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Thomas Timberwolves
School Community Newsletter ~ 10/16/21
Hello, Parents and Guardians,
#HowlTogether! Congratulations to the 21 student-athletes that competed in the IESA Cross Country State meet today after a howling parade from the 6th graders yesterday. We are incredibly proud of the TMS Girls for earning 9th in STATE and the Boys for earning 3rd in STATE! Way to go!
What an exciting week we have coming up at TMS ~ it's SPIRIT WEEK! Our Student Council has planned daily events for the students including a Movie Night on Wednesday, 10/20/21 which will kick off our collection of donation$ for Adopt-A-Family 2021. What a fun way to start the 4-day weekend!
Time is moving quickly! With just 8 school days left in the first quarter and our students continue to thrive in our classrooms with academic progress. This past Monday's School Improvement Day (SIP DAY) gave the staff time to collaborate and analyze the Fall MAP data, strategize on instructional practices, and create plans for additional ways to support student success. Please know that all students are encouraged to attend after-school Homework Club, 11th Hours, or Staff Office Hours if they have questions or would like assistance with their academics.
On Monday, 10/25/21, our students will participate in a RULER lesson that supports their social-emotional learning and promotes student self-efficacy skills. RULER aims to contextualize students’ understanding of emotions and emotional intelligence within their understanding of the real world: personally, at school, in their communities, and in the world at large. Given the various impacts of the pandemic on our culture, at TMS we are working to teach lagging skills in the area of social-emotional learning. Emotions management, self-control, and personal responsibility in unstructured settings such as lunch are areas of development. Please see below for additional details for building strong student habits & preparing for lunch during colder weather.
Important Events & Dates:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 10/18-21-10/20/21 - Spirit Week
Wednesday, 10/18-21-10/20/21 - Student Council Movie Night
Thursday & Friday - 10/21/21 & 10/22/21 - Parent-Teacher Conferences - NO SCHOOL
Saturday, 10/23/21 - National Drug Take-Back Day
Monday-Friday, 10/25/21 - 10/29/21 - DEN Club Red Ribbon Week *More info to come!
Friday, 10/29/21 - PTA Activity Night at TMS *More info to come!
Friday, 10/29/21 - Last Day of Quarter 1 (Report cards emailed 11/5/21)
Saturday, 10/30/21 - D214 8th Grade PSAT - (Make-Up date is 11/6/21) *Please contact D214 directly with questions.
In this newsletter you'll also find highlights on the following items:
Traffic Expectations
Information on Halloween at TMS
- PTA Reflections Contest, PTA Spirit Wear, Parent SignUpGenius for P/T Conference Luncheon, ABC25 Save the Date Get Burbed Challenge
Thank you and take care,
Lori, Greg, & Nick
Parent-Teacher Conference Information - October 21 & 22
Click here to sign-up for conferences via the Meet The Teacher site. This platform will longer accept sign-ups starting on Monday, 10/18/21. A reminder of the conferences will be emailed directly from the Meet The Teacher site.
Conferences will be held in person and each staff member's location is indicated on the Meet The Teacher sign-up. For parent-requested individual teacher conferences, you will need to travel from classroom to classroom. In some cases, team conferences were requested by the team, and parents were notified of this and the team meeting room is indicated on the Meet The Teacher sign-up.
DOES EACH CHILD NEED A CONFERENCE? No, at the middle school level PowerSchool and Schoology offer great insights into a student's academic progress. As a result, not all students do not need a conference. If you are clear on your child's midterm progress and do not have any questions or concerns, we ask that you consider allowing other families to sign-up for conferences as conference slots are limited.
Encouragement on Building Strong Student Habits & Preparing for Colder Weather
Building Strong Student Habits - Please work with your middle schooler on proactive school routines for preparing for school.
BEDTIME:
- Strive for 8 -10 hours of sleep each night. If your middle schooler is struggling to wake up on time or waking up tired and crabby that's a telltale sign that more sleep is needed.
- Limit black lights from UV-emitting electronic devices 1-2 hours before bedtime as these disrupt the sleep cycle by suppressing the production of melatonin.
- Remove cell phones and computers from the bedroom. Try setting a plug in alarm clock as opposed to a cell phone alarm can be helpful. At TMS we can provide your child with one if one is needed.
- Prepare materials the night before. Help your middle schooler find a routine for packing up their backpack, making their lunch, and setting out their school clothes the night before.
- Plan to have your child arrive at TMS between 7:30-7:40 a.m. Using this arrival time will help create a well-paced morning that allows for heavy traffic or inclement weather. Children are more successful at school when they are not rushed and can ease into the school day.
- Refrain from bringing materials to school for your child. If you are finding that your child has called you more than once because they forgot items at home, please help your child develop strategies such as using a checklist or post-its as reminders for materials needed. Repeatedly bringing materials to school is a quick fix that doesn't help build the skills needed for students to experience success independently.
- Encourage proper attire for school during colder weather. We will continue to eat outside as long as we can. Please have your child bring a sweatshirt, jacket, and even a towel or blanket to utilize during the outdoor time at lunch.
LUNCHTIME SOCIALIZATION & TIME MANAGEMENT
- Once the weather drops below 40 degrees and lunch can no longer be eaten outside, we will move to indoor-only lunch. This will include two 20 minute segments of the lunch period. Homerooms will have 20 minutes in a classroom for independent work time/homeroom socialization time and 20 minutes of eating time in the Commons or a classroom where the students are 6 feet apart.
- FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) Once we move to indoor-only lunch it's likely that your child may be disappointed in the lunch structure because they may feel they are missing out on socialization with peers that are not in their homeroom. Please help your child understand that the homeroom lunch structures are in place due to safety measures that help ensure we can keep all of the TMS students attending school in person.
