Dear JT Moore Matador Families,
School is back in session beginning Tuesday! Unlike in past years where students went only one half of the day, Tuesday is a full day of school! I wanted to remind you of a few bits of information that will be important for school to run smoothly on Tuesday. Here we go!
Early Morning Spanish
Early morning Spanish for incoming 5th graders from Glendale begins Tuesday at 7:45 a.m. Students should be in their classroom and seated at that time. There will be adults at the office lobby door to greet you and help students get to their classrooms.
Early Morning Study Hall
Early morning study hall begins Tuesday morning at 7:30 a.m. If you signed up online and submitted your form, you will be on the list for study hall. If you did not, we will place you on a wait list. Please email Mr. Henderson or Ms. Larsen, our study hall teachers, for more information.
Drop Off & Pick Up
Students who are not enrolled in early morning Spanish, early morning study hall, or the YMCA Fun Company cannot be dropped off on campus before 8:40 to wait outside, hang out on the playground, or in Green Hills Park, etc. These students can be dropped off in the car line in front of the school courtyard on Lone Oak. Please enter at the Green Hills Park entrance and exit back onto Lone Oak after drop off. If turning left after drop off, please be in the left hand lane when dropping your child off and in the right lane if turning right after drop off onto Lone Oak. The procedure is the same for pickup in the afternoon.
Dismissal begins at 3:55 each day. Please do not skip the car line by pulling around the back of the school, going through the bus loop, parking on a side street or in front of our neighbors’ homes, etc. Please remember that our children are watching and our individual and collective values and integrity matter.
Student-Parent Handbook and Permission Forms
The Student-Parent Handbook and all required permission forms for the 2021-22 school year are now available online in multiple languages at www.mnps.org/handbook. Permission forms must be turned in by Sept. 10.
Although online submission is recommended, you can also print the permission forms, available for download on the Handbook page, and return completed forms to school. Once you have submitted your permissions, either online or on paper, any changes must be made by contacting the school directly.
Buses
The first days of school can often result in challenges for transportation. We want to ensure that if any issues arise, we can communicate as quickly as possible about any possible delays.
Please ensure your contact information is updated through your child’s school or by updating in Campus Parent portal to receive messages if the bus is running off schedule.
MNPS is actively recruiting drivers to ensure a seamless transportation experience. If you or someone you know is looking for a rewarding career and interested in improving the lives of MNPS students, please apply at mnps.org.
For bus information and answers to frequently asked questions, visit mnps.org. For questions or concerns, email them at [email protected] or call 615 259-INFO (4636).
Lockers
Students will not have lockers this year and they will keep their backpacks with them as they go from class to class. Students will be changing changing classes!
Visiting JTM
Students, faculty, staff, and visitors are required to wear a mask during the entire time that they are in the school building. All will be temperature screened before entering the building.
At this time, MNPS administration at Bransford Avenue have determined that parents cannot come into the school building to walk their children to their classes, visit teachers, etc. I am sorry. This is due to the proliferation of the highly contagious Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus. PTO executives and other individuals needing to drop off medications, vaccination forms, meet with a counselor or administrator, etc., will be allowed to come into the building in limited numbers that may require waiting outside of the building for a brief period of time.
Parents of students in Ms. Dee’s classroom can enter with their children at the west side of the campus at the entrance next to the greenhouse.
Sports & Tryouts
Sports are on! Tryouts for girls volleyball, football, and girls soccer will take place on Tuesday, August 17th, from 4:10 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. Students wishing to tryout for sports must have a sports physical dated after June 1, 2021 to participate. We cannot make any exceptions to this requirement. Also, students cannot have failed more than one class for the spring semester (based on the semester average) to be eligible to play sports from August to December 31 in MNPS. We are seeking a cheerleading sponsor from within our staff/faculty and we hope to have the coach named this week along with tryout information. You can view the forms here.
Meals
Breakfast and lunch are being provided at no cost to students and families this year. The microwaves will be available for student use also.
School Policies
Please follow the dress code that was emailed out last month to families. As a reminder, NO HOODIES or hats are to be worn or brought into the school building. There are no exceptions.
Please review the cell phone policy with your children. Cell phones are to be powered off and stored for the entire day in backpacks or pants pockets.
Student Schedules
Student schedules are subject to change. Any student schedule is subject to change during the first week of school or after as we will have to make adjustments to class sizes once we see which students show up in the building this week. I know that no one wants to have this happen to the class schedules of their children. We will try to minimize any schedule/teacher adjustments that have to be made. The state of Tennessee dictates the maximum classroom sizes for each grade level that we must comply with. Furthermore, we must balance class sizes to allow for as much distance between students as possible due to Covid-19.
COVID-19 Information
We will be doing our very best to mitigate the effects of Covid-19 in our school including using social distancing, mandatory mask wearing while inside, thoughtful scheduling of transitions, hand washing, the use of hand sanitizer, having classes outside when possible, etc. Circumstances and conditions surrounding the spread of Covid-19 may result in changes to classroom schedules, students’ rotating among classrooms, athletics, etc. Dr. Battle and the MNPS Board of Education will determine any additional needs/changes and will inform stakeholders of such needs/changes.
In the most abnormal of times, it is our goal to have as close to a “normal” school year as possible. We want children back in our school being children, being social, being learners, and being happy. Please help us with our efforts by being an involved parent partner, by ensuring your children are held to high expectations, by having your children do their homework and study for tests, and by removing any excuses for misbehaviors that might disrupt the school learning environment. We have a lot of ground to make up after this past school year, and this will require EVERY parent to do his/her part. Please. Your children need your involvement. We need you too!
Great days are ahead! Remember…Together, we are MOORE! Let’s defy gravity…together, one child at a time.
Dr. Gary D. Hughes, Executive Principal
