Teachers in Oak Ridge Schools often speak of how we don't teach to the test-- words that have come out of my own mouth often as a teacher, and even on Thursday this past week I said it during our data snapshot meetings where our core content collaborative teams, the vice-principal, the instructional technology coach, and the professional learning community coach discuss current progress, short and long term goals, and student differentiation. And I still believe it.

In years past, I would teach, self-assess, do a practice test, and then my students would take the state exam. I would get data back in October in the fall of the following year while I was already 3 months into a new school year. The lag time on the feedback about my success as an educator was much too long. Often I was so deep in that year, that any changes could be difficult to integrate until January. If my own self-assessment was inadequate, I might not know my own effectiveness until it was long past fixing with my former students. On the other hand, teaching to the test sometimes means students had knowledge that would allow them to be successful on the test, but would then be unable to apply that knowledge to practical, real world problems or to progress in complexity to the next level of that course. As part of our vision-- Every student prepared for college, career, and life success -- we want our students knowledge not to be trivia competition winning (though many a fine pizza or hamburger has been paid for out of such winnings), but applicable to building their best futures and the world’s. There is a balance between teaching standards, skills, and knowledge and being able to engage that knowledge to pass a standardized test. Our benchmarks help us achieve that balance.

The benchmarks give teachers clear data about the progress of their students’ progress on their standards. So, when we talk about our benchmarks at JMS, we really are taking point in time snapshots of where our students stand on the standards that we are teaching and their ability to communicate that on a standardized test. Our teachers, in their collaborative teams, then break down what instruction is working or not, what kids need differentiated remediation, and what content or skills need to spiraled back into our review. Our students, for the most part, do take these tests seriously, because they recognize we take them seriously. If students are struggling with a particular method of demonstrating knowledge, our teachers will do a bit of test taking skills.

It is what we are asking students to do with this knowledge that is more important. . Our lessons, our labs, our projects are all about developing not just understanding of the content but a fluency in it. We are asking students to examine their own data in a way that is having a major impact on our students. The benchmark is formative, and we take these tests and the individual student reports back to kids in the form of individualized meetings, where we talk goal setting. We work with students to develop intrinsic motivation and self-directed learning. We are building the skillsets to empower them to take on their own learning. Our recent success as a reward school, both before COVID and after, stems from our usage of data to grow our students-- on the standards which are assessed by the state and the real-world problem solving we ask them to engage in.

Granted, it is middle school, and our young men and women are just beginning to mature into the successful adults we work so hard to see them become. The benchmark is very much a tool, one of many, to help our JMS students accomplish that.

Mr. Fowler, Vice-Principal

We are witnessing growth and community among out students through our SEL mentoring sessions on Wednesday during our Zero Period.

Coming back from break, students were engaged in discussion and activities with these topics!

5th grade: Meeting New People & Get to Know Your School

6th grade: Understanding Emotions

7th grade: The Story of Values

8th grade: Overcoming Obstacles

For years, our sign board was frequently updated by Mr. Randolph, our JMS head of maintenance, and we thank him for the many hours he spent making sure our messages got out to the community. We offered him access to the sign board when it comes online, but he politely declined. We are very excited to have a new way of communicating with all the stakeholders of JMS.

Ms. Candie Price (5th and 7th Grade)

Mr. Paul Sudderth (6th and 8th Grade)

Please contact our school counseling department with any other questions at 865-425-9302. Ms. Amy Myers, school registrar, is happy to assist with enrollment, withdrawal paperwork, transportation, Skyward, school updates, etc.

COUNSELING CORNER

Character Strong Update: October is Gratitude Month!

This month our district wide SEL curriculum is focused on Gratitude. Character Strong, defines Gratitude as “choosing to appreciate the people and things in our lives.” Practicing Gratitude can increase our well-being and our happiness. Throughout the school, students will be working to develop skills with emotion regulation, positive self-talk and stress management.

Fun Family Challenge #1:

As a family, what are some small, specific things that you are grateful for? Maybe it is your favorite water cup, the way the cat sleeps on the chair or when your grandma bakes banana bread. Spend some time as a family trying to think of at least 10 small things that you have gratitude for and then choose to notice them this week with a smile.

Fun Family Challenge #2:

Review Gratitude as a family! Remember that Gratitude is choosing to appreciate the people and things in our lives. Find a place in your home to display a glass jar. Cut up small slips of paper and place them next to the jar. Use the jar to collect special people, places, events, and memories that your family is thankful for. Find a time each week to add slips of Gratitude to the jar and assist students in writing or drawing gratitude as needed. Having a gloomy day or a challenging time as a family? Pull out the slips of Gratitude and read them aloud together as a reminder of your Grateful moments.

Clothing Closet Accepting Donations

JMS is pleased to offer support for students in need through our “clothing closet”. We are accepting clean, gently used clothing items for students in need. Please make sure all donated items meet JMS dress code policy. Donated items can be dropped off in the JMS Counseling office. Thank you for your support!

ORHS Trunk or Treat

ORHS is hosting a Trunk or Treat on October 24th from 5pm-7pm. The event will take place in the school parking lot (on the Turnpike side). Future Wildcats are welcome to participate.

• Ms. Price - 5th and 7th Grade Counselor - clprice@ortn.edu
  
• Mr. Sudderth - 6th and 8th Grade Counselor - pwsudderth@orth.edu
• Ms. Myers - Registrar - amyers@ortn.edu

• JMS's weather policy is to load busses and release car riders during most weather events EXCEPT lightning or severe rain/wind. When lightning is present we will push our students back to the building and delay releasing students. We have had three major lightning issues and a major wind/rain events during our releases over the first term, and we wanted to reiterate what our hold policy is. We thank our parents for their patience as we do our best to keep our students safe.
• DO NOT enter the bus loop when buses are present!
• Please pull your vehicle all the way up so we can keep as many cars as possible off of Fairbanks Road.
• When dropping off AFTER 7:30am, students will be directed towards the main entrance. Go ahead and pull all the way up.
• Make sure your child is ready to exit the vehicle and doesn't have to access the trunk for items, as this holds up the line.
• DO NOT park or leave your vehicles in the neighborhoods across the street from Jefferson. Traffic is heavy during pickup and drop off and parking on those streets only increases the danger to our students and parents attempting to navigate the traffic.