Early on Monday, February 6, the Oak Ridge Police Department was notified about some Internet chat room activity that raised its level of concern, authorities said.
After investigating the alleged activity, officers determined there was no threat, a City of Oak Ridge press release said. The Police Department coordinated with Oak Ridge Schools to relay this information. No alert was issued, and the schools did not change their procedure in any way. [Read more…]
The City of Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Schools, and Community Wellness and Safety Fair is scheduled for Wednesday, April 5, at the Oak Ridge Civic Center.
The fair is open to all Oak Ridge city employees, Oak Ridge Schools employees, retirees, and their families. The entire Oak Ridge community is also invited to participate.
The Oak Ridge Civic Center is located at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]
A conceptual site plan for a new preschool at Elm Grove Park on East Tennessee Avenue in east Oak Ridge. Officials said the plan would keep the park and the walking trail. (Image courtesy Studio Four Design/City of Oak Ridge)
Oak Ridge municipal and school officials could start selecting a site for the new preschool as early as this month. There are two options being considered: Elm Grove Park and Scarboro Community Center.
Financing for the project, which would include bonds, could be included in the budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
In the meantime, a petition drive has been started to oppose building the preschool at Elm Grove Park.
The park had previously been announced as the preferred site for the new preschool, which has been on the city’s wish list for many years. Elm Grove Park is a city-owned parcel in east Oak Ridge off East Tennessee Avenue. It’s the site of a former school, it’s relatively flat, and it has city-owned utilities. Also, there aren’t many obstacles that would affect construction, and site borings have already been done, city officials said last week. [Read more…]
These charts depict the increase in use of the Canvas learning management system, or LMS, since its adoption in 2015 in Oak Ridge Schools. Dips in usage occurred in June and July of 2016 when school was not in session. (Image by Oak Ridge Schools)
Submitted
During the past two years, the Oak Ridge school district has been making new strides in our Access Oak Ridge digital learning initiative by putting Lenovo Yoga laptop computers into the hands of every student in grades 5-10.
Our vision in this initiative is “to empower all Oak Ridge students with equitable access to digital learning opportunities, and to innovate, design, collaborate, and ultimately succeed in local and global communities of the future.” Within this vision, we believe that learning should be student-centered, with technology that enables exploration of content with greater depth and breadth.
Our aim is to continue to grow Access Oak Ridge to provide opportunities that lead to substantial benefits for both students and staff. Fostering innovative thinking expands the classroom beyond the school walls for our students.
Prior to embarking on the Access Oak Ridge initiative, dedicated information technology (IT) staff and instructional technology coaches had been preparing our students and teachers with digital tools and software for more than a decade. In 2014-15, our instructional technology coaches worked with a team of teachers to research and select a learning management system, or LMS, to securely house all of our online content for courses such as soft copies of textbooks, course readings, designated internet content links, software, and videos, as well as student and family progress monitoring (course grading). The LMS the teacher team selected is Canvas by Instructure. [Read more…]
An overall view of the proposed renovation of Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium. (File image from April 2015)
Oak Ridge has received a state grant of just under $500,000 that will be used primarily for synthetic turf at Blankenship Field. But it is also expected to help pay for track improvements, upgraded restrooms, fencing between the football field and track, and improvements to the Cedar Hill trailhead behind the visitors bleachers at Jack Armstrong Stadium, city officials said Thursday.
The Local Parks and Recreation Fund grant requires a 50 percent match. The match is supposed to be provided by the nonprofit Blankenship Field Revitalization Foundation, and it can be a mix of cash and in-kind contributions, although the precise percentage of each—cash versus in-kind contributions—isn’t clear yet. The foundation has been chaired by Tennessee Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate Randy McNally.
Officials expect to know more after four of them—City Manager Mark Watson, City Council member Rick Chinn, Recreation and Parks Director Jon Hetrick, and Allen Thacker of Oak Ridge Schools—attend mandatory grant training in Nashville in February.
After that, the Oak Ridge City Council could accept the grant, possibly as early as the February 13 meeting. [Read more…]
Bruce Borchers
Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers has been nominated by Anderson County Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention as a candidate for the 2017 Anderson County Ally of the Year Award.
