Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge Schools hosts August reception for new administrators

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Bob and Carol Smallridge and Bruce Borchers

New Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce, right, will be welcomed during an Aug. 5 reception along with new Assistant Superintendent Chris Marczak. Above, Borchers speaks to Carol Smallridge, left, and former Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent and Interim Superintendent Bob Smallridge, second from right. Also pictured is Borchers’ son Jack.

Oak Ridge Schools will have an Aug. 5 reception for new Superintendent Bruce Borchers and new Assistant Superintendent Chris Marczak.

The reception will be from 5-6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 5, in the School Administration Building Board Room. It will precede the 7 p.m. Oak Ridge Board of Education meeting.

Borchers was hired in April, and he started in Oak Ridge on June 18. He replaced Interim Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bob Smallridge, who is also a former superintendent. Smallridge filled in after former Superintendent Tom Bailey retired at the end of 2012. [Read more…]

Roane County school board makes budget cuts

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Information from WYSH Radio

On Thursday, the Roane County School Board voted to make several deep cuts to balance its budget for this year.

The cuts became necessary earlier when the Roane County Commission rejected the school system’s request for a 14-cent property tax increase to make up a $1.5 million shortfall. The deepest cut was to funding for the purchase of new textbooks to the tune of about $1 million. [Read more…]

Anderson County schools to dismiss early on Wednesdays

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Information from WYSH Radio

When the new school year begins in the Anderson County school system on Aug. 7, parents and students alike will notice a big difference in dismissal times on Wednesdays.

Students in the county system will now be dismissed 90 minutes early on Wednesdays. School leaders say that shortening one day a week will give teachers more time to review student data and to work on Common Core training and implementation. The Common Core curriculum requires students to learn at a higher level of rigor and in a more in-depth fashion. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Schools announces dates for registration and school orientations

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Oak Ridge High School

Oak Ridge Schools have announced registration and school orientation information, including for Oak Ridge High School, pictured above.

All students, with the exception of those attending Willow Brook and the Preschool, who are new to the Oak Ridge elementary and middle schools, need to register at their respective schools Monday, July 29, through Wednesday, July 31, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Parents who pre-registered kindergartners in May also need to complete the registration process on those dates.

Registration for new students in grades 9-12 will be made by appointment only. Appointments may be made Tuesday, July 23, through Tuesday, July 30, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. by calling (865) 425-9607. The registration process should be completed no later than Tuesday, July 31. Registration materials can be picked up at the Oak Ridge High School guidance office starting Monday, July 22, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge High School cheerleaders: combining spirit and sport

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Oak Ridge High School Cheerleaders

The Oak Ridge High School cheerleaders for the 2013-2014 school year, pictured above, will have a pre-camp exhibition performance at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Wildcat Arena. (Submitted photo)

Community invited to pre-camp performance this Friday

Traditional cheerleading began at the University of Minnesota in 1898, when male cheerleaders encouraged students to show their spirit at athletic events.

This model continued exclusively until the early 1990s, when all-star competitive gyms formed to highlight the athleticism of the cheerleader. Combining tumbling, stunting, and dancing, non-school teams began competing at the regional and national level, drawing more and more girls to the fast growing sport.

At Oak Ridge High School, cheerleaders were maintaining the traditional role, but found they were losing students to the competitive nature of the all-star gym. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge emergency workers, preschool checking child car seats

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Child Seat Safety Checkpoint

The Oak Ridge police and fire departments have teamed up with the Oak Ridge Schools’ Preschool and East Tennessee Children’s Hospital to have a quarterly child seat safety checkpoint. By mid-morning Thursday, they had replaced seven expired or damaged seats.

The Oak Ridge police and fire departments have teamed up with the Oak Ridge Schools’ Preschool and East Tennessee Children’s Hospital to have a quarterly child seat safety checkpoint.

By mid-morning Thursday, the team had replaced seven expired or damaged seats.

The free safety checkpoint continued until 12:30 p.m. Friday on New York Avenue across from the preschool. Car seats were checked and installed by certified technicians.

On Friday night, Oak Ridge Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Josh Waldo said the team had checked 72 car seats and removed 31 unsafe seats.

“Great to know that we have made 31 kids that much safer over the past two days,” Waldo said. [Read more…]

Y-12 labs: Teachers watch frozen bananas snap, use bike to power light bulbs

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Teachers at Y-12 Labs

Daryl Smith, a Y-12 National Security Complex scientist, shows East Tennessee teachers that a balloon will shrink when dipped in liquid nitrogen during a “show and tell” laboratory on Friday.

