Oak Ridge Today

Two more police officers, sergeant stationed at ORHS, Alternative School

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Oak Ridge High School

Three more Oak Ridge Police Department officers are stationed at Oak Ridge High School and Alternative School this year. The ORPD now has a school resource officer, a sergeant, and two non-patrol officers at the two schools.

Three more Oak Ridge Police Department officers are stationed at Oak Ridge High School and Alternative School this year. However, they are not school resource officers, or SROs.

For the past few years, the ORPD has had an SRO who works mostly at the high school. This year, though, a sergeant and two non-patrol officers are also stationed there and at the Alternative School next door, ORPD Chief Jim Akagi said Monday.

School officials had requested more SROs this year, following the December massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., but funding has been an obstacle. While the new arrangement doesn’t add SROs, it will increase the police presence and visibility, Akagi said.

[Read more…]

Oak Ridge students return to school, police enforce traffic safety; teachers, alumni welcomed

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Oak Ridge Superintendent Reception

Oak Ridge Schools had a reception last week for new Superintendent Bruce Borchers, center, and Assistant Superintendent Chris Marczak. Borchers started in Oak Ridge on June 18. Also pictured above are James Hundertmark, right, who became Robertsville Middle School principal on July 1, and Christopher Scott, vice principal of curriculum and instruction at Oak Ridge High School.

Most Oak Ridge students returned to school on Monday, and police officers started a back-to-school traffic safety campaign. It’s known as “Operation Safe Start” and will focus on drivers who illegally pass school buses, speed in school zones, don’t wear safety belts or fail to ensure that their children do—or commit other unsafe driving actions near the schools.

Students at Willow Brook Elementary School and the Oak Ridge Schools’ Preschool returned to school in July. Oak Ridge will use an alternative schedule during the first week of school. (See the Oak Ridge Schools’ website for more information.)

In Anderson County, students returned to school on Wednesday, Aug. 7.

The resumption of classes in Oak Ridge caps a week in which school officials welcomed back representatives of graduating classes from 1946 to 2013, held a reception for new Superintendent Bruce Borchers and Assistant Superintendent Chris Marczak, and together with the Oak Ridge Police Department, announced a new agreement governing school resource officers, or SROs. [Read more…]

ORHS cross country teams selling tickets for fundraising Aug. 17 pancake breakfast

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The Oak Ridge High School cross country teams are selling tickets for their main fundraiser, a pancake breakfast at Applebee’s on Saturday, Aug. 17, from 8-10 a.m. Tickets are $5, and you can purchase them from team members now.

Walk-ins are welcome, as well. This fundraiser helps defray transportation costs to meets in Louisville, Ky., and Cary, N.C., this season, a press release said.

Schools have to report illegal activity, turn over dangerous weapons or drugs, agreement says

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Bruce Borchers and Mark Watson

Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers, left, and City Manager Mark Watson during a Monday evening reception for Borchers, who started working in Oak Ridge in June.

School principals have to notify the Oak Ridge school resource officer, or SRO, of suspected illegal activity, and principals or school staff members who locate dangerous weapons or drugs have to turn them over to the SRO, according to a renewable one-year agreement signed Wednesday by municipal and education officials.

School staff members must also provide the SRO with the names of people who are not allowed on school property, and the staff is required to notify the officer when they expect problems from parents of students who have been disciplined.

Meanwhile, the Oak Ridge Police Department is required to tell the school board of criminal gangs and associated criminal gang activity. It wasn’t immediately clear if—or how much—any of those requirements differed from earlier procedures.  [Read more…]

ORHS Boys Basketball Boosters has fundraising golf tournament Aug. 17

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Oak Ridge and Karns Basketball

An Aug. 17 golf tournament at Centennial Golf Course in Oak Ridge will benefit the 2013-2014 boys basketball team at Oak Ridge High School. (File photo)

The Oak Ridge High School Boys Basketball Boosters invite you to participate in their 16th annual golf tournament, a press release said.

This year’s event—a four-man scramble format—will be held Aug. 17 at Centennial Golf Course in Oak Ridge. The tournament will begin at 8 a.m. with a shotgun start. Sponsored by BSN Sports, the tournament costs $75 per person. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge school bus routes announced

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Oak Ridge High School

Oak Ridge Schools have announced the bus routes for the 2013-2014 school year, including at Oak Ridge High School, pictured above.

Oak Ridge Schools have announced the 2013-2014 bus routes for Glenwood Elementary School, Jefferson Middle School, Linden Elementary School, Oak Ridge High School, Robertsville Middle School, and Woodland Elementary School.

The routes have been uploaded to Oak Ridge Today.

The links to the routes are below. The Oak Ridge Schools’ Preschool and Willow Brook Elementary School are on separate calendars. [Read more…]

Documentary film to feature ORHS band

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Keith McDaniel

Keith McDaniel

Submitted

Filming began this week on a documentary film that will feature the Oak Ridge High School Wildcat Band, ORHS Band Director Spence Milligan announced Monday.

The film, entitled “TRADITION: A Year in the Life of the Oak Ridge High School Wildcat Band,” is being produced by Oak Ridger and award-winning documentary filmmaker Keith McDaniel. [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…]

David Scott returns to coach ORHS girls basketball

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Oak Ridge High School athletic director Mike Mullins announced Friday that ORHS alumnus David Scott will return as the girls head basketball coach for the Lady Wildcats after a two-year hiatus. Scott replaces Karra Jackson, who posted a 29-29 record in her two seasons at the helm before leaving to become the head coach at Ryle High School in Union, Ky.

Scott, 49, was elevated to head coach at Oak Ridge after serving four years as an assistant under ORHS legend Jill Prudden, who compiled a 908-161 overall record, which included winning three state championships and six state runners-ups, a press release said. Prudden stepped down in 2010. [Read more…]

New soccer coach hired at Oak Ridge High School

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Jason Schmieg has been hired as girls head soccer coach at Oak Ridge High School, according to Athletic Director Mike Mullins.

Schmieg replaces Tom Gorman, who compiled a three-year record of 43-10-8, which includes a 2012 District Championship with the Lady Wildcats. Coach Gorman resigned in early June to become the fitness manager for the Rush in Oak Ridge.

Most recently, Schmieg served as head coach of a competitive travel soccer team and assistant boys and girls soccer coach at Millbrook High School in Raleigh, N.C. [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…]