Big days ahead

Sunday to Monday represents a big couple of days for kids in town.  The town will recognize Halloween on Sunday from 4:00-7:00 PM. The Parks and Rec Department will be hosting a simultaneous Trunk or Treat in front of the library. Parents of 8th graders will be fundraising there as well. Monday morning, TPS will host our annual costume parade. Kindergarteners through 3rd graders will participate in the parade that will begin around 9:00. Students in grades K-3 can wear their costumes to school that day but should bring a container to place their materials in after the parade to make sure nothing is lost.  If your student has beliefs that inhibit participation in this event, please let me know and we will plan an alternate activity for them. We will leave the parking lot for parents to park and watch the parade. Swing by and grab a cup of coffee/refreshments by the flagpole where 8th-grade parents will be raising funds for end-of-the-year activities. The parade will begin at the bus lobby doors and take a right to circle the building before reentering at the same doors. I know the band is working on some musical accompaniment so I can't wait to hear what they have in store for us!  

Beginning next week, we will also be tightening up our drop-off procedures. The school day does begin at 8:25 and we have become pretty loose around this time frame. On Monday, we will be closing the door at 8:25 and request that, if you arrive after this time, you come in and sign your student in. We will not buzz students in without an adult. We have experienced trouble with noting students as absent and calling home, frightening parents who know they dropped their students off. This will tighten up our process and ensure we know when everyone is here. In a similar vein, I would like to remind everyone that cars should wait by the turn to the playground, at the start of arrival and dismissal, until they are waved up.  

You may have seen or heard of the boxes placed by the bus lobby entrance and the front door. The Student Council is beginning a pajama drive to support young children in the LUK Crisis Center in Fitchburg. The student council has teamed up with Scholastic for this drive. For every new set of pajamas (emphasis on NEW) that our school collects and donates, Scholastic will match it with a new book. The donation boxes will be out until Monday (11/21) so I'd encourage everyone to support the student council in this wonderful venture. 

I'd like to take a second to thank the many volunteers who shared last weekend with us to clean up the Bangrazi Courtyard. Progress was definitely made and the area already looks more inviting. We are tentatively planning a spring clean-up as well. I hope you can join us!

A few notes from our library (both town and school):

"The town library will be hosting a free Bioblitz program after school on Wednesday, (November 2nd) the half day.  Details are in the electronic folder- it starts at 3:00, and we'll have a reading of the book Bioblitz! by a local author, then Wachusett Meadows naturalists will help us do a critter count around the library."

"Read for the Record update!  We read Nigel and the Moon, by Antwan Eady to 120 adults and kids in the TPS library today {Thursday}, and after we read, the kids did projects to explore themes of future career ideas and superheroes.  Kindergartners designed superhero capes, and first and second graders made fortune tellers to help them choose future adventures.  This event was part of a nationwide early literacy event that brings together millions of adults and children each year as they read the same book on the same day, building an intergenerational community through reading. Since 2006, over 24 million people have participated in Jumpstart's Read for the Record, and hundreds of thousands of high-quality books have been distributed to children in underserved communities across the United States."

And finally, congratulations to our Cross Country teams! The girl's team took first in this week's District meet and the boys took second. We're on to States! Keep on running! 

Electronic Folder

New - Student Council PJ Drive, Talking to Children about Grief, Bioblitz!

The Week Ahead: 

• Monday (10/31) 
• 
  Costume parade at 9:00
• Tuesday (11/1) 
• Picture retakes (please use your original form or get a new one from the main office)
• PBIS meeting after school
• PTA meeting at 6:00 (I will discuss and answer questions about ALICE)
• Wednesday (11/2) 
• Early dismissal for conferences and professional development
• Thursday (11/3) 
• End of 1st quarter
• Friday (11/4) 
• Wear your TPS gear or wear red to support our Cross Country Team as they head of to the State meet
• Saturday (11/5) 
• Cross Country State meet

Returns!

