2025 JMS Eagle Eye #29

We hope that everyone has had a fantastic week of school. Teachers will start closing out the term, so be sure to discuss with your students when the final deadlines are for grades. Benchmarks are wrapping up this week as well, with make ups happening in class. We have a number of field trips and our first track meet and cool Spring-ish weather.

The newsletter will take a break and come back to you in two weeks after Spring Break. Teachers will be off having adventures, and your admin staff will be in and out of the building. When we return, teachers will take a look at the Benchmark data, make final plans to finish standards and reinforce instruction before testing season rolls around. We are 3/4th of the way through our year!

As always, we are here to support, so if you need anything let us know.

Mr. Phil Cox, Principal pcox@ortn.edu

Dr. Benjamin Fowler, Vice Principal bjfowler@ortn.edu

Mr. Michael Martin, Dean of Students mmartin@ortn.edu

Monday 3 B Day

• Benchmarks
• 2:45 - 4:15 Lego League Secret Innovation (Rm. 313)
• 3:00 - 4:30 Track Practice

Tuesday 4 A Day

• Benchmarks
• 9:30a-10:30a STAMP test in Library
• 3:00 - 4:30 Track Practice

Wednesday 5 B Day

• 8:00a - 3:00p 7th & 8th grade band (Concert Performance Assessment) Farragut HS
• 1:00-1:30 p Staff Team Building Mtg
• 1:00 - 2:30p Track Practice

Thursday 6 A Day

• ASAP of
• 9:30 - 10:30a - STAMP test in Library
• 2:45-4:30p Jazz Band Practice
• Track Meet at ORHS

Friday 7 B Day

• 8:00-9:30 Kala's Class to Melton Lake Marina/Adventure Outdoor
• 3:00-4:30p Track Practice

Saturday 8

BEGIN SPRING BREAK!

World Languages will have STAMP test for 8th grade Spanish and French students. This is a culminating activity.

We will test on Tuesday, March 4 and Thursday, March 6 AND Tuesday, March 25 and Thursday, March 27 during 3rd period and maybe parts of 4th.

The Avant STAMP™ (STAndards-based Measurement of Proficiency) language assessment was originally created at the University of Oregon’s Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS).

Its purpose is to improve language-learning outcomes, support excellence in language programs, and enable language credentialing. As your student moves into high school World Languages, they will use these assessments towards certification of biliteracy.

8th graders have already registered with ORHS for their courses next year, so now we turn to start looking at our Rising 6th, 7th, and 8th grade (current 5th, 6th, and 7th).

This week we will begin the Registration Process for the 2025-2026 school year. At this time, students are simply choosing ELECTIVE options.

Core teachers will be submitting recommendations for core classes after Spring Break. Please take a moment to review the Grade level Specific PowerPoint, Grade Level Curriculum Guides and the Curricula Video links with your child. Registration documents are located on JMS School Counseling Canvas page under "Modules" then "25-26 Registration Information" or on the JMS Website at https://www.ortn.edu/jefferson/academics/curriculum/

Students will need to choose an Elective option(s), an Alternate Elective Option, and return the signed form to the School Counseling office no later than Friday, March 7th. Students should choose electives carefully, as we are unable to guarantee schedule changes. If a student fails to turn in an Elective Course Selection Sheet, he/she will have Elective courses chosen for them. Should you have questions concerning Registration for the 25-26 School Year, please reach out to your child’s school counselor.

We are partnering with the Center for Educational Effectiveness (CEE) to administer the Educational Effectiveness Survey™ (EES) –Student Universal Wellness Screener to our students. This screener is planned to be administered between Monday, March 3rd and Friday, March 7th . This screener will provide our school and district leadership with valuable data about the academic, social, emotional, and belonging needs of students. This 21-item survey should take students no longer than 20 minutes to complete.

Students whose parents have authorized them to take school based surveys will be taking the Student Universal Wellness Screener from CEE. Students will receive an email to their school accounts. Students in 5th and 6th grade will take this during reading. 7th and 8th Grade will take it during Study Halls and Eagle Time this week.

Benchmarks are starting this week and will continue into the following week. Because of the weather days, there may be some delays into which days some subjects test.

Overall, we will be starting with ELA testing on Monday and Tuesday. Be sure to look at your student's announcements for when teachers are testing.

TCAP testing will begin on Tuesday, April 15. The ELA tests will be April 15-16-17th. Good Friday is the 18th and we will be out of school. We will complete makeups the following Monday and then complete the bulk of our testing that week, April 21-25th. Any required makeups will take place the following week. We want to give you some heads up as you begin planning for that three day weekend.

