Eagle Eye JMS Parent Newsletter #19

We hope this letter finds you and your family well. As we approach the end of the year, we want to thank you for all the support and encouragement you have given to our school and your children. You are an integral part of our learning community, and we appreciate your involvement and feedback.

We know that this has been a challenging year for everyone, and we are proud of how our students have adapted and persevered. They have shown resilience, creativity, and curiosity in their learning, and we are excited to see their progress and achievements.

As you may already know, the benchmark tests are coming up this week. These tests are designed to measure the students’ mastery of the essential skills and standards for their grade level. They are also an opportunity for us to identify the areas of strength and growth for each student, and to provide them with the appropriate support and enrichment. We want to assure you that these tests are not meant to be stressful or overwhelming for the students. They are just one of the many tools we use to monitor and enhance their learning. We encourage you to help your children prepare for the tests by ensuring that they get enough sleep, eat a healthy breakfast, and arrive at school on time. We also ask that you avoid scheduling any appointments or absences during the testing days, as this may affect their performance and disrupt the testing schedule.

Most importantly, we want you to enjoy the family time and activities that you have planned for the holidays. We believe that spending quality time with your loved ones, engaging in hobbies and interests, and having fun are essential for the well-being and happiness of our students. We hope that you will find some time to relax and recharge, and to celebrate the accomplishments and joys of this year. Thank you again for your continued partnership and support. We look forward to seeing you and your children in the new year. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

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

• PTO Meeting Virtual 7:30
• Cheer Practice 3:00-5:00
• Atomic Eagles Meeting Science Wing 2:45-4:30
• Master Builders Meeting Rm 102 2:45-4:30
• RadioActive Brix Meeting Rm 223 2:45-4:30
• Secret Innovation Meeting Rm 219 2:45-4:15
• Basketball Practice Gym Boys 3:00-5:00; Girls 5:00-7:00
  

Wednesday, December 6 A Day

• Basketball Practice Gym Boys 1:00-3:00; Girls 3:00-5:00
• Atomic Eagles Practice Innovation Center 6:00-8:00

Thursday, December 7 B Day

• ELA/Science Benchmarks GIS class field trip to UTK Burchfiel Geography Building and Student Union 9:00-2:30
• Atomic Eagles Practice Science Wing 2:45-4:30
• RadioActive Brix Meeting Rm 223 2:45-4:30
• Basketball vs. Jacksboro @ JMS-BJV 5:00; GV 6:00; BV 7:00
• 7th/8th Grade Chorus Concert JPAC 7:00
  

Friday, December 8 A Day

• ELA/Science Benchmarks
• Ms. Kala’s class to Nursing Home
• Student Council Meeting Cafeteria 6th Period
• Atomic Eagles Practice Science Wing 2:45-3:30
• RadioActive Brix Meeting Rm 223 2:45-4:30
• Boys Basketball Practice 3:00-5:00

Saturday, December 9

FLL Regional Qualifier Tournament @ JMS 8:30AM – 6:30 PM

Topic: JMS PTO Dec 5th

Time: Dec 5, 2023 07:30 AM Eastern Time

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/74235559211?pwd=d41oAJ6q0KoSDJIKEigaC8uWd6aq59.1

Meeting ID: 742 3555 9211

Passcode: A76QLn

We want to personally thank our supporters of the purchase of 3 new microwaves for our JMS lunchroom. We appreciate you and your collaborative efforts to support JMS.

Christine Pellenz

Katie & Mike Murphey

Katie & Daniel Fischer

Savannah & Miguel Izuierd

Great job with the Food Drive, Eagles! We collected 1,094 items of food in approximately 50 boxes. This food will be divided amongst three food pantries in Oak Ridge. Thank you so much for your generosity and spirit of giving.

• Ms. McMahon’s room came in first with 249 items donated.
• Honorable mention goes to Mr. Webb’s room, with 102 items, followed by Mr. Murphy’s with 83.

Thank you to all who promoted and worked behind the scenes to make our Food Drive so successful. Go Eagles!

Three Jefferson Middle School FIRST Lego League teams competed at the Marble City Qualifier on December 2, 2023.

The Jefferson Middle School Master Builders received the Robot Performance Award for having the highest scoring robot. They also received the 1st Place Champions Award and will advance to the East Tennessee State Championship in February. The RadioActive Brix received the Core Values Award and the Atomic Eagles received Innovative Project Award. Coach, Janie Shanafield, received the Coach Award. We are very proud of the Jefferson Middle School FIRST Lego League teams. The Secret Innovation team competes next week at the Secret City Qualifier. We wish them good luck!

Please congratulate the following students:

JMS Master Builders

• Theo Christian
• Lucy Kilpatrick
• Shane Osborne
• Norah Price
• Ruby Price
• Andrew Schwartzenberger
• Paisley Wright

RadioActive Brix:

• Preston Atkinson
• Moira Davis
• Vance Harrison
• Ava Hartye
• Skyla Hartye
• Patrick Henley
• Anna Pickel
• Nina Vasquez

Atomic Eagles:

• Owen Bass
• Addie Driskill
• Maverick Fitzwater
• Tommy Sauer
• Harry Shanafield
• Natalie Shanafield
• Phoebe Weston

It was a rainy, dreary day at the first of two City Basketball Championship games at ORHS. But thanks to all the family, friends, and supports of RMS and JMS athletics who came out. Both teams played hard, and the fans had a great day of sports, fellowship, and fun.

Despite a great effort, the Eagles and Lady Eagles fell to the Robertsville Rams Saturday afternoon in the first round of the Oak Ridge City Championship games. Jefferson will be back in action on Monday night at Clinton. Go Eagles!

We have another busy week of JMS athletics ahead! On Monday, The Eagles basketball teams and cheerleaders travel to Clinton for a girls JV game at 5pm, girls varsity game at 6pm and boys varsity game at 7pm. On Thursday, Jefferson will host Jacksboro. Boys JV will begin at 5pm followed by girls varsity at 6pm and boys varsity at 7pm. Please make plans to come out and support the Eagles this week. Go Eagles!

Please make plans to come out and support the Eagles this winter! Please see the attached schedule below!

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.

6th grade

Ben Martin

Kennedy Hale

7th grade

Janki Patel

Chloe Orf

Raquel (Rachel) Hamblen

Miles Erwin

8th grade

Kaylen McLendon

Talon Hale

Alyssa Jestes

Taygen Gladden

Isabella Brook

Jonathan Cox

We are so proud each week, of our Eagle Character Winners for Students of the Week! Congratulations!

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

Oak Valley Baptist Church- Christmas Store:

Oak Valley Baptist Church is holding their fifth annual Christmas Store on December 16, 2023. This is not the same as the ORS Angel Tree. This is for families who can pay a small amount for brand new gifts for their children. If you are interested in this program please complete the attached referral form. Oak Valley looks forward to helping out!

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