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Thirty-six COVID cases reported among students, school staff since Wednesday

Posted at 8:13 pm November 16, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A graph shows the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools reported by school week since Wednesday, July 29, 2020, and continuing through Tuesday, Nov. 10. Students were on fall break for parts of weeks nine and 11, and for all of week 10. Note: Week 16 started Wednesday, Nov. 11, so it’s a partial week. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

Thirty-six cases of COVID-19 have been reported among students and staff members in Oak Ridge Schools since Wednesday.

It’s a drastic increase in the number of cases reported among students and staff and triple the previous weekly high of 12. The highest number of cases in one day, 11, was reported Friday.

Fourteen of the COVID-19 cases since Wednesday have been reported at Robertsville Middle School (13 students and one staff member). Nine cases have been reported at Oak Ridge High School (all students), and seven have been reported at Jefferson Middle School (also all students).

During a longer period, the past 12 days, 47 cases have been reported in Oak Ridge Schools. During that time period, the highest numbers of cases have been reported at the two middle schools: 16 at RMS and 12 at JMS. The third-highest number of cases, 11, was reported at ORHS.

The increase in cases among middle school students, in particular, occurred after they returned to class five days per week on Monday, November 2. The most significant surge also started after Halloween. But it’s not clear if the events are connected. Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers has said about 80 percent of confirmed COVID-19 cases have been exposed to the virus outside of school, according to information provided by parents.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: COVID-19, Education, Front Page News, Health, K-12, Top Stories Tagged With: COVID-19, Jefferson Middle School, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge Schools, Robertsville Middle School

Oak Ridge Schools reports 11 COVID cases in one day

Posted at 5:47 pm November 13, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A graph shows the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools reported by school week since Wednesday, July 29, 2020. Students were on fall break for parts of weeks nine and 11, and for all of week 10. Note: Week 16 started Wednesday, Nov. 11, so it’s a partial week. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge Schools reported 11 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, a record high.

That’s almost as many cases reported in one day as has been reported in each of the previous two weeks. Twelve cases were reported in each of the last two weeks.

Twenty-three new cases have been reported since Wednesday, according to an Oak Ridge Today tally.

With the new cases, the school system has reported 56 cases of COVID-19 since October 21. The surge started after fall break, although it’s not clear if the two events are connected.

The new cases reported Friday included four students at Oak Ridge High School, three students at Jefferson Middle School, three students at Robertsville Middle School, and a staff member at Woodland Elementary School.

Recently, the most cases, 11, have been reported among Jefferson Middle School students. Those 11 cases were reported in nine days, since Thursday, November 5.

In that same time, the second-highest number of cases, nine, were reported among Robertsville Middle School students.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: COVID-19, Education, Front Page News, Health, Health, K-12, Slider Tagged With: Bruce Borchers, COVID-19, COVID-19 cases, Glenwood Elementary School, Jefferson Middle School, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge Schools, Robertsville Middle School, Woodland Elementary School

COVID surge continues among students

Posted at 8:15 pm November 10, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A graph shows the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools reported by school week since Wednesday, July 29, 2020, and continuing through Tuesday, Nov. 10. Students were on fall break for parts of weeks nine and 11, and for all of week 10. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

The COVID-19 surge that started among students and staff members at Oak Ridge Schools three weeks ago continued in the school week that ended Tuesday, with the highest number of recent cases reported among Jefferson Middle School students.

There have been five COVID-19 cases reported among Jefferson Middle School students since Thursday. That’s close to half of the cases reported in Oak Ridge Schools in the past week.

There have been two student cases reported at Robertsville Middle School since Thursday and one student and one staff member case reported at Oak Ridge High School.

