TPS Principal's Page

Every year, a program called Project 351 pulls one 8th grader from every Middle School in the state to join together in leadership and service .  Project  351 celebrates students who are quiet leaders in their schools. The TPS teachers tried to select someone who leads with an open heart and is kind, compassionate, and humble.  They looked for someone who demonstrates respect for others, works as a team, and has a desire to help others . This year, the Middle School teachers nominated Nick Brady. Nick fits the bill on all of these characteristics and we recognized him at lunch this week. I know he will represent TPS well! You can learn more about the program here .  Looking ahead, we are planning on having another "violent intruder" drill next week. I prefer to refer to them as ALICE drills. We had one of these in the Spring last year and learned a lot through the process. Our goal in these drills is to create motor memory for students and empower staff to make respo...

It was great to greet the students on Monday with a cleaned-up Bengrazi courtyard! Over last weekend, we had numerous waves of volunteers come through under the direction of Ms. Santello. It's amazing how the rain helped the weeds grow this summer. It is now mostly weed-free and is ready for the winter. We normally try to get a picture of all the volunteers but everyone came at different times we just weren't able to capture everyone. However, please know if you swung by on Saturday, it was noticed and appreciated. A big thank you to Ms. Santello, not only for organizing the day but also for giving up her entire Saturday to guide our work and get our hands dirty.  A note from our 6th Grade:  "As a culminating activity for our study of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", the students will be decorating pumpkins to resemble a character from the story. On Monday, October 30th, families are invited to attend a nature trail walk of “The Sleepy Hollow Woods”, where the pump...

Saturday will be our courtyard and trail clean-up from 8:00 to 2:00.   Come help us weed, clean up, and winterize raised garden beds, install weed-blocking landscaping fabric, divide and replant our native plants, and do a few more little jobs that make a big difference all around campus! Our incredible spring volunteers accomplished wonders, come join us this Saturday! Sign up  here  or stop by to help out any time between 8 and 2! I can't believe it has taken me until October to remind folks that we have a school Instagram account! We (mostly Mrs. DiFonso actually) work to regularly share the great work our staff and students are doing. It is a great way to start a dinner conversation too! "I saw on Instagram today that you were..." Follow us at @tpswarriors. The PTA is seeking your input! They love to have families' voices involved in their decision-making and are already planning ahead to the '24-25 school year. Please take this BRIEF survey to provide your i...

I can't believe I am typing this, but we are now midway through the first quarter (how did that happen) and so much has already gone on. Middle School parents may want to review PowerSchool to gauge their student's performance at TPS so far this year. In this short period of time, routines have been created, expectations set, and a ton of learning has already occurred. The PTA has raised over $20,000 for our school and we've also had a ton of fun! To prove that Mrs. DiFonso and I are principals of our word, I include for you here photographic evidence of our duct taping and chicken dancing.  I don't normally put too much stock in outside group's rating and ranking of schools, however, every once in a while, it is really nice to be recognized. This year, US News has once again ranked TPS as the #1 Middle School in the state. The rankings seem to be largely influenced by testing scores. But I view this as a testament to the work of all our teachers (K through 8), sup...