School and Community Profile

School and Community Profile

Location
Jones Cove School is located in Sevier County near the Cocke County line. We are a rural, K-8 school almost centrally located between Gatlinburg, Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Newport. We are about 30 minutes from all surrounding cities. Because of our remote location, the vast majority of our students ride school buses provided by the county. Parents are not able to drop children off on their way to work since travel time does not correspond well to the beginning of our school day. Due to our remote location, we were granted a full time School Resource Officer whose presence has helped us feel less vulnerable. He has worked with us to improve our Crisis Management Plan and is available to patrol the school zone.

Enrollment/Attendance
Our school system requires 200 teacher days. Students are required to attend 180 days. Student attendance averages 93.5 percent in grades K-6 and 93.8 percent in grades 7 and 8. Both of these figures are slightly below the state average. Each classroom follows time on task requirements from the state. School begins at 7:45 a.m. and ends at 2:45 p.m.

Demographics
    Jones Cove is a full Title I Project school. The 2002 Report Card shows 182 students enrolled. We have identified 30 special education students. The federal free and reduced lunch program assists 86.2 percent of our students. Approximately 52 percent of our students reside in traditional homes with both biological parents. There are 22 percent who live with one biological parent and one stepparent, 20 percent live in single parent homes, and six percent live with grandparents or guardians. About 42 percent of our current student population did not have a pre-school experience, which means that many of our students entered Kindergarten academically deficient.
    Educational levels of parents/guardians range from college degrees to less than high school. About five percent have less than an eighth grade education. Nearly 13 percent have a GED diploma. Fifty-four percent have a high school diploma. At least 22 percent have attended two to three years of college.
    Our most recent survey done in the spring of 2002 shows that five percent of our parents are professionals, four percent are retired, three percent are students, and 21 percent do not work outside the home. The remaining 33 percent hold jobs in factories, in construction related jobs, or in the tourism industry. These results are based on the 127 surveys that were returned. These responses represent about 70 percent of our total population.

Staffing
Jones Cove School's staffing includes a full-time teacher and a half-time assistant for each grade level/classroom. This year we have two sixth grade classes and two seventh grade classes. Our half-time librarian also serves as a half-time computer teacher. The school counselor has a half-time position as well. Our advanced math teacher, music teacher, art teacher, physical education teacher, and speech therapist all have part-time positions, and our school nurse is on call as needed. The average teacher experience level is 14.5 years. Approximately 77 percent of our certified staff hold advanced degrees. We have seven males on the staff. Six are certified teachers including the School Resource Officer, and one is a custodian who is present throughout the day. We would like to see full-time counseling services available to our students, a full-time librarian, and a full-time computer teacher to coordinate activities with regular classroom teachers in a computer lab.

School Counseling Program
Our school counselor comes to our school two and one half days per week. She works with each class on a weekly basis. She is responsible for coordinating all service projects, organizing a student council each year, and holding classroom lessons once per six weeks. In addition, she works with individuals, small groups, and families. The main focus in the class lessons is the Character Counts program. Guidance lessons are supplemented with lessons taught by the teachers on a weekly basis. One of the school counselor's major roles is to prepare our eighth grade students for transition into high school. Much effort is put into the high school transition process that includes career searches with CareerScope, individual and group meetings with students, and a concluding parent conference prior to pre-registrations at the local high schools.

Speech Services
We have a total of fifteen speech students at Jones Cove School. Six of the students qualify for Special Education services based solely upon Speech/Language certification. Our speech pathologist serves students in grades K-8. Additionally she has one pre-school child who receives services on a weekly basis. Our speech services are provided for half a day each on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Other days, the speech pathologist serves three other schools. She provides comprehensive assessments of student needs and does screenings for Kindergarten and pre-Kindergarten students.

Special Education
There are currently 30 students who receive Special Education services including Speech Therapy. Special Education students are served through both the Inclusion Model and a pull out program. The fifth grade and the sixth grade have one hour each of Inclusion time. In addition, those students and those in other grades are served by pull out time specified in Individualized Educational Programs (IEP's). Two students have been assigned a full time assistant, one to help two students with physical disabilities and the other to help a student with a behavioral disability.

Music/Band
Our music teacher serves grades 1-8 on Tuesdays. The band teacher serves grades 5-8. The number of students who are learning an instrument through band instruction is increasing. The music teacher and our band teacher have been willing to work with us in producing an annual Christmas program. Students sing and play instruments for parent enjoyment. Attendance has steadily increased since the events began. We believe this parent interest has stimulated an improved parent school relationship.

Art
Our art teacher provides art instruction for grades 1-8. She serves our school on Thursdays. She is responsible for coordinating enrichment workshops for students through Arrowmont School in Gatlinburg, for identifying students for art scholarships at Arrowmont, and for organizing participation in community arts and crafts contests and exhibits. We have entered several competitions this year, have an art project on display at Arrowmont School, and may be able to have the project permanently displayed in a new bank that is being built.

Discipline
Teachers are responsible for the overall discipline of students. We follow an assertive discipline plan in which students are granted rewards and awards for appropriate behaviors as well as negative consequences for inappropriate behaviors. Repeated misbehaviors or severe misbehaviors are recorded on Character Counts forms. Students are involved in the discipline process because they are required complete information on the Character Counts form that describes behaviors and selected consequences. Students are to take the form home to have it signed by a parent and then return the form the following day. For the most part, Board of Education policy prescribes Alternative Learning Center placements, suspension and expulsion for certain behaviors. We have a zero tolerance policy for violence, drugs, and alcohol. A total of four students were placed at the ALC for short terms last school year. We had 27 students suspended and no expulsions according to our 2002 State Report Card.