At Jefferson, these core values are what we believe for students, and we will instill in them in how we expect staff and students to work and learn at JMS.

Because of our odd week last week, we did not put out a call for Eagle greatness. We will update this space NEXT week.

The following students have been nominated. Congratulations to these fantastic students!

Eagle Behavior

(Students recognized for their outstanding behavior in school, befitting a JMS Eagle)

Celia Cady

Zahra Stewart

Eagle Excellence

(Students recognized for their outstanding achievement in school, befitting a JMS Eagle)

Maddie Hagan

Kaira Dougherty

Jaylii Ramsey

Bodie Craven

Easton Donoghue

Eagle Expectations

(Students recognized for their outstanding manner of living up-to and exceeding JMS expectations in school, befitting a JMS Eagle)

Trak Robison

Eagle Accountability

(Students recognized for holding themselves accountable to the high expectations in school, befitting a JMS Eagle)

Lucas Quezada

Miles Robb

Isabella Farrar

Track season begins this week with our first meet on Thursday at Oak Ridge High School! Please make plans to come out and support the Eagles this spring! Spring athletics try-out information will be announced after Spring Break. Go Eagles!

Flu, cold, and allergy season is upon us, and with it comes all of the coughing and sore throats. Most cough drops have active ingredients, meaning too many can be harmful, and there is potential for side effects or allergic reactions. For this reason, students cannot be allowed to bring them to school and/or keep them on their person. This is a district wide policy for student safety.

As with any other over-the-counter medication, if you would like your student to have cough drops at school, please bring them to the nurse and complete a medication administration form so that they can be administered in a safe way. The medication form can also be found on the JMS website under the "Forms" section of the "Parent + Student" tab.

Just a reminder: STUDENTS are NOT allowed to carry or bring medication to school. Parents must bring the medication in and fill out a form with the school nurse.

If a student has medications for asthma, allergies, or seizures (or any other potential emergencies) that needs to be with them at school, please reach out to me via phone (865-425-9338) or email (kcjones@ortn.edu) or come see me in the clinic.

Students and staff have had access to Adobe Express for the past year, but we wanted to take a moment to reintroduce it. Adobe Express can be accessed via Clever or by visiting https://express.adobe.com and using the “Already a user?” link on the page. When prompted to select a profile please choose “Oak Ridge Schools”. Use your ORS credentials to log in.

What is Adobe Express?

Adobe Express makes it easy to get started with tons of professionally designed templates and assets for media content, logos, and more. Feel like you’ve got the help of a trusted designer in your corner with the entire Adobe Stock* royalty-free photo collection plus a full library of Adobe Fonts at your fingertips. Create anything you need with intuitive tools that let you remove backgrounds, animate text, add your brand, and so much more. With just a few taps you can resize content and add Adobe Photoshop quality effects in a snap

When life gets overwhelming, it can make you feel disconnected and detached. But there are some exercises you can try to learn how to bring yourself to the present moment. In this video, you’ll learn two simple grounding techniques.

To learn more about relaxation skills, visit https://childmind.org/resources/

To watch this video in other languages, visit https://childmind.org/resources/video...

Order your yearbook!

Have you been receiving emails from Lifetouch about yearbooks? These are legitimate. Lifetouch is who we moved to for photos AND yearbook this year. You can click on the link above or the links provided by the emails. Their customer service is really good, so if you have questions about the order, you should click on the customer service help button.

On Monday February 24th, 2025, the Tennessee Councils of Scouting America presented the 2024 Report to the State! Acen Kala 5th Grade Student at Jefferson Middle School was selected to represent East TN The Great Smoky Council. The selected scouts from each of the six Tennessee regions had lunch with Senator Page Walley, toured the State Capital, and presented their individual council reports to the House of Representatives and Senate.

The JMS PTO would like to thank all the parents that came out for Open House. If you couldn't make it, we invite you to learn more about PTO activities and how you can get involved. Email us at jmseaglespto@gmail.com if you are interested!

We are moving our meetings to the evening times this year due to parent requests. We will start at 530 in the Jefferson Library. Look to this space for updates from JMS PTO President, Kayla Colwell.

We are at that time of year where absences have started to rack up and some parents are getting their notices about truancy. Below is the absence policy.

