Parent Newsletter

Students and parents,

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all of your efforts over the past few weeks. It has been a great challenge for our school, community, nation and world. We appreciate the feedback and shout outs to our amazing staff about their efforts. Please know that our staff misses our students and we can't wait to get back to the school with everyone safe and healthy. It has been incredible to see so many students working during these learning opportunities and to see the amazing lessons that are happening in our Remote Learning platform. Thank you for your help, encouragement and efforts to help support our students to engage into the learning process. Check out this week's newsletter for more information about our school's transition from Phase 1 of Remote Learning into Phase 2:

- Thank you for all of your help and efforts

- Information about Phase 2 of Remote Learning (Phase 2 Begins April 27th)

- IT Remote Services to help with laptop issues

-Accessing and Understanding how to Check Canvas

- It's about engagement and growth opportunities

- Continuing Success during Remote Learning - Mapping out a Learning Plan

- Food Services Information

- PTO

- Counselors Corner

Thanks for all that you do. We hope you stay safe and healthy during this time.

Phil Cox, Principal

Chris Layton, Vice Principal

Jenifer Laurendine, Dean of Students

Please find the following information below:

Phase 2 for Remote Learning

Student Locker Content Retrieval

Student Internet Access Availability

Phase 2 for Remote Learning:

We want to thank you for all of your efforts during Phase 1 of remote learning. It has been amazing to see the innovative ideas, lessons, resources and challenges that our students have completed during this time. As you know from Dr. Borchers district-wide message, due to the recommendation of Governor Lee we would remain closed for the remainder of the school year.

We want to keep our students engaged and involved in the learning process and also offer opportunities for them to help their grade. While our buildings are closed as a result of COVID-19, we want to continue to support quality learning opportunities for student success. To do this, Oak Ridge Schools will begin this next phase of learning online on April 27. Please read the information below to get a better understanding of how Phase 2 will work:

- Final grades will be calculated from terms 1-3. You can see students final grades in Skyward under FIN. Reflected in picture above in the top right corner.

- All students will have opportunities to improve final grades with required assignments.

- Final grades for 5th-8th grade students will be calculated for terms 1-3 through the final date March 13. No grades can be lowered.

-All students may submit new assignments to improve final grade. Students may earn 3 additional points (added to the final grade) each week, during the weeks listed below:

Week #1 April 27-1

Week #2 May 4-8

Week #3 May 11-15

Student Locker Content Retrieval

We are also in the process of finalizing details for students to pick up items from lockers and collection of items from students, such as library books. Please keep in mind that we are under the Governor’s Stay at Home order through April 30th. The health and safety of our students, families and staff will always be our number one priority. Once the Stay at Home order is lifted, we will put our plan into place and facilitate the collection process for the items listed above.

Student Internet Access Availability

As we continue to offer learning opportunities and move into Phase 2, it is important that all students have access to engage in these lessons. We ask that you please reach out to Ms. Jen Laurendine at jllaurendine@ortn.edu if you do not have access to the Internet at your residence or if you have concerns about access to these lessons.

We want to thank our students, parents and teachers for the incredible efforts being made during this time of Remote Learning. It has been absolutely amazing to see so many students working to participate and continue to learn. As we move from Phase 1 into Phase 2 we want our parents and students to know and understand the following:

We want our students to use the remainder of Phase 1 to continue to learn and grow. We want students to see this as an opportunity to expand their horizons and grow. As we move into Phase 2, we want students and parents to understand that this is also a chance to continue to learn, grow and be engaged into their learning. However, in Phase 2 students have a chance to improve their overall grade by 3 points each week for three weeks, for a total of 9 points. For our students who may have a grade that they want to improve this is a great chance to look at the assignments/challenges/lessons etc. given to your in Phase 2 to work to improve your overall final grade.

Over the second week of Phase 1 we saw a lot of great success among our students. Check out some of the amazing wins our school celebrated this week:

• In the past week, we continue to have awesome engagement in Canvas with 5,659 participations (discussions, file uploads, submissions of assignment, etc.) and 192,595 page views in Canvas!
• 91% of our students have accessed the School Counseling Canvas Page!
• An email received by a 7th grade teacher from a student in regards to new teacher shout outs via videos on Canvas: “I was so happy to see that i got a shout out! It absolutely made my day! I miss jumping around in the mornings with my friends and most of all i miss you teaching (try to teach) us crazy kiddos! I just want you to know that i miss you so much and i hope to see you again soon.”
• An email received by a teacher from a parent: “Thank you for sharing the students’ pictures. She has really enjoyed seeing her pictures shared and seeing the pictures from other students. Our walk on Tuesday really presented some good opportunities for pictures. We were on the Worthington Cemetery Trail and Cedar Barren Ecological Study Area. It was a little muddy on the trail but lots of good scenery! I didn’t even know that cemetery and trail were there. Keep up the good work!”
• A phone call from a 6th grade student (via the parent) to administration to say how much he appreciates and misses them and his teachers and to share how he knows we all have his best interest in mind as we worked to help him.
• The first JMS Virtual Zoom PTO Meeting with 15 attendees!
• Chorus students engaging with “Ted Talk Tuesday” to learn about an award winning choir director in Florida who talks about how music prepares you for life.
• Teachers using social media to engage with students and share lessons!
• Band reported students logged over 20 hours of combined practice this week, which is over 3 times what we posted last week.

Learning is a process and even though we may not be able to be in the building you can always learn to grow and increase your skills. Our goal for our students is to engage them in these opportunities to learn and grow. We are so proud of our students, families and teachers for continuing to work and grow. As we finish Phase 1 this week and move into Phase 2 we strongly encourage students to continue to check in Canvas and work to complete assignments in their classes. In Phase 2, you have a great chance to complete work to dramatically improve your grade.

We would like to send a a huge thank you and shout out to ORPSEF and our amazing teachers for their efforts in the most recent grant awards. As a school system, ORPSEF was very generous awarding over $ 99,000 dollars in Classroom Grant Programs.

We are very thankful for all that ORPSEF does to support the Oak Ridge Schools.

We would like to recognize the following Jefferson Middle School educators who have been awarded our 2020 Classroom Grants Program & would have been highlighted at our annual awards ceremony which was scheduled for later this month: Lexie Scott, Stephanie Hope, David Tracey, James Mitchell, Ed Wright, Jenifer Laurendine & Patricia Wyatt.

Congratulations to all! ORPSEF is working to potentially reschedule the event, but for the time being we wanted to congratulate everyone on your efforts and the amazing awards.

Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation

www.orpsef.org

Parents you can check your child's 3rd Nine Weeks grade via Skyward. The grade cards are available in Family Access as a PDF file, if you would like to print a copy. We will not be sending out physically report cards.

Teacher Virtual Office Hours:

https://www.ortn.edu/jefferson/2020/04/09/jms-teacher-office-hours-2/

- We are working to collect information from our families about their access to internet during this Remote Learning time. Please complete this short survey in order for us to best collect information. If you do not have access and are looking potentially to get access check out the information below about some area companies offering special access during the Covid-19 crisis.

Overdue Library Book Notices -

Our library management system, Destiny, generates and sends out scheduled email notices of late books. Mrs. Haverkamp is working on getting this turned off. She apologizes for any extra emails. Books returns will be an area we will address later.

We want to make sure that our students and families understand that we are here to support during this unprecedented time in our history. The Oak Ridge Schools system has made a link for information and resources that you can access here for more information: https://www.ortn.edu/information-regarding-coronavirus/

- Related Special Services - Related service providers (i.e., speech, OT, PT, vision) will be continue to reach out to discuss the most appropriate way to serve your child during the closure. ORS will be providing all services remotely during the COVID-19 closure.

- If you receive a phone call from Oak Ridge Schools, please listen to the message. At this time there are updates often and we are working in the best manner possible to communicate with our students and their families by phone, email, social media and resources like this newsletter.

- What if my students device has technical issues? There is a section below labeled "IT Remote services for laptops" that will help explain the process if your student experiences issues with their laptop during the closure.

- What if I do not have access to broadband or wifi? Check out the information and resources below:

Internet Access

Do you need internet access for online learning?

Comcast – https://corporate.comcast.com/covid-19

• Open Wifi-hotspots to all users, even non Comcast subscribers.
• No Data Caps – 60 days of Unlimited access
• No Disconnect or Late Fees
• Internet Essentials Free to New Customers – 60 days of Internet access for free – normally $9.99/month

AT&T – https://about.att.com/pages/COVID-19.html

• No Disconnections or Late Fees for customers
• Free open wifi hotspots
• Unlimited Data
• Limited/Fixed income residents and sign up as a New customer for $10/month.

