Brought to you by Mrs. DiFonso

November 18, 2022

This week's blog is brought to you by Mrs. DiFonso, our Assistant Principal.

We wanted to let you know that there was an injury on the playground today and an ambulance was called. In case your student comes home telling you about it, we want you to know that everyone is okay! We are very appreciative of our new nurse, Karina Sanchez, and the Princeton First Responders!

Project 351

This week at TPS we were excited to announce the Thomas Prince Project 351 Ambassador, Pemberley Mongeau! Every middle school across the state selects one eighth grader to represent their middle school in this impressive organization that promotes leadership and values such as kindness, compassion, humility and gratitude. As a Project 351 Ambassador, we all here at TPS feel that Pem demonstrates these values and the potential to be an amazing leader. We are confident she will do amazing things in her role! Congratulations Pem! Your TPS community is SO proud of you!

Putting the “P” back in PBIS

At this week’s staff meeting, the teachers met to discuss PBIS and how we plan to reimplement it here at TPS. You may be asking yourself, “What is PBIS?” PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Intervention System. While portions of PBIS have been a part of the daily routine here at TPS, our focus is to now bring back the Positive. A committee of teachers met and reorganized the TPS behavior matrix, using pillars of character and behavioral expectations that we expect to see in all areas of the school day (bus, cafeteria, hallway, bathroom, classroom, etc.). Our first focus this year is going to be classroom expectations and how students are demonstrating positive behaviors in the areas of the following pillars of character: trustworthy, respectful, responsible, caring, fair, good citizen. When a student demonstrates a positive behavior in one of these areas, they will receive a Tommy Ticket! Tommy Tickets are like TPS’ version of cash. Students can choose to save up their Tommy Tickets to participate in a school-wide activity, a whole class reward, or use them to purchase items or experiences in the “Prince Plaza”, our soon to be PBIS School Store. Your student will be coming home and hopefully telling you all about how we are celebrating the positives at school and how they are earning Tommy Tickets!

MIDDLE SCHOOL BOYS' BASKETBALL UPDATE

Great news! TPS will be able to have it's very own middle school boys' basketball team this year! Here's the catch...we need a coach! Are you intersted in coaching our middle school boys' basketball team!?! If so, please contact BethAnne DiFonso at bethanne_difonso@wrsd.net for details. We can't have a team with no coach!

SKI CLUB!

Princeton Parks & Recreation will again work with Wachusett Mountain to provide students grades three through eight the opportunity to sign up for Ski / Snowboard Club, discounted family ski passes at Wachusett Mountain, and ski lessons. This program will run for 6-weeks beginning January 4, 2023, on Wednesdays from 3:00 to 7:00!

Please understand that children are not directly supervised during this program. Parks and recreation can assist in getting students set up with passes and rentals in the first week or two. After that, there will be limited direct supervision. There will be adult chaperons on the mountain and in the lodge for assistance, not supervising or babysitting. Additionally, It is the PARENTS/GUARDIANS' responsibility to coordinate a meeting spot for you to meet your student and coordinate your transportation. If you are interested in chaperoning, the need will be based on enrollment size. Please email the Parks and Recreation Director if you are interested in this opportunity.

This great and affordable program provides options for students to be exposed to skiing and snowboarding. Please come with your student for the first two weeks to make sure you and they are comfortable with the process and being at the mountain.

Your family can purchase your student (grades 3 thru 8 and family members) a six-week pass, or seasons pass through this program. Please see attached flyer (in the electronic folder). To register, go to Wachusett.com/school groups and type in our code: PRNC. Please contact Princeton Parks and Recreation Director Jaime Greenland at recreation@town.princeton.ma.us with questions.

The WRSD recently received a number of iHealth COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Tests. These tests are being made available to TPS families for use over the upcoming holiday season. If you are interested in getting a kit, they will be available for pick up on Monday, November 22nd, from 3-6pm in the TPS lobby. It is important to note that the test kits we are distributing list the expiration date as June or July of 2022. The US Food and Drug Administration extended the expiration dates of these kits by 9 months so the kits you receive will still be viable.