JSMS Weekly Warrior Beat
Student Focused-World Class
Announcements
· Random Acts of Kindness Week- Activities will be promoted in the school for RAK Week
· Adjusted End of Grading Period
To account for days missed due to snow and to better balance the spring semester grading periods, the end of the current nine weeks has been extended to Thursday March 10. Friday March 11 will remain an in-service day, with students not in session. Grade cards will be sent home on Thursday, March 17.
· TN READY PRESENTATION- The family engagement event that was scheduled for Tuesday, February 16th at 6:00 in the JSMS auditorium has been POSTPONED. Due to the changes made by the TN Department of Education in testing dates, this event will be postponed to a later date.
· NEW TN READY Testing Information:
New testing windows:
Part 1
February 22-March 11 – SS
February 22-March 18 – ELA/Math
Part 2
April 25-May 6 – ELA/Math/SS & Science
· Track practice will begin on Monday, February 15th. Practice will be daily from 3:00-4:30. All Track t-shirt/hoodie orders are due to Coach Julie Potts by Wednesday, February 17. Order Forms may be picked up outside of Room 239 (J. Potts’ classroom)
· Cheerleading tryouts will be held Feb. 29-March 4.
· Social Studies Standards
This website is currently open for the first of two windows of public feedback on the state social studies standards. This first window will close April 30, 2016. You will find the current social studies standards posted on this site. The State Board of Education (SBE) will work in conjunction with the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) to collect all of the comments submitted to this website. Educator development teams will review the website feedback this summer and make revisions to the standards. Another draft set of standards will be posted following these changes in fall 2016 and an appointed Standards Recommendation Committee will make the ultimate recommendation for new social studies standards to the SBE in early 2017.
· IMMUNIZATIONS-TO PARENTS OF RISING 7TH GRADERS: All students entering 7th grade must have immunizations recorded on a new TN Certificate of Immunization (shot form).Students may not begin school without having received their immunizations. Students need the Tdap (tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis) boosters and two doses of varicella (chickenpox) vaccine or history of disease (year diagnosed).
Monday, February 15th
· Boys indoor soccer @RNR Monday and Tuesday. 3:15-4:45
· Track Practice 3:00-4:30
· Softball Practice: 3:00-5:00 Players should be prepared for indoor or outdoor practice.
· Baseball Practice: 3:00-5:00 Players should be prepared for indoor or outdoor practice.
Tuesday, February 16th
· Boys indoor soccer @RNR Monday and Tuesday. 3:15-4:45
· Student Council Meeting-3:00-3:45-Mrs. Wagner’s Classroom
· Track Practice 3:00-4:30
· Softball Practice: 3:00-5:00 Players should be prepared for indoor or outdoor practice.
·Chamber Choir-2:50-3:30
·Baseball Practice: 3:00-5:00 Players should be prepared for indoor or outdoor practiceWednesday, February 17th
· Track Practice 3:00-4:30
· Softball Practice: 3:00-5:00 Players should be prepared for indoor or outdoor practice.
· Baseball Practice: 3:00-5:00 Players should be prepared for indoor or outdoor practice.
Thursday, February 18th
· Track Practice 3:00-4:30
· Informational meeting for any rising ninth grader interested in being a DB Spirit Shaker should attend an informational meeting on Thursday, February 18th at 5:30 pm in the little theater.
· Softball Practice: 3:00-5:00 Players should be prepared for indoor or outdoor practice.
· Chamber Choir-2:50-3:30
· Baseball Practice: 3:00-5:00 Players should be prepared for indoor or outdoor practice.
Friday, February 19th
· Track Practice 3:00-4:30
· Softball Practice: 3:00-5:00 Players should be prepared for indoor or outdoor practice.
· Baseball Practice: 3:00-5:00 Players should be prepared for indoor or outdoor practice.
A note to families from Michael Hubbard-Director of Performance Excellence:
Dear Sevier Families,
In the past few days, I’m sure you’ve seen and heard news about the issues that have taken place at the state level regarding this year’s TNReady and TCAP student assessments. On February 8, schools across Tennessee began taking Part I of this year’s achievement tests which, for the first time, were to be taken completely online. Here in Kingsport, our students, teachers, and technology staff have been working for quite some time to be prepared for these new tests, and we were excited and ready to begin testing on Tuesday, February 9. Some schools systems in Tennessee began their tests a day earlier, and unfortunately, ran into major technology problems at the state level.
Because of this, the Tennessee Department of Education stopped all online testing and decided that for this year, all students would now take their TNReady and TCAP assessments using the traditional paper-and-pencil method. In order to get these paper tests to school systems, the testing window has been delayed and will not begin until at least the last week of February or later. When Kingsport City Schools has confirmed the dates within this new testing window that work best for our students and schools, we will be sure to provide that information to you.
For now, we would like to direct you to a parent letter written by Tennessee Education Commissioner Dr. Candace McQueen. In this letter, Dr. McQueen provides more information as to what occurred with the testing problems and what the state is doing to move forward in a positive manner. I hope you will take a moment to read this and learn more about this situation. The parent letter can be accessed by going to the KCS website (www.k12k.com) and selecting the Latest News tab. It may also be accessed directly at the following link: http://www.k-12.state.tn.us/update/other/Commissioner-McQueens-Letter-To-TN-Parents_2-10-16.pdf. Finally, if you would prefer a paper copy, you may contact the school directly to receive a hard copy of the Commissioner’s letter.
As always, we appreciate your support and are very happy to hear any questions or concerns you may have. Please feel free to contact your child’s teacher or an administrator if we can ever be of help.
Michael Hubbbard
Celebrations and Recognitions:
*Congratulations to the JSMS Food and Nutrition Service workers! JSMS scored a perfect 100% on our Health Inspection!
*Congratulations to the following students for making the 2016 JSMS Softball Team:
8th grade: Kassidy Miller,Ja’den Carpenter, Faith Lucas, Belle Wolfe, Maggie Potter, Evee Battisto, Brealyn Burse
7th grade: Morgan Cordell, Kelsey Graham, Kassidy Ajan, Amari Ashley, Alyssa Burse
6th grade: Madison Park, Ryleigh Churchwell, Lauren Fountain, Ellie Campbell, Emma Allgood, Grace Lyles
*We had a week of surprises with the weather. Thank you to the JSMS office staff for managing all of the changes and for being available to answer questions from all of us! They do a great job being “cool” under pressure!
*Thank you to all of you JSMS families for being so patient and flexible with the changes related to weather changes! Things went as smoothly as they could have possibly gone and you are why!
*Thank you to our teachers and instructional assistants for going above and beyond during the schedule changes in order to make sure our students were safe and were able to communicate with families in order to make arrangements!
*The KCS Transportation Department also deserves a big pat on the back for getting all students home safely on Friday! It takes every person in KCS giving 100% to be a world-class school system and we sure do appreciate our bus drivers!
*Our KCS Food and Nutrition workers also deserve a big pat on the back for managing to feed many of our JSMS students TWO meals on our half day Friday—all before 11:00!
Proud to be a Warrior,
Holly Flora
Principal, JSMS