Principal's Warrior Wrap-Up: 5/22/26

💗I'd like to thank the PTA for organizing such an amazing Staff Appreciation Week. We surely felt the love and appreciation! Thank you, too, to all of the families who contributed so many delicious treats!
We have an incredible staff here at TPS, but we also have an incredible community! We are so lucky and so appreciative!

😃This was a busy, but fun week! We finally finished MCAS! Wooohoooo! On Monday, fourth grade traveled to Tower Hill Botanical Garden - what a gorgeous week to be out learning about plants and their life cycle! Sixth graders held their Ancient Egypt Museum on Wednesday displaying their projects of artifacts and knowledge about Ancient Egyptian times. It was incredibly impressive! Over the last few weeks, the third graders have been watching the life cycle of a caterpillar/butterfly and released their Painted Ladies into the Pollinator Garden! It
was such an exciting moment to watch all 18 take flight! And today, first and second grade traveled to Davis Farmland where they spent this beautiful day learning about the farm, meeting baby animals and living their best lives! SO much fun was had this week!

🌟News from the TPS STEAM Committee: Good news, TPS families! If you are looking to order your STEAM Night 2026 t-shirt, we were able to extend our ordering deadline to Monday, 5/25/26. Please see the flier in the Electronic Blue Folder for the ordering link! Thank you very much for your support!

🤖Ms. Stander is already organizing Lego League for the fall! See the message below
and the 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 BIOGLOW, which focuses on ecosystems and biodiversity. 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.

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

First Lego League Introduction Video!

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.