Ram Report - Parent Newsletter

This week's newsletter includes important updates about Free & Reduced Lunch Applications, Flu Shot Clinic, Erin's Law Announcement, and a reminder about the Student Survey Permission Form.

Additionally, please be sure to check out the news media coverage of Mr. Spratling's comments about Scarboro 85 Day! Students from the Ram Band were there to represent our school on this historic day of remembrance.

We ask that you keep the following in mind to keep things running smoothly. We are leaving these in for an additional week as friendly reminders 🙂

• Please follow the appropriate traffic pattern for car drop off if using the back gym entrance in the morning. We ask that students are not dropped off in the gym staff parking lot for safety.
• Families have been doing an incredible job this year dropping students off by 7:35 which allows them 5 minutes to get to class on time by 7:40. Thank you... we know this is no easy feat!

Have a great week, and please don’t hesitate to reach out if there is anything we can do to better support your student or family!

-Nick Corrigan, Principal, njcorrigan@ortn.edu

-Christy Free, Vice Principal, ccfree@ortn.edu

-Christopher Williams, Dean of Students, cewilliams@ortn.edu

Monday – Sept 11

Cheer Youth Camp 2:45-5:30pm (Gym)

Drama Club 2:45-4:00pm (Auditorium)

French & Spanish Club 2:50-3:30pm (Room 209)

MATHCOUNTS 2:45-4:00pm (Room 229)

Volleyball vs. Horace Maynard (A) Varsity 6:30pm

Cross-Country Practice 3:00-4:15pm

Football Practice 3:30-5:30pm

Tuesday – Sept 12

Cheer Youth Camp 2:45-5:30pm (Gym)

Geography Club 2:45-3:45 (Room 228)

Cross-Country Practice 3:00-4:00pm

Football Practice 3:30-5:30pm

Volleyball vs. Seymour (A) Varsity 6:30pm

PTSA General Meeting 4:30-6:00pm (Library)

Wednesday – Sept 13

Student Council Meeting 7:05-7:30am (Room 108)

Café Catch Up 12:45-2:00pm (Cafeteria)

Football Practice 1:00-2:00pm

Cross-Country City Championship at JMS 6:00pm

Volleyball Practice 4:00-6:00pm (Gym)

Thursday – Sept 14

SECME Meeting 3:15-4:00pm (Room 126)

Cross-Country Practice 3:00-4:15pm

Lady Rams Basketball Workouts 4:30-5:15pm (Gym)

Football vs. Loudon (H) @ Blankenship 6:30pm

Volleyball vs. Norris (A) @ JMS, Varsity 6:30pm

Friday – Sept 15

GIVE Club 7:00-7:30am (Room 224)

Cross-Country Practice 3:00-4:00pm

Volleyball Practice 3:00-5:00pm (Gym)

Students who have not turned in an updated free and reduced lunch form and have previously had free or reduced lunch are now being charged for school lunches. If you have not turned in your form, please turn in as soon as possible. If you believe you have turned in a form and your child is now getting charge for lunch and you feel like they should not be, please contact the school.

A copy of the application is below and a link to FAQ is available at:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT FREE AND REDUCED PRICE SCHOOL MEALS

In an effort to remain healthy, take advantage of this preventive health service! The annual flu shot clinic will be on Wednesday, September 20th from 2:00-5:00pm in the SAB Board Room. Please bring the completed consent form (attached) and your pharmacy insurance card. If you would like a paper copy to complete, please have your student pick one up from the school nurse's office or complete one when you arrive at the clinic. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Madison Branham at (865) 425-9031.

This year the Oak Ridge Schools curriculum includes the implementation of SB 856, more commonly known as Erin’s Law. This is a state-mandated, age-appropriate sexual abuse awareness and prevention education program for students K through 12th grade. The program teaches children how to address or report abusive behavior such as safe and unsafe touches and other physical and emotional abuse. In grades 6 - 12, we will be using Vector Solutions, an award-winning K-12 training platform, to deliver curriculum developed by leading experts. In grades K - 5, school counselors will be delivering curriculum provided by fightchildabuse.org. The curriculum is tailored for each grade level, ensuring age-appropriate content and delivery.