It was a week of returns! We started with a personal highlight of mine, the return of the library! Thanks to Jessie Trowbridge and her small army of volunteers, I was able to watch huge smiles as students returned to the library. We started the week with the 3rd graders and it wasn't until we saw the 2nd graders that we realized they may have never used the space as a library. The space was used as a gym throughout the pandemic. Kids learned about how to find books they're interested in and every student that visited took one or two books home with them. If your child didn't get one, please don't fear. The other half of the school will be visiting next week. Moving forward, students will visit the library every other week. 7th and 8th graders will visit at their own leisure. The next step is to add to our collection. The PTA has already earmarked some funds for this very purpose. 

Another return this week was our Trail Guide program. As seen in the picture, students in grades 5 through 8 joined Clair Degutis on the trails behind the school. Many years ago the school, in conjunction with Wachusett Meadow created those trails. In 2015, after the passing of a beloved/involved teacher (Joann Blum), an Annual Field Day was established. Each year, with a hiatus during COVID, these students are trained as guides. These students will learn about the trail system and local flora and impart their newfound knowledge to the lower grades in the Spring. 

As you may or may not know, the district has been doing work around how to respond to a potential violent intruder. It is a sad state of affairs that we have to think about these things but, better to think/prepare and never need to act than not to be prepared if something were to happen. We have started the process of training staff in ALICE, a dynamic and research based response to these types of events. Here at TPS, the Princeton Police and Fire Departments provided an overview at our staff meeting this month. The district has also procured online training for everyone. Our next step, is to share with all of you what ALICE looks like before we even think about introducing the concept to children. An online resource for parents can be found here. While this is a somber topic for all ages, the idea of talking to our youngest students is particularly difficult. For parents of younger students, this is a link to a YouTube read aloud of a book we plan to use. I have asked the PTA to allow me some time at their next meeting (11/1) to answer questions about ALICE so I would encourage you to attend if you'd like to learn more or have questions. The Princeton Police Department will also try to be there. 

A Note from Mrs. DiFonso

Calling all Parents! Just in case you missed it a few weeks ago...

I am excited to announce that we are working hard to bring back some after school activities for our TPS Warriors! I met with Jaime Greenland (Princeton Rec Director) to get the ball rolling on getting some afterschool activities planned and organized for all ages here at TPS. Is there something you would be excited to offer? Is there a hobby that you have that you'd want to share with the TPS students? Is there someone you know that would love to offer a course?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, we want to hear about it!  Maybe you love baking, lego robotics, art, books, crafting, model building, a specific sport, chess, math or science! Share this interest with the kids! Since the rec department will be helping to facilitate these offerings, there will be/can be payment for your time! 

If you are interested in offering a class/course, please email Jaime (Recreation@town.princeton.ma.us) the following information:  Course Title and description, age group you'd like included, length of course (by weeks), time of course (ie/ 3:00-4:15) and estimated budget.   I am really excited and cannot wait to see what kinds of fun we can bring back to the kids!  Thanks Princeton Recreation & Jaime!

Electronic Folder (Nothing new to report) 

The Week Ahead:

• Monday (10/24) 
• Monty Tech tour for 8th graders
• Tuesday (10/25) Cross Country District Championship
• Friday (10/28) 
• Wear orange and black

Lots to share

As you may have figured out, our school pictures have been delayed. Because we assume people want to see the first ones before deciding if they want a retake, we have rescheduled picture retakes for November 1st. 

A Call for TPS Library Books! If you've spent the pandemic reading books from the TPS Library, it's time to bring them back! We will not be collecting fines but would love to have any TPS Library books returned on your child's library day. Library visits start October 17th! You read that right. The library reopens on Monday!

Mrs. Santello is still looking for volunteers to help clean up and work in the courtyard on October 22nd. If you are interested or have a spouse you'd like to get out of the house for the day, you can sign up here. 