Charter/Spectrum – https://corporate.charter.com/newsroom/charter-to-offer-free-access-to-spectrum-broadband-and-wifi-for-60-days-for-new-K12-and-college-student-households-and-more

• Free broadband/Wifi for 60 days to home with K-12 and/or college students that do not already have a Spectrum Account (Call 1-844-488-8395)
• Spectrum will open it’s wifi hotspots for all public use.
• No Data caps

TDS Internet (large portions of East TN) – https://tdstelecom.com/about/news/categories/tds/CoronavirusStatement.html

In addition, please continue to read the parent newsletters that will be sent to you. This will be a place where we will work to promote communication and information to support students and families. If you are on social media, please follow us on our Twitter Account @JMS_Eagles. We will be working through all of our communication tools as we receive information to be shared with our students and families. As always, we want to make sure to support you and your student(s) and in abundance of caution our schools will remain closed. Please check all of our communication tools and the website listed above for more details.

If you are on Twitter, please consider following the Jefferson Middle School account @JMS_Eagles. The account is constantly being updated with information, pictures and resources to help provide information. During this unprecedented time we encourage you to follow us for updates. We are always working to share with our school community. Also, you should consider following the Oak Ridge Schools twitter account, @ORSchools.

Step # 1 - Get a routine in place

It can be very helpful to map out your day and create a routine. When we are in school you have a routine and a schedule. You know when you need to wake up and you understand that third period is from 9:35 - 10:25 etc. It's important to create a routine. You need to make sure to have a routine that mirrors school hours because those will be the office hours your teachers will be available to help.

Step # 2 - Check Canvas Announcements Daily

During this time of remote learning our teachers will post daily lessons to their Canvas pages in the Announcement section. Students will be able to see their daily assignments in this section along with any helpful resources for the lessons. Please check Canvas Announcements daily for the lessons in your students classes.

Step # 3 - Build a Schedule with your Teachers Remote Office Hours

Your teachers will post information about their "remote office hours" in Canvas Announcements. A great strategy would be to build your time on Canvas around those remote office hours. Think about a schedule like this:

If your ELA teacher has office hours from 9 am - 12 pm, Math has hours from 11 am - 2 pm, SS has hours from 8 am - 11 am , and Science has hours from 10 am - 1 pm. This allows you to work to set up time to work on those classes during those office hours. You may not have questions for ELA, but you may have a question for SS so it would be important to work on SS during that window 8 am - 11 am. Think about the hours your teachers are offering in order to set up a schedule that gives you the best opportunity to complete your work.

Step # 4 - Reach out to your teachers if you have questions

Your teachers will have office hours where they will be available to assist and answer questions etc. If you don't understand an assignment reach out to your teachers. You can message them in Canvas or send them an email in outlook. Keep in mind, that you may not be the only student messaging a teacher, so do not expect an instant answer. This is new for you as students and this is new for us as teachers. Once you send them a question, just wait. They will respond to you and work to help you. If you contact a teacher outside of office hours, they may not see it until later in the day or until the next day.

Step # 5 - Give it your best! Learning Opportunities are critical for you

Keep this in mind these opportunities about education is about you! We want you to take advantage of these opportunities to help improve yourself. So if you choose not to an assignment, to not even give your best effort, then you are choosing not to provide yourself with a chance to better you and in Phase 2 to better your grade.

Your teachers are going to provide you with opportunities to learn and grow. To F.A.I.L. should be to have a First Attempt In Learning. Look at the assignments and resources your teachers provide you, give it your best effort and wait for your teacher to provide you with feedback.

The district will continue to provide “Grab & Go” meals to any student each day through the Stay at Home Order. The sites will continue at Robertsville Middle School, Oak Ridge High School, Glenwood Elementary School and the Preschool each day from 11am – 1pm. The sites at Teller Village Apartments, Mackenzie Apartments, Manhattan Apartments and the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge will by daily from 12pm – 12:30pm. There will be extra food distributed with meals provided on April 24th.

During this time of remote learning our teachers will post daily lessons to their Canvas pages in the Announcement section. Students will be able to see their daily assignments in this section along with any helpful resources for the lessons. Please check Canvas Announcements daily for the lessons in your students classes.

As we transition to the remote learning model, our teachers will work to keep Canvas announcements updated daily. In their announcements they will explain the lesson for the day and/or provide information about assignments and projects etc. In addition, Canvas allows for teachers to embed and include any resources, videos, links etc. that can be used to help provide instruction for students.

Our students are very familiar with using Canvas and know how to go about checking announcements for information. This will be the starting point for students and where to access information for the lessons being designed by teachers. Below is a video on how to use Canvas for parents. Please take a moment to watch and get a better feel for how Canvas is used by our teachers. Information about extended learning opportunities will be found in the Announcements section in Canvas.

Congratulations to Mr. Corrigan for his most recent news on receiving on his lesson plan being chosen as the 2nd place in the ORISE Math Madness competition. Mr. Corrigan submitted the lesson above highlighting students utilizing math skills for students to connect to the Oak Ridge Cemesto homes. The lesson is a great example of a PBL where students can exhibit skills to identify their understanding in connection to a real world idea and connection to our community.

