JCS Staff Newsletter

We will distribute this newsletter on the Wednesday following the monthly Board of Education meeting. This newsletter will have information from District Departments and other helpful tips. If you have suggestions for content in this newsletter, please send them to Collin Brooks at BrooksB@jcschools.org.

For staff members with an enrollment date of July 1, 2023, there are 18 days left to complete compliance in KnowB4 in the SSO Portal. All new hires will complete it at orientation in The Learning Center on their scheduled date.

September 2023

• National Substitute Appreciation Week - September 4-8
  
• National Grandparent's Day - September 10
• Patriot Day (9/11 Observance) - September 11
• National Hispanic Heritage Month - September 15 - October 15
• National Yoga Month - All Month
• Constitution Day - September 17 (Falls on a Sunday)
• National IT Professional Day - September 19
• First Day of Fall - September 23
• Human Resources Professionals Day - September 26
• Science Hill Homecoming - Friday, September 29
• Homecoming Parade & Football Game
  

October 2023

• National Principal Month
• National Arts & Humanities Month
• National Book Month
• Down Syndrome Awareness Month
• School Custodian Appreciation Day - October 2
• National Taco Day - October 4
• National Coaches Day - October 6 (Also Instructional Coach Appreciation Day)
• Manufacturing Day - October 6
• Fire Prevention Week - October 8 - 14
• Columbus Day - October 9
• National Boss' Day - October 16
• Digital Citizenship Week - October 16 -20
• National School Bus Safety Week - October 16 - 20
• Unity Day (Bullying Prevention) - October 18
• Topper Trick or Treat - October 26 from 5 pm to 7 pm at Science Hill
  
• National Red Ribbon Week - October 23 - 31
• National First Responders Day - October 28

• Click here to view Printable Calendars 2023-2024 & 2024-2025
  

Johnson City Schools' Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund documents are available for review through this link. At the bottom of the page, there is a link to a Google form where we ask for feedback from all of our stakeholders. Every six months we will use this feedback for our ESSER 3.0 Public Plan-Federal Relief Spending Addendum. Please feel free to review these documents and provide us with feedback.

Johnson City Schools is hiring Educare assistants, custodians, and instructional assistants. Current job postings can be viewed at www.jcschools.org/jobs.

Johnson City Transit is in need of bus drivers. Please visit this page for more information about open Bus Driver positions.

Open Enrollment for Health Insurance will be October 1st through the 27th. This is the only time during the year changes can be made to your Health Insurance coverage without a qualifying life event. Changes to coverage will be effective January 1, 2024. You will be receiving emails from Partners for Health and Edison regarding open enrollment. Rates for 2024 will be posted on the website soon.

Open enrollment for other benefits including Dental, Vision, LT Disability, ST Disability, FBA Spending Accounts and other coverages will be the last full week of October. As in previous years, representatives will be at your school to assist with enrollment. As we get closer to open enrollment, schedules for your school and specific plan information will be available.

For those that previously have the Trust Co. retirement plan, funds have finished transferring over to Empower Retirement. You can access your account at https://participant.empower-retirement.com/participant/#/login

Empower Retirement is the State of TN 401k plan. Those formerly on the Trust Co. plan or anyone with the TCRS Hybrid Retirement Plan have a 401k with Empower Retirement. Any employee has access to the Empower 401k plan if interested in investing additional funds for retirement.

Please contact BrooksB@jcschools.org if you have any issues with Bloomz.

We had a situation last week where Cherokee, North Side and Fairmont accounts were randomly deleted. Those issues have been fixed and everything should be restored. If you are having issues, please don't hesitate to reach out to BrooksB@jcschools.org.

I am working on an RFP to find a Parent Communication Platform. Bloomz has not been dependable, and it is unacceptable.

If you have any questions or concerns about Bloomz, feel free to reach out to at BrooksB@jcschools.org with any questions.

Bloomz On-Demand Training for Teachers

• Beginning with Bloomz: Teacher Basics

• Beginning with Posts/Announcements/Alerts/Messages

• Beginning with Events, Sign-Ups, and Conferences

Beginning Parents on Bloomz | More Information

We want to begin by recognizing three former Mountain View students for their accomplishments by participating in the Johnson City Elks Lodge # 825 Americanism Essay Contest: Teacher- Marla Hyatt

a. Division I: 5th Grade, 1st Place: Dyeeniin Guhn

b. Division I: 5th Grade, 2nd Place: Hayley Meek

c. Division I: 5th Grade, 3rd Place: Seniyah Spriggs

More than 40 students gained 900+ hours of community service by completing beautification projects on Science Hill's campus, including adding a new outdoor eating area.

We honored the Woodland PTA for earning the 2022-2024 National PTA Schools of Excellence Award, one of only three schools in Tennessee to earn the award. This designation is in recognition of Woodland Elementary’ s commitment during the 22-23 school year to build an inclusive and welcoming school community where all families contribute to enriching the educational experience and overall well-being for all students.

The next Johnson City Board of Education meeting will be held on Monday, October 2 starting at 6 p.m. inside the Board Room at Central Office (100 E. Maple Street). Board meetings can be viewed on the Johnson City Schools' YouTube channel.

Johnson City Schools has enrolled with STOPit, the leading technology platform for schools that deters and controls harmful or inappropriate conduct. STOPit empowers students with an easy app to safely and anonymously report anything of concern to school officials – from cyberbullying to threats of violence or self-harm. STOPit empowers students to stand up for themselves and others while giving our schools the insight we need to keep students safe. Students can download the App from the Apple Store or Google play store on their mobile device and then search for their Johnson City School. While the reports are anonymous, there will be severe consequences for anyone who is found to have made a false report.

Science Hill continued its climb up the list of most effective high schools after the latest US News and World Report rankings were released on Tuesday. Science Hill ascended to the #14 spot out of 445 high schools in the state. Additionally, Science Hill was ranked in the top 5 percent in the country, ranking as the 1,159 best high school in the country out of 24,980 high schools across the country.

Read more - https://www.jcschools.org/view-all-news/district-default-post-page/~board/johnson-city-schools-news/post/science-hill-climbs-to-14-in-us-news-world-report-top-5-percent-nationally?fbclid=IwAR0fx46q2kJmw3lSXAeb152gOtjSux_6tdthl6HvgJNz4tbW4E-bpXIQpws

If you haven’t heard yet, Science Hill unveiled a mascot this year before the first home football game. Toppy will be visiting each school for special events like carnivals and fall festivals, etc as well as reading events. He will also appear at SH athletic events, as well as Jr. Topper football games, etc. In conjunction with Toppy’s arrival, the Science Hill PTSA is offering shirts for all future Toppers! We are also spearheading a community-wide campaign for Topper Pride by selling these #WeAreAllToppers yard signs. We’d love to see a sign in every family’s yard!

These are PRE-ORDER items only. They will not be for sale at future events. The shirts will be done by sublimation printing on an ash gray t-shirt. ORDER DEADLINE: September 15. Signs are $10 each and shirts are $15 each.

Questions? Please email Shhsptsaexecboard@gmail.com

Order your signs, shirts or just donate to the Science Hill PTA through this link - https://sciencehill.memberhub.com/store/?limit=21&live=true

Johnson City Schools loves celebrating the accomplishments of our students, staff, and community. If you know of any events, awards, programs, or other compelling stories involving the Johnson City Schools' community, please fill out this form or reach out to Collin Brooks at BrooksB@jcschools.org