be hosting North on Tuesday as well. First pitch at 6:30 at the ACHS softball field. They will also host Claiborne on Friday at 6:30.

Golf is in action on Tuesday and Wednesday this week at Centennial and Lambert Acres.

Track has a meet at Oak Ridge on Wednesday with a long list of events for our athletes.

Good luck to all of our teams this week!