Excused Absences

Students must be in school unless the absence has been excused for one of the reasons listed below. It is the responsibility of each student’s parent/guardian to explain the student’s absence to the school in a manner satisfactory to the principal. Absences may be classified as either excused or unexcused as determined by the principal or his/her designee. Absences will only be excused for the following reasons:

1. Personal illness
1. Only seven days, whether consecutive or not can be excused by a parent note;
2. After a child has had (7) days, not necessarily consecutive, of illness related absences excused by a parent note, any future illness related absence must have a doctor’s note stating that the absence is medically necessary.
3. All parent and doctor notes must be turned into the school within three school days of the child returning to school.
2. Death in the family
3. Religious observations
4. Extreme weather conditions
5. Court appearance or legal mandates
6. Verifiable family emergency
7. School sponsored events
8. Principal has discretion to excuse absences based on the following:

1. The absence must be prearranged
2. The absence must not have an adverse effect on the child’s academic standing
3. The child must have a good attendance history
4. The child must have a good behavior record
5. The Director of Schools must agree

Any absence that does not fit any of the criteria listed above will be considered unexcused. The criteria listed above will also apply to tardies and early dismissals.

A student is considered legally truant following five (5) cumulative unexcused absences (TCA 49-6-3007).

The Board of Education may excuse children from compulsory attendance in accordance with guidelines developed by the State Board of Education (TCA 49-6- 3005). Students may be subject to withdrawal from Oak Ridge Schools after ten consecutive unexcused absences or fifteen unexcused absences during a semester (TCA 49-6-3017[c]). In cases of IEP students, the IEP team will convene to discuss appropriate options available.

You get a ton of forms at the start of the year, so here is a quick guide as to what is what and where.

Forms on Paper:

ORS district handbook have been sent home. There is a paper form in the front for you to sign. Please have you AND your student sign it and return it this week to your student's first period teacher.

Forms in ParentSquare:

• McKinney Vento
• Parent Occupational Survey

• Media Release

• Survey Opt-In form
• Biometric Form (Cafeteria Identification Form)

Forms in Skyward

These forms will need to be filled out in Skyward Family Access in web browser, not the app

• First Student- Bus

• Free and Reduced Lunch

If you have any issues with the forms, please reach out to John Smith, our Innovation coach at jrsmith@ortn.edu or Dr. Fowler at bjfowler@ortn.edu

Safety is our number one priority at Jefferson Middle School. The video below helps show the process for both drop off and pick up each day. We want our parents and students to be aware of the process in order to create the safest environment for all during these busy times. The following times below give you the best idea for drop off times:

There are two loops on campus. One loop on the gym/football field side of campus, which is a car drop off loop all morning long. The second loop on the softball field side is the bus loop at the beginning of the morning and becomes a car loop after buses leave. Buses will enter the loop from 7am - 7:10am each day. Please do not enter the loop if buses are present. In addition, please do not pass buses at any time while in the loop.

Please utilize the loop on the gym side to drop off your child each morning. When 5th grade students arrive on campus, they report to the gym until 7:30 am.

• Free and Reduced Lunch forms are now available in Skyward. Be sure to log in to your Skyward Account to complete the form. The sooner we get that processed, the sooner we can make sure we are serving your students as best we can.
• Students must be enrolled in a school to receive school meals. Students attending virtual academies are not eligible to participate in either of the federal school meal programs.
• Meals shall only be provided and served on days when school is in session.

For additional information, please visit:

https://www.ortn.edu/district/food-services/food-services/

The Board of Education believes that appropriate dress and grooming contribute to a productive learning environment. The Board expects students to give proper attention to personal cleanliness and to wear suitable clothing. Students are asked to wear simple, comfortable clothing that is clean and neat. Shoes should be always worn. Students are not to wear clothing which compromises safety or modesty; nor clothing which is disruptive to the educational process.

Students are prohibited from wearing:

1. Clothing or accessories which by reasonable judgment is considered unsafe, dangerous or a health hazard (examples include, but are not limited to wallet chains, spiked collars, necklaces or rings with spikes or sharp edges, oversized belt buckles, picks and combs.

2. Clothing or accessories which contain or suggest offensive or obscene symbols, signs, slogans or words degrading any gender, cultural, religious or ethnic values.

3. Clothing or accessories which contain or suggest language or symbols oriented toward violence, vandalism, sex, drugs, alcohol or tobacco.

4. Pajamas or clothing resembling sleepwear. This also includes house shoes.

5. Apparel

• a. Shirts, shorts, jeans or pants with holes, skirts and dresses that compromise modesty or are disruptive to the learning environment.
• b. The following attire is not permitted: bare midriffs; halter or tube tops; short shorts; tight, see through, or revealing clothing; or clothing which allows underwear to be exposed, such as sagging pants, spaghetti strap tops, muscle shirts.
• c. A belt is mandatory if pants or shorts will not stay at the waist without one.
• d. Hats, head coverings, bandanas, and sunglasses are not to be worn inside the school building.

