TGIF!

Happy Friday TPS Families!

🚒 This morning we ran a routine fire drill. The staff and students did an amazing job exciting the building quickly, quietly and safely! We were supported by our Princeton Fire Department and Officer Holly and Cruiser (who may have helped a little with the drill)!

👚STEAM Night t-shirts are now on sale! TPS students entered an in-school constest to be the winning designer of this year's t-shirt! Lauren Jones' design won! Congratulations Lauren! The t-shirt is going to be adorable! If you'd like more information, check out the electronic blue folder. If you'd like to order a shirt, here is the link! T-shirts will arrive in time for STEAM Night on 6/5! Sales end on 5/22 so be sure to get your orders in if you'd like one!

🗪 Exciting news from the middle school Spanish classroom!

Congratulations to Dr. Loughlin's Spanish students for placing TENTH in the world in the ImmerseMe Games and SECOND in their category (based on enrolled students). Dr. Loughlin won the Innovative Educator Award thanks to her students and all their hard work acquiring Spanish through the VR Goggles and ImmerseMe. Special recognition and congratulations to both Amelia Oles and Josiah Corpuz for earning the Bronze Independence Award by scoring in the top 16% of participants worldwide and dominating the Thomas Prince leaderboard. TPS competed against 264 other schools and over 19,000 students from around the world. Visit here to see TPS on the winners list. The top 10 students on the TPS leaderboard are as follows: Amelia Oles, Josiah Corpuz, Cameron Reding, Carter Chabot, Ryan O'Connor, Cailyn Kindorf, Jayce Gedman, Taryn Devlin, Dexter Stevens, and Annie Wheeler. Thanks to all of the students for trying their hardest and working so hard!

🤖Lego League is back! Here is the info below (with a flyer in the Electronic Blue Folder):

The FIRST Lego League Challenge program is being run for students entering grades 5th through 8th this coming fall. 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 UNEARTHED, which focuses on archaeology. The program is multi-faceted and has three main components: the Robot Challenge, the Innovation Project and demonstration of FIRST Core values.

In the FIRST Lego League Challenge program the kids will;

Build and program Lego Spike Prime robots to complete autonomous missions.
Select a real world problem related to the yearly theme, do research on it, design a solution to the problem, prototype the solution and create a presentation.
At the end of the program they will attend a local tournament, where they will present the research project and compete with other teams on the robot missions.

Here is a great video that shows a sampling of the robots, projects and core values of the program.

The program is not just about building and programming robots although it is a significant part. The team benefits when the members have a diverse set of skills and interests. The project component draws heavily on being creative and artistic. Teamwork relies on good communication and leadership. The team needs a variety of talents to be successful.

The program runs two days a week from after school to 5:00 starting the first week in September to mid December. The program cost is a $160 which includes registration, tournament fees, tee shirts, project materials, incentive prizes and snacks. If this poses a financial hardship let me know, the fee can be waived or reduced.

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 registering your child for the program and/or volunteering, feel free to email Jennifer at legofirst@js.mxpark.com.

Team selection will be done starting at the end of June, if your child wishes to be considered for the team please let her know by June 14th.

⭐A Note from the Nurse:

Dear Parents/Guardians,
TPS will be conducting the annual Postural Screening for grades 5-8 during gym classes the week of 5/27-5/30. If a make-up day is required on any screening day, the postural screening will be held in gym class the following week.
The purpose of this screening is to detect early signs of possible spinal problems in children. It is not a diagnostic service but a program to identify young people who should have a further medical evaluation. If your child has any unusual findings, a notice will be sent home asking you to bring your child to a physician as a precaution. If nothing unusual is found, you will not be contacted.
Preparation: Students may wear a two-piece swimsuit or halter top/sports bra underneath their regular clothing on the day of the screening. This type of clothing permits more accurate observation of the back.
Opt-Out of the Screening Program: If you wish to exclude your child from the postural screening, please provide documentation that your child was screened by their physician and email the nurse asking for your child to be opted out of the screening at karina_abbascia@wrsd.net.

🍎This year, we "rescheduled" Staff Appreciation Week to 5/19-5/23. The PTA has some fun things planned for the staff! Thank you to the PTA for organizing this for the staff and to the families for helping too! TPS has an amazing staff and we are so very grateful for everything they do day in and day out for all of our Warriors!

🎵TPS Chorus: Don't forget that on Sunday 5/25 you will be singing "God Bless America" at the beginning of the Princeton Memorial Day Parade. After the parade loop, you will be signing "America!" on the lower common. Please arrive at 12: 45PM. There's more info in the Electronic Blue Folder.