Warrior Beat
Student Focused-World Class
Word From Holly
Our Action Team on Transforming Teaching and Learning has focused on how we communicate student learning to students and to parents in recent weeks (grading). Thank you to them AND to all of you for a powerful and thought provoking learning experience for all of us last Monday in our faculty meeting.
Please take time to watch the following video and consider how the impact of supporting a growth mindset aligns with our vision to help our students DREAM BIG. Consider how the message of a supporting a growth mindset can support our students to believing that they MATTER. Consider how the message of supporting a growth mindset will help our students take seriously and accept the call of being a WORLD CHANGING WARRIOR.
Week of the Warrior:
Monday, March 14th
Track Practice 3:00-4:30
Softball Practice: 3:00-5:00 Players should be prepared for indoor or outdoor practice.
Varsity Baseball Game: JSMS versus Church HIll 4:30 at Hunter Wright Stadium
Chamber Choir-2:50-3:30
Tuesday, March 15th
Student Council Meeting-Mrs. Wagner's Room-3:00-3:45
Softball Practice: 3:00-5:00 Players should be prepared for indoor or outdoor practice.
JV Baseball Practice: 3:00-5:00 Players should be prepared for indoor or outdoor practice.
Wednesday, March 16th
Track Practice 3:00-4:30
Softball Practice: 3:00-5:00 Players should be prepared for indoor or outdoor practice.
JV Baseball Game: JSMS versus Greeneville 4:30 at Hunter Wright Stadium
Newspaper Staff Meeting - 2:45 – 3:30 pm. Editors will meet until 5:15 pm
Newscast Staff Meetings -2:45 – 5:15 pm
Thursday, March 17th
Sevier Spirit Night 4 PM – 8 PM (Chick-fil-A - Kingsport)
Track Practice 3:00-4:30
Softball Game: Thursday @ Greeneville @ 5:00pm. Team will stop to eat on the way home.
Baseball Practice: 3:00-5:00 Players should be prepared for indoor or outdoor practice.
Chamber Choir-2:50-3:30
Friday, March 18th
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.
JSMS News:
COUNSELING NEWS
TN READY TESTING
TN READY Testing at JSMS: All students will be testing this week! Please make sure your children get a good night sleep, eat a good breakfast, and are at school on time this week!
Tuesday – Math Testing
Wednesday – ELA Testing
Thursday – ELA Testing
EXPLORE TEST RESULTS
8th grade parents – Students will receive Explore results this week and be given a copy
to bring home.
Welcome to Callie Jeter-new interim ART TEACHER!
Welcome to Callie Jeter, new interim Art teacher at JSMS. She takes over this week following Minta Fannon's retirement! Welcome Callie!
MARCH 21st VERTICAL MEETING
Because we will be on Spring Break the 4th Monday of this month, we will have our Vertical meetings with RNR on March 21st. Please plan to be present next Monday for these meetings.
SAVE THE DATE!
We will be having our RTI Math and Reading Data Conferences on April 5th. Again, LA will meet during the first 45 minutes of your planning times. Math will meet during the last 45 minutes of your planning times.
SPRING DANCE!
The JSMS PTA will be hosting at dance in the Sprankle Gym at JSMS on March 17th from 6:00-8:00pm.
MARCH 22nd-WALK OF THE WARRIOR
Walk of the Warrior-JSMS will be having a family engagement event on March 22nd from 5:30-7:00 for families of rising 6th Graders. An informational session will take place in the JSMS auditorium from 5:30-6:30, followed by a reception in the atrium where teachers, coaches, extra-curricular sponsors, student leaders, counselors and administrators will be present to answer specific questions.
Hallway Picture Clings
We have wonderful athletic picture clings hanging in our hallways. We would love to have add clings in the hallways that represent the great work going on in our classrooms and other extra-curricular classes. If you have pictures of current teachers and students that you would like to see hanging in the hallways that represent our work, please send those pictures to Holly. THANKS!
Express Car Wash and JSMS Support
Don't forget that you can wash your car and support JSMS at the same time! Use the code 1200 at Express Car Wash (Stone Drive near Target) before you pay and 30% of the sale will automatically go to JSMS PTA. Use the code each time you have your car washed!
Important Evaluation Information
Administrators will no longer have access to entire self-scores in the observation portal. All teachers will now have to enter self-scores by logging into the portal on teh TN Compass site. Please go ahead and register and log in to expedite this process. Go to http://tdoe.tncompass.org to register.
News From the ASC
Teacher License Renewals, Conversations and Advancements
The Educator Licensing division of the Department of Education is now accepting applications for license renewals, conversions and advancements that expire in 2016.
Going forward, renewal applications can be submitted as of September 1st of the year preceding date of expiration. Applications will not be accepted before then. As such, applications for license renewals, conversions and advancements for licenses that expire in 2017 will not be accepted until Sept. 1, 2016.
For more information visit the TN Department of Education's Educator Licensing webpage.