Candidates were nominated by community members based on their passion for creating a healthier and more productive Anderson County. These candidates are united by one goal: to use their leadership, influence, and communication skills to raise funds to help prevent and reduce substance abuse in Anderson County, a press release said. Each dollar raised by the candidates will count as one vote. The person with the most votes will be named ASAP’s Anderson County Ally of the Year and be recognized at a luncheon on February 3. [Read more…]
Convertible laptops were provided to 9th-grade and 10th-grade students at Oak Ridge High School in October 2016 as part of Oak Ridge Schools’ digital initiative, which is known as Access Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)
Oak Ridge Schools is working on completing the second phase of a program that, among other things, provides convertible laptops to students. The program is known as Access Oak Ridge.
Phase Two brings the technology, which is also known as one-to-one technology, into all high school classrooms.
Due to funding, Oak Ridge Schools started the second phase by purchasing devices for two grade levels, ninth and tenth grades.
To complete Phase Two, about 750 additional machines are required at an estimated cost of $530,000. [Read more…]
Loren Hart, center, provided inspiration for the Children’s Museum’s new mascot, with her artwork of a bear in blue overalls. With her are her parents, Jennifer Lee and Len Hart, and her sister Matti. (Submitted photo)
The Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge has a new mascot.
The newest addition to the Children’s Museum was recently unveiled at its annual Holiday Gala. As supporters gathered to celebrate the holidays, Board President Tom Beehan, Executive Director Beth Shea, and Marketing Chair Gene Patterson introduced the crowd to Charlie the Curious Bear, the museum’s new mascot.
The image of the cuddly brown bear, with expressive eyes, wearing blue bib overalls and cap, was inspired by student Loren Hart, who took part in an art competition in the Oak Ridge Schools to create the museum’s new mascot. [Read more…]
Snow was falling in Oak Ridge at noon Friday, and more was expected through Saturday morning. Schools and government offices have announced closures and early dismissals, and sporting events have been canceled.
Oak Ridge Schools said it has staff closely monitoring the weather and the roads. If a decision is made to dismiss early, a notification will be posted on Twitter and through Skylert.
The Oak Ridge-Halls basketball games scheduled for Friday night at Wildcat Arena have been canceled and rescheduled for Monday, January 23. [Read more…]
Snow will move into the area later Friday evening and night (Jan. 6, 2017), and this map shows the current forecasted snowfall totals expected. Snowfall accumulations will be greatest along the Northern Plateau of East Tennessee and the Cumberland mountains of Southwest Virginia. With surface temperatures below freezing, snow will accumulate on untreated roads. This may result in in negative travel impacts to motorists. (Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown)
Note: This story was last updated at 11:15 a.m. Jan. 6.
A few inches of snow are possible in the Knoxville area from Thursday through Saturday, according to the National Weather Service in Morristown.
The potential snowfall ranges from 1.7 inches in Norris to 3.0 inches in Knoxville from Friday to Saturday morning, the NWS said.
The forecast calls for a possible 2.2 inches in Kingston, 1.6 inches in Wartburg, 3.7 inches in Maryville, and 5 inches in Gatlinburg.
A winter weather advisory was in effect from 7 p.m. Thursday to 7 a.m. Friday.
Then, a winter storm watch is in effect from 1 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association has unveiled a new guide to the historic sites of the “Secret City” of Oak Ridge. The Manhattan Project, Secret City Pocket Guide was prepared by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association in cooperation with the National Park Service and the Oak Ridge Schools.
The 44-page guide measures only 4 inches by 7 inches in size, so it easily fits in your pocket, a press release said. It tells the story of the Manhattan Project’s first major nuclear site, Oak Ridge—created less than a year after the Pearl Harbor attack. The guide is priced at $5.
The new guide is packed with historic photos, an introduction to the new national historical park, a driving map of Oak Ridge’s heritage sites, and fascinating factoids on the people who built one of the most amazing technical achievements in history, the press release said.
The guide’s author, Martin McBride, is a member of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association Board and a retired nuclear safety division director from the U.S. Department of Energy. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge Schools is pleased to announce that we have received our results from high school end of course assessment for the 2015-2016 school year. Only high school results have been released because testing was canceled for grades 3-8 last school year due to difficulties with the state’s assessment vendor.
We are delighted to report that Oak Ridge Schools excelled in high school achievement and growth as compared to the state. In fact, we outperformed the state in every subject area in every subgroup and in every single subscore.
Here are a few highlights: [Read more…]
