

Eagle Eye JMS Parent Newsletter #25
Term 3: Week 5: January 29-February 2, 2024
Good Evening Jefferson Middle School families!
Teachers hit the ground running teaching content and tending to needs that transcend academics on Thursday and Friday. We are confident that JMS boasts the very best students and staff, along with our families. The teamwork witnessed each day is an ongoing testimony to that claim!
Please do not hesitate to reach out as we continue Term 3 and head toward our benchmark testing. We realize that students 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
Click the bar to access our monthly calendar!🙂
Week at a Glance!
Week of January 29- February 2, 2024
Monday 29 A Day
- 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
Tuesday30 B day
- Track & Field Interest Meeting Gym 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 2:45-4:1
Wednesday 31 A day
- Japanese Pen Pal Meeting Rm 313 1:30-3:00
- Ski Club to Ober Gatlinburg 1:00
Thursday Feb. 1 B day
- ORHS CTE Fair for 7th & 8th Graders in gym during 2nd and 3rd periods
Friday Feb. 2 A day
- Truancy Review & Support Meeting JPAC 10:00-12:00
- Ms. Kala’s class to Home Depot
NAEP Testing
Jefferson Middle School has been selected as a National Assessment for Educational Progress testing site this year. NAEP testing uses statistical sampling to measure the academic status of students across the nation and helps provide direction for policy makers and researchers. Notices have gone out to the 50 students in 8th grade who are testing, and note cards will be handed out to students on Monday reminding them that they will be testing on Tuesday. Parents of students will receive another email this afternoon.
5th and 6th Grade Party!
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!
Family Life Sessions
This programming is scheduled to take place February 12th -14th during PE classes in 5th, 6th and 8th grades.
NAKA SHI Pen Pals UPDATES!
The next meeting of the Naka Shi Pen pal exchange will take place on Wednesday, January 31st 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.
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.
Completed forms must be returned to the guidance office by Monday, February 12th, so interested 7th graders should pick up the forms.
ORS Core Values - Teamwork
JMS EXPECTATIONS: Click on each picture to enlarge!
Medications for Students
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.
YOU CAN STILL GET YOUR YEARBOOK!
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.
Coach Bolling's Athletic Update
Despite two outstanding games on Thursday evening, the 2023-2024 Jefferson Eagles and Lady Eagles basketball seasons came to an end. Congratulations to the JMS 8th grade cheerleaders and basketball players on outstanding careers at JMS! And thank you to the JMS community for all of your support this season!
There will be an interest meeting for any JMS 6th, 7th or 8th grader interested in running track this spring on Tuesday, January 30th from 2:45pm-3:45pm in the JMS gym. Official practice will begin on Monday, February 12th. Please see Coach Byas, Coach Bolling or Coach Jessie with any questions.
Go Eagles!
Coach Bolling
Expectations for Spectators
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.
Ms. Haverkamp's Reading Eagle
Character Strong for January: Perseverance
🤩Students of the Week🤩
PERSEVERANCE
Congratulations to our Students of the Week!!
5th grade
Mylah Partain
7th grade
Scarlett Lewis
Gabrielle Mirodipini
Ronald Perry
Guillermo (William) Saccardi
8th grade
Lynsee Pennington
Soly Beehan
Technology Resources for Parents
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.
Please reach out to Elizabeth Leavitt at ealeavit@ortn.edu
Tech help with Clever at HOME!
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
Counselors' Corner
Kindness Week!
Parents, because of the snow, we will be celebrating Kindness Week this week. There will be activities throughout the building, daily announcements emphasizing the place of kindness in our daily lives. Check out the letter and family checklist below!
TRANSPORTATION
What bus do I ride?
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:
- Please confirm the following:
- You have downloaded the App from Tyler Technologies.
- You are using the legal student name as listed in Skyward.
- You have selected all lower case letters.First Student Transportation is working hard to get routes assigned to all students who requested bus service.
ORS Code of Conduct
JMS Student Handbook
TN Department of Health COVID Guidance
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