Warrior Beat
#worldchangingwarriors
8th Grade Promotion Video
Word for the Warrior....
Hello Warriors,
We are SO proud of all of our 8th graders who are headed to Dobyns-Bennett! Our 8th grade students are full of life and promise! Many thanks to David Flanary, who created our JSMS Promotion Video in honor of each and every JSMS 8th Grade Warrior!
This week, we invite all students and families to come and return any items that need to be returned to school. We will have a DRIVE THROUGH RETURN/RETRIEVAL on our JSMS Track. Please use your car to pull into our driveway that leads to the track from Oak Street. We will have red tents set up on the drivers' side of the track that are labeled so that you will be able to stop at tents that apply to you. If it rains, we will likely need you to drive around the track to the doors that lead into the building and we will have volunteers ready to help with returns and retrievals that we can get to you. Tents will be set up to prevent people from getting wet as best as possible, if it rains.
A-D: Monday, May 18, 8 am - 4 pm
E-K: Tuesday, May 19, 8 am - 4 pm
L-Q: Wednesday, May 20, 8 am - 4 pm
R-Z: Thursday, May 21, 8 am - 4 pm
All 8th Graders should return chromebooks. Rising 7th and 8th Graders are free to keep their chromebooks over the summer, but we will be happy to store them for you over the summer if you would like to return those to us.
Please return all library books...we have 600 books that are currently still checked out to students. (Please ask your child if they have a library book checked out). We are also collecting all textbooks, calculators and uniforms.
We also invite all families to come to school to retrieve items to be picked up! All 8th graders have promotion certificates and a special commemorative JSMS t-shirt as our gift to you. We are sad that we were unable to have an in person graduation and so while this won't make up for it, we will have a CELEBRATION TENT where you can come and be recognized and receive your certificate of promotion and your t-shirt! Don't miss it! We also have awards for students to pick up at the CELBRATION TENT. In addition, if you have other items to be picked up SSN Shirts, artwork, projects, etc, those will be available for pick up as well.
If students still have items in lockers, parents will need to accompany students to their locker to get their things. If items from lockers are not retrieved this week, lockers will be cleaned out and all items labeled with student names, bagged and put in the large gym by homeroom. These items will be kept for two weeks and then donated to Goodwill so please make sure that if your student has items left in a locker, that you call us and set up a time to retrieve your child's belongings.
Our KCS Feeding Program will continue through the summer from our school site. Please continue to take advantage of that program. Buses will run this summer and have sites where they stop and food bags can be picked up. Stay tuned for more information regarding the Summer Feeding Program.
Even though the academic year is ending, please know that we will be available all summer to help you in any way! Feel free to call us at any time 423-378-2450. For all families of our rising 7th and 8th graders, we cannot wait to see you this fall! Our Back to School Bash will be better than ever and certainly even more meaningful! For those of you who have students going to DB, please stay in touch! You will always be part of our Warrior Family so please know we will continue to support and be rooting for your children as they journey through high school!
Please have a wonderful and safe summer!
Proud to be a Warrior,
Holly Flora
JSMS JAM...
End of Year Checklist
Teachers,
It is an exciting time when we can say we have distributed the
End of the Year Checklist and watch some of you race to finish
first!
There is no prize (lol) to finish first except for bragging rights!
JUST FYI:
--Teachers will need to come to school to complete end of year check-out procedures. We will adhere to social distancing and we will provide gloves and masks for all employees.
--We will use the honor system this year instead of signatures. No need to get signatures.
--There will be no professional activity and logs turned in.
--You will have no professionalism rubric needed either.
--Locks-Please take up the locks that are still on your lockers and use a hole-punched notecard and write the combination down and lock the combination to the lock to save for next year. For students who have already come to Sevier to clean out their lockers, we have collected those locks with combinations. When we return to school, teachers can come and get the number of locks that they need for their homeroom class.
--There will be a box in the office where you can put IEPs at a Glance and 504s that need to be shredded.
Friday, May 22--The Great Locker Clean Out
All Sevier and RNR teachers are asked to be present at school next Friday, May 22. Middle School is in a unique position because our students use lockers. Next Monday through Thursday, our students will be coming for a "Drive Through" in order to return items and retrieve items such as awards, yearbook, pictures, etc. Many studnets have already come to Sevier to retrieve items from their lockers, but we suspect many will not. Our custodians spend many days during a TYPICAL year cleaning lockers. In order to assist them in this process when we expect many lockers won't be emptied, we are asking that teachers help clean out the lockers this year. We will provide garbage bags to each teacher. For all lockers that have not been emptied, we need teachers to bag up the contents of each full locker and label the bag with each student name. Then, we will take student bags to the gym and line them up by homeroom. We will then make a call to families and we will ask that students pick up their belongings within two weeks. After that time, what is left will be discarded.