A total of 12 cases were reported among students and staff members in Oak Ridge Schools in the school week between last Wednesday and this Tuesday. That matched the total of 12 cases in the previous week. There were nine cases the week before. That’s a total of 33 cases in the past three weeks, or 11 per week on average.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: COVID-19, Education, Front Page News, Health, Health, K-12, Slider Tagged With: Bruce Borchers, COVID-19, COVID-19 cases, Glenwood Elementary School, Jefferson Middle School, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge Schools, Robertsville Middle School

Ten COVID cases reported among students since Friday

Posted at 11:54 pm October 28, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A graph shows the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools reported by school week since Wednesday, July 29, 2020. We have defined weeks as Wednesday-Tuesday. Students were on fall break for parts of weeks nine and 11, and for all of week 10. Note: Week 14 started Wednesday, Oct. 28, so it’s a partial week. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 10 a.m. Oct. 29.

Ten COVID-19 cases have been reported among students in Oak Ridge Schools since Friday. That’s the highest number of cases reported in any seven-day period so far this school year.

The 10 new student cases were reported between Friday and Wednesday. Six of the cases were reported among students at Oak Ridge High School. It’s not clear yet if the surge is an anomaly or part of a trend.

There are currently 46 students and five staff members who are not allowed to attend school because they have been in close contact with someone at school who has been confirmed to have COVID-19, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said in response to questions Wednesday.

The surge in new cases has occurred as middle schools prepare to return to classes five days per week starting Monday.

Borchers has said about 80 percent of COVID-19 cases in the schools were due to activities outside of school. On Wednesday, he said 85.2 percent of the student cases in Oak Ridge Schools have been confirmed to be non-school related.

Borchers said the schools are not aware of any cases in which students or staff members have developed COVID-19 because they were in close contact with a person at school who was confirmed to be COVID-positive.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: COVID-19, Education, Education, Front Page News, Health, K-12, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: Bruce Borchers, COVID-19, Glenwood Elementary School, Jefferson Middle School, Linden Elementary School, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge Schools, preschool, Robertsville Middle School, Secret City Academy, Willow Brook Elementary School, Woodland Elementary School

Updated: Twenty-eight COVID-19 cases reported among students, schools staff

Posted at 2:11 pm October 26, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Twenty-seven cases of COVID-19 have been reported among Oak Ridge Schools student and staff members, according to data posted by the school system. Note: One new case affecting an ORHS student was reported Monday afternoon, Oct. 26, 2020, bringing the total to 28. (Chart by Oak Ridge Schools)

Note: This story was updated with a new case at ORHS at 5:15 p.m.

Twenty-eight cases of COVID-19 have been reported among students and staff members in Oak Ridge Schools this school year, and six of those are current cases, according to data published by the school system.

The majority of the cases, 23 of the 28, have been among students. The most cases have been reported at Oak Ridge High School, with nine student cases and two staff cases, or 11 total.

Jefferson Middle School has had the second-highest total of cases, with five student cases and two staff cases, or seven total.

No cases have been reported at Linden Elementary School, Secret City Academy, and Willow Brook Elementary School.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: COVID-19, Education, Front Page News, Health, Health, K-12, Slider Tagged With: Bruce Borchers, COVID-19, Jefferson Middle School, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge Schools

COVID cases reported at Woodland, Jefferson

Posted at 11:50 am August 14, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

COVID-19 cases have been reported at Woodland Elementary School and Jefferson Middle School, school officials said this week.

The COVID-19 case at Woodland Elementary School was reported Thursday morning, and the case at Jefferson Middle School was reported Friday morning.

They are the seventh and eighth overall COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools and the sixth and seventh since July 15.

Oak Ridge Schools learned Thursday that a person at Woodland Elementary School had tested positive for COVID-19, Superintendent Bruce Borchers said in a letter to families on Thursday. The person has not been at Woodland since Friday, July 31, because he or she quarantined after a possible non-school exposure, Borchers said.

The potential exposure to students or staff was “extremely low,” the superintendent said.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: COVID-19, Education, Front Page News, Health, K-12, Top Stories Tagged With: Bruce Borchers, COVID-19, Jefferson Middle School, Oak Ridge Schools, Woodland Elementary School

Oak Ridge Schools staff member tests positive for COVID-19

Posted at 4:37 pm July 29, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge High School
The main entrance at Oak Ridge High School is pictured above.

