JCS Staff Newsletter (January)

This newsletter will be distributed on the Wednesday following the monthly Board of Education meeting. This newsletter contains important 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.

• Law Enforcement Appreciation Day - January 9
• The Great Kindness Challenge Week - January 27 - 31
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday - Holiday for students and staff (January 20)
  
• School Board Appreciation Month (January 26 - February 1)
• Thank You Month

Calendars

• Printable Calendars for 2024-2025
• Staff Holiday Schedule for 2024-2025
  

As I prepare to step away from my role as Superintendent of Johnson City Schools, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has made my time in this position so meaningful. This is an incredible school system, and that is a direct reflection of your dedication, passion, and hard work. I also greatly appreciate the support and commitment from our Board of Education and City Commission. Together, we have built a strong foundation for the future of education in Johnson City.

Serving as your superintendent has been the honor of my professional career. I am so proud of what we have accomplished together, and I will forever cherish the relationships and memories we have created along the way.

Thank you for allowing me to be part of this remarkable journey.

With deepest gratitude,

Steve Barnett

All forms have been collected. Jean coupons will be distributed by the end of January.

Classroom library lists in PDF format must be submitted to your school's communication representative ASAP. If you have updated your library, then those books must be scanned and included. It is very important to have these to your communications representatives ASAP.

How to Export your BookSource Library List into a PDF

• Visit our updated Human Resources web page to find assistance with your employee benefits and questions about the hiring process.
  
• Johnson City Schools is hiring Educare assistants, custodians, and instructional assistants. View our current job postings and apply today!

• Johnson City Transit is in need of bus drivers. For current bus driver position openings visit https://johnsoncitytn.applicantpro.com/jobs/.

• Please visit our updated web page at Finance | Retirement.
• Sharron Livingston in Human Resources now manages most benefits for our system. Christy Fair in Finance manages the Hartford Life Insurance only.
• Our Employee Forms page will assist you with finding commonly requested forms and the contact person for each one.

W-2s will be available by January 31, 2025. If you chose to receive your W-2 electronically, you will receive an email once the W-2 is available in Skyward. 1095s will be issued by February 28th.

The new annual contribution limit to a 403(b), 401(l), or a 457(b) for 2025 is $23,500. The catch-up contribution limit for those age 50 and over is $7,500 (for a total of $31,000 that can be contributed for 2025). Staring in 2025, those age 60-63 may be eligible for a higher catch-up contribution limit. The higher limit is $11,250 (for a total $34,750 that can be continued for 2025).

Employees enrolled in the Consumer-driven Health Plan (CDHP) also have a Health Savings Account available to put aside funds for medical expenses. For 2025, the maximum that can be contributed to a health savings account $4,300 for individuals and $8,550 for family coverage.

We are excited to start this new year with new professional learning opportunities available now for registration in Learning Stream.

Presented by Collin Brooks

January 21, 2025 & February 18, 2025

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Central Office/The Learning Center

Presented by Dr. Kristi Presley

January 23, 2025

4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Mountain View Elementary

Presented by Stephanie Robinette, Victoria Hull, & Yolanda Miller

January 29, 2025

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Towne Acres Elementary

Presented by Angie Smith & Karen Bunch

February 26, 2025

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Towne Acres Elementary

The next Johnson City Board of Education meeting will be held on Monday, January 6 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.

Each year, one of our students designs the Holiday Card for our school system. This season, the artwork was designed by Chunru Hu, a Fourth Grade student at Towne Acres School. Chunru Hu, will you come to the front to be recognized. Thank you for beautiful artwork.

Towards the end of last semester, schools selected their Teachers of the Year that will represent for 2025-2026. Congratulations to the following winners Sharon Wiggins (Cherokee), Chloe Barnett (Fairmont), Kami Preston (Lake Ridge), Jessica Cicero (Mountain View), Terra Misener (North Side), Justine Wright (South Side), George Hyden (Woodland), Heidi Kane (Indian Trail), Lisa Raper (Indian Trail), Courtney Egbert (Liberty Bell), Helen Martin (Liberty Bell), Kelli Pratt (Liberty Bell), Elizabeth Bennett (Science Hill), Victor Burk (Science Hill), Dr. Brad Gentry (Science Hill), Gant Patteson (Science Hill), and Suzanne Reaves (Science Hill).

Congratulations to our District-Level Teachers of the Year! Ben Davenport (Science Hill), Brandie Sanchez (Indian Trail) and Karen Bunch (Towne Acres).

We have three schools in our system that were awarded a $5,000 TVA STEM Grant: Mountain View, North Side, and South Side

Cherokee was selected as an ESEA Distinguished School for 2024! Congratulations to Cherokee!

Reward Schools are schools that demonstrate high levels of performance or improvement in performance by meeting objectives across performance indicators and student groups. For the 2023-2024 school year, we would like to recognize the schools that earned Reward School status. Those schools are: Lake Ridge Elementary School, North Side Elementary School, South Side Elementary School, Towne Acres Elementary School, and Woodland Elementary School.

We also recognized the five schools in our system that earned the TVAAS Level 5 School Distinction for the 2023-2024 SY. The students at these schools have made great progress in their academics. The schools are Lake Ridge Elementary School, North Side Elementary School, South Side Elementary School, Woodland Elementary School, and Science Hill High School.

Additionally, for the fourth consecutive year, Johnson City Schools earned a Level 5 in TVAAS as well.

The Johnson City Schools' Communication Department is looking for suggestions for features stories to share with our community. This could be anything you think parents, students or the public want or need to know about can be good features. We're talking student achievements, teachers doing cool things in their classrooms, school programs or offerings that could benefit from a little awareness, clubs... Anything. If there's a visual component – something or someone I could photograph to go along with it – it will be even more engaging. We would love to hear your ideas!

Please reach out to Nathan Baker or Collin Brooks with your suggestions.

Johnson City’s Cherokee Elementary School earned national recognition in 2024, as it was named one of only two National ESEA Distinguished schools in Tennessee. The distinction is awarded to up to two federally funded schools in each state selected by the state’s education agency for exceptional student achievement.

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The Tennessee Department of Education released their second round of letter grades for schools on Thursday. Johnson City School’s had another strong showing with Science Hill High School receiving the highest grade, A, as did South Side Elementary, North Side Elementary, Lake Ridge Elementary and Woodland Elementary. The schools that received B’s include Towne Acres Elementary, Liberty Bell Middle School and Indian Trail Middle School. While Cherokee, Fairmont and Mountain View all received a C.

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A video game arcade might be the last thing students expect to see in an elementary school library, but that’s exactly what Lake Ridge third and fifth graders found among the stacks this week.

To teach his STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) classes about electrical currents and computer circuits, Ryan Glenn used classroom invention kits to help students design video game controllers and then set up an arcade with the student-designed controllers attached to laptops. Students played games like Tetris and Flappy Dragon and competed for gradewide high scores.

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