Below is information we received from Dr. May (Health Dept) that was communication to Jim Nash:
Ms. Johnston talked with Dr. May at the health department today. He confirmed 3 days is the standard to let items "sit" to allow time for the virus to die on the surface. The best method would be for items to sit and then clean/disinfect.
Please remind your staff that are involved with collection of items to wear appropriate PPE. (We will have gloves and masks for you.)
--Jim Nash
You can feel free to come that day to "check out" as well. You are free to come do your "check out" prior to that day as well, but if you like, feel free to do it all on Friday, May 22.
Teachers, KCS is asking that all of us complete the training below by May 29th.
It is a free course to us until that time and so we have to have completed this trainging by that date. It is 6 hours long. It is a variety of modules, so it is not necessary to complete it in one sitting.
Below is the email that was sent to you earlier. I just wanted to make sure eveyrone was aware that it needed to be completed soon.
I want to share a training opportunity with you that you may have already heard about and some of you have likely already completed. This is one of the trainings our instructional assistants have completed as a telework activity and everyone in our district who has participated (teachers, administrators, counselors, support staff) have all raved about how wonderful this training is. I'm planning to complete this as well. All teachers are being asked to complete the training before we begin the 2020-21 school year. --Rhonda Stringham
Trauma-Informed Training
Directions for Access: go to https://store.starr.org/Course/view/trauma-informed-resilient-schools and click Create an Account at the top using your email address and create your own password. Once you receive an email from them, you can login, select the course, add it to your cart, and at checkout type TRAUMAINFORMED (all caps) into the coupon box and click Apply Changes. Total Due will show $0.00. When you log back in, click My Learning and begin the course. There are 24 videos to watch and a guidebook for you to review. Once you have completed the videos, please take the TIRS final test to receive your certificate. Send your certificate to Erika Williams.
This N That
- Grades are due Friday, May 22, at 3:30 pm. All grades must be finalized by May 22. Related Arts teachers, remember that you must enter pass or fail for Q4. Academic teachers should not have grades entered in Q4. Directions for grade finalization will be sent by LeAnn Franklin in the coming days.
- Report cards will be distributed Wednesday, May 27. They will be posted to the Parent Portals or mailed for those without portals.
- Obligations need to be turned in to LeAnn by Monday, June 1. This includes library books, lost textbooks, missing locks,etc. It will NOT include missing chromebooks or repairs.
- Please remember that Q1, Q2, and Q3 grades are stored. If you make any changes in PowerTeacher, please notify me so I can update in PS. Also, only make changes if the grade would be higher.
- All parent/student portals will be disabled at 3:30 pm on Friday, June 5.
- PowerTeacher will be disabled at 3:30 pm on Thursday, June 11.
Professionalism Conferences
From Jennifer Guthrie...
This is to let you know that the SafeSchools annual training is now available. This is the set of online training modules that are typically sent out during the summer to be completed at the beginning of each school year. We decided to proceed with making this available during the closure period to allow some additional time to complete the training. This will count as completion of annual training for the 2020-2021 school year.
*If you have turned in retirement or resignation notice for the end of this school year, then you do not need to complete this training.
DUE DATE: Training must be completed prior to the start of August 3, 2020 (start of the school year) by all employees. (*Please note below for non-certified staff where completion may be assigned as part of telework.)
You may note that Human Trafficking Awareness was added to the training. This is now required by state law to be an annual training.
You can login directly to your SafeSchools account through the SafeSchool link under the staff tab on the Kingsport City Schools website. You will use your k12k email address and last 4 digits of your SSN to login. Or, you should be receiving notification via email of your training within the next 24 hours and you can access your account through the link sent to you in that email.
WHAT IF I ALREADY COMPLETED SAFESCHOOLS TRAININGS AS PART OF TELEWORK?
You still need to complete the annual trainings.
