TPS Principal's Page: December 2022

Friday, December 16, 2022

Let It Snow

It is officially winter and snow is on the ground! I'm a believer in you better find joy in snow or you'll have just as much snow but not as much joy. With that being said, the kids (all of them) seem to like to run around and play in it as much as possible. We are requiring snow gear to play in it (boots, snow pants, gloves) or are limiting students to the hard top for recess. It also seems like the right time to tell you we get out as frequently as possible. As a general rule, if the temperature with windchill is 20 or above, we go out. That being said, you may want to fight the good fight at home about making students bring a coat or wear pants. If that is a battle you chose not to fight, we completely understand (I am a parent too) and we will not enforce it here. Just know that they will still have to go outside with their class. Also, with the snow, comes cancellations and delays. The superintendent has shared that he plans on making decisions as early as possible to allow parents to plan accordingly. When we do have a delay, the cafeteria does not serve breakfast as they will already be starting to prepare lunch.

Last call for lost and found! Our new lost and found system has already resulted in more clothing-to-student reunifications than I would have expected. However, we still have a pretty full rack of items. The plan is to clear these during the winter break in preparation for what will likely be an onslaught of snow gear in the new year. I'd encourage you to ask your child to look through or swing by yourself before we donate everything.

I've had some conversations this week around CORIs and I wanted to address some misunderstandings. Anytime we have adults interacting or possibly interacting with students, I feel the responsibility to ensure that these are safe interactions. Volunteers are always required to be CORI checked, as are field trip monitors and obviously all staff. When we have school events during the day, it becomes a murky area. When it is a concert or a presentation where parents and students are clearly separated, it is less of a concern. However, if the event is more like a celebration of learning, a science fair-style event, or anything where there are too many adults to closely monitor while they intermingle with students, it is better to be safe than sorry and make sure everyone is safe to enter the school. My apologies for any inconvenience this additional step may cause, but I do count the safety of our students as my number 1 concern.

I'd like to thank the PTA and all the volunteers for their efforts around the Holiday Shop this week! It was a staggering success and demand clearly outweighed supply at points. The shop volunteers took several trips out to restock shelves. The PTA has offered to open the shop one last time on Monday afternoon for anyone who was absent the first time around.

A Note from Mrs. DiFonso

Digital Delivery - As the Team Chair here at TPS, I wanted to point out that the district shared some information with families earlier this week about the roll out of the PowerSchool Digital Delivery for Special Education paperwork. Please check out the flyer, as well as this informational slideshow to gain a better understanding of what the Digital Delivery will look like for documents such as evaluation consents and IEPs. As we roll out this process in the weeks ahead, I will be here to answer any questions/concerns and to help troubleshoot! We are all new to this together!

Electronic Folder

New: Middle School Basketball Schedule, Digital Document Signing

The Week Ahead:

Monday (12/19)

School Council

Tuesday (12/20)

Grade 6 field trip to Hanover theater

Wednesday (12/21)

3rd grade STEAM Boat building
4th grade PLTW Celebration of Learning

Thursday (12/22)

Festive Holiday Attire (Who can be the most festive!)
Monty Tech VIP

Friday (12/23)

No School - Winter Break

Friday, December 9, 2022

The PTA!

Our PTA is a hard-working group that has already been a tremendous support to us this year. We spent much of the fall talking about our Fun Run and Boosterthon. I wanted to let you know what those funds go towards. This week, the PTA announced its first round of mini-grant requests. They awarded about a dozen grants amounting to over $2,400. All of these grants went directly into the classrooms across the grade levels, supplementing materials and/or providing resources for science experiments. There were many smiling teacher faces in the building as these grants were announced. In the vein of grant discussions, the PTA has been awarded a $1,500 grant from the Princeton Cultural Council for our Library rejuvenation project! Their poinsettia sale was a great success with the added bonus of donations being made to brighten up our entryway. Thanks to all who donated! If you'd like to know more about what they are doing you can become a member and get their regular communication. The last newsletter can be found here.