You may know that Hispanic heritage month spans from September 15th to October 15th. As we wrap up the month, the students in Spanish class made posters of important Spanish speakers and they brightened our hallways. The posters, in English, included many familiar names. 

A message from our parents regarding fundraising for 8th-grade end-of-the-year events: 

"As your kids fill up on sugar, stop by our Trunk or Treat Mega-Raffle table on the Princeton Common to support the 8th Grade fundraising efforts to celebrate their capstone year at TPS. Sneak peek on raffles will be revealed in the coming weeks! Stay tuned."

"While you wait to see the cutest (oops, I mean spookiest) Halloween parade ever or as you leave the event, please stop by our Grab-n-Go Breakfast & Coffee table. Proceeds benefit the 8th Grade class to fund events during their capstone year at TPS. Gluten Free items will be available. Let's save the planet while we are at it - please bring your reusable coffee mug :)"

As we prepare to send MCAS scores home in the coming month (don't worry, they did great!), I feel like it's also a great time to celebrate the "other" work our students are doing. Oftentimes, our special classes are treated like extra but they are, in fact, important classes for our students. We are a STEAM school and the A stands for Art. Mrs. Finkler asked to update all of you on the work they are doing in her art class: 

"Hello Families, 

We have been busy in the art room so far this year.  In K-2 we have been working on primary, secondary, and complimentary colors.  

In third and fourth grades, we have been working with warm and cool colors.

 And in fifth-eighth grades, we have been exploring the concept of color and creating new works of art using the color pallet from an existing piece.  

We have also begun a fundraiser with Square1 art.  Your students have been busy making beautiful pieces of artwork that will be available to purchase on products ranging from key chains to blankets. You will be hearing more about this in November.  

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at melissa_finkler@wrsd.net"

Electronic Folder

New: Worcester Railers, Trunk or Treat, Costume Parade breakfast

The Week Ahead: 

• Monday (10/17) 
• TPS Library Reopening! 
• Tuesday (10/18) 
• Cross Country Meet (Chocksett) 

Spirit Week!

It was such a fun week here at TPS with Spirit Week in full swing! Rather than try to describe it, I have created this short video for you to enjoy. See those smiling faces? They made our week! 

I am in the process of forming a School Council for the new year and am looking for family and community members willing to join. The primary responsibility will be to provide input on the handbook, budgeting process, and the School Improvement Plan (SIP). Let me know if you are interested in joining the group. 

We were fortunate to have had a visit from Roger Vaughan! Around 10 years ago, he created an endowment for TPS that has allowed our focus on STEAM, in the name of his wife Elsie. Elsie was the Administrative Assistant at TPS for 38 years. This STEAM work is one of the ways we differentiate ourselves from the rest of the district and is a wonderful opportunity for our children. You may notice our Butterfly Waystation Garden is named in Elsie's honor. The STEAM lab and our work with Project Lead The Way are also both examples of the work we have been able to do, thanks to his generosity. It was wonderful to have the man himself, at 102 years of age, visit us in the building to see the work our children are doing. I know you all will join me in appreciation.    

And finally, a friend-ly reminder: We do try to bring students outside as frequently as possible. Fresh air, movement breaks, and access to nature are all things found to support emotional well-being and students' ability to learn. To this end, please make sure you send your student prepared for the different weather we encounter here in New England. The temperatures are already dropping but then we get those nice warm days out of nowhere. I recommend layers. As we approach snow season, you'll want to plan for snow pants, boots, and gloves if you want your child to access the white,
fluffy joy. 

Electronic Folder

Week Ahead: 

• 
  Monday (10/10) 
• No School Indigenous People's Day/Columbus Day
• Thursday (10/13) 
• PTA meeting
• Friday (10/14) 
• Last day for our Spirit Wear drive 

Updates!

As promised, I have more information to share about Nurse Karina. She is coming to us from Paxton school so send positive vibes their way as they try and search for a replacement. Their loss is certainly our gain. Meanwhile, we have a pair of sub nurses sharing the role. 

