Eagle Eye JMS Parent Newsletter #26

Wow! What a week! Jefferson Middle School's atmosphere has been one of kindness, academic learning, 8th graders preparing for ORHS, and FUN! Yes, FUN! Students and staff have enjoyed many activities alongside of our content learning foci! We would like to shout out our counselors as their investment in our students is heavily reflected in all of the activities this past week. We also want to shout out our teachers, families, PTO, and Family Resource Center, for all of your support and engagement.

Please take the time to carefully view and read through this Eagle Eye Parent Newsletter. You will see snapshots of this week's kind acts and be updated on all the happenings for the week.

Please do not hesitate to reach out as we continue Term 3 and head toward our benchmark testing. We realize that students, families, and teachers may feel stressed missing several days of learning. However, we want to take this opportunity to remind all that the benchmarks are diagnostic tools; they are assessments for learning, not of learning...meaning they help to inform instruction as teachers guide students to mastery for end of year state testing.

Thank you so much for all you do to support your children, our JMS Eagles!

Phil Cox, Principal, pcox@ortn.edu

Ben Fowler, Vice Principal, bjfowler@ortn.edu

Jacob Quilliams, Dean of Students jrquilliams@ortn.edu

Elizabeth Leavitt, Instructional Technology Coach, ealeavitt@ortn.edu

Monday 5 B Day

• BizTown 5th Grade Gold Team Chess Club Library 2:45-3:45
• Atomic Eagles Meeting Science Wing 2:45-4:30
• RadioActive Brix Meeting Rm 223 2:45-4:30
• Master Builders Meeting Rm 102 2:45-4:30
• Secret Innovation Meeting Rm 219 2:45-4:15
• French Trip Meeting Eagle Innovation Ctr. 6:00
  

Tuesday 6 A day

• PTO Meeting Virtual 7:45
• BizTown 5th Grade Blue Team
• Atomic Eagles Meeting Science Wing 2:45-4:30
• RadioActive Brix Meeting Rm 223 2:45-4:30
• Master Builders Meeting Rm 102 2:45-4:30
• Secret Innovation Meeting Rm 219 2:45-4:15
• Atomic Eagles Meeting Eagle Innovation Ctr 6:00-8:00

Wednesday 7 B day

• 5th/6th Grade Party Gym 1:00-2:30
• Ski Club to Ober Gatlinburg 1:00
• Atomic Eagles Meeting Science Wing 12:45-3:00
  

Thursday Feb. 8 A day

• Atomic Eagles Meeting Science Wing 2:45-4:30
  

Friday Feb. 9 B day

• Ms. Kala’s class to Tennessee Bank
• Atomic Eagles Meeting Science Wing 2:45-4:30
  

Saturday Feb. 10

First Lego League-East TN State Competition TN Tech Univ-Cookeville, TN

Time: Feb 6, 2024 07:45 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Click Here to JOIN the PTO MEETING!

Meeting ID: 732 8310 7556

Passcode: 6RUHui

We had a wonderful time celebrating JMS Kindness Week! Thank you students for spreading kindness across our campus. Students had the opportunity to complete the "Great Kindness Challenge" checklist, write positive notes to an educator who made an impact on their life, and participate in other kindness themed activities with their teachers and peers. Thank you for continuing to have important conversations at home with your students on the importance of being kind. As we know, a little kindness goes a long way!

Jefferson Middle School is dedicated to providing students with the tools needed to be successful. Twice a year, Jefferson offers an Intersession during Fall and Spring Breaks. The intent is to offer a program that will provide either reinforcement of prior skills or enrichment to further them. Students will be enrolled two courses (1.5 hours each), unless they sign-up for STEM Enrichment or choose the full Sports and Conditioning section.

*Please see the attached flyer below!

Important Dates and Information for Rising 9th graders

Can you believe it is time to start talking about high school registration? There are several upcoming events for Rising 9th graders. In an effort to ease the transition, all 8th graders have been added to the “Class of 2028” Canvas page. This is where you will be able to access videos, documents and other information related to high school registration and course selection. There are several upcoming events we wanted to make you aware of regarding high school registration and course selection.

