JCS Staff Newsletter
September 7, 2022
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Board of Education Resolutions
The Johnson City Board of Education passed three separate resolutions during their August and September meetings to show support for teachers, support staff and library media specialists. Please see the three resolutions below. Thank you to each and everyone who makes Johnson City Schools a place great to be! We appreciate you!
Upcoming Dates
The following list contains school appreciation days and national recognition celebrations that your school may wish to recognize for the month of September. This is merely a suggestion list to the community plan accordingly. Participation, unless otherwise promoted district-wide (i.e. Maroon and Gold Day, etc.), is not required. Email Collin Brooks if a celebration day should be added to the list.
- Patriot Day (9/11 Observance) - September 11, 2022 (Falls on a Sunday)
- National Hispanic Heritage Month - September 15 - October 15, 2022
- National Teacher's Assistant Day - September 16, 2022
- Constitution Day - September 17, 2022 (Falls on a Saturday)
- National IT Professional Day - September 20, 2022
- Native American Day - September 23, 2022
September 8, 2022 - Parent-Teacher Conference Day at Science Hill
Science Hill Homecoming - Theme is "Pride of the Hill"
Homecoming week (Sept. 26 - Sept. 30)
Tuesday, September 27
Science Hill Fall Festival
Friday, September 30
SH Homecoming Parade
7 PM - Homecoming Game vs. Morristown East
Click here to view Printable Calendars for 2022-2023 & 2023-2024
JCS ESSER Funds
Johnson City Schools' Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund documents are available for review through this link. At the bottom of the page, there is a link to a Google form where we ask for feedback from all of our stakeholders. Every six months we will use this feedback for our ESSER 3.0 Public Plan-Federal Relief Spending Addendum. Please feel free to review these documents and provide us with feedback.
PTA Council selling #WeAreAllToppers T-shirts
The Johnson City Schools Council of PTAs is seeling "We Are All Toppers" shirts with all JCS schools listed. They are available for purchase from Johnson City Council of PTAs and all proceeds will go toward teacher grants and student scholarships. Visit https://jccouncil.memberhub.com/store to purchase.
Information From Finance & Insurance
Health Insurance Open Enrollment is October 1-28, 2022
Open Enrollment for Health Insurance will be October 1st through the 28th. This is the only time during the year changes can be made to your Health Insurance coverage without a qualifying life event. Changes to coverage will be effective January 1, 2023. If you have not already, you will be receiving emails from tn.gov/partnersforhealth and Edison regarding open enrollment. As we get closer to October, more information will be sent out with specific plan information. You will also be able to find information at jcschools.org Departments/Finance/Insurance.
Mark III Open Enrollment October 24-28, 2022
Open enrollment for other benefits including Dental, Vision, LT Disability, ST Disability, FBA Spending Accounts and other coverages will be the last week of October. As in previous years, representatives will be at your school to assist with enrollment. As we get closer to open enrollment, schedules for your school and specific plan information will be available.
Certified Staff – Sick Bank
Open enrollment for the Sick Bank each year is for the months of August through October. The sick bank applies to Certified Staff. In the next week, emails from Finance will go out to Certified Staff informing each individual if they are a participant in the Sick Bank. If you are not currently a participant and are interested, you can find the Sick Bank Application at jcschools.org Departments/Finance.
Classified Staff – Sick Leave
Classified Staff may donate sick leave to other classified staff if an employee is need and all criteria have been met. The Sick Leave Donation form can be found at jcschools.org Departments/Finance.
Welcome, Christy Fair!
*** Christy Fair has recently joined the Finance Department at Johnson City Schools as Finance Asst. Supervisor and Insurance Benefits Coordinator. If you have questions regarding Insurance Benefits, you can contact Christy at fairc@jcschools.org. ***
Information from Human Resources
Johnson City Schools is hiring custodians, Educare assistants, and instructional assistants. Current job postings can be viewed at www.jcschools.org/jobs. Johnson City Transit is in need of bus drivers. Please visit this page for more information about open Bus Driver positions.
TLC Snapshot
New Hire Orientation Reminder
All new hires are scheduled through the Human Resources department to attend New Hire Orientation in The Learning Center. During this training session, new staff members will be provided network and Canvas accounts. Finance staff provides Skyward training and an informational presentation. Finally, new staff members will learn to register for professional development events and complete required annual compliance training.
Die-Cuts and Classroom Resources
Visit our Professional Learning department page on the district website to learn how to place an order for die-cuts, and checkout supplemental resources from our district library. We also have a new laminator! We're happy to laminate items for you.
