Author: CCS

Bear Bucks:
Students who are caught being a great BEAR will rewarded with Bear Bucks. Each staff member at Short Mountain will have Bear Bucks to award students who are seen following our BEAR rules and being a good citizen. These Bear Bucks can be used to trade for merchandise, admission to a ballgame, and many other things. Our goal is to recognize those students who help make our school the safe, caring environment we all want it to be.
Compliment Chain:
An entire class may receive a compliment from any staff member except the teacher of that particular class. This compliment can be for any good deed done as an entire class. A compliment “link” is filled out and attached to the compliment “chain”. The class with the longest chain at the end of the six weeks wins a prize.
School Recognition:
Our school won the County Attendance Award for the years 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2007. We were recognized by the State Department of Education in 2005 for being in the top 10% of Title I schools in the state. We received a commendation from our local School Board for our outstanding achievements in Jr. Beta.

Faculty Recognition:
Our eighth-grade teacher, Mrs. Anita Arnold, was invited by Congressman Bart Gordon to be his guest at a teachers’ workshop and NASA tour and to watch the launch of the shuttle Discovery on May 31. A group of sixteen teachers from several Middle Tennessee counties were given VIP treatment at the NASA facilities. The teachers learned many new and interesting facts. Mrs. Anita shared her experiences with her class.
Mrs. Anita Arnold and Mrs. Ann Bartholomew, along with other teachers from Cannon County, had the privilege of being invited to a 4-day Foxfire workshop at Black Mountain Georgia. This group studied John Dewey’s educational fundamentals and also took part in a discussion of ways to implement Foxfire’s principles in their classrooms and with each other.
In August, fourth-grade teacher Brad Underwood attended the item review for the new social studies achievement test. He spent three days in Nashville with a group of teachers from different parts of Tennessee, reviewing items to make sure the test items matched the social studies standards.
Our sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Ann Bartholomew, took a professional development tour of the Iditarod Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska. She learned many things and shared her knowledge with her students. One of the Veterinarians for the race, Dr. Gayle Tate, visited her class and told of his experiences from the race.
Student Recognition:
Many of our students are recognized through the Beta Club. The Beta Club is an academic club for grades 6-8. To be in the Beta Club, students must have an average of 90 with no C’s. Their conduct is also a major factor. We have had 2 students who have won state and national titles in the Beta Club. Jiles Tenpenny won the title of State and National Chaplain in 2003, and his brother Jeran Tenpenny won the title of State and National Chaplain in 2007. We also had three students, Molly Arnold, Derrika Simmons, and Jeran Tenpenny, win second place in the battle of the books. In 2008, 4 students – Tyler Parsley, Tylee Nistad, Stephanie Blair, and Sean Stone – won the State Title in the Battle of the Books. Holly Lawson won second place in the embroidery competition. Our students have won numerous awards through the 4-H. For example, one or more of our classes won the 4-H Clover Bowl 4 times during years 2005-2007. Tristan Cunningham was invited to attend the National Jr. Young Leaders’ Conference in Washington, D.C., in the Spring of 2008.
We recognize our students through the ABC Club and by Bear Bucks. We have plaques displayed on our walls to recognize the achievement of students.

Cannon County Schools
Short Mountain
School
2008-2009
Principal:
Mr. Robert Pitts

Visit us on-line @
WWW.ccstn.net
Short Mountain School
5988 Short Mountain Road
Woodbury, Tennessee 37190
Phone: 615-563-4418
Fax: 615-563-4596
“Creating a caring environment where every student can develop academic excellence”