Note: This story was updated at 5 p.m.

An Oak Ridge Schools staff member who has been at Jefferson Middle School and Oak Ridge High School has tested positive for COVID-19, the school system said Wednesday.

It’s the fifth overall COVID-19 case in Oak Ridge Schools and the fourth in the past two weeks, since July 15.

The schools learned of the positive test result for the staff member on Wednesday. The staff member, who has not been publicly identified, had been at JMS and ORHS last Friday.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: COVID-19, Education, Front Page News, Health, K-12, Top Stories Tagged With: Bruce Borchers, COVID-19, Jefferson Middle School, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge Schools

Oak Ridge Schools announce third COVID-19 case

Posted at 4:25 pm July 28, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Schools on Tuesday announced a third COVID-19 case as schools prepare to resume this week.

A staff member at Jefferson Middle School has tested positive for the new disease, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said in a letter to families and staff members.

The staff member, who will not be publicly identified, took a precautionary test, immediately started a voluntary quarantine, and learned of the positive test result Tuesday morning, Borchers said.

The superintendent’s letter did not say whether the staff member has had symptoms of COVID-19.

It’s the third COVID-19 case at Oak Ridge Schools in the past two weeks. The other two cases were of an instructor and student at Oak Ridge High School band camp.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: COVID-19, Education, Front Page News, Health, K-12, Top Stories Tagged With: band camp, Bruce Borchers, COVID-19, Jefferson Middle School, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge Schools

Education Foundation to award grants April 24

Posted at 1:17 pm April 18, 2019
By Jessica Steed Leave a Comment

Woodland Elementary School teacher Megan Sauer is pictured above with one of her students demonstrating her 2018 grant “Communication for All.” (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation)

The Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation will award more than $99,000 in grants to Oak Ridge teachers at a ceremony on Wednesday, April 24.

Oak Ridge High School’s retired math teacher and former department head Benita Albert will be the featured speaker at the event, sharing her talk titled “We’ve Come a Long Way Teachers.”

The ceremony is open to the public, and it will be held in the Pollard Auditorium at ORAU beginning at 2:30 p.m. Demonstrations and displays of some of the projects and technology funded by the Foundation will be given in the lobby after the formal ceremony. Light refreshments will be provided courtesy of Oak Ridge Utility District, a press release said.

The 2019 grant recipients are as follows: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Front Page News, K-12 Tagged With: Amy Jeske, Becky Mullins, Benita Albert, Camille Millsaps, Carol Lawson, Dan Schwartz, Emily Haverkamp, Gigi Naeve, Glenwood Elementary School, grants, Jackie Cohn, James Mitchell, Janie Shanafield, Jefferson Middle School, Jessica Steed, John Beard, Katelynn Olvey, Lauren Hawkins, Linden Elementary School, Lisa Buckner, Logan Burke, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge Preschool, Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation, Oak Ridge teachers, ORPSEF, Randy Doss, Robertsville Middle School, Ryan Nicholls, Spence Milligan, Theresa Davis, Willow Brook Elementary School, Woodland Elementary School

Oak Ridge Schools names Phil Cox principal of the year

Posted at 8:05 pm March 8, 2019
By Holly Cross Leave a Comment

Phil Cox

Phil Cox

 

Phil Cox, principal of Jefferson Middle School, has been named principal of the year, Oak Ridge Schools said.

Cox began his career in education in 1986 as a graduate coach at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Later in 1986, and for the next five years, he served as head basketball coach and coordinator of athletic funds at Lincoln Memorial University, a press release said.