Tracey Coffey ~ TLC Manager
Evelyn Tripodi ~ TLC Assistant
2022/2023 District-Wide Professional Learning Events
An Introduction to Bloomz
Thursday, September 8th
Location: The Learning Center
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
By Collin Brooks, Director of Communications
"The Power of Branding: Telling Your School's Story" by T. Saninas & J. Sanfelippo
Book study starts Monday, September 12th
Location: The Learning Center
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
By Collin Brooks, Director of Communications
Register by Sept. 7th, Mailing books Sept. 8th
It's Hard to do Homework When You Don't Have a Home
Tuesday, September 13th
Location: The Learning Center
4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
By Sydnee' Debusk, Homeless Education Program Coordinator
and Amber Keller, Homeless Education Program Assistant
Introduction to Reflex
Thursday, September 15th
Location: Zoom
3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
By District Math Coaches
Introduction to Frax
Tuesday, September 20th
Location: Zoom
3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
By District Math Coaches
ELA Book Study: "The Writing Thief: Using Mentor Texts to Teach Writing"
Book study starts Thursday, September 22nd
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Location: The Learning Center
By District ELA Coaches
Register by Sept. 16th, Mailing books Sept. 17th
BLOOMZ SESSION
There is a Bloomz professional development session on Thursday, September 8, from 4 to 5 pm at Central Office. It will be led by JCS Director of Communications Collin Brooks. If you can't make it, still feel free to reach out to at BrooksB@jcschools.org with any questions.
FINDING AND SHARING YOUR CLASSROOM CODE
- Here is information on how to find your class code, Bloomz also creates a PDF for you to easily distribute to your parents.
Bloomz Feedback or Help?
Bloomz On-Demand Training for Teachers
Beginning Parents on Bloomz | More InformationSeptember 7 | Johnson City Board of Education Meeting
Chloe Summer
Om Patel
Science Hill student Om Patel was honored for recently receiving the United Nations Global Goals National Community Service
Award Winner.
Chloe Conner
Charlie Bailey
Sgt. Lorrie Goff
Mr. Montreal Brown
Depart to Serve.”
August Board Meeting
From August Board Meeting
PERFECT ACT SCORES
Science Hill seniors Rachel Leerssen (left) and Logan Smith (right) were honored for earning perfect ACT scores.
DAR Essay Contest Winner
Johnson City Virtual Academy student Sarah Katharine Oldham Hopkins was recognized for her top finish in the DAR Essay Contest as she was honored at the local, district, state and Southeastern Division Winner.
Next BOE Meeting
The next Johnson City Board of Education meeting will be held on Monday, October 3 starting at 6 p.m. inside the Board Room at Central Office (100 E. Maple Street). Board meetings can be viewed on the Johnson City Schools' YouTube channel.
In the News
Johnson City Schools aligns grading scale with State Board of Education
The Johnson City Board of Education voted to change the Johnson City Schools’ grading system (Policy 4.600) for grades 3-12 to align with recent legislation passed by the Tennessee Legislature. The new grading scale will be as follows for all students in grades 3-12.
- A: 90 to 100
- B: 80 to 89
- C: 70 to 79
- D: 60 to 69
- F: 0 to 59
Read more -
http://www.jcschools.org/news/409
Afterschool Bluegrass Club to begin for middle schools
The Bluegrass Club will meet each Tuesday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Indian Trail Middle School. Transportation will be provided to students who need to travel from Liberty Bell Middle School to Indian Trail Middle School. However, parents will need to pick up their student(s) from Indian Trail at 4 p.m. Students will need to provide their own instruments, except String Bass. For more information, please contact Susan Lambert Sterling at sterlings@jcschools.org.
Fill out the form here - https://forms.gle/sQj8cBsY8J6cwu4Z8
Science Hill receives $45,000 CTE grant to open mercantile store on campus
Read more - www.jcschools.org/News/446
Johnson City Schools, six schools earn Level 5 distinction for annual growth
Meal Packing event highlights Science Hill motto of Seeking Significance
Science Hill High School is working to ensure its students are seeking significance in the community. On Saturday, August 27, more than 150 Science Hill students and staff gathered inside Grant Topper Hall from 9 am to Noon to help pack 70,632 meals for Kids Against Hunger.
Science Hill Principal Josh Carter said that it is important to teach students that one of the true joys of life is when you can help meet the needs of others.
“Our mission at Science Hill is to be significant in the lives of our students and our community,” Carter said. “So, we’re trying to give our kids an opportunity to be significant in their community, and one way to do that is through service.”
“To have that many high school students show up on a Saturday morning at 9 a.m., it was really inspiring.,” Carter continued. “There’s not been a day I’ve been more proud to be at Science Hill. The turnout of the students we had, the hard work they put in, all the meals that they packed…it was just a great day at Science Hill.”
For more information about Science Hill High School, please visit ScienceHill.JCschools.org.
Science Hill’s Rachel Leerssen relieved after learning of perfect ACT score
Relief. That’s the first word that came to Science Hill senior Rachel Leerssen’s mind when she found out about her perfect ACT score. While less than a half-a-percent of ACT test-takers make a perfect score, Leerssen was confident in her ability.
“I thought I could do it,” Leerssen said through a widening smile. “It was more of a relief than anything else. I already had mostly 36s, so I just needed to get my math up by a few points.”
Read more - www.jcschools.org/News/451
Share your Good News!
Johnson City Schools loves celebrating the accomplishments of our students, staff, and community. If you know of any events, awards, programs, or other compelling stories involving the Johnson City Schools' community, please fill out this form or reach out to Collin Brooks at BrooksB@jcschools.org
JC Schools Staff Newsletter
We will distribute this newsletter on the Wednesday following the monthly Board of Education meeting. This newsletter will have information from District Departments and other helpful tips. If you have suggestions for content in this newsletter, please send them to Collin Brooks at BrooksB@jcschools.org.
C: 423-218-8682 | O: 423-434-5233