Because some of the content is sensitive in nature, we wanted to make you aware so that you can continue these important conversations at home and be prepared to field questions from your student that may arise. There are excellent resources designed for parents through the Erin's Law website.

For further information regarding Erin’s Law please visit: http://www.erinslaw.org/erins-law/. If you have any questions about the content of the program, feel free to contact our Student Success Coordinator, Callie Painter at clpainter@ortn.edu or (865) 425-9053.

Thank you PTSA for helping us celebrate our teachers for a Level 5 Growth Score! The treats were delicious and there were so many it kept us going the rest of the week!

The yearbook ordering site is now active! Order your 2024 RAM Yearbook today. The cost is $20. Options such as name-stamping on the cover and a plastic dust jacket may only be added online until January 19, 2024. Visit www.yearbookordercenter.com and use our school code 17202 or enter the school name to begin. A service fee of $3.99 (or more if ordering multiple books) will apply to online orders.

If you prefer to pay by cash or check, on-site payments will be accepted from October 24-26, 2023. More information will be coming soon regarding the on-site collections process. Please direct yearbook questions to Dr. Julie Kinder-McMillan, yearbook sponsor (jkinder@ortn.edu)

Would you like to submit photos for the 2024 Ram Yearbook? Visit www.hjeshare.com and enter the school code “ramfam” to upload your images for consideration. For ease of upload, check the App Store to download and use the Herff Jones eShare app for your device. Please note that we cannot guarantee that all images will be used.

The RMS Technology Student Association (TSA) is a great opportunity for students to engage in STEM. TSA is a national organization that gives students an opportunity to learn about STEM careers and compete in STEM events at the regional, state, and national level. If your child is interested in joining TSA, please review the information and timeline below. If you would like more information about TSA before the parent-student meeting, please visit www.tsaweb.org.

Important TSA Information and Dates:

Sept 7: Parent-Student Information Meeting will be in the library at 5:00 p.m.

Sept 14: Teacher Recommendations and Applications DUE.

• TSA APPLICATION LINK
• Students will need to complete the TSA application before asking teachers for recommendations.
• Students are required to have three teacher recommendations from current teachers. Students will need to give their selected teachers a request card before asking for a recommendation. Students can pick up teacher recommendation request cards from either Dr. Burnette in room 234 or Mrs. Leftwich in the STEM lab.

Sept 1-14: After students submit the application, they will visit Mrs. Leftwich in the STEM Lab to sign up for an interview time.

Sept 20: Interviews will be held from 1:00-4:00 p.m. in the STEM Lab. Students will need to arrange transportation. Interview time: 5-10 minutes per student.

Sept 21-25: Applicants will be notified via email.

Time Commitment:

• TSA Season: October-April
• TSA Meetings: Tuesdays (3:00-5:30)
• Competitions
• January 12, 2024: Regional Competition (Virtual at RMS) *required
• March 6-9, 2024: State Competition (Chattanooga, TN) *required
• June 26-30, 2024: National Competition (Orlando, FL) *optional

Dr. Sandra Burnette (sgburnette@ortn.edu)

Ms. Bryson Leftwich (blleftwich@ortn.edu)

RMS STEM Coaches & TSA Advisors

At Oak Ridge Schools we are committed to continuous improvement and look for tools that assess how we're serving our students and discover areas for us, as educators and administrators, to improve. One of the best ways to do that is by using surveys to gather information directly from our students. According to Senate Bill 1443/House Bill 0727, we are required to make you aware of a couple of surveys that your student will be asked to complete this year.