- Please contact TMS admins if you are willing to work the lunch periods as we are seeking lunch supervisors that can be at TMS daily for all three lunch periods.
Tuesday morning visit from Therapy Dog Isla
Officer Butler from AHPD visits with K9 Argos
Argos enjoys the love from T-Wolves
Boys Basketball Tryouts
Boys Basketball tryouts will be held on October 25th and October 26th. In order to participate in tryouts, you must:
1) Fill out the athletic registration form. If you have already filled out it out for Cross Country and selected Boys Basketball, you do not need to fill it out again.
2) Have an updated physical on file. Physicals are good for 13 months, so in order to be eligible for tryouts, the date must be 9/26/20. In order to be eligible the entire season, the physical date should be 1/17/21. If the registration form is filled out, we can communicate with any students that they need an updated physical.
7th Grade
10/25 & 10/26: 4:40 - 6:00pm
8th Grade:
10/25 & 10/26: 3:00 - 4:30pm
Extra Help Is Available
If so, we want to help! Please encourage your child to attend Office Hours/11th Hour/Homework Club and to reach out to teachers for help.
Halloween Information
- No changing outfits at school
- No applying makeup or (hair) sprays on school grounds
- Only Covid-19 approved masks are permitted - masks must not cover the entire face
- Props are not permitted at school
- No blood or blood lookalike materials are permitted at school
If you have any questions please contact the Thomas administration at 847.398.4260.
TRAFFIC SAFETY ALERTS
- U-turns are NOT permitted on Belmont Avenue - this is extremely dangerous!
- Stay in the drop-off line - please do NOT exit the line early by going around the car in front of you. The line is likely moving slowly because of traffic at the parking lot entrance.
- Parking or pulling into our Belmont Avenue parking lot is NOT permitted unless you have a specialized pick-up or a TMS parking permit.
- Students crossing Belmont Avenue are only permitted to do so at the corner crosswalks at Thomas Street and at Olive Street. Please encourage your child to use the crosswalks.
- Student drop-off from cars heading northbound on Belmont Avenue is NOT permitted.
National Drug Take Back Day
Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Mount Prospect and Wheeling Police Departments will be participating in the U.S. DEA’s National Drug Take Back Day. This event will provide the public the opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your pills for disposal to the following locations, on October 23, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.:
Arlington Heights Police Department – 200 E. Sigwalt St., Arlington Heights, IL
Buffalo Grove Police Department – 46 Raupp Blvd., Buffalo Grove, IL
Mount Prospect Police Department – 911 E. Kensington Rd., Mt Prospect, IL
Wheeling Police Department – 1 Community Blvd., Wheeling, IL
(Sites cannot accept liquids, needles, or sharps - only pills or patches.) The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Attached is additional information on the event, along with a list of year-round locations for safe medication disposal in Wheeling Township. For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the October 23 Take Back Day event, go to www.DEATakeBack.com
Pack EXTRA MASKS in Backpacks Please!
- MASK SUPPLIES: Please make sure your child brings 2-3 masks to school each day in the event that a replacement mask is needed. While we have extra masks on hand, it's helpful for the students to have backups.
- MASK WEARING: Please speak with your child about proper mask-wearing that includes covering the nose.
- MASK BREAKS: These are provided as needed for students throughout the school day.
TMS PTA - Meeting Tuesday, 11/16/21 @ 7 PM Join us In-Person or Via Zoom!
All parents, guardians, and staff are welcome to be members of the PTA. As a member of the PTA, you are welcome to attend the monthly meetings, share suggestions, discuss events, and volunteer your time.
The Parent-Teacher-Association meets monthly on the following dates:
Tuesday, 11/16/21 - 7 PM PLEASE CLICK HERE TO RSVP!
Wednesday, 1/12/22, Tuesday, 2/15/22 - 7 PM, March - TBD, Tuesday, 4/12/22, May - TBD
2021-2022 PTA Officers:
President: Amy Hoffman
President-Elect: Suzanne Krause
Vice President: Melissa Teuscher
Treasurer: Kelly Spokas
Secretary: Deborah Oiler
Do you have questions for the PTA? Email the PTA at: thomasmiddleschoolpta@gmail.com
SAVE THE DATE... 4/30/22 - 10th ABC/25 Get Burbed Challenge!
Mark your calendars for April 30, 2022 for the 10th ABC/25 Get Burbed Challenge! We are looking forward to having our district students, families and staff together again for our 5K and 1 Mile events! The ABC/25 Get Burbed Challenge is the only district wide event and raises money to provide grants to teachers and staff through the ABC/25 Foundation. Please follow ABC/25 Get Burbed Challenge on Facebook or Twitter for all race information or visit us at abcchallenge.org. We hope to see everyone there!
Join the ABC/25 Foundation
Please consider joining the ABC/25 Foundation.
The link to join is: JOIN ABC/25.
The cost is $25 for staff members and $40 for families to join.
The ABC/25 Foundation provides powerful grants that schools can earn which can benefit all students.
If you have questions, please contact:
Ann Poyer
ABC/25 Foundation President
847-989-9802
GENERAL D25 BUS INFORMATION
If your child is a bus rider, the bus information and bus passes are sent to you by Laura Comastro from our transportation department.
Her contact information is:(847) 758-4888 or lcomastro@sd25.org
Please direct all transportation and bussing questions to Laura Comastro.
NOTE: Students will not be required to show their bus pass until October.
Illinois State Report Card - Thomas
Thomas Middle School
Email: tmsadmin@sd25.org
Website: https://www.sd25.org/Domain/9
Location: 1430 N Belmont Ave, Arlington Heights, IL, United States
Phone: 847.398.4260
Twitter: @AHSD25Thomas