Knox Notes--12/1/25

Posted Date: 12/01/25 (05:00 PM)

JH Knox Notes

December 1, 2025

Construction site with a large rock in the foreground and a building in the background.

Welcome to Knox Notes!

Welcome to the first edition of Knox Notes--a newsletter designed to keep you up to date with the progress on all things JH Knox Intermediate. Thank you for being part of the JHKIS community!

Two people in safety vests and hard hats stand near a large rock and a truck.

Building Updates

If you've passed JH Knox recently, you can see that we are going to have a BEAUTIFUL building!! As of this week, we are ahead of schedule on construction and looking forward to our August 2026 opening!

Last week, I had the opportunity to travel to the Vulcan quarry and pick out our 7.3 ton spirit rock! I also got to see it placed on the JH Knox grounds. Many thanks to Vulcan Materials for donating our spirit rock! It was an exciting day and I can't wait to see it in use.

Planning and Curriculum Updates

While work is moving quickly on the building, work on the planning team is also in full motion!

I am working weekly with our school design partner, Transcend, to develop and expand the amazing Blueprint created by the community design team last school year. The JH Knox core planning team also meets weekly to move the vision into reality.

We are currently in the process of defining a framework for our student and adult Strong Start practices, which focus on fostering a sense of belonging and wellness for our students and staff at the beginning of each day.

Another important aspect of our JH Knox design is a focus on Passion and Career-Connected Learning. The planning team is working to define how this big idea will be integrated into our daily school practices.

Architectural rendering of JH Knox Intermediate school, showcasing the building's design.

Your Questions... Answered!

Thank you to those of you who completed the JH Knox Update Survey! Please see the answers below to some of the questions you submitted. More to come in future newsletters!

How will the 8th graders be welcomed to the school? Will that occur before school starts? Ideally I think it should begin before this current school year ends (engaging with them while they are still at North Rowan Middle School). Will there be tours of the new Knox for the transitioning students, either this Spring, or over the summer?

We are planning days before the opening of the school to orient all students to their new school!
I spent Wednesday, November 19 at NRMS, meeting students and living the middle school life! I look forward to several planned return visits where I can engage with the future Knox students through focus groups. I am also working on planning visits to the other feeder elementary schools.

If the student is going to be in the 8th grade, will they have the option to remain at the school they currently attend and the bus still pick them up so they don’t have to transfer to a new school for just one year.

Students who are currently enrolled in other middle schools who would traditionally attend Knox do have a choice to stay at their current school if they can provide their own transportation.

How's everything going to be set up? Are there to separate building or all the kids gone be in one building together? Is there a separation between big kids and little kids? Will they share the same hallways at the same time?

The details of this are still to be finalized. Here's what I can share: PreK-2 will be housed at Overton. 3rd and 4th grade will have their homeroom classes on the lower level. 5th and 6th grades will share one of the upstairs hallways. 7th and 8th grade will share the other upstairs hallway.
Movement patterns and schedules are still being worked on. Due to the placement of enhancement/exploratory classes, there may be times when upper grade students walk through the halls or cross path with other students.
Supervision will be planned to ensure the safety of all our students when moving throughout the building.

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