Students in grades 2-12 will be asked to take the Student Universal Wellness Screener in September and May. The purpose of the brief Student Universal Wellness Screener is to identify students' needs and to understand the current perceptions and wellness of Oak Ridge students.

In February, they will be given time to complete the Educational Effectiveness Survey, which is a formative and diagnostic tool that helps the district and schools to discover students' perceptions and attitudes toward school to help drive improvement and increase student success.

A form has been added to your Skyward Family Portal wall for you to review the upcoming surveys and grant permission for your student to participate. We ask that you complete this permission form by Tuesday, September 5. If you have additional questions, please contact Callie Painter at CLPainter@ortn.edu.

The City of Oak Ridge has declared September 6 as Scarboro 85 Day! A celebration service was held in AK Bissell Park on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, to celebrate the 68th anniversary of the desegregation of Oak Ridge High School and Robertsville Junior High School and also promote the Scarboro 85 future Monument site in AK Bissell Park. RMS Band students helped represent our school and open the celebration service. Check out Mr. John Spratling's comments on WBIR in the video clip below.

Need to See a Counselor - Student Request Form

If students need to see a counselor throughout the year for any reason, we ask that they complete the online “Request to See a Counselor” form located in Clever. Once students complete this form, the counselors will receive an email and will work to schedule students based on their availability. If the situation is an emergency, we ask that students please make note of this in the comments section. We ask that students please be patient and know that we will get them scheduled as soon as possible. If it will take more than a day, we will reach out to the student by email or through their teacher to let them know.

Parents are always welcome to reach out to us with any questions or concerns. Kristy Best works with 5th and 7th grades – kbest@ortn.edu. Tarah Sanford works with 6th and 8th grades – TASanford@ortn.edu.

7th Grade TDAP Booster - Required Immunization!

• All 7th graders Must have a record of their 7th grade Tdap vaccination on file at RMS to begin their school year. Please ensure this is completed ASAP. Contact our school nurse, Meg Evans with any questions or concerns at 865-425-9201.

Additional Medication Information

• The medication administration policy of the Oak Ridge School System states: every effort should be made to avoid the necessity of children being given medication at school. If under exceptional circumstances a student is required to take medication during school hours, only the school nurse or the principal’s designee may assist the student. It is the parent/guardian’s responsibility to bring this medication to school and remove any unused medication when treatment is completed. The medication form can be found here: Authorization_for_Medication_Administration.

About

The Robertsville Middle School Parent Teacher Association (RMS PTSA) is part of the RMS family. Our purpose is to support fun and educational programs, events, services, and opportunities to our children, to enrich their academic experience. We work closely with the school administration, faculty, and staff to help our students achieve all that they can.

Membership

The membership dues for the current year shall be set at $5.00. At the present time, the TN PTA portion is $2.00 and the National PTA portion is $2.25. RMS PTSA will keep $.75 to offset membership processing fees.

Volunteer

Research shows that students whose parents are involved in their school get better grades, do better on tests and have fewer disciplinary problems at school.

What is your talent? Community outreach, back to school activities, spirit gear, RAM Perks reward program, donation drive/fundraising, visiting author receptions, or providing items for events like our teacher/staff luncheons, intercessions, and State testing.

While you DO NOT need to be a member of PTSA to be a volunteer, we would like to invite all adults AND students with an interest in RMS to join and have a voice in how PTSA funds are used to support RMS. Volunteer forms are in the back-to-school packets or may be found on the Forms page of PTSA website.

The PDFs of the bus routes have been posted online and are available to families on the transportation website. They are also linked from the back-to-school website.

Additionally, families can log on to the Tyler Versatrans website and check their route information there. The directions for that are below.

Tyler Versatran Log In

Username: (use student’s name) firstname.lastname

This is case sensitive–example: john.smith

Password: (use student birth date) in this format 03122007 for March 12, 2007

Transportation Dept Information & Points of Contact can be found at:

https://www.ortn.edu/district/bus-routes/