Eagle Eye JMS Parent Newsletter #23

We had a fantastic spirit week leading up to our second RMS vs JMS basketball series at ORHS's Wildcat arena this past weekend. Our pep rally really shined with school spirit. The 5th grade may have received some training before the start because they were ready to challenge the upper grades for the Spirit Award.

Please enjoy the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday on Monday. We will see your students on Tuesday. Or Wednesday maybe if the forecasted weather holds true.

As always, we thank our parents and our staff for what they do to help our students be the best they can be. If you need anything, please reach out.

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

NO SCHOOL! Martin Luther King Day

Tuesday 16 A day

• PTO Meeting
• 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
• Basketball Game vs. Webb @ Webb (Varsity ONLY) Girls 4:00; Boys 5:00

Wednesday 17 A day

• Spelling Bee JPAC 8:00
• Building Level Ski/Snowboarding Club to Ober Gatlinburg 12:55-8:45
• Basketball Practice Gym Boys 1:00-2:30; Girls 2:30-4:0

Thursday 18 B day

• Biztown 5th Gold Team 9:00-2:00
• Basketball vs. Cherokee @ Cherokee GJV 5:00; GV 6:00; BV 7:00

Friday 19 A day

• Biztown 5th Blue Team 9:00-2:00
• Fire Drill 2:00
• Ms. Kala’s class to Police Station
• Basketball Practice Gym Boys 3:00-4:30; Girls 4:30 -6:00

Saturday 20

Basketball District Tournament @ RMS TBD

We are likely to have some inclement weather this week. Here is how that works in the event of school closure or delay:

Superintendent, Executive Director of School Leadership, and Supervisor of Maintenance and Operations will meet to determine whether schools should close, delay opening or be released early. Decision to close or delay the start of school will be decided by 5:30 AM.

Once decision has been made, the following actions will take place:

1. Email will be sent to leadership and media.

2. Skylert message will be created and sent to staff and families.

3. Closure/School Delay information will be posted on social media platforms.

Delayed Start Schedules:

One Hour Delayed Start

1. All schools opening delayed one hour.

2. Breakfast will be served.

3. ECC will be closed for A.M. and open for P.M. regular schedule.

Two Hour Delayed Start

1. All schools opening delayed two hours.

2. Preschool will be closed for the day if it occurs on a Wednesday.

3. Breakfast will not be served.

4. ECC will be closed for A.M. and open for P.M. regular schedule.

In the event of a delay, we will send out a JMS specific time table for classes.

We will have our January PTO Meeting on Tuesday, January 16th at 7:45. If we are delayed or closed, the January meeting will be cancelled.

Susanne Wren is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: My Meeting

Time: Jan 16, 2024, 07:45 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/73451458307?pwd=giarEKBra7G1Va8XJGoqlbI5allAne.1

Meeting ID: 734 5145 8307

Passcode: pcJU3i

Thank you!

Susanne Wren

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

The next meeting of the Naka Shi Pen pal exchange will take place on Wednesday, January 24th from 1:30 – 3 p.m. in the Jefferson Library.

In addition, 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.

Thank you to everyone who has participated with us in this fun activity this year.

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.

On Tuesday, the Jefferson basketball teams will travel to Webb for two non-district games. The girls varsity team will play at 4pm, followed by the boys varsity team at 5pm. On Thursday, Jefferson will travel to Cherokee for their last regular season game of the season. Girls JV will play at 5pm, girls varsity at 6pm and boys varsity at 7pm. The 2024 District Tournament begins on Saturday and the games will be played at Robertsville. The brackets will be released soon. 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.

5th grade

Mylah Partain

7th grade

Scarlett Lewis

Gabrielle Mirodipini

Ronald Perry

Guillermo (William) Saccardi

8th grade

Lynsee Pennington

Soly Beehan

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