Central Office Update
January 2024
All Students Eat Free
The Jefferson County Department of Education is pleased to announce that beginning this month through the rest of the 2023-24 school year, all students have access to free breakfast and free lunch each school day. The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program through the United States Department of Agriculture makes this possible because of an increase in the number of direct certified students in the district.
Jefferson County Schools will re-evaluate direct-certified student data in late spring to assess the feasibility of continuing the CEP program for future years.
Parents are not required to submit any paperwork for their students to participate.
Under the CEP program one (1) breakfast and one (1) lunch meal will be provided daily to each student. Students may still purchase a second meal and/or a-la-carte items with cash or money in their meal accounts. No charging of these items is allowed.
The CEP program does not ease current cafeteria charge balances. Families of students with a negative balance in their meal account as of January 4, 2024, have until the end of the 2023-24 school year to pay the balance; however, early payment would be appreciated. Payments may be made directly to your student’s school cafeteria by cash or check, or secure online payments www.mypaymentsplus.com.
Should you have any questions about your student’s account please contact the Jefferson County School Nutrition office at (865)397-3945 or email dunderwood@jcboe.net.
Celebrating Student Growth
Celebrating Student Growth
The Tennessee Department of Education assesses student performance through two distinct methods. Proficiency, expressed as achievement scores, is the yardstick for gauging whether students met the department's expectation in relation to grade level standards. . This achievement is gauged using a set of assessments collectively known as TCAP. Additionally, the Tennessee Value Added Assessment System (TVAAS) is employed to determine student growth. This growth is quantified by comparing current TCAP scores with previous ones. The evaluation of student growth extends across the entire state, considering grade levels and subjects comprehensively.
In terms of growth assessment, a Level 3 score signifies that a school or district has met the department's expectations. Meanwhile, a Level 4 or Level 5 indicates that a school or district has outpaced its peers statewide in terms of growth. Jefferson County Schools achieved a Level 5 designation for the 2022-2023 school year. The recognition of this accomplishment took place during the January School Board Meeting, where schools were honored for their growth and presented with a banner. (Not pictured: New Market Elementary School - Level 4 TVAAS Growth - Exceeded the Expectation of Growth)
Jefferson County High School
Level 5 TVAAS Growth - Highest Designation
Piedmont Elementary School
Level 5 TVAAS Growth - Highest Designation
Maury Middle School
Level 5 TVAAS Growth - Highest Designation
Rush Strong School
Level 5 TVAAS Growth - Highest Designation
Jefferson Elementary School
Level 5 TVAAS Growth - Highest Designation
White Pine School
Level 4 TVAAS Growth - Exceeded the Expectation of Growth
New Market Elementary School
Level 4 TVAAS Growth - Exceeded the Expectation of Growth
Jefferson Middle School
Level 5 TVAAS Growth - Highest Designation
Celebrating Top Marks
The Tennessee Department of Education recently created a new state accountability system. The system evaluates student achievement (proficiency) and student growth (TVAAS). The system was used to generate school letter grades. While there remains some disagreement related to the new system and changing the process mid-year, Jefferson County is pleased to announce that 4 schools earned top level designations under this new system. Less than 18% of schools across the state were awarded an A on the new letter grade system. Congratulations to each of the schools on their accomplishments. In addition to 4 A schools Jefferson County is proud to announce that 5 other schools garnered B level designations on the new system.
Piedmont Elementary School
Maury Middle School
Talbott Elementary School
A Level Designation
Jefferson Middle School
A Level Designation
JCHS Seniors Awarded Full Scholarships
QuestBridge National College Match, a program that connects qualifying, high-achieving high school seniors with full four-year scholarships to 50 of the nation’s best colleges, has announced that out of 20,800 applicants, 6,683 finalists were considered for the 2023 QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship (Match Scholarship). This year, QuestBridge’s 50 college partners matched with 2,242 Finalists, who are recognized as Match Scholarship Recipients. This is the highest number of Match Scholarship Recipients to date for QuestBridge.
