We had an exciting week at RMS packed with instruction and activities last week. A huge shout out to our students and families for making it so successful. This week brings more instruction as well as the start to our MVP Term 3 Benchmark schedule. Students will take the ELA Benchmark on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. We have worked hard to ensure students are growing and working to achieve grade level standards in every subject. Teachers have set goals with students while also encouraging them to take a deep breath and to simply do their best!

We ask that you please note Dr. Kinder's special request for photos of your families enjoying this year's "snow break" for our yearbook! We are getting closer to finalizing the 2023-2024 Annual... place your orders asap if you haven't already!

Finally, please consider giving us feedback in the Educational Effectiveness Survey provided below. As of Thursday last week, only 26 families have participated. We want to hear from you and use your feedback to ensure we are continuously improving to better reach our students' and families' needs. To access the survey visit: EES Family Survey Link

As always, please reach out if there is anything we can do to better support our students and families. Have a great evening and a wonderful week!

-Nick Corrigan, Principal, njcorrigan@ortn.edu

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

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

Monday – Feb 26

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

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

MATHCOUNTS 2:45-4:00pm (Room 233)

TSA Officer Meeting 3:00-4:00pm (Room 234)

BOE Meeting 5:00pm (SAB)

Tuesday – Feb 27 - MVP Testing – ELA Subpart 1 & 2

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

TSA Meeting 2:45-5:00pm (STEM Lab)

Wednesday – Feb 28 - MVP Testing – ELA Subpart 3

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

SECME Meeting 7:00-7:30am (Room 120)

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

Thursday – Feb 29

No Testing

Friday – March 1

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

Coffee & Conversation with Mr. Corrigan – Family Engagement Series 8:00-8:30am (Cafeteria)

5th & 6th to ORHS Masquers Production of Anastasia 8:30-11:30am

Students will soon take benchmark assessments for each of the core content classes (ELA, math, science, social studies). These assessments are used to allow educators to take a deep dive into the teaching and learning happening in the classroom. They can identify areas where students excelled and areas of concern. And with common formative assessments, teachers can compare data and share best practices to improve their teaching efficacy.

Please be sure to speak with your child about the importance of trying their absolute best on these assessments so that we can accurately plan instruction for Term 4. RMS administration, instructional coaches, and teachers regularly review the data from these assessments to ensure we are providing high quality instruction and adequate support for our students. A broad overview of what this process looks like is in the chart below.

Additionally, the schedule that students will follow each day of Benchmark Testing is below.

This Week

Tuesday, February 27 - ELA Subpart 1 & 2

Wednesday, February 28 - ELA Subpart 3

Thursday, February 29 - No Testing

Friday, March 1 – No Testing (ORHS 5th & 6th Grade Play Field Trip)

Next Week

Monday, March 4 - Math Subparts 1 & 2

Tuesday, March 5 - No School - Election Day

Wednesday, March 6 - Science Subparts 1 & 2

Thursday, March 7 - Social Studies Subpart 1 & 2

Dear Families,

For us to continue to improve as a school district and as a school, it is important for us to understand stakeholder perceptions about the job we are doing in providing a quality education for all our children. We are seeking information through a 10-15 minute survey that is available now through March 1st.

To access the survey visit: EES Family Survey Link

• Choose your language preference on the opening page of the survey.
• Select your child's school. If you have children in multiple schools, complete one survey per child.
• Complete the survey and click submit.

I would like to personally encourage every family to provide their feedback for Robertsville Middle School. This survey is unique in that similar versions are provided for students and staff. The opportunity to gather feedback from our entire school community is something we can't pass up! We have worked tremendously hard to ensure we are communicating and building a strong relationship with students and their families. While our door is always open for feedback and input throughout the school year, it is helpful to have responses in this survey as it provides the opportunity for reflection and provides guidance on how we are doing in reaching our school's vision to be a school community that creates a sense of belonging and promotes excellence.

Nick Corrigan

Principal

This was an AMAZING event for our students. Check out some of the links below to see the media coverage at RMS last week.

