Johnson City Schools will have an in-service day on Tuesday, March 1 that will serve as a professional development day for staff. Staff who are moving to new schools next year due to the grade reconfiguration will join new schools on this day. This will provide them the opportunity to get their first interactions with their new building staff.
The professional development day was designated as Johnson City Schools transitions Indian Trail and Liberty Bell to serve as two 6-8 middle schools starting with the 2022-2023 school year. This also means that 5th graders will remain at their elementary school.
“This is an important day for our district as we are another step closer to making the transition,” Johnson City Schools Supervisor of Instruction and Middle Schools Todd Barnett said. “While our principals have met with their new staff members previously, this will provide all of our schools with new grade levels the opportunity to get their 2022-2023 staff under one roof and begin to work toward our transition.”
The two-middle school transition has been a multiyear process with the most dedicated time reserved for staffing decisions and program equitability. District administrators gathered input and reviewed information in the fall and notified transitioning teachers in mid-January of their placement for the 2022-2023 school year.
“We wanted to evaluate as much information as possible during the process to allow our middle schools and our elementary schools to be prepared for a seamless and efficient transition,” Barnett said. “We look forward to everyone coming together at all of our schools for the first time on March 1 and we are confident our staff will be excited for this opportunity to begin work on the upcoming school year.”
The most significant staffing changes took place at Indian Trail Intermediate School and Liberty Bell Middle School as the district needed to place 5th-grade teachers and teachers in grades 6-8. While the shuffling of staff affects few, there will be at least two staff members who will return to their old stomping grounds.
Assistant principal Lucreita Stephens will return to Liberty Bell after spending the year at Indian Trail, while Chris Feathers will return to Indian Trail after a year at Liberty Bell. These staff members changed places so that the few students who will make the transition will have a familiar face in the hallways.
This is the second story in a bi-weekly series that focuses on the transition to two 6-8 middle schools. Upcoming stories will focus on staffing, transportation, program of study and athletics. For more information about the transition, visit www.jcschools.org/twomiddleschools. Any questions about the transition should be directed to Todd Barnett at BarnettM@jcschools.org.