Match Scholarship Recipients are admitted early to QuestBridge college partners with full four-year scholarships provided by the colleges and universities, ensuring for these students and their families that an education at a top college is affordable. QuestBridge’s partners include top colleges and universities such as Brown, Claremont McKenna, Columbia, MIT, Northwestern, Swarthmore, Vanderbilt, and Williams. The Match Scholarship is made up of a generous financial aid package provided by the college that covers the full cost of attendance, including tuition, housing and food, books and supplies, and travel expenses. The Match Scholarship does not include loans or a parental contribution. This year’s Match Scholarship Recipients come from 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as the territories of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These outstanding high school seniors have an average unweighted GPA of 3.94, and 93% are in the top 10% of their graduating class. Around 92% come from a household with an annual income under $65,000, and 87% qualify for free or reduced-price school meals. The majority of this year’s Match Scholarship Recipients — 82% — are among the first generation in their families to attend a four-year college in the United States.
Three Jefferson County High School students have received full scholarships through the QuestBridge College Match Program.
- Michaela Bryant - Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina
- Faviola Donjuan Juarez - Colgate University in Hamilton, New York
- Rylea Holbert - Tufts University in Greater Boston, Massachusetts
We are so proud of these students for their achievements!
Service Learning
Below is the service-learning fall end of semester slideshow created by Lani O'Connor, JCHS Service Learning teacher, for students to reflect on their efforts this past semester. It provides a "big picture" about what they accomplished as a group and is certainly something for each student, Mrs. O'Connor, JCHS, and our district to be proud of! Each of these students will have between 55-80+ hours helping the community. If you have a few minutes to spare and want to see some of what Service Learning does, please check out the video.
Christmas in Jefferson County
Christmas in Jefferson County is in its 27th year! Jefferson County School's Family Resource Center has been an instrumental part of this program from the beginning. It takes the full community to make Christmas in Jefferson County successful. Our schools, churches, and neighborhoods collect food. Local businesses and citizens purchase toys for children ages birth to 12. Even though our program only serves children up to age 12, we work closely with another local program that serves older children. This ensures that ALL children have a special Christmas. The planning process begins as early as October and finishes in mid-December once all food boxes and toys are distributed. This year over 333 families received food boxes, and 258 children received toys.
Our schools are a big part in helping provide food for this event. This year schools collected boxes of crackers, oatmeal, macaroni & cheese, and mashed potatoes. The following is a breakdown of what was collected and the monetary value:
Food Donated by Schools:
853 boxes of crackers = $1,484.22
1250 boxes of oatmeal= $ 3,100.00
2455 boxes of mac & cheese= $2086.75
608 boxes/mashed potatoes=$2566.58
TOTAL = $9,237.55
Families were able to pick up their food and toys on December 9th, at the National Guard Armory in Jefferson City. It was a great day serving families and children in Jefferson County. It would not have been possible without food and monetary donations given by the schools and community. We also want to say thank you to the many volunteers that make the event a success.
Elementary Science Fair
Fifth-grade students from across the Jefferson County school district gathered at the Patriot Academy campus on November 16th for the 2023 5th-Grade Science and Engineering Fair, where they competed for top honors. All participants received medals for their achievements, while first, second, and third-place winners took home trophies and STEM-related toys. Alyssa Gunter from New Market Elementary School earned third place for her project titled "Does a Human's Mouth Have More Bacteria than a Dog's Mouth?". Tiberius Shahan of White Pine School secured second place with his project "Light Refraction". The top prize was awarded to James (Jay) Inman of Jefferson Elementary School for his project "Can You Make a Basketball Silent While Dribbling?". Throughout the judging process, students from Carson-Newman University's education department and Jefferson County High School's Science Honors Society engaged participants in various STEM activities.
