JTA Parent Update 2026 - 2027

Monday, September 14

• Girls Basketball HOME vs. North Middle School @ 5:30 PM

Tuesday, September 15

• Football HOME vs. Scott Middle School @ 5:30 PM

Thursday, September 16

• Girls Basketball AWAY vs. TK Stone @ 5:30 PM

Monday, September 21

• Girls Basketball HOME vs. West Hardin @ 5:30 PM

Tuesday, September 22

• Football HOME vs. TK Stone @ 5:30 PM
  
  

Thursday, September 24

• Girls Basketball AWAY vs. Bluegrass @ 5:30 PM

1. If you are interested in your student receiving a flu shot at school, please complete and return the flu shot permission forms. This forms were sent home last Friday with progress reports. Nurse Shepherd needs these forms back ASAP to ensure enough vaccines are available.

2. We wanted to open up a school merchandise store for staff and families. There are some JTA specific options such as House Shirts, but we also have Trojan Nation options as well that work for all Trojan schools. The store will remain open until Friday, October 2nd. Gear will be delivered to JTA around the end of October beginning of November. If you are interested in purchasing gear, please visit this website to place your order!

3. We are looking for volunteers to help us with events throughout the school year. If you are interested in volunteering, please refer to the flier to the right. You must also visit this website to complete verification steps. Thank you!

4. Pre-order your yearbook for the 2026 - 2027 school year! There is NO guarantee of extra copies if you don't pre-order. Use code YBKICONS to save up to $20 on your pre-order!

"Allison Samuels is a great student! She is always lending a helping hand! She is always a great role model for being prompt, polite, prepared, and productive!"

"Johanna Prather always resets the Orchestra room in the afternoons to get it ready for chorus the next morning. I really appreciate her dedication and hard work to keeping our classroom organized and clean."

"Lily Wood has been such a great help this year to both adults and peers in the building. She is very kind and respectful, works hard at everything she does, and is actively involved in the Trojan Community. Keep up the great work Lily!"

"Remington Conway is a wonderful student in our Poetry class. As a 6th grader in a class with 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students, she confidently volunteers to share her poetry with the class. She works hard, actively participates in discussions, and writes beautiful poetry. We are so lucky to have her in our classroom!"

"Ms. Roberts wants to thank Azzi Stine and Blake Casey for helping organize the Chromebook carts after our first Flex Friday. Their eagerness to help and willingness to take on responsibility did not go unnoticed."

Students are learning to have patience to see the outcome of their work in Mrs. Conley's class. Students have completed a crochet and a sewing project. It was not easy, but each one completed their project.

Mrs. Stevens's classes went outside for a brief figurative language nature walk. Students used what they learned about figurative language to create their own examples inspired by the outdoors.

"The wind whispered in our ears while the sun smiled down, and our students used their imagination to connect with nature. From clever similes to wild hyperboles, our students totally crushed it!"

Mrs. Cunningham’s cooking class whipped up a Southern favorite: homemade sawmill gravy and biscuits! Learning life skills never tasted so good.

Mrs. Howell's social studies class learned about the events of 9/11 and the different people affected by the events. First, students were tasked with putting the events of the day in order and answering critical thinking questions about the events. Then students each got a perspective from someone or a group affected or involved from 9/11. They had to create a puzzle piece to present to the class of the group, an important quote, a summary, and a picture to represent their information. Then they put all the pieces together after presentations to see the overview of 9/11.

• Volleyball Open Gym will begin Wednesday, October 14, from 3:00-4:30 PM and will be every Wednesday until November 18
  
  
• Tryouts will be on November 20th and 24th
  
  
• Athletes who want to go to open gyms and try out must have their physical updated in Healthy Rosters. If students have any questions, please see Ms. Barkley or Mrs. Colston

The school nurse paperwork was sent home the first week of school. If you want your child to see the school nurse for any reason, they must have it completed and returned. That documentation MUST be on file for school health personnel to see and treat students.

Important Student Health Information

• In alignment with updated requirements from the Kentucky Board of Nursing and the Kentucky Department of Education, a written provider order must be on file before any prescribed medication can be administered by the school nurse. In the past, a grace period was allowed for submitting this documentation. However, effective with the 2025–2026 school year, that grace period will no longer be permitted. When bringing prescribed medication to school for administration by the nurse, you must also bring the written provider order at the same time. Without it, the medication cannot and will not be given to your student.
  
  

• Also in alignment with updated requirements, effective for the 2025-2026 school year, over-the-counter medications (i.e. Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Neosporin, Tums, etc.) cannot be given to a student without a written consent on file. If you give permission for your student to receive over-the-counter medications administered by the school nurse, please return your Healthy Kids Clinic registration forms with your consent. We will no longer be able to accept verbal permission.

We are encouraging our teachers to use Apptegy Rooms with you, so you can get consistent, quick, and reliable communication. The best feature is it is similar to texting because we know how busy life can be. Please download the Apptegy App and sign up to receive communication from your student's teachers!

A new Kentucky law, KRS 160.145 (aka Senate Bill 181), requires school districts to adopt a traceable communication system that “shall be the exclusive means for school district employees and volunteers to communicate electronically with students.” You can read more about HCS Traceable Communication when you CLICK HERE.

Hardin County Schools has another tool to communicate with students, parents, staff and the community. Smart device users can download the HCS App from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Each school and the district will still communicate through the all-call system with phone calls, text messages and/or emails. That is why it is critically important that your phone number and email address are current in the HCS Parent Portal

The Parent Portal is a wonderful tool to keep track of grades and attendance. Log in to the Parent Portal by CLICKING HERE. A Parent Portal app is also available from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. If parents do not have login credentials for the Parent Portal, they should contact their child’s school.

Proper appearance and dress makes a good impression and keeps the educational and learning environment professional. The Hardin County School District asks that students and parents accept responsibilities concerning student dress code.

• Tank tops, tube tops, halter tops, crop tops, shirts that show the midriff, bareback tops, off-the-shoulder tops, spaghetti straps, low-cut and/or revealing tops, blouses or dresses are prohibited.

• Shorts, skirts, and dresses must meet the 5 inch rule, (no more than 5 inches from the top of the knee all of the way around using an index card placed vertically for measurement)

• Pajama pants are not allowed.

• Visible rips, tears, or holes located higher than finger-tip length are not permitted, unless an underlayer (ex: leggings, form-fitting pants, a neatly sewn patch, undershirt, etc.) is worn underneath the affected area.

KENTUCKY STATE LAW

Students may have cell phones and electronic devices (including Bluetooth headphones) in their possession, but they must be turned off or silenced during the school day. Cell phones, earbuds/headphones, & other electronic devices must remain out of sight from the time class starts at 8:00 AM until the time they exit the school building, except when authorized by a teacher or administrator. This includes use in the cafeteria at lunch and in the hallways during transition. If students use these devices, teachers will take the device and turn them into the office to collect at the end of the day. They will also face a consequence per school policy.

PARENT CONTACT DURING SCHOOL HOURS

If a student needs to contact their parent or guardian, the student should use the Student Signup form to put in a request to come to the front office to call home.

To minimize disruption to the learning environment, parents are kindly requested to contact the school's front office directly at 270-877-2135 if they need to relay an urgent message to their child during school hours. This allows school staff to deliver messages efficiently and ensures that classroom instruction remains uninterrupted.

Please refer to the links below for information on these topics: