Parent Newsletter

We are so excited to welcome our students back for another amazing school year. We hope you have had a restful and relaxing summer. We hope you are ready to be back at school and working to have a successful school year. We look forward to working with our students and families to provide support and resources for our students and their success. We know that in many ways our students will have to have numerous skills to prepare for their futures. We are working within our curriculum to help promote 21st century skills and other soft skills to help our students learn and grow.

As a school district, we focus on the education of the whole child through our implementation of the 7 Keys of College and Career Readiness throughout our students education. We utilize this newsletter not only as place to share information about our school, stories about our students and staff, but also resources, stories and ideas to help support our students futures. As a STEM district, we are working to help our students understand these principles of the "4 C's" to help foster opportunities for college and career readiness. In our newsletter, we will also highlight information from our counseling office to help support our students and families.

We look forward to a great year working to help your student(s) learn and grow. Our staff is dedicate to the mission of providing a challenging learning environment and also working to help our students achieve their goals. We want to work with you, your student(s), and our staff in a positive and collaborative manner to help support our students. We look forward to getting started on Monday July 29th.

Please check out the information below to learn more about getting ready for the first week of the 2019 - 2020 school year:

- Welcome to JMS 2019 - 2020

- What is Canvas and how can I use it?

- What is Skyward and how can I use it?

- School Supplies List

- 2019 - 2020 Laptop forms

- 2018 - 2019 Damaged Laptop Device collections

- 2019 - 2020 RTI and understanding Response To Intervention

- School Supplies List

- JMS Traffic Patterns for Drop Off and Pick Up

- Counselors Corner

Thank you for all of your support,

Phil Cox, Principal

Chris Layton, Vice Principal

Jenifer Laurendine, Dean of Students

Notes about the First Week

- The first three days of school will be early dismissal days at 12:45 p.m.

- The drop off and pick up for Jefferson Middle School can be seen in the video below. Students are dismissed at 12:45 p.m. on early dismissal schedule and the buses typically leave around 7 or 8 minutes after dismissal.

- Please do not drop off your student in the Bus Loop (Loop closest to the softball field, on the left as you face the school) between 7:00 a.m. - 7:15 a.m. as the buses come during that time. Video provided below to help explain.

- 5th and 6th grade students will go to the gym between 7:00 a.m. - 7:30 a.m. 7th and 8th grade students will go to the lobby at this time.

- Homeroom begins at 7:40 a.m. Students coming on to campus after 7:40 a.m. MUST check in the main office.

We are excited to welcome the new staff to JMS for the 2019 - 2020 school year:

Alex Cantrell - Band

Angela Burgess - Teaching Assistant

Ben Brewer - 8th grade US History

Ben Fowler - Instructional Technology Coach

Medhi Ozcan - Teaching Assistant

Paula Kerr - Spanish

School Laptop Collection and Fee Collection

On Tuesday May 28th and Thursday May 30th, students turned in their devices for the summer. At that time, the devices were assessed for the following potential issues:

1. The condition of the device in terms of any damage and then an assessment of any damage that is found by IT. There are two levels of damage most commonly found and each are described below:

- Level 1 damage - If a student has level 1 damage to their device this is often damage that has been identified by IT that is on the device and that damage is noted for the duration of their device's life cycle.

- Level 2 damage - If a student has level 2 damage to their device this is damage that impacts the functionality of the device. When IT deems damage to be level 2, again families are contacted through the mail with pictures of the damage. Students are not issued a laptop loaner with level 2 damage until full payment of the fee has been made or an approved payment plan by JMS administration.

The general fee for most level 2 accidental damage is $ 50. If a device is found to have been damaged intentionally then a student and family can be held to the full extent of all repairs beyond the $ 50.

Missing/Stolen Laptop

If we get to the end of the year and your child's laptop is missing and/or stolen. The parents and student must work to file a police report for the missing/stolen item with the Oak Ridge Police. Upon filing the police report families will need to bring the police report to the school in order to avoid paying full replacement cost for a missing/stolen device.

If a device had damage or there was a missing item on the day of collection the following communications have been made at this point:

1. A note of the damage and/or missing item was hand delivered to the student on collection day

2. A letter was mailed home that day and should have been received a few days later in the mail

3. Multiple emails have been sent to remind students and families of the damage

If you have questions about the process to pay for damage and/or missing items please reach out to Mr. Layton at calayton@ortn.edu

Students who still have either damaged and/or missing items upon the return to school will not be issued a device until the damage and/or missing items from 2018 - 2019 have been addressed.

Students who still have outstanding fees for damage will receive a note stating this information on Monday July 29th.

Emails have been set up to go out during the summer in an effort to remind families of the damage and/or missing items. Our goal is to have 100% of students ready to receive their devices by the first day of school.

The majority of families have completed this step either in the late spring over the summer. The steps can be completed on Skyward Family Access if you are unsure about completion. Please follow the instructions below or watch the video below

If you have NOT signed up for your student’s device, please read the information below or watch the YouTube video link:

1. Go to www.ortn.edu

2. Click on Tab Online @ORS

3. Click on Tab for Students and Families

4. Log on to Family Access to Skyward

5. You should see on the Homepage a message that states, “An Online Form is Now Available to Fill Out”

6. Click on the link “Fill Out an Online Form”

7. Pop Up “Would you like to complete it now?” Answer Yes.

8. Read the form and complete the tasks at the bottom

9. Complete and submit. You will see that you have successfully submitted at this point

If a parent/guardian has not completed these steps as outlined in the video and above then students will not be issued a device until the forms have been completed. In addition, any students with any outstanding damage and/or missing items from 2018 – 2019 will not receive their device until that damage and/or missing item has been addressed.

If you have not signed up for Skyward, please see the back of this sheet for more instructions. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Mr. Layton at calayton@ortn.edu or 425-9301

A few tips for AM drop off and PM pick up for Car Riders

- The bus loop is closed to cars in the AM between 7 a.m. - 7:15 a.m., but after that cars may use the bus loop to drop off

- When dropping off 5th and 6th grade students, please pull all the way down in the loop in order to maximize traffic at am drop off

- At dismissal, traffic can be heavy throughout the parking lots, please obey speed limits posted and also watch for students. About 10-15 minutes after dismissal the traffic congestion reduces greatly.

- Students walking home must leave campus at dismissal time. Students need to know their transportation home each day. Supervision is provided for only 30 minutes after dismissal. At that point, students still left on campus will go to the main office to make contact with their rides.

- The video below was made in 2016 - 2017 school year and shows the traffic pattern that will continue to be used for 2018 - 2019.

RTI- (Response To Intervention) is a multi-tier approach to the early identification and support of students with learning needs. This a fluid process that allows students to move into and out of RTI every 4.5 weeks, if data supports the move.

Tier 1: The Whole Class (every student is served at this level)

In the general education classroom, the teacher measures everyone’s skills. This is known as a universal screening that is given 3 times a year to the whole school (Fall, Winter and Spring) to determine the students that fall at the 25th percentile or below for extra Tier 1 support. If your child falls at or below the 25th percentile your child will be placed in a Tier 2 or Tier 3 class in the areas of Math or English to provide more support because they are performing below their grade level. The screening helps the teacher work with students in small groups based on their skill levels. The school will let you know if your child is struggling and will update you on his/her RTI progress. If your child scores at the Tier 2 or Tier 3 level they will be taken out of one or both of their electives. This class is a revolving door class, which means your child can make their way of the class with showing progress and gains above the 25th percentile. A goal is made for your child in their Tier 2/3 class an academic goal is developed in the progress monitoring software. It takes on the average 6 weeks for the progress monitoring tool to show if your child is making progress on their goal.

During the intervention, the RTI team monitors students’ progress to see who might need additional support. Many students respond successfully to Tier 1 support and achieve grade-level expectations.

Tier 2: Small Group Interventions (25th percentile-11th percentile)

If your child is not making adequate progress in Tier 1, he/she will start to receive more targeted help. This is in addition to the regular classroom instruction (Tier 1), not a replacement for it. Tier 2 interventions take place every day during a designated period and will not miss any core instruction in the classroom.

