Core Notes

Dear TCS Families,

Below you will find some important reminders and news about things going on from around the Tuscaloosa City Schools. Please take a moment to read through the information below.

From the MegaWOW open house that will happen tonight at TCTA-- if you have a child in TCS, I encourage you to go, regardless if they are in high school yet or not-- to the record numbers of TCS students taking dual enrollment, there are so many great things going on in our schools right now.

Also, a reminder that the Tuscaloosa City Schools will be closed on Monday, Feb. 19 due to President's Day. On Feb. 20, students be out of school due to a staff planning day. This is all dependent on there being no more severe weather days before then.

Thank you again for your support of the Tuscaloosa City Schools!

Mike Daria, Ed. D.

TCS Superintendent

The number of students in the Tuscaloosa City Schools (TCS) enrolled in dual enrollment courses has reached a record high the spring 2024 semester at a total of 382 students enrolled in 473 courses.

Of the students eligible for dual enrollment, 32.9% of TCS students were enrolled as of Fall 2023, ranking above the 25% nationwide average participation in the program.

Central High School has the highest percentage of the three TCS high schools, with 43.4% of eligible students enrolled in dual enrollment. Approximately 34.1 percent of eligible students at NHS were enrolled in dual enrollment, and 25.1 percent at Paul W. Bryant High School. To enroll, students must be in 10th grade or higher in a city high school, be in good standing and have a 2.5 minimum GPA.

“In the Tuscaloosa City Schools, the growth of our dual enrollment participation speaks to our high expectations for each and every student,” said Andrea Markham, coordinator of post-secondary engagement for TCS. “Dual enrollment participation is one of many ways in which students can access rigorous coursework.”

TCS dual enrollment participation has increased greatly in the past few years, growing 65% from the 232 students enrolled in Fall 2021.

This development is largely due to the ELEVATE dual enrollment scholarship. The scholarship, created by the City of Tuscaloosa in 2020, has expanded to allow eligible 10th, 11th and 12th graders to take up to twelve free credit hours at The University of Alabama, Shelton State Community College (SSCC) and Stillman College.

Shelton State also gives students who take dual enrollment at Shelton State using the ELEVATE scholarship during high school the option to take twelve additional credit hours at SSCC in the summer or fall after they graduate high school, completely free of charge. The ELEVATE scholarship is a unique opportunity offered exclusively to TCS students.

“This is access at its best,” said TCS Superintendent Dr. Mike Daria. “When we give our students access, we give them opportunity.”

Students can also take dual enrollment courses through SSCC at the Tuscaloosa Career and Technology Academy (TCTA) in Welding, Cosmetology, Culinary Arts, Modern Manufacturing, Ready to Work and Industrial Electronics. TCTA is another unique offering for TCS students, and for those dual enrollment classes, students must have a 2.0 minimum GPA, Markham said.

It’s unlikely the number of students taking advantage of the ELEVATE dual enrollment scholarship will decrease any time soon, Markham added, which is a benefit to students as it opens the doors to the possibility of higher education.

“We anticipate that our participation numbers will continue to grow."

For more information on dual enrollment in TCS, go to TCS Dual Enrollment.

TCTA will host its bi-annual "Mega-WOW" open house event Thursday where parents, students and members of the community can explore the hands-on experiences offered through classes at TCTA. This is a great way for students who are not yet in high school, or currently in high school, to find out more about what classes they can take at TCTA and learn more about career options available. If you haven't been to "Mega WOW" before, be sure to attend! The event will be held from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Middle School students from across the Tuscaloosa City Schools showed off their science projects and competed against other students in grades 6-8 from the Tuscaloosa area in The University of Alabama's STEM Showcase Feb. 3.

TCS had several winners, including Best of Show winners Maddie Lee and Lillie Reardon from Tuscaloosa Magnet Schools-Middle. For the complete list of all winners by category, click HERE. Winners may go on to participate in the Central Alabama Regional Science and Engineering Fair at The University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Congrats to all the students who participated!

Have you seen the "mannequin" challenge videos on social media? Well now the Saban Center is getting in on the action and we'd like as many of our TCS students to participating!

The Challenge: Saban Center believes that STEM and the arts are the future, and we want you to show just how fun STEM can be! Do you remember the mannequin challenge? Well, now we have the Saban STEM Stop, and your class, friends or family to join the challenge. We encourage you to be as creative as possible with their poses/formations.

Step 1 – Create a pose or formation with the class, friends or family and hold the pose as if you are frozen in time. The pose must be STEM- or arts-related. Some examples can be a ball floating in midair, students building a tower, youth performing a theatrical production or simply a human pyramid. Remember to have fun!

Step 2 – While the participants are “frozen,” slowly walk through the formation recording the pose.

Step 3 – Once you are finished recording, add the following trending audio – “Still Standing” by Taron Egerton from the movie “Sing” – to the video.

Step 4 – Write a caption for the video that includes a @SabanCenter tag and the following hashtags: #SetTheFoundation, #StemChallenge, #STEMStop, #SabanSTEMstop, #SabanCenter, #STEMchallenge and #ScienceChallenge.

Step 5 – Upload the video to your favorite social platform (Instagram, Facebook and/or TikTok). We’ll be sure to re-share and create a compilation of all of the videos!

Post Date: Immediately! See below for an example of a Saban Stop video!