After leaving LMU, Cox taught a year at the Anderson County Alternative Learning Center. In 1992, he began his teaching/coaching career at Norris Middle School and, in 2003, was named assistant principal and athletic director. In 2005, he was selected principal at Lake City Elementary. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Front Page News, K-12, Top Stories Tagged With: Jefferson Middle School, Oak Ridge Schools, Phil Cox, principal of the year

Three ORHS students qualify for state chess championship

Posted at 11:42 am February 6, 2019
By Gilbert Chan Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge High School freshman Henri Scott was one of three state championship qualifiers from the high school for the state chess championship at Tennessee Tech on Feb. 16, 2019. (Submitted photo)

Oak Ridge High School freshman Henri Scott is one of three state championship qualifiers from the high school for the state chess championship at Tennessee Tech on Feb. 16, 2019. (Submitted photo)

 

Note: This story was updated at 6:05 p.m.

Three Oak Ridge High School students have qualified for the state chess championship on February 16 at Tennessee Tech University.

The three ORHS students took home trophies and qualified for the state championship during the Region 1 scholastic at Oak Ridge High School on Saturday, January 26, a press release said. More than 109 students from across East Tennessee attended that event.

ORHS juniors Justin Blanchard and Bear Moran took third and seventh, respectively, in the high school division, the press release said. Freshman Henri Scott also qualified for the K-9 championship by taking sixth in that division. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Education, Front Page News, K-12, Slider Tagged With: Bear Moran, Benjamin Bell, Brandon Bonamarte, chess, chess school, Daisy Kercher, Domenic Grove, Gabriel Hadid-McCallum, Graham Thompson, Henri Scott, Isabella Hickey, Jefferson Middle School, Jonas Tilson, Justin Blanchard, Kevin Lozada-Gonzales, Leo Ehlers, Linden Elementary School, Oak Ridge High School, ORHS, Region 1 scholastic, Renji Hua, Robertsville Middle School, Simon Weston, St. Mary’s School, state chess championship, Tennessee Chess Association, William Hetrick, William McNab, Willow Brook Elementary School, Woodland Elementary School, Yasmin Miller

Oak Ridge Schools names nine teachers of the year

Posted at 10:19 am February 6, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Teachers of the Year in 2019 at Oak Ridge Schools are pictured above. (Image by Oak Ridge Schools)

Teachers of the Year in 2019 at Oak Ridge Schools are pictured above. (Image by Oak Ridge Schools)

 

Oak Ridge Schools has named its teachers of the year at its nine schools.

The teachers of the year are:

  • Preschool—Melissa McMurry
  • Glenwood Elementary School—Amanda Fitch
  • Linden Elementary School—Steffanie Smith Greer
  • Willow Brook Elementary School—Melanie Bloomer
  • Woodland Elementary School—Inger Scudder
  • Jefferson Middle School—Michael Murphy
  • Robertsville Middle School—Michael Mott
  • Oak Ridge High School—Kayla Gass
  • Secret City Academy—Tobran Tillman

The school winners were nominated by their principals and peers for this 2018-2019 application.

The district winner will be announced today (Wednesday, February 6). [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Front Page News, K-12, Top Stories Tagged With: Amanda Fitch, Glenwood Elementary School, Inger Scudder, Jefferson Middle School, Kayla Gass, Linden Elementary School, Melanie Bloomer, Melissa McMurry, Michael Mott, Michael Murphy, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge Schools, preschool, Robertsville Middle School, Secret City Academy, Steffanie Smith Greer, Teacher of the Year, Teachers of the Year, Tennessee Department of Education, Tennessee Teacher of the Year, Tobran Tillman, Willow Brook Elementary School, Woodland Elementary School

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Classifieds

Public Notice: Comment period extended for Draft EA for Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12

EXTENSION OF THE COMMENT PERIOD FOR THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING … [Read More...]

Public Notice: Draft Environmental Assessment Available for Lithium Production Facility at Y-12

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING FACILITY AT THE Y-12 … [Read More...]

Availability of the Final Environmental Assessment for the Oak Ridge Enhanced Technology and Training Center (ORETTC) (DOE/EA-2144), Finding of No Significant Impact, and Wetland Statement of Findings

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

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