The 2024-2025 ORHS Academic Planning Guide can be found here:

www.ortn.edu/ORHS/APG_2024-2025.pdf

Exploring Pathways 2024-2025

www.ortn.edu/ORHS/Exploring_Pathways_2024-2025.pdf

Is your child interested in education or working with children someday? Then the Early Childhood Education Academy might be a great fit! In order to be considered for enrollment in the Early Childhood Education Academy at ORHS, you must complete an application. Applications are now available in the School Counseling Office. *The deadline to complete the application is February 9th!

Student Council is hosting the 5th and 6th grade party in the JMS gym on Feb. 7th from 12:45-2:30. Students must have a ride home. The cost is $5.00 and concessions will be offered. There will be pizza, popcorn and a variety of snacks and drinks to purchase. No formal attire, please come in your school clothes and get ready to party!

This programming is scheduled to take place February 12th -14th during PE classes in 5th, 6th and 8th grades.

Our final meeting will take place on Friday, February 9th at 6:30 p.m. We will be doing a fun interactive active with Japanese Outreach Initiative director Mana Muramatsu, and will finalize the get together by Zooming with our friends at 7:30 p.m.

Five JMS students will be selected to represent the Oak Ridge Schools and the City of Oak Ridge as participants in the 28th Anniversary Naka-shi Student Exchange Program. Selected students along with chaperones will travel to Japan in July to explore parts of Japan and the Japanese culture. Since it is an exchange program, the same students and chaperones who travel to Japan will in turn offer their Oak Ridge home and hospitality to a Japanese exchange student for a short time in August.

Applications for the Naka-Shi Student Exchange Program along with the parent permission and questionnaire forms are now available and may be picked up in the guidance department. Once the completed applications are in, the student interviews with the selection committee will begin.

Attention 7th Graders:

Time is running out!

Applications for the Naka-Shi Student Exchange Program along with the parent permission and questionnaire forms are now available and may be picked up in the guidance department.

Completed forms must be returned to the guidance office by Monday, February 12th.

Parents, this is a friendly reminder that students CANNOT bring medications to school. Parents must bring the medication to the clinic. This policy is both for student safety and making sure the documentation is complete. Parents, please bring any medication for your students to the clinic to Nurse Callison.

Don’t forget to order your copy of the yearbook! We have sold half of what is available and they are first come first serve, so don’t wait! Go to jostensyearbooks.com and search for Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge, TN. Cost is $20 per yearbook.

Jefferson Track & Field practice begins on February 12th. All student-athletes must have a sports physical on file prior to participating. Please see Coach Byas, Coach Bolling or Coach Jessie with any questions.

Please see the Track & Field schedule below!

Go Eagles!

Coach Bolling

Dear JMS Parents,

We open every sporting event at JMS with the same comments about Good Sportsmanship. We believe that student athletes develop life-long personal and interpersonal skill sets by participation in and support of our extracurricular events. We rarely have any issues on this front. For example, the City Basketball Championship this past weekend between RMS and JMS was a rousing demonstration of GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP --fantastic fans, dedicated players, and supportive family and friends. Though we compete and play hard, we (the parents, the staff, the supporters) engaged in the good sportsmanship we want to see in our students. We thank you for that! Even though the Eagles did not come out victorious and the day itself was rainy and chilly, it was a great experience for kids and the many parents and staff members it takes to run this event. The comradery at these events builds into our great ORHS fan base.

However, due to changes in TSSAA rules, JMS Admin wanted to remind all spectators of the policies regarding expectations of spectators at any school athletic event. Whether here at Jefferson or away at another school, we hold our students and our supporters to the same high standards. Some of these policies are state level requirements. Due to recent events at other sporting venues in Tennessee, TSSAA updated their bylaws in July 2023. Article II section 9 of the TSSAA bylaws now states that:

For fans ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct during a contests, the school will be fined a minimum of $250.00. In addition, other non-monetary disciplinary action may occur, including but not limited to probation and/or restricted probation for the entire athletic program.

As such, any JMS parent or supporter that is ejected from a game will be required to pay whatever fine is assessed before they can attend future extracurricular events.

