2025 JMS Eagle Eye #23

We hope that you will be staying warm in the week to come, as temperatures will drop significantly. Your Admin team will be out front, but we will quickly get your students indoors. Our building is warm, BUT please check with your students on their wardrobe. In the event of a fire alarm evacuation, they will be quite cold.

We had great student success meetings in the last two weeks as we reacclimate back to school. We can tell our students are feeling still a little discombobulated and dysregulated as we haven't had a "normal" school week since December 9th, but our expectations for their behavior and academic engagement remain strong. Our staff will continue to work with our students to keep them moving in the right direction.

As always, we are here to help, and if we may be of assistance, just 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 20

No School – Martin Luther King Holiday

Tuesday 21 B Day

• Rescheduled 2nd City Championship Basketball Game
• @ORHS Wildcat Arena
• Girls Basketball 6:00
• Boys Basketball 7:00

Wednesday 22 A day

• Ski Club 1:00-8:00
• Girls Basketball Practice 1:00-2:30
• Boys Basketball Practice 3:00-4:30

Thursday 23 B Day

• 8th Grade Night – Final Home Game
• Basketball vs Cherokee (Boys JV) 5:00
• Basketball vs Cherokee (Girls) 6:00
• Basketball vs Cherokee (Boys) 7:00

Friday 24 A day

• Student Council Meeting 1:50-2:45
• Boys Basketball Practice 3:00-4:30
• Girls Basketball Practice 4:30-6:00

Saturday 25

• JMS Chess Tournament @JMS 8:00-5:00
• Middle School Basketball Tournament at Jacksboro Middle

It was a cold and rainy day, but the Atomic City Invitational was a great success! See the photos below and expect a write up in the next newsletter.

The 5th grade will be traveling to ORHS on Thursday, February 27th to see The Addams Family musical, presented by Masquers. We will be sending out permission slips THIS FRIDAY, January 24th.

Cost of the trip is $10, and we will be collecting the form and money NEXT week, January 27th through January 31st. Masquers has always had the highest production values and the experience will be delightful for our students. There are several JMS students in the production as well.

Five JMS students will be selected to represent the Oak Ridge Schools and the City of Oak Ridge as participants in the 35th 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, January 27th at noon, so interested 7th graders should pick up the forms.

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)

Kindred Patterson

Eagle Excellence

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

DaSean Garner

Eagle Expectations

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

Layla Marlow

Karla Lopez Cancino

Eagle Accountability

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

The City Championship basketball games will be played on Tuesday, January 21st at Oak Ridge High School. The girls varsity game will tip off at 6pm followed by boys varsity at 7pm. In preparation for this game, Tuesday will be Blue & Gold day at JMS! Dress code applies and students cannot bring face paint or hair dye to school. We will not have a Pep Rally on Tuesday.

Jefferson’s basketball games against Cherokee have been re-scheduled for Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferson will host Cherokee for our final basketball games at Jefferson this season. We will also recognize our 8th grade cheerleaders and basketball players as they play their final game at Jefferson Middle School. The boys JV game will begin at 5pm, followed by girls varsity at 6pm and boys varsity at 7pm. The 8th grade night recognition will take place in-between the varsity games.

Admission for both games is $5 for all spectators, kindergarten and under are free.

The 2025 District Basketball Tournament will begin on Saturday, January 25th. Games will be played at Jacksboro. The tournament bracket will be shared soon.

The 2025 Jefferson Track & Field season is right around the corner! There will be an interest meeting for all 6th, 7th and 8th graders interested in running track this spring on Tuesday, February 4th from 2:45pm-3:45pm in the JMS gym. See Coach Byas, Coach Jessie or Coach Bolling with any questions.

Go Eagles!

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 twice a year between RMS and JMS is 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! The comradery at these events builds into our great ORHS fan base.

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, Dr. Fowler, and Mr. Martin.

It is always recommended that JMS students have a change of clothes in their backpack or locker. Middle school students can get into a mess: be it in gym, working a lab experiment, the lunch line, or personal accident. With the weather alternating between hot and cold, a change of clothes can help a student avoid a dress code infraction and help them get back to class faster.

Please discuss with your student about a back up outfit. Thanks!

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

Every emotion we experience can become intense at times, which makes us want to act in certain ways. When Harold the hedgehog was feeling a lot of anger and sadness, he ran away and started crying. However, Harold learned that when these big emotions take over, the best thing we can do is grab something calming, like the items in Harold’s self-care backpack, to help us feel better. These calming items can help bring us back to the present moment. After our intense emotions pass we will be better able to choose how to handle challenging moments.

Here is a summary of the key points from the video.

• Everyone feels big and intense emotions sometimes.

• Everyone has urges to act that are caused by big, intense, and uncomfortable emotions. The key is riding out the urge and waiting for big feelings to lessen.

• You can ride out big feelings by using your five senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell) to ground to the present.

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.

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.