6. Any articles which can be related to gang activity such as: items with gang names; gang initials; or individual gang member monikers; gang related jewelry; gang related tattoos; or self-inflicted scars. (TCA 49-6- 4215)

7. Any manner of grooming, which by its color, arrangement, trademark, or any other attribute that is gang related. This may include such items as shoelaces, belt buckles, hats or tattoos.

8. All students must wear shoes. It is strongly suggested that students wear shoes which either enclose the foot or are secured with heel straps. Flip flops are not allowed in grades PreK-4.

9. Heavy coats must be removed upon arrival at school, be placed in lockers and left there until the student leaves the building. (At campuses that have multiple buildings that require outside travel between classes, the principal may exercise discretion.)

The school building administrator may make exceptions to dress requirements to accommodate the special needs of classes (examples include but are not limited to science labs, welding, cooking labs) and/or certain sports/activities.

All students are expected to comply with the general dress code policy of the Oak Ridge School Board. Students who fail to comply with the Dress Code Policy shall be advised of the policy and offered the opportunity to take corrective action. The school shall attempt to contact the student's parents. Students who repeatedly fail to dress in accordance with the Dress Code Policy may be subject to disciplinary actions as set forth in the Oak Ridge Schools Discipline Code. The Administration reserves the right to judge what is appropriate or not.

Consequences for violations of the dress code guidelines will follow the ORS District Disciplinary Code.

https://www.ortn.edu/jefferson/supply-lists/

Please be sure to visit the link below to review this year's Student Handbook.

Students are required to turn off phones and place in lockers when they arrive to school. Students are not permitted to have phones throughout the building. In the event of an emergency, parents can contact the main phone line (425-9301) and students may use the main phone line to contact home.

Additionally, NO wired or wireless headphones or earbuds or personal electronic devices are permitted for use during the school day unless at the direction of a teacher for a classroom activity.

Due to concerns about social media and improper use of cell phones during the school day, please see detailed cell phone policy below:

1. Students must turn off cell phone upon arriving to campus and place in their locker.

2. Students are not to use cell phones during the school day unless instructed by a teacher. Teachers will make administration aware when they will be using phones in advance.

3. Any student found to be sharing or distributing inappropriate messages or pictures online will be immediately reported to our SRO and the Oak Ridge Police Department.

4. Per the ORS Code of Conduct, "students are prohibited from using personally owned devices to record (video, audio, photograph) others". This could also be considered Cyberbullying - the use of cell phones, social networking sites or other types of digital technology to harass, threaten, discriminate, or intimidate others.

Any violation of the cell phone policy will lead to action from administration including but not limited to consequences below:

1st violation: student cell phone, headphones, earbuds, or personal electronic devices will be confiscated and sent to the office. Student will be issued a warning in Skyward and phone will be kept in the office until parent/guardian comes to the school to pick up the phone.

2nd violation: student cell phone, headphones, earbuds, or personal electronic devices will be confiscated and sent to the office. Student will be assigned an after-school detention in Skyward and phone will be kept in the office until parent/guardian comes to the school to pick up the phone.

3rd violation: student cell phone, headphones, earbuds, or personal electronic devices will be confiscated and sent to the office. Student will be issued ISS in Skyward and phone will be kept in the office until parent/guardian comes to the school to pick up the phone.

4th violation: student cell phone, headphones, earbuds, or personal electronic devices will be confiscated and sent to the office. Student will be issued an OSS in Skyward and phone will be kept in the office until parent/guardian comes to the school to pick up the phone. In addition, student may lose privilege of bringing phone to school for a time to be determined.

SECURE ENTRANCE TELEPHONE USAGE

School phones are for business and emergency use only. Students who are required to remain after school to make up work or for other reasons can call to arrange a ride home.

Canvas is our learning management system. We utilize Canvas in order to communicate with students and parents including announcements, information that is important to the class, links to resources to help support in class learning and also digital assignments.

Our teachers are AMAZING in the amount of detail they provide on their Canvas page. We encourage parents to spend 10 minutes each week with their child logged on to Canvas and read the details for each teacher's page, announcements, and assignments.

In Canvas our teachers work to provide:

• Announcements - A weekly look at what will be taught throughout the week
• Assignments - Some assignments will be digital and completed through Canvas and some will be analog and completed on paper. The goal for teachers here is to update with information to help explain the assignment and the due date.
• Calendar - A student calendar that shows all of the student's class and helps to color code each. The calendar allows for parents to see due dates for assignments, quiz and test dates

To learn more about Canvas and how we use it each day, please access the video below.