If you completed SafeSchools training earlier in March as part of the telework during the close of school, your trainings did not include these specific training modules with the exception of a few people. If you are one of those people who has already completed a specific training module in March, you do not have to do it again. The SafeSchools system already recorded your completion and you will receive credit for that training. For example, there were a few people who already took the Youth Suicide Awareness and Prevention training. You do not have to do it again.
CAN THIS ANNUAL TRAINING COUNT TOWARDS TELEWORK I AM DOING THROUGH THE END OF SCHOOL?
If you are doing telework in lieu of on-site work, this training may count as your telework depending on your work assignment.
For 10-month Non-Certified staff, this will serve as telework for the week of March 18th, unless otherwise directed by your supervisor.
Transportation, Maintenance and Custodial, SNS and Nursing: Please work with your supervisor on the completion schedule for this training.
DO I COMPLETE TRAINING DURING WORK HOURS?
Yes- For non-exempt (hourly) employees, training is expected to be completed during established working hours such that you do not have to incur additional hours to complete training. By making this available now, we hope to allow more opportunity to complete training during available work hours. Certain departments who are currently working on-site during their regularly scheduled hours, (such as SNS and Transportation), please follow the direction of your supervisor on the completion schedule.
For exempt employees (salaried), please complete training by the due date noted above as your schedule allows.
DO I NEED TO TURN IN CERTIFICATES OF COMPLETION?
No.
The SafeSchools system tracks completion. We do not need copies of certificates.
IF I PASS THE QUIZ, DO I STILL NEED TO COMPLETE THE VIDEO?
Yes.
The system will not log completion of training until you watch the videos and take the assigned quizzes.
Thank you and please reach out if you have questions or need assistance.
What I said to parents in the Warrior Connection (JUST FYI)....
School buildings may be closed, but we know learning is not! The department is proud to partner with organizations and educators across the state to continue learning opportunities for all students. We also want to share information on additional resources for educators:
- PBS Teaching Tennessee Continues Through May: The PBS At Home Learning Series: Teaching Tennessee is providing 1st-6th grade students standards-aligned instructional lessons on ELA and Math available on their local PBS stations through the end of May.
- However, additional lessons, including 7th and 8th grade lessons, are available on the department’s YouTube page. Students, families, and educators can find lessons, teacher guides and student packets for using the PBS videos on the department’s website.
- Altogether, the PBS Teaching Tennessee lessons have received over 58,000 views on YouTube alone! Thank you to the teachers who have made this possible.
- STE(A)M Resource Hub: The department is partnering with the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network (TSIN) to release a STE(A)M Resource Hub with three weekly challenges around design activities, critical thinking, and career exploration that can all be done in the home. Each challenge, for #MakerMondayTN, #WonderWednesdayTN, and #FutureFridayTN include step-by-step directions for the activity, as well as additional resources to continue exploring the topic.
FAQ
Q: I have items that I need to return to or get from school. How/when should I do that?
Robinson and Sevier will hold a drive-thru pick-up/drop-off event at school, based on the first letter of the student’s last name (entry into the school will not be allowed during this event):
A-D: Monday, May 18, 8 am - 4 pm
E-K: Tuesday, May 19, 8 am - 4 pm
L-Q: Wednesday, May 20, 8 am - 4 pm
R-Z: Thursday, May 21, 8 am - 4 pm
Items that may be dropped off:
School-owned musical instruments (8th grade only...6th and 7th graders will keep instruments over the summer)
Library books
Textbooks
Athletic uniforms
Laptops and chargers (8th grade, those with a loaner device, and 6th/7th graders who wish to turn in their device for the summer)
Loaned calculators
Payment of outstanding financial obligations
Classroom library books
Items that may be picked up:
Yearbooks
Awards & certificates
Medications in the school clinic
Spring pictures
Other end-of-year information:
Refund checks will be mailed to the student’s home address.
Anyone needing to clean out a student locker should call the school to schedule an individual time.
An in-person promotion ceremony will not take place, due to health department regulations. Robinson and Sevier are preparing videos to honor our 8th grade students. These will be shared out via parent newsletters and social media.
Final Report Cards will be communicated through the PowerSchool Parent Portal or mailed to the home address (for students without a Parent Portal account).
Q: How will students in grades 6-8 have academic progress communicated to them during the COVID-19 closure?
A: Academic feedback will be provided in PowerSchool using the following three designations:
- Work is complete (with feedback provided)
- Work is incomplete (started, but not finished)
- Work is missing (no work attempted) (4/14)
- Related Arts Classes will be Pass/NP=No Participation
Past Information Sent...
