Good afternoon JMS Parents & Families! We hope this message finds you well and safe!
We miss our kids! We understand the last month has been very difficult for everyone. As you are aware, Governor Bill Lee issued a Stay at Home Mandate effective yesterday afternoon. All school personnel will continue to work remotely from home during this time and will be available via email (contact information below). Please do not hesitate to reach out us if we can assist you and your families in any capacity. Our admin team and staff are committed to providing a high level of academic, mental, social and emotional support for all of our JMS families throughout this time. We wanted to provide a few updates from the week as outlined below.
Online Learning opportunities begin on Monday, April 6th, 2020. Our teachers and staff have been working diligently to prepare for online learning and we can’t wait for our students to log into Canvas! Please have your child check Canvas Announcements for each class daily to access these opportunities. Please know if you child receives special services, our related service providers (i.e., speech, OT, PT, vision) will be reaching out to discuss the most appropriate way to serve your child during the closure. Oak Ridge Schools will be providing all services remotely during the COVID-19 closure.
The JMS Parent Newsletter will be sent out each Sunday evening and it will be full of resources to help you and your student navigate through this world of Online Learning and Support. It will include a multitude of other resources, such as important information, School Counseling support, technology support, etc.
The district will continue to provide “Grab & Go” meals to any student each day through the Stay at Home Order. The sites will continue at Robertsville Middle School, Oak Ridge High School, Glenwood Elementary School and the Preschool each day from 11am – 1pm. The sites at Teller Village Apartments, Mackenzie Apartments, Manhattan Apartments and the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge will by daily from 12pm – 12:30pm. Just a note there will be no food distribution on Good Friday (April 10, 2020). There will be extra food distributed with meals provided on April 9th.
We have received questions from our families about the lack of Internet Access. Our Technology Department has put together a list of resources that are available if you do not have Internet service. Please see below:
Comcast – https://corporate.comcast.com/covid-19
- Open Wi-Fi-hotspots to all users, even non Comcast subscribers.
- No Data Caps – 60 days of Unlimited access
- No Disconnect or Late Fees
- Internet Essentials Free to New Customers – 60 days of Internet access for free – normally $9.99/month
AT&T – https://about.att.com/pages/COVID-19.html
- No Disconnections or Late Fees for customers
- Free open Wi-Fi hotspots
- Unlimited Data
- Limited/Fixed income residents and sign up as a new customer for $10/month.
Charter/Spectrum – https://corporate.charter.com/newsroom/charter-to-offer-free-access-to-spectrum-broadband-and-wifi-for-60-days-for-new-K12-and-college-student-households-and-more
- Free broadband/Wi-Fi for 60 days to home with K-12 and/or college students that do not already have a Spectrum Account (Call 1-844-488-8395)
- Spectrum will open its Wi-Fi hotspots for all public use.
- No Data caps
TDS Internet (large portions of East TN) https://tdstelecom.com/about/news/categories/tds/CoronavirusStatement.html
Again, we appreciate your patience and support during this time. The health, safety and wellness of our students, families and staff continue to be our utmost concern. Please reach out to our administrative team by using the contact information below if we can be of any assistance. Please tell you children “hello” from us and we are sending wishes of wellness to your families each day!
Mr. Cox, Mr. Layton & Mrs. Laurendine
Mr. Phillip Cox – pcox@ortn.edu
Mr. Chris Layton – calayton@ortn.edu
Mrs. Jenifer Laurendine – jllaurendine@ortn.edu
Mr. Ben Fowler – bjfowler@ortn.edu
