Kindergarten teachers at Willow Brook Elementary School are hosting a Meet and Greet Ice Cream Social from 6-7 p.m. Tuesday, July 28.
All incoming Willow Brook Kindergarten students and their parents are invited to Willow Brook Elementary School to meet the kindergarten teachers, see their classrooms, sign up for one of four staggered opening days, and enjoy some ice cream, a press release said.
The microscope pictured above was in a combined class taught by art teacher Jim Dodson and science teacher John Beard at Jefferson Middle School. (Photos courtesy Mary Layton)
By Mary Layton
On Tuesday, December 16, I went on the inaugural Oak Ridge School’s Community Tour.
We met at the American Museum of Science and Energy bright and early at 8 am. We were divided into two groups. The Einstein Group was hosted by Tracey Beckendorf-Edou, and the Curie Group had as its leader Chris Marczak.
We began with a short history of Oak Ridge given by Ken Mayes. We were reminded of the important role our city played in World War II.
Bruce Borchers, superintendent of Oak Ridge Schools, welcomed us to the tour. He told us about the Keys to College and Career Readiness. These goals were developed by interviewing and surveying Oak Ridge students, parents, staff, and community in late 2013. The goal of the keys is to prepare students to go to college, obtain industry certification in a skill, or receive military preparation by graduation. Borchers told us that our tour would show us how they were working to obtain these goals. [Read more…]
Willow Brook Elementary School is pictured above in May 2012. (File photo)
Willow Brook Elementary will start its 2014â€15 school year on Thursday, July 17.
School hours on Thursday, July 17, and Friday, July 18 will be from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
The regular school schedule will begin on Monday, July 21, for students in grades 1â€4.
Kindergarten students will remain on an early dismissal schedule for Monday, July 21, and Tuesday, July 22. There will be no school for kindergarten students on Wednesday, July 23, but they will begin a regular school schedule on Thursday, July 24.
Food and transportation services will begin on Thursday, July 17.
Bus stops and routes are set according to enrollment as of July 4, 2014. New bus routes have been established due to an increase in the walk zone. Please review these routes when making transportation plans for your student(s) as bus transportation will not be available to students living within the 1.5-mile walk zone. [Read more…]
Christopher J. Marczak
The new “balanced” school calendar has twice been endorsed by a majority of Oak Ridge parents and school staff, and the school board on Monday is expected to consider whether to use the new calendar, which gives students about nine weeks of classroom instruction at a time, in the 2015-2016 school year.
The first vote was conducted through the Skylert callout system in February, and the second vote was in March. Parents and staff were asked whether they favor the traditional or balanced calendar.
The new calendar would apply to all schools, including Willow Brook and the PreSchool for the 2015-16 school year. The first vote callout took place Feb. 10.
The traditional calendar is the calendar that most of the Oak Ridge Schools have had for quite a while. Students come to school in the middle of August, have a one-week fall break, two weeks off for winter, a one-week spring break, dismissal at the beginning of June, and an 11- to 12-week summer. [Read more…]
By Dale Gedcke
The referenced documents were downloaded from the Oak Ridge City Council posting in advance of the (Feb. 24) work session. The numbers quoted below were calculated from the data supplied in the referenced report.
Accident Rates During 2013
Using the total crashes listed in the report, and the number of detected vehicles through the pertinent camera locations from both directions, the accident rates during 2013 were:
Christopher J. Marczak
By Chris Marczak
The second calendar voting for the Oak Ridge 2015-16 results have been counted.
Parents and staff members were called on March 13 and asked if they preferred a balanced calendar or a traditional calendar for all schools including Willow Brook and the PreSchool for the 2015-16 school year. The first vote callout took place Feb. 10.
The traditional calendar is the calendar that most of the Oak Ridge Schools have had for quite a while. Students come to school in the middle of August, have a one-week fall break, two weeks off for winter, a one-week spring break, dismissal at the beginning of June, and an 11- to 12-week summer.
The balanced calendar is a new calendar that Oak Ridge has never had before. It is called a balanced calendar due to the balance that it gives for instructional time in the classroom—about nine weeks at a time. Students typically arrive for school the first week in August, have a two-week fall break, two weeks off for winter, two weeks off for spring break, dismissal at the beginning of June, and a seven- to eight-week summer. The balanced calendar is not like the Willow Brook Elementary or PreSchool calendar where students start school in mid-July and have three-week breaks. [Read more…]
Christopher J. Marczak
By Chris Marczak
The voting results for the 2015-16 school calendar year in Oak Ridge have been counted.
Parents and staff members were called Monday, Feb. 10, and asked if they preferred a balanced calendar or a traditional calendar for all schools, including Willow Brook and the PreSchool, for the 2015-16 school year.
The traditional calendar is the calendar that most of the Oak Ridge Schools have had for quite a while. Students come to school in the middle of August, have a one-week fall break, two weeks off for winter, a one-week spring break, dismissal at the beginning of June, and an eleven- to twelve-week summer.
The balanced calendar is a new calendar that Oak Ridge has never had before. It is called a balanced calendar due to the balance that it gives for instructional time in the classroom—about nine weeks at a time. Students typically arrive for school the first week in August, have a two-week fall break, two weeks off for winter, two weeks off for spring break, dismissal at the beginning of June, and a seven- to eight-week summer. The balanced calendar is not like the Willow Brook Elementary or PreSchool calendar where students start school in mid-July and have three-week breaks. [Read more…]