Mr. Sam Hensley, assistant principal at Eastwood Middle School, is our Everyday Amazing shout-out recipient from a fellow colleague!

"Mr. Hensley is doing an amazing job as our newest Assistant Principal. He is always willing to help, listen, guide, support, or whatever else is needed to help our school function successfully. He goes above and beyond for our school - faculty, staff, students, and parents. I am very thankful that we have someone with Mr. Hensley's energy, work ethic, and mindset at our school!" - submitted by Christie Watson.

Submit your own "Everyday Amazing" shoutout about a TCS employee making a positive impact: https://survey.k12insight.com/r/everydayamazing

As we move toward the referendum this fall regarding additional funding for the Tuscaloosa City Schools, it is important that we meet with as many members of the public as possible to help educate about what will be on the ballot.

If you have a neighborhood association, church group, book club or some other kind of social organization, we would love to come and give a presentation about the upcoming referendum and what it means for public education in our community. To request Dr. Daria or one of the board members come to a meeting, email Lydia Avant at LAvant@tusc.k12.al.us.

Details about the referendum can be found by clicking HERE.

Background on the issue:

In October, the Tuscaloosa City School board unanimously voted to offer a tax referendum in 2024 to allow voters to decide whether to increase property taxes to support TCS. According to the resolution, if city voters approved a tax referendum in August 2024, the city's property tax millage rate could increase by up to 11.5 mills.

The City of Tuscaloosa voted in December to allow the referendum to be held. Now, it will go before the state legislature for approval before the issue can be placed on the ballot for the public to vote on August 27, 2024.

If approved, the millage increase would generate around $17.25 million a year starting in 2025 for the Tuscaloosa City Schools. The last time local tax rates were increased to support the Tuscaloosa City Schools was in 1986.

If approved by voters, the new revenue would benefit three areas:

• School safety: ensuring there are school resource officers in each and every school during the school day and beefing up security infrastructure.

• Educator Excellence: retaining and recruiting the best and the brightest educators through competitive pay and benefits.

• Premier Student Programs/Services: Making sure that the current programs continue, and rigorous academic opportunities and student programs are expanded.

On February 12th at 6:30 p.m. in the Paul W. Bryant High School auditorium, Studio 106, the music industry ensemble from the Tuscaloosa Fine Arts Academy at Paul W. Bryant High School, will be collaborating with the esteemed Governor's Own Popular Music Ensemble, the 151st Army Band.

This joint performance is a unique opportunity for our students to showcase their musical talents alongside professional musicians.

This free event promises to be an evening filled with outstanding musical performances, highlighting the dedication and hard work of our students in Studio 106, as well as the skill and artistry of the 151st Army Band.

Happy National School Counseling Week! This week, Feb. 5-9, highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career.
We are thankful for the work our TCS school counselors do on a daily basis!

Watch the video below to learn more about the great job one of our school counselors, Jessica Finklea, is doing at The Alberta School of Performing Arts!

Fourth grader Kylee Keene said she loves attending University Place Elementary School because she knows she can always count on every adult in the school to help her. #AmazingtotheCore

Reminder: TCS will be closed on Feb. 19 for President's Day. Students will also not come to school on Feb. 20 due to a teacher planning day. Plans could change for Feb. 20, only if severe weather calls for additional school closures between now and then.

Curious about what will happen in case of severe weather? There may be times that the Tuscaloosa City Schools may have to close due to inclement weather. TCS administrators keep a close watch on weather forecasts with constant updates from the national weather service. When school closures are needed, that decision is made following discussions with local meteorologists and often in coordination with the Tuscaloosa County School System.

Student safety, including during severe weather, is a always a top priority. Unfortunately, severe weather is an occurrence that picks up in the winter and spring, especially in Alabama. Please stay weather aware.

School closure announcements will be made via social media, phone and email when schools have to close. However, we will make up instructional time in-person if a full day of school is missed.

Check out our weather policies and terminology here: News / Emergency Communications (tuscaloosacityschools.com)

Attendance is critical to future success. Please make sure your child is at school, on time, each and every day!

BSN Sports has set up online "swag stores" for our schools where any student, faculty or parent can buy school branded gear. This was a desire that was expressed by students during the Superintendent's student advisory meetings at the high schools last school year.

The "swag" on these sites include a variety of price points, brands, and are in men's, women's and children's sizes, plus they have cups and other items as well. On the main page, they also have gear per sport.

There is also branded gear for the elementary and middle schools, too! To see the middle school and elementary options, on the desktop website, once you have clicked on the type of item to browse, you can go to the sidebar where it says "campus" and then select feeder school, where the items will pop up with other school names. Select the school that you want.

Each feeder zone will receive 10% back of all purchases in the form of a store credit/rebate that can be used for future branded purchases by the school(s). So, support your school and show school pride!

Northridge feeder zone store: NORTHRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL JAGUARS - TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - Sideline Store - BSN Sports

Central feeder zone store: CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL FALCONS - TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - Sideline Store - BSN Sports

Bryant feeder zone store: PAUL W BRYANT HIGH SCHOOL STAMPEDE - COTTONDALE, Alabama - Sideline Store - BSN Sports

It is important to remember that if you or your child see or hear something concerning, please report it to your school's principal. It can be the first step to saving a situation from becoming dangerous. Again, "See Something, Say Something!"