Tamanend Connections

Best wishes to all of our Tamanend families for a wonderful summer! This is our last edition of Tamanend Connections for the school year. We will send a "Welcome Back" newsletter on Friday, August 4 with important details about next year. We will hold an open house on Friday, August 25 (date is tentative and details will be sent via email blast). Our first regular newsletter for the 2023-2024 school year will be sent out on Thursday, August 31. Have a safe and enjoyable summer!

4th Marking Period and Final Course Grades--posted to Parent Portal Tuesday, June 20 at 8:00 AM

"Welcome Back" Newsletter--will be sent out Friday, August 4

Open House for the 2023-2024 School Year--Friday, August 25 (tentative); details to follow

First Regular Tamanend Connections Newsletter for the 2023-2024 School Year--Thursday, August 31

First Day of School for Students for the 2023-2024 School Year--Tuesday, September 5

INFORMATION:

• Tamanend’s registration for Fall sports will open on July 1st. All registrations must be done on Family ID.
• PIAA physicals for next school year must be dated after June 1, 2023. Please be sure you are using the UPDATED version which can be found HERE. Don’t wait until the end of the summer to see your pediatrician as appointments are often difficult to get at that time.
• Details and information can be found on Tamanend’s athletics web site, and please continue to monitor the Athletics section of the newsletter for additional information about Fall sports.
• It is becoming increasingly difficult to secure officials/referees/umpires in all sports, and this issue is anticipated to get worse over the next several years. The PIAA is looking to build its officials ranks. If interested, please visit Become an Official - PIAA. Additionally, students who are 16 years old or older have a special opportunity from the PIAA. The PIAA has waived the fee for its Junior Officials Program. All students who go through the course will then have the opportunity to make money officiating middle school through 9th grade sports. For more information, please visit Junior Officials Program.pdf (piaa.org).

FROM CB SOUTH:

• CB South’s registration for Fall sports opened on June 1st. All registrations must be done on Family ID. Please continue to check South’s Athletics web page for updates.

Please check the lost and found for missing items. Any items left behind will be donated to charity or discarded. You can check the lost and found by stopping by our office Monday through Thursday until 3:30 until Thursday, June 22.

The 7th Grade Journey and Legacy teams have great news from the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire! After traveling to Mount Hope Estate in October, all 7th grade students were given the option to participate in a series of post-trip contests. These contests were open to all schools who attended a field trip and routinely see hundreds of submissions across all grade levels. In two of these contests, Tamanend students were selected as winners. The Display Advertisement Contest required students to follow a strict set of requirements to create a promotional piece for the Faire. In this 6-8 division of this competition, Bella F. earned the overall Grand Prize and Athan S. brought home 2nd place. In the Creative Writing Contest, students wrote a short story that incorporated the Faire scenario, the characters they met, and their new learning about Renaissance life. Congratulations to the following winners in the 7th grade division: Naina R.W. (1st Place), Aakarsh A. (2nd place), and Olivia F. (3rd place). All the winners and their families will be invited to a special contest winners picnic held during the 2023 season of the PA Renaissance Faire. Congratulations, Bella, Athan, Naina, Aakarsh and Olivia! We are so proud of you!

World Languages students wrapped up the school year with two cultural celebrations: an international food day and a World Cup Day. Spanish 8th grade students enjoyed learning about typical “tapas’’ or small dishes from Spain. Students prepared and tried a variety of tapas including tortilla española (an egg and potato dish), gazpacho (a cold tomato soup), Manchego cheese with chorizo sausage and olives, pan con tomate (bread with a tomato topping), patatas bravas, gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp), croquetas de jamón and more. 9th grade Spanish students made food from Mexico and were treated to Señora Corsino’s specialty - Colombian hot dogs! French students made sweet and savory recipes from various cities in France. The students prepared and sampled each other’s dishes including La Tarte aux pommes, Le Gâteau au chocolat, Les Crêpes, Le Croque-monsieur, Les Gougères, and Socca, just to name a few !

For World Cup Day, students first learned about the history of the FIFA World Cup, as well as soccer vocabulary and soccer fan cheers in Spanish and French. Then on Tuesday, June 13, students participated in various soccer games and activities during world languages classes. Everyone is looking forward to cheering on their favorite teams in the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup at the end of July!

Each fall, the PSAT/NMSQT is made available to sophomores and juniors across the country. College-bound students often take the PSAT to gain practice for the SAT, an exam many colleges use when making admissions decisions. While not all students take the PSAT due to their own academic readiness, we invite any interested student to register for the exam which will take place on Saturday, October 14th, 2023.