PTO Elections: PTO elections will be held in May. The PTO organizes events throughout the school year including an annual fundraiser drive, teacher luncheons and end of the year luncheon for 8th graders. We could not do all of this without parent support and involvement. If you are interested in running for one of the board positions or for more information as to what they entail, please contact Sandy Pelletier sandy@issi.net.

JMS PTO hosted a first ever Remote meeting last week using Zoom. Special Thanks to those of you attended the meeting. We are thankful for the opportunity to meet and discuss and looking forward to the day we can return to meeting face to face. Thanks again for all of the amazing efforts you all make to support Jefferson Middle School.

How To Keep Kids Motivated To Finish Online Work

Good evening and we hope this newsletter finds you well and with all the things that you need for you and your family. We are now in the process of transitioning from Phase 1 to Phase 2 this week with remote learning. Please refer to important information given to you by JMS administration with all the updated information.

Many middle and high schools across the country have cancelled school for the remainder of the school year due to COVID-19 pandemic. Many students have worried if their online lessons will count in their final grades. This can create some problems for parents with having the feeling to let your kids not finish their schoolwork. It's better that they do because your kids have made a commitment to their education. It doesn't matter if it's online or in class. You don't get to arbitrarily choose if you complete the work. The academic lessons help keep your kids up to date on the curriculum and serve as building blocks to the curriculum next school year.

A way to encourage your kids to get their online lessons completed is by using a reward system. This means that your kids get privileges after the work is finished. No fun until the work is done. So, the burden is on your kids. Review work with the kids. For your middle and high school kids, you can check to make sure that it's complete. When you make sure your kids do what they're supposed to do, it teaches them responsibility.

If you're wondering how to stay motivated when your life is upside down because of the coronavirus pandemic, there isn't an easy answer. If you're waiting for motivation, it isn't going to happen. Think about it. How many times have you said that you'll do something in a minute? And the minute passes, and you're still sitting and haven’t done anything towards your goal. There will be a million excuses for waiting or delaying. You got to make yourself do it. Once you start then the motivation kicks in. It's backwards, but it works.

Here are three ways you can help your child succeed in an online school setting

1- Stay Involved

Just as traditional schools hold parent-teacher conferences and open houses, we are available to help and assist in any way possible. Please e-mail your child’s teacher if you need extra clarification on an assignment or want to know how they are doing.

Remote learning allows teachers to have office hours to help with your child’s experience and provide extra support if needed. Parents are also encouraged to check Canvas periodically to check their child’ progress:

• Weekly assignments

• Instructor announcements

• Assignment feedback

Staying involved will show your child that you have an interest in their education, which can directly impact their success by boosting their self-confidence.

2- Motivate them Towards Success

One of the positives of students using remote learning it allows the student to customize their learning program. Students have a sense of control since they can choose when, where, and how they learn. Taking ownership of their education is likely to inspire a strong sense of motivation, but parents can take this a step further.

Motivation can be anything from establishing a goal, like studying for one hour every night, to praising them for their accomplishments. Offering incentives and celebrating achievements shows your child that you’re proud of the work they’re doing and it makes sure their efforts don’t go unnoticed.

Don’t forget to teach your child the benefits of an education. They most likely know that they have to “go to school”, but they might not completely understand why. Explaining how it can impact their future is a stepping stone toward motivating them to succeed.

Helping your child realize the importance of an education will set them up for a strong work ethic that will carry them through to their eventual careers.

3- Create a Comfortable Learning Environment

Since your child won’t be in a typical school setting, they’ll need an area of their own where they can focus on their coursework and study without any distractions.

The first step is to determine where they learn best. Some options are:

• Living room

• Dining room

• Kitchen table

• Office in the home

• Outside

When working from home the following items need to be considered:

• Necessary equipment: This can include a computer, internet access, and a nearby printer.

• Distraction-free zone: Avoid setting up their space in a high-traffic or loud area of the house.

• Comfortable surroundings: Make sure they have enough room and a cozy place to sit so that they can focus undisturbed.

A regular workspace that your child can count on will help instill structure and consistency in their study habits. The support you give your child throughout their education now can put them on the right track for success in the future.

Parents and students we wanted communicate information with you about vaping that has been provided to us by our Coordinator of School Health. We wanted to share this information as a resource to help provide more details to both students and parents as to the dangers of vaping and the effects that it can have on adolescents. Please see the PDF download below for more information. We hope everyone is staying safe and healthy at this time.