Hello! My name is Karina Abbascia and I am so excited to be joining the TPS team as your school nurse! I have heard nothing but great things about TPS and look forward to working with you all. I graduated from Worcester State University with a degree in Psychology & Spanish and worked in research for several years before deciding to return to school to get my bachelor's degree in nursing from MCPHS University. Upon graduation, I worked at St. Vincent Hospital for several years before making the transition to the school setting in August of 2020. I have been working at PCS since this time and I have met some extraordinary educators, students, and families. The change has been a bittersweet one and, as much as I will miss my wonderful coworkers and students, I am also excited to create some new relationships and experiences with everyone at TPS. On a personal level, my husband and I have a 3-year-old son, Geno, who keeps us on our toes! In my free time (which is close to non-existent with a little one!) I enjoy gardening, reading, and metal detecting! I am looking forward to meeting you all soon! -Karina

Next week we will begin our use of the Panorama assessment. We use this data to determine the climate and culture of our school and to provide individual social and emotional supports when necessary. That was my cliff notes version of the information provided below. If you would not like your child to take part, please reach out to me and let me know. 

"We thank you and your family for being our valued partners as we work together to

educate the children in our district. As you may already be aware, building our social-emotional learning skills is an important goal for our school this year. Over the next several weeks, students and teachers will participate in several exercises to better understand these concepts and to reflect on how they perceive these skills in themselves. 

We will be asking for your child to reflect on their own mindsets and approaches to learning via an online survey they will be completing at school. The survey shouldn’t take more than 20-30 minutes to complete.

We are asking that all of our students participate in the surveys, as their responses will provide invaluable insights into their experiences and how we can improve and adapt our district to their needs. If a student doesn’t feel like they have enough information to answer a question, they will be able to skip the item altogether. The responses to these surveys will be completely confidential.

The Panorama student surveys will be given 3 times per school year, and they will provide information about the student experience in Wachusett Schools (Grades 3-12). The data will be used at the school and district levels as one data source to help shape our Social-Emotional Learning planning"

I'd like to congratulate all the middle schoolers who ran for student council this month! The desire to serve their fellow students in a leadership role is commendable! Having the courage to stand up in the front of the cafeteria and explain why they want to serve and what they bring to the table is equally impressive. I'm proud of all who "threw their hat in the ring." Congratulations to our Student Council members: 6th Grade - Cameran W, Miles C, Aubrey J, and Jude H. 7th Grade - Lindsey R, Lucia C, Hero M, and Erik D. 8th Grade - Gabe M, Nalina L, Declan F, Megan D, and Madalena A. 

I look forward to including student voice, through the council, in school decisions moving forward. 

As next week brings us into October, I wanted to put a date on the radar for parents of Kingerteners through 3rd graders. We have scheduled our annual Fall costume parade for October 31st to begin around 9:00. My understanding is this is a long standing tradition here at TPS. Parents are welcome to attend and view the parade from the parking lot. Students in grades K-3 can wear their costumes to school that day but should bring a container to place their materials in after the parade to make sure nothing is lost before the evening town events. For planning purposes, please remember any costumes should limit the gore, for safety we need to be able to recognize the students, and the building needs to remain toy weapon free (this includes lightsabers, blasters, cowboy guns, etc.). If your family has beliefe that inhibit participation in this event, please do not hesitate to reach out as we will plan alternative experiences during this short parade. If your child would like to be in the parade but does not dress up we can absolutely allow this as well. 

