Updates and information!

Your student may or may not have come home talking about new cameras at school or the principal watching TV in the main office. These reports are partially correct. At the end of the last school year, the town of Princeton earmarked money for security updates to the building. We are tremendously thankful for all the support and care the town gives to us here. I knew there were plans to get started over the April break but was ecstatic to learn that it was also completed in that time. Staff now have "access control" to the building so we don't need external keys floating around and the doors can be locked all the time. The kids are right, we do have cameras but their primary purpose is to locate unsafe events, particularly for the Princeton Police Department.  This represents a huge step in keeping our building safe. 

It's with sadness, that I share the passing of long-time Princeton resident, Roger Vaughn. This is of particular note for TPS as he was the benefactor and originator of our endowment that we use to maintain PLTW and other STEAM initiatives in the building. One of our courtyards is named in honor of his wife Elsie. I had the privilege of meeting him last year as we toured the building. The endowment will live on but he will be missed greatly. 

Every week I write down the "Week Ahead" at the end of the blog. Given that the year is winding down, and there are so many things going on, I will start writing down everything to come. Any changes or additions will be highlighted to draw attention to it. The end of the school year is exciting and exhausting but there is much to celebrate! Remember, the last day of school is a half day on 6/18. 

A note from Mrs. DiFonso and the PBIS Committee: 

The PBIS Committee made up of TPS staff, meets monthly to focus on positive behaviors and ways to celebrate our students.  The committee is excited to share the latest initiative to celebrate our student Warriors. Each month, one student per grade level and one student chosen by the specialists receives the "Warrior of the Month" recognition! These are students who demonstrate how to be respectful, responsible, and ready to learn. We are proud of our TPS Warriors every day and are thrilled to be able to celebrate them in this way! 

A note from our STEAM Night Committee: 

"Congratulations to seventh grader, Lauren Jones, who was chosen as the winner of this year's STEAM Night 2024 t-shirt design contest! Students were encouraged to participate in a school-wide t-shirt design contest for our upcoming STEAM Night (happening on Thursday, June 6th from 5:30-7:30p.m.) and needed to incorporate this year's theme of "amusement park" into their design. TPS students then voted on the top twenty submissions and ultimately helped to choose our winning design. Please be on the lookout in the coming days for an opportunity to purchase a STEAM Night 2024 t-shirt, along with more information about the night's events! Congratulations again, Lauren!"

A note from Mrs. Santello regarding our rescheduled courtyard cleanup: 

Dear Thomas Prince Families and Friends,

Spring is almost here and we have a volunteer opportunity coming up! Please join us for a Spring Cleanup of the Bangrazi Courtyard! Wednesday, May 1 is our Bangrazi Courtyard Spring Cleanup and Set-up Date! (Open hours 3:25-6) Rain date is Thursday, May 9. Come help us clean up raised garden beds, check the trails, and do a few more weeding/removal jobs left from the fall so the courtyard is ready for Spring planting! Our incredible fall volunteers accomplished wonders, come join us next week!   Sign-up is optionally here -thank you! Snacks and coffee provided :)

Email Elaine Santello at elaine_santello@wrsd.net with questions or for more info. Thank you!!

The Electronic Folder 

The Year Ahead: 

• Monday (4/29) Day A
• Tuesday (4/30) Day B
• MCAS Math
• Wednesday (5/1) Day C
• MCAS Math 
• Courtyard Clean up after school
• Track Meet - Quabbin
• Thursday (5/2) Day D
• Friday (5/3) Day A
• School Lunch Hero Day
• 8th grade Kentucky Derby Day
• Track Meet - Burbank
• Week of May 6th - Teacher Appreciation Week
• Tuesday (5/7) Science MCAS Grade 5 & 8 
• Wednesday (5/8) Science MCAS Grades 5 & 8 
• Thursday (5/9) Track Meet - Lunenburg 
• PTA Meeting 
• Friday (5/10) MS Talent Show
• Monday (5/13) Town Elections 
• School CouncilTrack Meet - Overlook
• Tuesday (5/14) MCAS Civics 8th grade 
• Wednesday (5/15) Half Day - Teacher PD
• Thursady (5/16) Track Meet - Tahanto
• Wednesday (5/22) District Track Meet
• Thursday (5/23) K-4 Field Trip
• Friday (5/24) Memorial Day presentation by PFD
• MS Spring Fling Dance
• Sunday (5/26) TPS Chorus at Princeton Memorial Day Parade
• Monday (5/27) No School - Memorial Day
• Wednesday (5/29) Band/Chorus/Strings Concert at WRHS
• Thursday (5/30) Track Meet - WRHS
• Friday (5/31) 5th grade KNEX Challenge
• Tuesday (6/4) Grade 6 Field Trip
• Thursday (6/6) STEAM Night
• Friday (6/7) Family Movie Night
• Tuesday (6/11) Town Meeting
• Wednesday (6/12) Last day for Kindergarten
• Field Day
• 8th Grade Graduation
• Thursday (6/13) New Kindergarten Open House
• 8th Grade Dance
• Tuesday (6/18) Last Day of School 11:55 Dismissal