Dear KCS Families,
As we approach the end of the 2019-20 school year, a Frequently Asked Questions document has been developed to provide a wide variety of end-of-year information of which you need to be aware. The FAQ can be found online at www.k12k.com or by clicking here.
We continue to hope that you and your family are healthy and well! Have a great weekend.
School Pictures Have Arrived!
School pictures have arrived and are in the JSMS office conference room. If you ordered a school picture of your child and would like to come to the JSMS office, you may pick it up any workday between 8:00-3:00 each day. Also, pictures will be available for pick up the week of May 18th at your assigned up pick up day if you would like to pick them up when you pick up everything else.
Sports Pictures Have Arrived!
Yearbooks!
STREAMWORKS Virtual Camps K–8
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, June summer camps are going virtual! Join us for thrilling, fun, and exciting activities led by your favorite STREAMWORKS staff live from the STEM Gym via video teleconference (Zoom). K–4th grade students will meet M–F, 10 am –12 pm and 5th–8th grade students will meet M–F, 12–2 pm. Choose from several different summer camps (or attend all!) covering computer-aided design (CAD) Space Camp, Engineering Camp, and Coding Camp. Also, expect a few celebrity Zoom pop ins during the camps.
7th Grade Immunizations
TO ALL FAMILIES OF RISING 7th GRADERS:
Students entering 7th grade this fall are required to provide proof that they have had a booster dose of tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis vaccine (known as Tdap) by 7th grade.
Students are NOT ALLOWED to begin school on the first day of school and go to class if an immunization form has not been submitted to the school office.
As your child recieves these immunizations, please either mail immunization forms to Sevier or come by the front office of the school between 9:00-1:00 each day.
John Sevier Middle School
1200 Wateree St.
Kingsport, Tn. 37664
Please CLICK HERE to see a sample of the TN Immunization Certificate.
Physicals
All JSMS athletes must have a physical form filled out and signed by a doctor before participation in sports can begin. This includes practice.
Each athlete must have a new physical each year. Currently, physicals are good through the end of June. Beginning July 1, to practice or participate in any sport at Sevier, we must have a copy of your child's updated physical form.
Students may not practice during the month of July or begin practice the first week of school without an updated form. Fall sports that are immediately necesssary for updated forms are: football, cross-country, volleyball, cheer, dance.
You may either mail the physical form to our office, have the doctor fax it to our office, or turn it into our office any work day between 9:00-1:00.
Please CLICK HERE to access the Physical Form.
Summer Reading Choices for RISING 6th Graders
Summer Reading Choices for RISING 7th Graders
Summer Reading Choices for RISING 8th Graders
Free Childcare for Essential Workers
PLEASE respond to the 2020 CENSUS-When You Shape Education, You Shape Our Future
A Challenge from our own SS Teacher, Chris Carr!
I hope your quarantine time is going well. Yesterday, I had an idea. In our 7th grade class, we read lots of primary sources about the major events we cover in our curriculum. I thought it would be interesting to create a student book of primary sources from this unprecedented time we are in right now. After thinking about it some more, I thought it would be important to document the thoughts and actions of ALL KCS families, not just my own students.
What I am envisioning is a collection of diary entries, essays, poems, drawings, photographs, etc. showing the daily activities of our students, while we are waiting this out. Students and parents would email me their submissions, which I would compile using an online publisher, and then have printed into a hard copy, or copies. The result would be a book of primary sources by KCS families, that would give future students insight as to the fears, concerns, and daily life our children are experiencing right now. This could also give children a creative outlet to alleviate the stresses of isolation.
I'm asking each teacher to make mention of this in his or her Canvas or Google Classroom (or whatever platform you are using) lessons. Depending on the grade level, hand-drawn pictures or a few sentences would be great; you know the ability levels of your children. If you wouldn't mind telling parents to email their child's submission directly to me (ccarr@k12k.com), or if you could forward them to me, I can begin compiling them. I would like for the work to include the student's name, and age.
I'm sending this to everyone, because I want your submissions as well! This is your chance to tell future generations how you spent your time during the spring of 2020. Get creative! I'd like to have May 1 as the deadline for submitting work. That way, I can assemble the book, and hopefully have a hard copy, or copies, by the start of the next school year. Thank you in advance for your help with this endeavor. If I haven't made myself clear, or if you have any questions, please feel free to email me. Stay safe, and stay sanitized!