Next week, the PTA is sponsoring our first Spirit week of the school year! Students are encouraged to participate but it is not mandatory and should not become a hardship for families. This also kicks off their Spirit Wear sale. The days are as follows: 

• Monday  
• Crazy hat/hair day
  
• Tuesday 
• Crazy sock day and TPS Spirit wear day (If you have't purchased a shirt yet just wear red)
• Wednesday 
• Sports day (wear your team jersey, favorite sports team jersey, pull that TPS gear out again)
• Thursday 
• Book Character Day (dress as your favorite character from a book)
• Friday - Colors day!
• K - Rainbow
• 1st - Red
• 2nd - Blue
• 3rd - Yellow
• 4th - Orange
• 5th - Purple
• 6th - Green
• 7th - White
• 8th - Black
• Staff - Pink

Order Spirit Wear here

A message from Mrs. DiFonso

I am excited to announce that we are working hard to bring back some after school activities for our TPS Warriors! I met with Jaime Greenland (Princeton Rec Director) this morning to get the ball rolling on getting some aferschool activities planned and organized for all ages here at TPS. Is there something you would be excited to offer? Is there a hobby that you have that you'd want to share with the TPS students? Is there someone you know that would love to offer a course?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, we want to hear about it!  Maybe you love baking, lego robotics, art, books, crafting, model building, a specific sport, chess, math or science! Share this interest with the kids! Since the rec department will be helping to facilitate these offerings, there will be/can be payment for your time! 

If you are interested in offering a class/course, please email Jaime (Recreation@town.princeton.ma.us) the following information:  Course Title and desciption, age group you'd like included, length of course (by weeks), time of course (ie/ 3:00-4:15) and estimated budget.   I am really excited and cannot wait to see what kinds of fun we can bring back to the kids!  Thanks Princeton Recreation & Jaime!

New- PTA Spirit Wear flyers

Electronic Folder

The week ahead: 

• Tuesday (10/4) 
• Cross Country meet at Mountview

Learning is fun!

Learning can be and should be fun! Mrs. DiFonso and I have the priviledge of roaming the halls each week and popping in to see the great work our students and teachers are doing together. This week, we wanted to highlight some of our favorite activities and we thought it would be even better to hear about it from the students themselves. We've invited a few guest bloggers to let you in on what they are doing. 

5th Grade Book Tasting: 

"Fifth grade had a book tasting and their first book club this week. In the morning when we came into class, the tables were covered with table cloths. On the tables were four different books on each table. Each table had a different book to taste, all of the books are nonfiction with facts. Each group got to preview and sample each book. We focused on the front and back text and answered some questions. It felt like we were in a cafe! 

On the day of the first book club we got assigned groups base on our interests. Each group had an adult to learn about the book. The adult also asked us questions about the book as well. We felt like our first book club was a success because we got our questions done and got to read some of the book." 

Levi B & Cameran R

6th Grade STEAM:

"In 6th grade science we constructed a tangle free earbud holder. The goal of the project was to use the Engineering Design Process to research, design, build, test, improve our design, reflect on our build and share our final product with our classmates. First we identified the problem, which is: earbuds often tangle when you leave them somewhere out of a case. It was our job to solve that problem. Our group ended up having three basic designs and we decided to build two of them. After we built our first design, we discovered it didn't work well. We then tweaked this design so the earbuds would fit better into the holder, even though it wouldn't look as good as we had hoped. Meanwhile, we were working on our second design. We found that the second design was sleek and smaller. One flaw in our second design was it was more difficult and time consuming to put the earbuds in it. We had our designs finished and we weren't too sure on how we wanted to present our earbud holders. We ended up deciding to make a rap and an infomercial style presentation to share with our classmates.

These are the lyrics to our rap.

Rap:

Listen up! I'm less, less tangled than you, fox holder and new earbuds too.

I'm less, less tangled than you, less tangled than you and you too.

In conclusion, we used the Engineering Design Process to effectively build a tangle free earbud holder that looks good and fits in one's pocket."