A note from WRHS:

Girls in CompSci is a free two-week program open to all middle school girls in the Wachusett school district. Come join us to make websites with HTML and CSS and do other coding activities. Girls of all coding levels are invited, no previous experience is needed. Scan the QR code to sign up, space is limited to 20 spots, first come first serve. We hope to see you there!

VACATION!

We survived the first week of MCAS! Everyone did a wonderful job. The kids were really engaged with the test and many worked beyond their required time. The younger students were so respectful and quiet walking through the halls and trying to make sure the testers could focus. It's a relief to have this first round over. We will start the math testing on April 30th. 

After the long week of testing, the building needed to blow off some steam. This morning we had a whole school assembly (think pep rally) heading into the break. In a celebration of positive behavior and perseverance, we played a whole school version of "The Floor is Lava." Kids used their Tommy Tickets to enter a raffle to participate. Teams of students and staff worked together to see who could cross the lava the most quickly and had a ton of laughs in the process. Congratulations to the team of Hacket, Keough, Greg, Eliza, and Ari and who took home the trophy! 

A Message from the PTA:

Are you passionate about supporting our school community? Do you have fresh ideas and a desire to make a difference? We want YOU to consider running for a position on our Executive Board!

PTA Self-Nominations are now OPEN! 

It’s your chance to join the amazing, hard working PTA Executive Board that makes so many fun events happen during the year. We need your help in filling out the board for the 2024-2025 school year. 

As a member of the PTA Executive Board, you'll have the opportunity to:

 Collaborate with fellow parents, teachers, and staff to enhance the educational experience of our students.

 Organize fun and meaningful events that bring our community together.

 Have a voice in important decisions that impact our school and students.

 Make lasting friendships and connections with other parents and educators.

Whether you're a seasoned PTA member or considering getting involved for the first time, we welcome your enthusiasm and commitment!

Nomination forms are DUE by Friday, MAY 3, 2024.

Interest/Nomination Form

A note from our Pollinator Garden committee: 

Hello TPS Families,

This spring, we will be relocating our butterfly/pollinator garden built in memory of beloved TPS kindergarten teacher, Lisa Beaupre. Some of our 8th graders have already been working behind the scenes selecting and starting seeds for this new endeavor. This is in addition to the care and upkeep they accomplished this fall in the Elsie Vaughan Garden. 

We are kindly asking that parents please take a moment to complete the survey linked below regarding Lisa's new butterfly/pollinator garden, and let us know how you would like to see it used as part of our school and in the greater community. Any insights, interests, questions, or concerns not covered in the survey can be directed to me and/or Dot Odgren, and we will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible.

POLLINATOR GARDEN SURVEY

Our Crayons to Cradle drive has ended and I'd like to thank everyone who donated. Nick was hard at work last weekend with his team of volunteers counting and sorting the donations. An extra recess was on the line for the grade level with the most donations. The top three are listed below. Congratulations to the 8th grade that really came through! 

• 4th grade - 42 articles
• K came in second with 71 articles
• 8 grade was the clear winner with a whopping 170 articles!!!

Electronic Folder

New: Clothing Swap, WRHS Tour for 8th graders, Pollinator Garden Events, 

The week ahead: 

• No School for April Vacation 4/15-19!
• Monday (4/22) Day D
• Earth Day
• Tuesday (4/23) Day A
• K-5 Author Visit - Andrew Hacket 
• Wednesday (4/24) Day B
• Administrative Professional Day - Thank you Tracy! 
• Track Meet (Ayer Shirley)
• Thursday (4/25) Day C
• Wachusett Regional High School Open House! 
• Friday (4/26) Day D 
• PTA Elementary Dance

Is it Spring now?

Given the storm this week, we are rescheduling our Bangrazi clean-up efforts on Saturday. Please stay tuned for a new date! 

Every Spring seems to sneak up on me and with it...thoughts of next fall. We will be starting the placement process in the elementary school soon. As is the district policy and best practice, we solicit information from parents in the process. Please remember that we are not always able to honor requests as our goal is to develop balanced classrooms and we have limited rooms to place kids. This year, we are accepting feedback on the placement process through this form. We will close the form on April 26th.