During these extra help sessions, he/she will be taught in small groups using a different method than in Tier 1 because the first method was not successful. The teacher may also ask you to work with your child at home on certain skills.

The school will monitor your child’s progress so it is clear whether the Tier 2 intervention is helping through 4 ½-week progress reports sent by the school.

Tier 3: Intensive Interventions (at or below 10th percentile)

Typically, only a small percentage of the class will require Tier 3 support. In many schools, though, that number is much higher. If your child needs Tier 3 support, it will be tailored to his/her needs. Every day he/she will receive one-on-one instruction or work in very small groups.

Your child will continue to spend most of the day in the general education classroom. If he/she does not make adequate progress in Tier 3, it is likely that the school will recommend an evaluation for special education services.

The school will monitor your child’s progress so it is clear whether the Tier 2 intervention is helping through 4 ½-week progress reports sent by the school.

Core Focus-(English or Math) This class is for those students that score close to above the 25th percentile or the teacher has identified will benefit from extra support with current core classes. Students will be able to work on homework intermittently during the week and may need re-teaching of Tier 1 instruction.

This summer we are asking rising 7th graders to read one of two novels, Island of the Blue Dolphinsby Scott O’Dell or Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. You may purchase your book of choice at area bookstores, check it out of a local library, or find the book online.

To encourage careful reading and thinking about the novel, each student, upon return to school, will complete a book report on his or her chosen novel. We also encourage students to take notes as he/she reads to aide in memory retention. (The book report will be written in class during the first week of school.)

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Humphrey at jhumphrey@ortn.edu or Mrs. Sears at crsears@ortn.edu .

Rising 8th graders are to read Freak the Mighty by Roman Philbrick. You may purchase your book of choice at area bookstores, check it out of a local library, or find the book online at: (https://www.amazon.com/Freak-Mighty-Rodman-Philbrick/dp/0439286069/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_g2609328962?_encoding=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0&ie=UTF8&pldnSite=1

To encourage careful reading and thinking about the novel, each student, upon return to school students will need to have completed the attached documents. Right click and OPEN LINK https://ortn-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/mcgregoriou_ortn_edu/EU3SaPk42WNLrlMqT_349-YBb7npYMgPyPm_u_ulF0lQxQ?e=HsfBfT

https://ortn-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/mcgregoriou_ortn_edu/EaQrzybnrLBJjORZ9oxk9QMB29aOrSn2f9BeKlygbn611w?e=RVcNkE

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. McMahon at jcmcmahon@ortn.edu or Mr. Sprouse at cjsprouse@ortn.edu .

Jefferson Website

If you have any questions about school supply lists, summer reading assignments (Rising 7th and 8th grades only), clubs, services, staff or school counseling, we invite you to visit the Jefferson Middle School website at https://www.ortn.edu/jefferson/. This will be a central location for JMS information all school year.

Schedules

Schedules will be made available for students and parents through Skyward on Friday, July 26th at 4 pm. Schedule changes will only be made if there is a missing a core or required class, or if there is an error in an elective. In order for the student to request a schedule change, they need to go to the online form and request to meet with their school counselor. Putting in a request does not meant that the request will be granted. Please contact the Counseling Office if you have any questions regarding schedules.

“Need To See The Counselor” Form

The “I Need To See The School Counselor” form is located on the Jefferson Middle School website for students, teachers and parents. To find the form, go to https://www.ortn.edu/jefferson/, and look for the tab labeled “Academics”. Once you put your mouse on ”Academics” a drop down menu will appear with “School Counseling” as an option. Once you click on “School Counseling”, you will be directed to the page with a link that says, “I need to see a school counselor online form”. Click on that, complete that form, and hit submit once you are finished. A school counselor will reach out as soon they can to follow-up. This is a tool that students need to use in order to see a school counselor, and is useful to parents and teachers as well. Please contact the Counseling Office if you have any questions regarding the online form.