Short Mountain School
Short Mountain School was established in 1955. It was a consolidation of 6 community schools: Crossroads, Mechanicsville, Mt. Ararat, Mud College, Wood, and Blanton. It is located in a rural area in the northwestern corner of Cannon County in Middle Tennessee. It closely borders DeKalb and Warren Counties. It is 12 miles from Woodbury and 12 miles from Smithville on Highway 146. The school originally had only 5 class-rooms. Since then 5 more have been added, as well as 3 portables. An addition was added to the gym in 1970, and the classrooms were added in 1979 and 2001.
Short Mountain is a pk-8 school with a population of 172 students. Our student demographics include Caucasian, 95.45%; Asian, 0.65%; Hispanic, 3.9%. Fifty-six percent of the students are female; forty-four per cent, male. Fifty-six per cent of our students qualify for free/reduced price meals.
The faculty includes 11 full-time teachers and 3 part-time teachers in art, p.e. and Title I. Other staff members include 1 secretary/bookkeeper, 2 cafeteria workers, 1 custodian, 4 aides, and 1 library assistant. The Title I teacher serves as the Literacy Coach and provides reading intervention. Seven of these teachers hold advanced degrees, and one is currently working on an advanced degree. All teachers are highly qualified. Years of experience range from five years to forty-two years.

Painting by Helen Minton

Academic Programs:
Balanced Literacy:
Students in grades k-5 participate in a Balanced Literacy Program. The goal of this program is to help all students at Short Mountain become successful readers. A half-time literacy leader works collaboratively with teachers to provide reading intervention to students who are identified by DIBELS. DIBELS is a screening assessment given to all students in grades k-5. We offer three reading intervention programs:
Triumphs is a reading intervention program that directly reinforces skills being taught in the regular class-room. Students in this program receive an additional 30 minutes of reading instruction daily.
Spire is a reading intervention program for students needing an additional 60 minutes of reading instruction daily. Phonemic awareness and phonics skills are targeted in this program.
Academy of Reading is a computer based reading intervention program. All reading intervention programs incorporate the five essential components of any reading program, which include phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.
SMART (Stimulating Maturity through Accelerated Readiness Training) is offered to our kindergarten students for 30 minutes each morning. The program consists of physical activities that promote brain stem development. Activities include walking the over-head ladder, the pencil roll, the creep track, the balance beam, tunnel crawl, the stretch pad, and the crosswalk.
Princeton Review Testing:
During the school year, grades 2-8 will take part in the Princeton Review Testing. All students in these grades will be taking three internet-based benchmark tests in reading/language arts, and math. Data collected will be analyzed to determine strengths and weaknesses.

Non-academic Programs:
School-Wide Positive Behavior Program:
In 2004, Short Mountain began a limited School-Wide Positive Behavior Support, and in 2008, it was expanded into a full program. SWPBS is nationally recognized, research-based, and designed to enhance the capacity of schools to educate all children by developing school-wide, non-classroom, classroom, and individual student discipline systems. SWPBS requires schools to define, teach, and reinforce school rules to create a positive school environment.
Our school has had 4 teachers trained by The Partnership for Ed Excellence at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in the many facets of SWPBS. Cannon County is proud to be one of only 7 districts in Tennessee to implement SWPBS district-wide. Our school committee is made up of Robert Pitts, Stacie Francis, Ann Bartholomew, Tonya Hale, Martha Jennings, Wilma Arbaugh, and Lori McIntosh.
SWPBS focuses on prevention and teaching expectations in order to provide a predictable, safe, positive and consistent environment. Our rules are taken from our Mascot the BEARS. B-be there, be ready; E-encourage; A-always keep hands and feet
to self; R-responsibility is my job; S-show respect. We have dedicated significant attention to systematically teaching its students the expected behaviors.
With SWPBS, students are able to earn Bear Bucks for various positive behaviors. Bear Bucks will be given to students when they are seen following one of the school rules, thus allowing the teachers and staff to focus attention on appropriate behavior by students. Students who have earned Bear Bucks will have the privilege to attend the reward parties planned throughout the year and can “cash in” their Bear Bucks for various prizes. For example, Bear Bucks will allow them to wear their favorite hat or pajamas on a certain day or allow them to purchase ice cream after lunch.