We are gearing up with great anticipation to welcome our JMS students next week! We want to take some time to say thank you to all of our parents and families for your continued support of ORS mission and JMS Eagles. Next week's newsletter will feature an introduction to our new Dean of Students and our new teachers, as our team has grown.

As with any new year, new school, or transition, you may have questions and wonderings. We have added quite a bit of information in this first family newsletter, but feel free to reach out, as we are up and running on campus!

As always, we thank our parents and our staff for what they do to help our students be the best they can be.

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

New Year, New Newsletter!

If you want someone else to see this email, forward it to them!

Don't want this email? There are buttons on the side that allow you to remove yourself from this mailing list.

I have added to this list all parent emails in Skyward for our current students AND all emails received from our Rising 5th grade parents and their contacts from May. Any questions, email bjfowler@ortn.edu

New Student Orientation for 5th through 8th Grades

Agenda for Orientation

Friday, July 21, 2023 from 9:00am – 10:30am

JMS Gymnasium

Dr. Quilliams 9:15am

Coach Bolling 9:20am

Ms. Haverkamp 9:25am

Ms. Cormack & Ms. Price 9:30am

Student Tours 9:35am

Ms. Leavitt 9:45am

Mr. Cox 10:00am

Although students are not on campus this week, our administrators, teachers, and staff are meeting, working, attending training sessions, and planning for student success. In the upcoming weekly newsletter, you will find a calendar of events and happenings in this space!

Please reach out to Susanne Wren if you are interested:

jeffersonmspto@gmail.com

• JMS's weather policy is to load busses and release car riders during most weather events EXCEPT lightning or severe rain/wind. When lightning is present we will push our students back to the building and delay releasing students. We have had three major lightning issues and a major wind/rain events during our releases over the first term, and we wanted to reiterate what our hold policy is. We thank our parents for their patience as we do our best to keep our students safe.
• DO NOT enter the bus loop when buses are present!
• Please pull your vehicle all the way up so we can keep as many cars as possible off of Fairbanks Road.
• When dropping off AFTER 7:30am, students will be directed towards the main entrance. Go ahead and pull all the way up.
• Make sure your child is ready to exit the vehicle and doesn't have to access the trunk for items, as this holds up the line.
• DO NOT park or leave your vehicles in the neighborhoods across the street from Jefferson. Traffic is heavy during pickup and drop off and parking on those streets only increases the danger to our students and parents attempting to navigate the traffic.

Please be sure students are coming to school in dress code and dressed for success! JMS Administration would like to remind students and families of ORS Code of Conduct.

Students are prohibited from wearing:

• Clothing that resembles sleepwear such as lounging pants, or other lounging items. This also includes house shoes.
• Students are not permitted to wear pants or shorts with holes above the knee. This includes wearing any type of shorts or leggings underneath ripped attire.

We are excited to begin the 2023-2024 JMS Athletics Seasons in early August. The JMS football team, cheerleaders and volleyball team have their first contests on Thursday, August 3rd. JMS athletic spectator ticket prices for the 2023-2024 school year are $5/ticket for home football and basketball games and $3/ticket for home volleyball matches. Kindergarten and under are admitted free. Please make plans to come out and support our JMS Athletic teams this fall! Go Eagles!

As always, GO EAGLES!

Thank you,

Coach Bolling

Oak Ridge Schools will be providing resources for families as we collectively tackle this growing vaping problem in our schools and families. For the complete schedule, please follow this link:

Vaping Prevention Week - Jefferson Middle (ortn.edu)

Parents,

We are sad to report that student vaping has increased significantly at the secondary level this school year. School Administration and staff are committed to addressing this concern, but effectively controlling this trend will be challenging. Student access, the ability to hide vapes and the odorless nature of vapes increases the difficulty of monitoring and reducing this dangerous trend.

This trend is resulting in lost instructional time for many students. Students using or possessing vapes that contain nicotine products are being assigned multiple days of out of school suspension. Students identified as using vapes or being in possession of vapes containing THC, are being expelled for a full calendar year. Approximately 50% of the students currently assigned to the Secret City Academy are there due to using a vape that contained THC.

Due to the increase in vapes containing THC, we are informing parents that the Secret City Academy is currently at capacity. The Oak Ridge Schools Code of Conduct clearly communicates our expectations regarding the unauthorized use or possession of drugs. Students confirmed of using or being in possession of drugs at school, or at a school activity, will be expelled in accordance with the Oak Ridge Schools Code of Conduct.

If your child is expelled, it is likely that they will only have the option to participate in on-line learning. Expelled students will be placed on a waiting list and granted access to the Secret City Academy when a student complete their time at the SCA. Choosing to use a vape containing THC or participating in other zero tolerance events while at school or at a school event will remove your child's ability to participate in face-to-face instruction.

Oak Ridge Schools clearly recognizes the value of attending school in person, but we also understand the importance and are committed to providing students a drug free learning environment.

Please continue speaking with your child or children regarding the harm of vaping and drugs. We are in the process of scheduling a Vaping Education Week which will focus on providing students an educational assembly to communicate the harms of vaping. We are also looking to provide a similar evening opportunity for parents to attend.

Respectfully,

Oak Ridge Schools

Youth Vaping Prevention - Additional Resources & Information

2022-2023 ORS Student Code of Conduct Handbook (see pgs 22-24)

National Institute of Health (NIH) - Smoke Free Teen

Alcohol & Substance Abuse Prevention of Anderson County - Parent & Teen Resources

CATCH My Breath - Vaping Epidemic - Parent Toolkit