School Climate
The school climate is positive and comfortable due to the caring teachers and support personnel. Every adult at Jones Cove School works to meet the students' academic, emotional, physical, and social needs. We provide snacks and meals for students who may have less than adequate food supplies at home. We refer parents to Sunset Gap Mission, the Sevier County Food Ministry, and Mountain Hope Good Shepherd Clinic for food, clothing, and medical needs. We tutor students who are struggling with studies and hold a weekly "brag session" to encourage students to have good behavior and study habits. In addition, we hold an Awards Day each six weeks to recognize honor roll, grade improvement, good citizenship, and perfect attendance. Students are encouraged to participate in the Duke Talent Search's TIP and MAP programs. We take seventh and eighth grade students on field trips to do research at large libraries like Walters State Community College and the University of Tennessee. The high school transition process is a joint effort with the school counselor, the eighth grade teacher, and the special education teacher working to provide individual and group meetings with students and a concluding parent conference. Christmas is a special time of year when staff works together to insure that our students get gifts. The music and band program during the Christmas season is a special event attended by the community. Our school newsletter, the Pioneer Press is our bi-weekly contact to keep parents informed of school-wide events and news. We make sure that school board members and county commissioners get copies of the newsletter each time it is printed. We help students to behave appropriately and responsibly with our Character Counts program. Our school's Crisis Management plan is updated on a regular basis. We provide counseling, hugs, and encouragement for students who may be dealing with difficult situations at school or at home. Students feel comfortable asking to speak with or spend time with teachers, the school counselor, the custodians, the teacher assistants, the cafeteria staff, the school nurse, and the resource officer.

Community Support
Jones Cove has been fortunate to receive support and help for special programs from various community groups, businesses, and individuals. We have an active Booster Club that sponsors second, third, fourth and fifth grade Junior League basketball in addition to other projects that are school or sports related. Various church sponsored activities are available to our students and to the community. Sunset Gap Mission provides clothing for many of our students. Christmas foods and gifts for our students and their families are supplemented through donations of staff members, community members, businesses like Governor's Palace, and local churches. Joshua Ministries sponsors the Junior Achievement Program for seventh and eighth grade students. Walmart supplies prizes and incentives for our Accelerated Reading Program. The Board of Realtors is working to get a network of mentors for our students and has agreed to purchase two Hooked on Phonics and one hooked on Math programs for our students to use in small groups. Blalock's Hardware donated supplies to build cubbies for the sixth grade classroom. Personalized Plantings donated plants for the outdoor classroom and nature trail that is under construction by staff, students, parents, and community members. The Sheriff's Department provides a School Resource Officer who has become an invaluable resource person for our teachers and a mentor to our at-risk students. In addition, the Sheriff's Department sponsors the D.A.R.E. program to help students in fourth, fifth, and sixth grades avoid drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and violence. The Sevier County Health Educator provided by Break the Cycle, Sevier presents an abstinence-based teen pregnancy prevention program for sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. Community groups and businesses sponsor the county science fair and spelling bee that our students participate in each year. Safe Space presents programs for sixth, seventh, and eighth grades that are designed to curb domestic violence. Sevier County Electric provides resources and programs about electricity. The Agricultural Extension Office provides a nutrition program for students through 4-H and provides resources for our Character Counts curriculum. Modern Woodmen of America sponsor a Creative Writing Contest and a Civic Oration Contest for fifth through eighth grade students. Modern Woodmen also provide a matching funds program for fund-raisers. Our most welcome addition to our community network last Christmas has been the establishment of the Jones Cove School Support Group. The group has been able to secure a core group of approximately 55 adults who have provided academic support with tutoring, financial support through several fundraisers, and building and grounds support with a building task force that reports to the Director of Schools and the Board of Education. The group has agreed to help improve our grounds with safe playground equipment and to work toward completion of the outdoor classroom and nature trail.

Facilities
    Jones Cove is a K-8 school. We do not have an in-house pre-school program, nor do we have a separate facility on our property. County pre-school programs do no have enough Jones Cove students to warrant creating a program at our school. Parents send their children to Harrisburg Head Start or to Sunset Gap if they want them to have pre-school experience. Our facility does include a gymnasium, a playground, a cafeteria and dining hall, a library, a science lab that has been converted to a regular classroom, and a computer lab that must share space with the music and art classes.
    Our building and grounds are clean and well maintained, as 75% of community and 80% of students agreed on the survey. The community has an interest in the upkeep as is evidenced in the playground committee's work to install and repair equipment. Glenda Bradley's family and other community members often visit our school to maintain her memory garden. We have a convenient location that is secured by a surveillance system. We currently have enough classroom space by combining art, muic, and computer class space to allow for smaller class size in seventh grade. Handicap access is adequate. We have city water and underground electricity. We recently installed dormer windows above the doors in the third and the fifth grade classrooms so that those rooms have some natural light. New tile floors were installed in five rooms last summer to cover old asbestos tile and to remove old carpet.
    Although our facility is clean and well maintained, there are several improvements that we would like to see. We would like to see the oldest restroom facilities remodeled, fans in all restrooms, and stall improvements in all the restrooms. We would like to install drop ceilings in the fifth grade and third grade rooms to reduce echoes. We would like to see a computer lab equipped with PC's instead of Apple II e computers. We would like to have additional lighting and video surveillance cameras outside the building. Our cafeteria staff would like to upgrade the stove, warmer, and the refrigeration system. We would like to expand library and storage space. Teachers would like a work area with restrooms for male and female faculty. We would like to have more "cubbie" space for students. We would like to have an extra classroom to be used for guidance classes, freeing up the teachers' classrooms for planning.