In one room, bananas became brittle and snapped in clean lines after being dipped in super-cold liquid nitrogen.

In another room, teachers pedaling on a stationary bicycle with a generator attached learned it takes much more energy to power an incandescent light than compact fluorescent or LED bulbs.

The teachers were at the Y-12 National Security Complex on Friday for “show and tell” laboratories, learning experiments from Y-12 engineers and scientists that they could take back to their classrooms. It was part of the Innovation Valley’s Educators in the Workplace Lunch and Learn summer program. [Read more…]

Baughn criticizes school officials, school supporters fire back

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Oak Ridge Schools Press Conference Crowd

Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn, third from right, and Oak Ridge High School Acting Principal David Bryant, left, and Superintendent Bruce Borchers, second from left, attend a Monday afternoon press conference at the high school where education officials rebutted Baughn’s allegations that there is a “culture of terror” in the schools, drugs are rampant, and students are at risk of being assaulted.

Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn fired the first shot, writing a letter critical of education officials and alleging that the city’s schools have a “culture of terror,” drugs are rampant, and students are at risk of being assaulted.

On Monday, school supporters and students fired back in a barrage that started with an afternoon press conference at Oak Ridge High School and ended at a City Council meeting.

During the Council meeting, Chuck Agle, who serves on the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission and is the husband of school board member Angi Agle, asked council members to express their disapproval by censuring Baughn. To imply that Oak Ridge Schools widely tolerate wrongdoing is wrong, Agle said. [Read more…]

Police chief declines to comment on use of his memo in Baughn’s letter

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James T. Akagi

James T. Akagi

A memo he wrote in May was used by an Oak Ridge City Council member who wrote a controversial letter that has sparked a heated, week-long debate about drugs and violence in the city’s schools.

But Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi declined to elaborate on the memo on Monday—or discuss how it was used in the letter published last week by Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn. Her letter, which also relied on conversations with current and former school staff members and parents of students, alleged drugs are rampant in many schools, children are at risk of being assaulted, and a “culture of terror” has saturated the system.

Asked for his views on the letter, which was sent to new superintendent Bruce Borchers, Akagi said he couldn’t comment. [Read more…]

Debate erupts over drugs, violence in Oak Ridge schools

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Oak Ridge Schools Press Conference

Keys Fillauer, Oak Ridge Board of Education chair, left, and Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan reject allegations by City Council member Trina Baughn that, among other things, there is a “culture of terror” in Oak Ridge Schools and students are at risk.

The fiery debate erupted last week, with one Oak Ridge City Council member alleging drugs are rampant in many schools, students are at risk of being assaulted, and a culture of terror has saturated the school system.

It continued this week, with two school officials and the city’s mayor holding a press conference at the Oak Ridge High School to rebut the allegations. They were joined by a throng of several dozen administrators, officials, and teachers.

Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn sparked the debate last week in a letter to new school superintendent Bruce Borchers, who started June 18. Baughn told Borchers that countless parents, school staff, and students have shared stories with her that paint a picture of an “inner-city school system run amuck.”

“I’ve heard so many stories of assaults occurring at the middle schools and high school that I am heartbroken,” Baughn said.

But a half-dozen other local officials—including City Council members, school board members, and teachers—said they haven’t heard many complaints, if any, from parents regarding drugs and assaults in Oak Ridge Schools. They called some of Baughn’s claims inaccurate, exaggerated, or untrue. [Read more…]

City, education officials to respond today to Baughn letter on schools

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Oak Ridge municipal and school officials will have a 2 p.m. press conference today to respond to a recent letter written by Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn to new superintendent Bruce Borchers.

The press conference will include Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan and Oak Ridge School Board Chairman Keys Fillauer. It will be held in the lobby of Oak Ridge High School at 1450 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Willow Brook Elementary starts school year July 15

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Willow Brook Elementary

Willow Brook Elementary School

Willow Brook Elementary will begin its 2013‐14 school year on Monday, July 15. School hours on Monday, July 15, through Wednesday, July 17 will be from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The regular school schedule will begin on Thursday, July 18 for all students, a press release said.

Food and transportation services will begin on Monday, July 15. Bus stops and routes are set according to enrollment as of July 4, 2013. New students needing bus service must complete the Request for Transportation Service paperwork at the time of enrollment. Changes to bus routes and stops will not be made until after the start of school. [Read more…]