Game officials (referees, school administrators, athletic directors, and SROs) have the power to remove a supporter from a venue for unsportsmanlike conduct. Per the TSSAA website, "The most common unsportsmanlike scenarios involve coaches and fans displaying disrespectful behavior towards officials, players, and other coaches. This includes yelling and arguing with officials, making inappropriate comments, refusing to leave the court or gymnasium when asked, and even physically confronting or threatening officials." Ultimately, the definition of unsportsmanlike conduct will be at the general discretion of the game officials, and game officials control access to the playing field.

In the event of an emergency, the JMS administration will work with you to ensure that you have access to your student. Your student safety is paramount to us. It may take us a moment, but we will work with you.

The goal of JMS administration is to uphold the high standards which make JMS a school of excellence. To achieve this goal we ask that all or our fans adhere to the JMS code of conduct and follow the guidelines below:

• Good sportsmanship should always be emphasized by student athletes and spectators.

• Booing has no place at school-sponsored activities.

• Students and parents in attendance at athletic events should remain seated in the stands during the contest and stay off the basketball court, football field, track, and other playing areas.

• JMS campus is smoke free. This includes e-cigarettes, and other types of devices, including all VAPING.

Again, we rarely have these issues, but with changing state policies, we like to keep our parents informed. Thank you so much for being such great supporters of Jefferson sports and other extra curricular activities. If you have any questions, please let us know.

- Mr. Cox, Mr. Fowler, and Dr. Quilliams.

Congratulations to our Students of the Week!

5th grade

Sam Jawdy

Braiden Blair

6th grade

Ma’Ryah Smith

Tanna Taylor

Erica White

Maddison Julian

7th grade

Annabella Fields

Jenna Brown

8th grade

Caitlyn Gleason

Kori Gentry

Penny Job

The links below contain resources for setting up and accessing Skyward and Canvas, an updated calendar, along with a welcome message from our ITC coach and a link to district and school websites.

• Elizabeth Leavitt, ITC: Welcome Message

• School Calendar

• ORS District Website

• Jefferson Middle School Website

• Canvas Parent Account Setup.docx
  
• Skyward Family Access Account SETUP .docx
  

Please reach out to Elizabeth Leavitt at ealeavit@ortn.edu

When accessing Clever from the home network, it should initially pop up with this image:

Click on “Log in with Active Directory.” The next page should look like this:

This is where the student should log in using the format shown in the text boxes of this image, where “xxxxxxx” is the students username that they use to log into their laptop. Once the login has been completed, Clever should load into the page the student normally sees when their laptop is connected to our school network

You have received many communications this summer from the district about registering for the Bus through Skyward. If you have, but are not sure what bus your student is riding, here is how you check it.

FIRST! Log into Tyler's Versatrans E-Link https://transportation.ortn.edu/elinkrp/Login.aspx

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

Click on Students, then View My Students. If you see a bus route there, you should be good. If you DO NOT see a bus route, you will need to update bus service! You will not have bus service on the first day of school.

To get bus service, log into Skyward and click on Forms. There is a bus request form. Transportation is working to move quickly to add new students to the bus, but it will take a few days before your student can be added to bus service.

First Student Transportation is working hard to get routes assigned to all students who requested bus service.

Once you are registered for transportation, you will be able to track your child's bus using the app information detailed below. Please see information on how to register for MyStop below.

MyStop - Parent/Student Login (You may click on the MyStop Picture to the left!)

• Username: (use student’s name - case sensitive) firstname.lastname
• Password: (use student birth date) in this format 03122007 for March 12, 2007

MyStop Phone App Available In Your App Store

Go to: Versatrans My Stop™ provides mobile access to bus information. This app displays the location of the user’s assigned school bus, as well as the estimated time of arrival to their stop. Students can plan for late or on-time arrival, and prevent missed pick-ups or being left outside in inclement weather.

Can’t Access the MyStop App?

If you are having difficulty accessing the MyStop App please take the following steps:

1. Please confirm the following:
2. You have downloaded the App from Tyler Technologies.
3. You are using the legal student name as listed in Skyward.
4. You have selected all lower case letters.First Student Transportation is working hard to get routes assigned to all students who requested bus service.

   
   

The local news has reported a small rise in COVID cases over the last couple of weeks. Below is a screenshot of the Isolation Guidance from the TN Department of Health (last updated 11 October 2022). The full document is linked below: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/cedep/novel-coronavirus/Isolation-QuarantineRelease.pdf