TPS Principal's Page: February 2023

Friday, February 17, 2023

February Break!

And just like that...poof...it is February vacation. I hope you all find time to relax and recharge with your family. There were a few things I hoped to highlight this week heading into the break.

I shared the joy of fielding a boy's basketball team but I failed to mention the TPS girls represented us on the joint Chocksett team. Without enough interest to field a team here, Teegan and Milla traveled to Sterling each day to practice and play with the team. They had a wonderful season that culminated with a district championship win on Wednesday! We are so proud of all the girls on the team but especially of our TPS players!

The other big news of the week was the huge success of our Book Fair. There was so much joy in watching students leave the library with their brand-new books and sharing what they purchased with their friends. I want to thank the PTA and all the volunteers who made this happen. I also want to thank the families that supported their students in making purchases and everyone who came out for our family nights. Did you know that all the money raised at last year's book fair went right back into updating the library collection? This was the primary way we were able to update some of the collection this year. Thank you for supporting the PTA and our library!

Electronic Folder

New: Worcester Center for Crafts, Sterling Rec Softball,

The Week Ahead:

No School!

Friday, February 10, 2023

Count Down to the break

Despite what it may feel like, we are quickly moving into the Spring and the second half of the school year. As we look ahead, I wanted to give families with students in grades 3 through 8 advanced notice of our MCAS dates. MCAS is an important assessment tool for the state, and as a school and a district, we want to make sure we are presenting our best efforts representative of the work our teachers and students do daily. To this end, we ask that you try to avoid doctor's appointments and family trips on these dates. These dates are still a few months away and may change slightly for a myriad of reasons. If that does become the case, we will communicate any changes with you.

3rd through 5th grades will test on (4/4, 4/5, 5/2, 5/3)
6th through 8th grades will test on (4/11, 4/12, 5/3, 5/4)
5th and 8th will test in Science on (5/16, 5/18)

Today was a fun day at TPS as we hosted author Josh Funk. Thank you to the PTA for organizing and funding this great experience. The students in all grades had an age-appropriate presentation on what it takes to be an author. The kids all seemed to enjoy their presentations and it was a wonderful experience to be able to offer them. This is a great segway to the book fair that begins next week. Classes have already registered for visits. They will also be open after school for families to come and shop with their students on Monday and Thursday.

What started as a slight change in parent pick-up due to the cold temperatures last Friday, turned out to be a great adjustment in practice. This week we started having students sit in the cafeteria rather than wait under the awning for parent pickup. It made communication much clearer and managing/organizing students smoother. After an extended pilot, I think we are going to stick with it. You can help us keep the system running quickly and smoothly. If parents can have a sign with their students' names on the windshield it expedites the whole process. While we have a great group of teachers out there, it's hard to recognize/remember everyone especially if you are not a daily pick-up.

A note from our student council: "Brought to you by the TPS Student Council, as some of you mayhave heard, is a Student versus Faculty Basketball game! On February 16th from 3:05 pm to 4:45 pm there will be a Student versus Faculty Basketball game. All students are welcome to watch or play in the basketball game! This will be filled with fun activities and the basketball game! We hope to see lots of students there." -Lindsey R

Students in Spanish class will participate in a music appreciation event during the month of March. We will participate with students studying Spanish all over the world (click here to see the map). Here is the promo video for the music madness! TPS appears around minute 7:30.

The Mountain Soccer Club asked me to share that they are open for Grades 3-12 for the 2023 Season! You can register your child here before February 15th.

FYI: If you are missing a drone or if you know someone who may have lost theirs near the school grounds, we do have a drone in the office that was found on the playground.

Electronic Folder

New: ECC PreSchool Openings

The Week Ahead:

Monday (2/13)

Book Fair Family Night 4:00-6:00

Tuesday (2/14)

Valentine's Day

Thursday (2/15)

Middle School Student-Staff Basketball Game
Book Fair Family Night 4:00-6:00

Monday to Friday (2/20-24)

No School February Vacation

Friday, February 3, 2023

February is here!

Next week is National School Counselor week and we are fortunate to have two wonderful counselors here at TPS. Alina Budrys is our Adjustment Counselor who works here 5 days per week. Beth Foley is our School Psychologist (better known as Lady the therapy dog's owner) who works here on Thursdays and Fridays. These two professionals support the social emotional learning of the building and are tremendous resources for the staff. If you or your child has had interactions with them, I'd encourage you to reach out and thank them for all their work.

Wednesday was our dress like a book character day hosted by our PTA. We had some great characters in the building. You can see a sampling on our Instagram account (@TPSWarriors).

We enjoyed tremendous success with our January book challenge! Overall we had 71 students participate and over 384 books read in the month! You can find this month's flyer in the electronic folder and additional resources on the Book Challenge website.

This week, the state released school report cards. You will learn more about this in the Superintendents' communication but I wanted to share the direct link to TPS report. Our school continues to perform well on MCAS as highlighted in the 97th% on the accountability measure.

I'm excited to report that we hosted a concert on Wednesday. Our band and strings performed in front of a packed house and sounded wonderful! It's been amazing to watch the growth of these musicians throughout the year. I hope they are all proud of the performance they put on this week!

The Scholastic Book Fair is coming up! Students will be able to visit during the school day the week of February 13th. Community nights will be held on February 13th and the 16th, from 4pm-6pm. Don't forget to set up your student's eWallet account! Any questions, please email tpsprincetonpta@gmail.com.

Josh Funk will be presenting to students on the creative writing process, using his Coding book series, on Friday, February 10th! If you'd like Josh to sign your personal copy of any of his books, please send it in at any time next week with a sticky note inside the cover indicating your student's name, grade, and teacher.