SCORE
Apply for the 2016-17 Tennessee Educator Fellowship by April 8th
"The SCORE Educator Fellowship has been a great opportunity to learn about policy and participate in policy conversations at the state and local level. Networking and collaborating with like-minded teachers from across the state has been an incredible learning experience. I have had the opportunity to attend a Day on the Hill and see legislative sessions in progress, learn about the history of education in Tennessee, participate in conversations with legislators to ensure they understand how important progress is for our students. It is reassuring to know there are legislators and politicians who are involved with educational policy and care about the state of education in Tennessee. Being an advocate for our students and sharing teacher voice bridges policy and practice. However, there is still work to be done! If you are a passionate teacher leader and would be interested in advocating on behalf of Tennessee Students, then consider applying for the SCORE Fellowship." - Amanda Cole, 5th grade, John Adams Elementary School
Tennessee Educator Fellowship 2016-17 Tennessee Educator Fellows Application
There will be an information meeting on Thursday, March 22 at Adams Elementary. Details will be forthcoming. For more information and/or question, please contact Amanda Cole at acole@k12k.com.
NEW
2016 Essay Contest
Every year the TDOE hosts an essay contest to honor talented teachers through student voices. This year’s contest celebrates how great teachers inspire their students daily with the prompt: "My teacher has inspired me to …" All Tennessee public school students in grades kindergarten through twelve are eligible to participate. The complexity of the essay will vary by age; K–2 students should record their thoughts on video. One winner will be selected from each of the following grade bands: K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12, and the winning students and honored teachers will be celebrated during Teacher Appreciation Week, May 2-6.
All submissions must be received by the Tennessee Department of Education office by 5 p.m. CDT on Friday, April 8. For contest details, click here.
Contact Educator.Communications@tn.gov if you have questions.
It’s Time for the Spring Grounds and Maintenance Survey!
Please distribute the second semester Grounds and Maintenance Survey to your staff. Remember, this is completed twice each year as a part of the KCS Strategic Plan. Please ask staff to have this done by Friday, March 18.
Here is the link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PBV7777
Thursday, March 24!
You will be pleased to know that Thursday, March 24 will be a district-wide JEANS FOR STREAM DAY!
With a $5 minimum donation any KCS employee may wear jeans to work! The money collected from the JEANS FOR STREAM DAY will be used to help fund scholarships for students who would not be able to attend the KCS STREAM Summer Camp (rising 2nd—6th grade), KCS X-STREAM Summer Program (rising 7th—9th grade) or the new KCS X-STREAM Design Summer Program (rising 10th – 12th grade) without assistance.
The cost at the elementary, middle and high school level per student will be similar to last year. We would like to make the STREAM experience more available to all students who are interested. Each school/department will have an envelope to secure donations. Please contact Amy Doran, Jim Wernke or Val Love with questions.
Please make checks payable to the City of Kingsport with KCS STREAM Camp in the memo line.
State Farm Grants Available
State Farm® Youth Advisory Board (YAB) service-learning grant applications are available from February 29 to April 29. The grants range from $25,000 - $100,000 and are designed to create sustainable change in local communities across the United States.
Each grant request must fall under one of these issue areas, chosen by the board itself:
- Community Safety and Justice
- Environmental Responsibility
- Economic Inclusion and Financial Literacy
- Access to Higher Education
- Health and Wellness
- Arts and Culture
For more information, click here.
Celebrations and Recognitions
*A big "thank you" sent by John Mallick and echoed by many JSMS SS teachers in other grades as well! The collaboration occurring among subjects is making our job easier AND the quality of our student work even better!
Good afternoon Dr. Flora –
A big thank you to the 8th grade ELA teachers for teaching the students on how to plan an essay. Today, a majority of my students did a plan for their American history essay prior to completing the essay in their answer booklet.
Maddi Rimer - Honorable Mention - Best Sports Story
Jabbaar Christian - Honorable Mention - Best Sports Story
Valerie Fung - Honorable Mention - Best News Story
Molly Turner - 3rd Place - Best Feature Story
Gowri Tumkur - 3rd Place - Best Broadcast News/Sports Package
Gowri Tumkur - 1st Place - Best Television Reporter (BEST IN TN!)
As you know, "The Scribe" was also named one of the top 5 student newspapers in Tennessee by being named a "Best Newspaper" finalist among several prestigious private school newspapers. Today, "The Scribe" beat several of these schools to win SECOND PLACE IN THE STATE!
Finally, the Southern Interscholastic Press Association held its annual convention this weekend. SIPA is a not-for-profit organization of middle and high school journalism programs headquartered at the University of South Carolina. The organization serves journalism programs from all southeastern states.
The grand finale of the annual SIPA convention is an award ceremony to honor outstanding journalism published during the previous calendar year. Dobyns-Bennett freshman Aubrey Vincent won 1st place in the category of “Sports Features” for her article about the Kingsport City Schools “Sparkle Squad” published last year during her time as an editor and staff writer with the Sequoyah Scribe. Second and third place in the category were won by high school writers. This effectively makes Aubrey’s article the best sports feature written by a student across the entire Southeast. This also marks the first SIPA award for the Sequoyah Scribe.
*Congratulations to the following girls for making the 2016-2017 JSMS Dance Team!
Sophie Ahmad, Kaitlyn Armstrong, Annette Beverly, Anna Kate Breeding, Ashley Burton, Reagan Buttry, Ryleigh Churchwell, Caroline Gilbert, Laci Gott Lauren Haun, Abigail Hilton, Izzy Hilton, Riley Lockhart, Sara Lord, Addison Metcalf, Lexie Potter, Katlyn Renye', Fathima Shaikh, Samantha Somiah, Sofia van der Biest
*THANK YOU to everyone for your engagement and participation in Friday's PD day! For our April vertical meetings, we will have Google Classroom training for all Math and LA teachers. Any Science or SS teacher that would like to attend the April Google again training is welcome.
Proud to be a Warrior,
Holly Flora
Principal, JSMS