Kent Clevenger: Work-Based Learning is his Path to Success
Article written by Katelynn Finchum for Patriot Preview newsletter
The Work-Based Learning (WBL) program at Jefferson County High School gives students who have completed and excelled in certain programs of study the opportunity to earn a wage while still receiving high school credit. Students can be placed at many different work sites ranging from agriculture to automotive. Kent Clevenger, a senior at Jefferson County High School, started the WBL program at Rusty Wallace Ford in Dandridge. When he began work, he started as a part-time lube tech, but will be promoted to a full-time technician once he graduates. The Ford Dealership will also be sending him to the Ford Master Class School in Atlanta. While he is there, he will receive paid-for training for a year, which will allow him to further his career with Ford. Starting out, Clevenger took the welding courses at JCHS and discovered that becoming a welder was not his passion. Instead, he decided to change his program of study to Automotive, Maintenance, and Light Repair, which he soon fell in love with. Clevenger shared that because of his opportunity to take the automotive classes at the high school and with the help of his teachers and Work-Based Learning manager Ms. Keela Long, he has now been able to accomplish things he never thought would be possible.
Jeremy Cleveland shared that at Rusty Wallace they “are grateful for the WBL program at JCHS. It has been a great program for us as a dealership to be able to employ promising young students in different areas of our business. Kent Clevenger has been a great asset to our Service Department and is moving up quickly with his positive, willing attitude and attention to detail.” Ms. Long was proud to hear such remarks about Clevenger; she even shared that he is a “sweet kid with a strong work ethic.” Above all, Clevenger said that he appreciates every opportunity he has been given through the Work-Based Learning Program at JCHS, along with his position at Ford. He also said that because of what he has gained from this program, he now has a better chance of owning his own shop one day.
Ron Overton - Principal of the Year
Mr. Ron Overton has been named the Jefferson County Principal of the Year. He was established as principal at White Pine School this school year. Overton spent the last three years at Maury Middle School before coming to White Pine. Under Overton's leadership, Maury Middle School was able to earn an A for 2023. Additionally, Overton has been a principal at both Talbott Elementary and Rush Strong School. Both Rush Strong and Talbott Elementary were able to earn Reward School status during Overton's time leading those schools. Mr. Overton has been a very successful instructional leader in every school he has led. Overton is known for being a listener who works tirelessly to find solutions and ideas that increase student involvement and academic achievement. Director of Schools Tommy Arnold said, "Mr. Overton made a decision around 15 years ago to leave the business world and join a profession where he felt like his impact would make a difference. I was fortunate enough to interview Ron and hire him to teach at Dandridge. I am very proud of his dedication to help students and his impact as a leader to our employees."
Trevor Collins - Supervisor of the Year
Jefferson County Schools is proud to recognize Trevor Collins as the 2023-2024 Supervisor of the Year. Mr. Collins is the Data and Accountability Supervisor for the school system. He also oversees ALL Corps Tutoring and supports English Language Learning Department. Collins taught high school history before he joined the Tennessee Department of Education as a data analyst. In that role, Collins supported multiple school districts across East Tennessee with data and strategic planning. Collins also spent some time as the Director of Special Education for Lenoir City Schools before joining Jefferson County Schools over three years ago. Collins is a dynamic presenter with a gift for making data understandable and usable. He has been essential to the improvement in academics seen across the district over the last three years. Elementary Supervisor Kristi Waltke said, "Trevor is so deserving of this recognition. Right away, he fit right in with our team and elevated the work that we do to give JCS students the best education possible. Even after work hours, you'll find Trevor running spreadsheets, consulting with teachers and school leaders, and coming up with creative solutions to solve problems."
Professional Learning with iReady
December and January Board Recognitions
Teachers of the Year
Community Partner: First Baptist of Strawberry Plains
Jefferson County High School Football
Jefferson County High School Track Team
Jefferson County Co - Op
Cadet Worley
In the News - High School Senior Gives Out Free Books
Besides being spotlighted on the local news, Hannah was also featured in Southern Living magazine! Check out the link to the article here.
In the News - Mira Denton
In the News - Tommy Arnold Supports Public Education
In the News - Foundational Skills
Jefferson County High School students, led by Nola Henderson (editor), Lani O'Connor (service learning coordinator) and Katelynn Finchum (student and lead editor), publish a high school newsletter every month. It contains great information for all students. Check it out by clicking here.