• Storyteller teaches Oak Ridge students more about the Scarboro 85 (wate.com)
  
• ‘Scarboro 85′ headed for the history books (youtube.com)
  
• 'It's been a long time coming' | Scarboro 85 becomes part of statewide school curriculum | wbir.com

"The Scarboro 85,” told by Sheila Arnold, nationally acclaimed storyteller is coming to Oak Ridge during for public performances because of a grant Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival has received from the TN Arts Commission. She is available to the schools because of matching funds from a local patron. Ms. Sheila is well known in Oak Ridge because she researched, wrote, and told the dynamic story of the Scarboro 85 at the Grove Theatre as part of the Flatwater Tales Festival in June 2022. Five hundred people leapt to their feet in a standing ovation when they heard the story at the historic Grove Theater. Most of the audience had never heard the story of the brave, scared 85 youngsters who, in 1955, were the very first students in the entire southeastern United States to desegregate a school system. It is an important chapter in Oak Ridge history.

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

We will not be hosting a Spring Intersession this year to allow for the installation of new lockers. This is a needed and very exciting update for our school and will provide a better learning experience for our students.

While we are still a few weeks away, please encourage your students to begin bringing home any extra belongings (clothes, jackets, shoes, etc) that may have been collected in their lockers throughout the school year. If they bring a little bit home at a time, it will be helpful as we get closer to Spring Break!

Parents: do you have fun photos of RMS students enjoying the snow during our recent “snow break”? If so, please consider sharing those for the Robertsville yearbook! You can submit via HJ eShare (see information below) or email as an attachment to the yearbook sponsor at jkinder@ortn.edu. Thank you!

Order your 2024 RAM Yearbook today! 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.

Good news: the deadline to order name stamping on the cover has been extended. Name stamping is only available with online orders.

Dr. Kinder-McMillan will be collecting cash and check (made to RMS) payments at school during the week of February 26-March 1 only. The cost is $20 per book, and multiple student orders may be combined in one payment. Please provide the student name(s) and homeroom(s) with the payment. Receipts will be given for cash payments.

If you are unsure whether you have already purchased a 2024 yearbook, please contact the yearbook sponsor at jkinder@ortn.edu. Thank you!

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.

Attention Parents of ORHS Class of 2028

We invite parents of rising freshman to join the ORHS Class of 2028, Oak Ridge, TN Facebook page. Mrs. Foster and Mrs. Thompson will use this page to celebrate our kids and keep you informed. Only requests who have answered all of the questions will be accepted. For safety purposes, the page is a closed group. Welcome to the family!

(20+) ORHS Class of 2028, Oak Ridge, TN | Facebook

ORHS Masquers would like to invite you to our school show of Anastasia this year! This dazzling show transports its audience from the twilight of the Russian Empire to the euphoria of Paris in the 1920s, as a brave young woman sets out to discover the mystery of her past. Pursued by a ruthless Soviet officer determined to silence her, Anya enlists the aid of a dashing con man and a lovable ex-aristocrat. Together, they embark on an epic adventure to help her find home, love and family.

RMS 5th and 6th Grade Classes will have the opportunity to attend on Friday, March 1st at 9:30am.

PTSA is excited to announce we have a Donor who is willing to match donations up to $5,000. As you can see above the impact of your donation is great for RMS Students. Without PTSA many of the above would not take place. If we receive $15 per student, we will hit our overall goal. PTSA also supports our amazing Educators with staff appreciation events as a Thank You for all they do in educating our students.

PTSA has already funded over $3,000 in requests this school year for Stem Lego kits, Soldering Kits, Bulletin Boards for Electives and Reflex Math Subscription to assist with students needing extra help in math.

How to donate? Return the Donation Envelope that went home with your student to school or Via Paypal at at paypal.me/rmsorptsa. Scan the QR Code above to take you to our direct PayPal link.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!

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.

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.

We are happy to notify you that beginning Wednesday, January 3, Robertsville Middle School will be providing free breakfast and lunch to all students. This change stems from an adjustment in the U. S Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) threshold for participation in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) that allows schools to offer free meals to all students.

This change will be in place for the remainder of the 2023-24 school year, however, it is not retroactive and does not erase any current meal balances. Current meal balances can be paid online, or in-person at your school cafeteria to avoid processing fees.

While the change from the USDA allows for increased eligibility, unfortunately, there will still be some schools in the district with a lower eligibility rate that will not be receiving free meals. The district will evaluate the eligibility data and associated costs of including more of our schools on an ongoing basis to determine if we can include any additional schools for next school year or beyond.

Additional Information about Food Services in Oak Ridge Schools can be found at:

Food Services - Oak Ridge Schools (ortn.edu)

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/