April break is right around the corner and a tradition that comes with it is cleaning out the Lost and Found. Overall, it's not the worst I've ever seen but still, some nice hoodies and other articles of clothing are waiting to be rediscovered. If they are still there by the end of the school day on the 12th we will be donating them.  

There was some confusion around communication regarding Summit Academy last week. While the district was looking into this potential partnership, Summit Academy announced they would be moving to TPS. This triggered many questions from many stakeholders, and rightfully so. I wanted to address and answer some of the questions I have received. These are my frequently asked questions. First, even though Summit Academy services students all the way up to age 22, we are only discussing potentially bringing K-8 students into our building. This amounts to around 14 students (about half of whom are WRSD residents). The students are high-functioning students on the spectrum with academic needs. We would work in collaboration to find inclusive opportunities during lunch/recess and potentially during specials. There would be no impact on the general classrooms during instructional time. This would not impact the STEAM lab or the school's focus on STEAM in any way. I suspect the impact on arrival and dismissal would be minimal. Most of these students are currently transported by van and my initial thought would be they'd come and go during typical arrival and dismissal through the bus lines. I know there are probably a million more questions, but these were my most frequently asked ones. And honestly, these are all still in discussion. There is much work to do and information to gather before anything is finalized. I do hope this adds some clarity to the process though. 

If you saw a lot of particularly happy teachers walking out of the building on Tuesday, it could be because the PTA announced their mini-grant recipients. They were able to fund nearly every request in their entirety! Overall, this round of grants awarded exceeded $2,500 and brought the year-long total up to around $5,000. I'm proud of the teachers who thought outside of the box in bringing in opportunities for our students. Of course, I need to thank the PTA for all their fundraising efforts as well as for the work they did on approving these grants. Finally, I want to recognize all of you who contributed to any of the fundraisers in any way. Thank you! 

An MCAS reminder. Next week will be a "zigger zagger" week with MCAS in grades 3 through 8. Some specials will be at different times to allow students enough time to really work through the assessment. We try to minimize the disruption and these grades will only be tested on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. How can you help your child prepare? They've already done all the heavy lifting in their learning throughout the year. Please reinforce to them that it's just a test and we only expect that they do their best. A good night's sleep and a good breakfast before getting to school on time also helps!

A reminder that Monday afternoon the solar eclipse will be in process during our dismissal process. We will remind students not to look at the sun (something they shouldn't do on a normal day either) and would appreciate it if families send the same message. Some students may have glasses for viewing, however, these are not conducive for walking to cars and buses. If you plan on dismissing your student early, please note this in School Dismissal Manager before 1:00 on Monday. 

A note from the Nurse Karina for 7th grade families: 

Dear 7th Grade Families,

During the week of April 22nd, as required by state law, TPS is conducting a screening

program related to the use of alcohol, marijuana, and other substances. The Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) process will screen all 7th graders. All screenings will be conducted confidentially by our school nurse in private one-on-one sessions. We will utilize the CRAFFT screening tool, the most commonly used substance use screening tool for adolescents in Massachusetts. The goal of this program is to let the students know that we are available to reinforce healthy decisions and to assist them in obtaining support if needed for substance use-related problems.

If you would like to opt your student out of the screening, please fill out the form in this link and send it to the school nurse before 4/22/2024. If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to Karina at (978)464-5507 or email at Karina_Abbascia@wrsd.net. 

Electronic Folder

New: April Reading Challenge

The week ahead: 

• Saturday (4/6) 
• Courtyard Cleanup Cancelled
• Sunday (4/7) 
• Princeton takes over Polar Park
• Monday (4/8) Day C
• Assistant Principal Appreciation Week (Thank you Mrs. DiFonso) 
• Solar Eclipse
• Tuesday (4/9) Day D
• Red Sox opening day! Wear your baseball gear!
• MCAS
• Wednesday (4/10) Day A
• MCAS 
• Thursday (4/11) Day B
• Friday (4/12) Day C
• The Floor is Lava assembly 
• 4th-grade Recorder Concert
• 911 presentations in K and 1st grade
• Vacation! 

WRHS has invited you to the spring musical Lucky Stiff this weekend. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students/seniors, and $5 for children. Many of the music department students are involved on stage, behind the scenes, and in the pit orchestra. It's a fun murder mystery farce about an unassuming English shoe salesman who is set to inherit six million dollars if he can fulfill his uncle's dying wish of taking his dead body on a final trip to Monte Carlo. If he does not succeed or misses any of the details, then the money will go to the dog home of Brooklyn. Run time is around 100 minutes and there will be a 15 minute intermission so all in all, two hours starting at 7:00 on Friday and Saturday and 2:00 on Sunday.