Cameron W, Dexter S, & Eldon G

Curriculum Night: Thursday night is a return to our "in person" curriculum night and we couldn't be more excited to welcome everyone back in the building. This is traditionally an adult only event and, for the most, part we would like to keep it as such for this year. That being said, if you do not have childcare, we'd rather you bring your student(s) than not come at all. Grades K through 6 will have two 30 minute presentations so you can plan your evening and try to attend multiple presentations if you have children across the grade levels. Grades 7 and 8 will have shorter presentations (approximately 10 mins) as there are 5 teachers. The timelines are as follows:

• K/3 - 5:00-6:00
• 1st/2nd/6th - 5:30-6:30
• 4th/5th - 6:00-7:00
• 7th/8th - 6:30-7:30
• Specials/Special Education 5:45-6:45

Proof of Sundae: Today was the final culmination of promises made in regards to the PTA fundraiser. The kids did a great job and did in fact earn their pajama day. Plus, each student earned a topping to place on their administrators heads. I think this may have been the highlight for some of them. I submit here for you the photographic evidence that Mrs. DiFonso and I do, in fact, make good on our promises. I hope it puts a smile on your faces as well.

Electronic Folder

New: Monty Tech Flyer

Looking ahead:

• Wednesday (9/28) 
• Half Day PD Day - Dismissal at 11:55
• Thursday (9/29) 
• Curriculum Night
• Friday (9/30) 
• TPS Pride day! Wear your TPS gear or Red to support the Cross Country Team as they prepare for the Wachusett Invitational Saturday! 

Fun Running!

Now that we're into the year, I feel like I should share my purpose in these weekly communications. My intention is to send them every Friday to keep you informed on the logistics of the school and share some of the great learning taking place inside these walls. As a father myself, I find it nearly impossible to find out what happened in his day. Hopefully, some of the pictures and stories I share here can spark conversation at home and you'll get more information than I do! 

Fun Run: Today was the big day and it seemed to come quickly. Thank you to the PTA andBoosterThon for organizing our Fun Run/Color Run! I think it's safe to say it was a huge success! Besides being a ton of fun, the PTA was able to raise nearly $17,000 in a short span to reinvigorate their coffers and eclipse their goal of $9,000. Remember, all this money raised goes directly back into the school to support our children's education through enrichment opportunities, technology, and more. The students crushed all the goals set before them. The overall percentage of people registering earned them a pajama day next Friday. Surpassing the original monetary goal will give them the opportunity to turn me into a human ice cream sundae. The added stretch goal of $14,000 "sweetened" the deal as Mrs. DiFonso will join me. We are finalizing the logistics of this one. 

Attendance and Dismissal: A quick note from the office. If your child is going to be absent please make sure you call the nurse or email her cc'ing Mrs. Nourse in the front office. We can let teachers know but it is easier on this end to pass the information on than it is for teachers to do so with all their students in front of them. Ultimately, Mrs. Nourse and the nurse are responsible for tracking this information. If you are changing transportation, please just call or email Mrs. Nourse. While discussing the nurse, I also wanted to let you all know that our school nurse, Heather Moore, has accepted a position outside of the district. This new job represents a great opportunity for her and her family. We are already searching for her replacement and will let you know once one is found. Meanwhile, I know you will all join me in congratulating her as well as thanking her for keeping our building healthy these last few years!  

Cross Country: This week, our 6th through 8th grade Cross Country team took to the course and raced for the first time this season. When I came to TPS, I hadn't even thought about the idea that we would have sports teams. It was a wonderful surprise! And what a team we have. Coach Larry has great participation and the team showed great camarderie. I was proud to watch them all!

Music Electives: Last call for Chorus, Band, and Strings Sign-ups for students in grades 5 through 8. You can sign up here. 

Electronic folder

New additions: SEPAC - Instrument Rental - Screening Opt-out

Looking ahead: 

• 
  Monday (9/19) 
• Library Volunteer Meeting
• Tuesday (9/20) 
• Bus Evacuation Drills
• Thursday (9/22) 
• Student Council Speeches
• Friday (9/23) 
• Pajama Day! (Thank you PTA and donors!)