And finally, you should be hearing about the Holiday Shop. Each class will take some time to go down and shop for gifts for whatever holiday they celebrate. Items are fairly inexpensive, ranging from $2 to $6, and the whole idea behind the shop is to give students an opportunity to think of others. If you have any financial difficulties that we can help with please don't hesitate to reach out. We would like to give every student the opportunity to purchase something if so desired.

As we enter cold/flu/stomach bug season, absences are creeping up again. We encourage you to keep your student home if they are sick. We are also encouraging staff to stay home and not spread illnesses. With this comes the need for substitutes. Have your days started becoming mundane, boring, or too quiet? Looking to pick and choose some days to add some fun and excitement to your schedule? Would you like to help support your local school with the gift of time? If you answered any of these questions with "maybe" we should talk! You do not need to be a certified educator or have the experience to be a substitute. We can work with you to match you to positions you feel comfortable with and can train you if you feel the need. Consider substituting at TPS. You can learn more and apply here, or reach out to me and I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

Electronic Folder

Look Ahead:

Monday (12/12)

PTA Holiday Shop
Library Meeting (6:00)

Tuesday (12/13)

PTA Holiday Shop
8th Grade Dance Committee Meeting

Thursday (12/15)

Monty Tech VIP

Friday (12/16)

Middle School Dance

Looking Way Ahead:

Wednesday (2/1)

TPS Band and String Concert

Friday, December 2, 2022

5 Day Week

If you have been in the building this week, you may have noticed our newest boutique in the main lobby. There are some nice brand names in there. This is actually our new lost and found display. The old box system was piling up and truthfully, was hard to manage for kids looking for lost items. This new display also shows the students that we value their belongings, hopefully instilling that value in them as well. The current lost and found will remain until we leave for the winter break before being donated to families in need. Please stop by before then if you know your child is missing something. I anticipate it filling back up pretty quickly once the snow comes.

A note from our Student Council:

Thank you to everyone who participated in Student Council's pajama drive! Because of the generosity of our community, we were able to donate 70 pairs of children's pajamas to LUK in Fitchburg. As part of this drive, Scholastic will match each pair of pajamas donated with the donation of a new book to a family in need. We deeply appreciate all of your help in making this initiative a success!

Specifically for 7th and 8th-grade parents: As we head into winter, we found ourselves with an opportunity to reflect. One of the things we hear from our students is that they don't get to see their peers often enough because of the groupings. We heard that and have "shuffled the deck" and will be moving kids around in Homeroom/Advisory. Hopefully, this change in venue is seen as a positive by the majority of our students. At least they should know we were listening.

Mrs. Finkler has asked me to share with you:

The deadline to order a keepsake with your children's art has been extended to December 5th. Support your child's art room with this awesome fundraiser that makes a great gift for anyone.

Shop Online square1art.com/shop
Need to find your child's art?
Use the online Art Search.
Do you know you can upload additional art and make an order?
Use the online Art Upload

The FIRST Lego League Explore program is being run for children in grades K through 5. It introduces kids to STEM using legos and lego robotics. The program focuses on creativity, fun and teamwork. Each year there is a theme. This year's theme is SUPERPOWERED. Children will learn about different types of energy sources, storage and distribution methods and ways in which energy is consumed. In each of the early meetings, we will learn about the energy journey, draw and share our ideas about what was learned and finally build our ideas with legos and lego robots. Towards the end of the program, the children will work on a single team build and will present their build to their friends and family at the last meeting.

This video is a nice overview of the FIRST programs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkN08bDv9EI
Jennifer Stander will be coaching the Lego League teams. She is an Electrical Engineer working in the field of Robotics and also an Adjunct Professor at WPI teaching electrical and computer design courses. To help the students reach their goals, it is important to have additional volunteers to help at the meetings. If you are interested in helping out or coaching, feel free to email Jennifer at legofirst@js.mxpark.com.