Short week

January 27, 2023

It was nice just to get back into the building this week. For a while, I was getting flashbacks to THE ice storm from years back. I'm so sorry that so many of you were without power. It was really sweet though to hear students come in on our abbreviated Wednesday sharing stories of their week. Many smiled while they talked about pulling out board games, snuggling by the fireplace, or even some family generator adventures. While outages are scary, they can also remind us of simpler times and give us a moment to unplug and just be together. All that being said, thank goodness it didn't take long to get the power back up!

In a similar vein, its difficult to roll out an electronic notification system while folks are without power. Now that everyone is back up and running, please take the time to login to SDM and set preferences. This supports all families and will be the primary communication venue for transportation changes, early dismissals, absences, and late arrivals. Once you have entered information into the program, there is no need to follow up with a welcome email as well. You are all set. If you haven't received anemail and it is not in your SPAM, please reach out to Tracy.

Initially, STAR assessments were supposed to be completed today. However, due to the missed learning days we have extended it another week. Some scores may already be accessible through PowerSchool though. To access these scores, you can log into the PowerSchool Parent Portal. This must be done through a web browser and not the app. Once in, click on Test Scores in the left hand column. When reviewing these, please know your child’s Star Assessment results consist of a Unified Scale Score (Num Score) and Percentile Rank (% or Percentile). There is no “Alpha Score” reported for STAR so that column will be blank.

Num Score: Star Unified Scale Score

The Unified Scale Score is the overall score that your child receives on Star assessment(s). It is calculated based on both the difficulty of the questions and the number of correct responses.

Star Early Literacy Range: 200 to 1100
Star Reading Range: 600 to 1400
Star Math Range: 600 to 1400

% or Percentile: Percentile Rank (PR)

The PR is a norm-referenced score that provides a measure of a student’s achievement compared to other students in the grade nationally. PRs range from 1 to 99 and indicate the percentage of other students nationally who obtained scores equal to or lower than the score of a particular student.

A Note from Mrs. DiFonso

The PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports) Team at TPS has been working hard to put the P back in PBIS here at TPS. As you are aware, we started using the Tommy Tickets in November to reward students for positive behavior in the classrooms. The response from students and staff has been awesome. We are excited to announce that we are finally able to open the "Prince Plaza", our very own PBIS store, where students can use their Tommy Tickets to purchase rewards! Classes can begin visiting the Prince Plaza next week and will continue to visit once or twice a month. Students can use their Tommy Tickets to purchase little trinkets or coupons for experiences. I bet you are asking yourself, "What experiences?" Well, the committee and the teachers have been awesome at coming up with some amazing ideas. Students can purchase VIP lunch, wear sunglasses for the day, play games with a teacher, eat lunch with the principal, play basketball with the assistant principal and so many more! This is all very exciting for everyone here at TPS. I'd like to take the time to thank my PBIS committee who have dedicated their time and creativity to making this all happen! Thank you, Mrs. Zielinski, Mrs. Hacket, Mrs. Gibbons, Mrs. Kristoff, Mrs. Jensen-Fellows, Mrs. Chapalonis, Mrs. McClure, Ms. Shaveet, and Ms. Budrys!