The window for families to register on My Payments Plus will be open from Monday AUGUST 7th until Friday SEPTEMER 8th. The registration deadline is determined by College Board, not CBSD schools.

We are informing families of this information now and opening the payment/registration window during the summer because there will not be much time to register before the College Board’s ordering deadline once school starts. A reminder email will be sent in August when the My Payments Plus window for payment is open.

The PSAT assesses areas of mathematics that include: Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Advanced Math, Data Analysis, and additional topics. There is also an Evidenced Based Reading & Writing Section. For more information about the PSAT, visit the College Board website.

Special note for those who have approved testing accommodations through their IEP or 504: If you feel your student is ready to take the PSAT and they wish to apply to the College Board for accommodations, please contact your student’s IEP or 504 case manager. The College Board’s deadline to submit an application for accommodations is August 21st.

Visit the CBSD website at www.cbsd.org/sealofbiliteracy to learn more. You can learn how to apply for the Seal of Biliteracy by watching this video.

Tamanend Middle School empowers students to grow academically, socially and emotionally. Students, staff, and families work collaboratively to model the acronym ROAR.

Respect yourself, others, and property.

Own your behaviors.

Act appropriately.

Remember Kindness.

We believe that a caring, positive school culture and learning environment foster respectful, thoughtful, appropriate, and kind citizens.

In order to operationalize our mission, Tamanend utilizes a school-wide positive behavioral intervention and support plan (SWPBIS). This plan helps us establish a social culture in which students expect and support appropriate behavior from one another— creating school environments that are socially predictable, consistent, safe, and positive. This helps to reduce problem behaviors that lead to office discipline referrals and suspensions, and to change perceptions of school safety.

• Verifications for current 7th Grade students were to be confirmed in the Parent Portal Thursday, February 16th.
  
• Verifications for current 8th Grade students were to be confirmed in the Parent Portal Tuesday, February 28th.
• Verifications for current 9th Grade students were posted in the Parent Portal on Friday, March 17th and are to be confirmed by Wednesday, March 29th. (If using the Parent Portal app, select the menu and go to “More”, then “Backpack” in order to view and confirm.)
• The CB South Curriculum Fair for next year's 10th Graders was held on Thursday, January 5th. CB South's Program Planning & Curriculum page contains videos from across their various departments and can help give a sense of their offerings. Paramount to the high school transition are relationships and connectedness. Tamanend and CB South counselors will continue to plan and program for relationship-building opportunities as your child transitions to high school, including the forthcoming program planning assembly with high school and middle school counselors, curriculum fair, Q&A with high school counselors during the Intervention and Enrichment time, and welcome days at the high schools. We will share more information about these exciting events soon. Please reach out to your child’s counselor for additional assistance and information as we work together to support this transition.
• MBIT’s Open House was held on Thursday, December 1st at 6:00. Please visit their website (www.mbit.org) to see all of the amazing programs that MBIT has to offer.
• MBIT offers a Summer Exploration Program. Information can be found at Summer Career Exploration Program / Overview (mbit.org).

Families can access the online application for Free & Reduced Meals by clicking here. The application must be submitted each year.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

CBSD is currently accepting applications for Free & Reduced Lunch. Students who qualify for the Free and Reduced School Meals Program may also qualify for a variety of needs-based assistance based on their program eligibility. Federal law requires the family’s consent before Central Bucks School District can use or share eligibility status for purposes other than the provision of free or reduced lunch. This information will only be shared if you consent to help provide needs-based assistance to your student that may be beneficial to your family. Your decision to share or not share this information will not in any way affect your eligibility status for the Free and Reduced School Meals Program; it is completely optional.

If your student(s) qualifies for the Free and Reduced School Meals Program, you will receive a notification of a document that needs your attention in the Parent Portal. The Free/Reduced Lunch Information Sharing Consent Form requests permission to use the eligibility status to qualify for various needs-based assistance and programming. You may consent for all areas listed below, decline consent to all areas, or provide partial consent. See the link below for instructions to complete this consent form.

Free/Reduced Lunch Information Sharing Consent Form Instructions

Best wishes for a wonderful start to the school year.

For supervision and safety reasons, students may not be dropped off at school before 7:10 a.m. If you are driving your student to school and arrive before 7:10, please remain in your car with your student until 7:10 a.m.

Students are not required to purchase a CBSD issued physical education uniform; however, students will be required to change into athletic attire and sneakers to participate safely and practice good hygiene. Student attire must adhere to the dress code guidelines presented in the student handbook. CB locks will still be required to purchase to ensure personal items are secured in a locker. Locks are available for purchase on MyPaymentsPlus.

When the weather is poor (heavy rain, low temperatures, etc.), more and more parents/guardians choose to drive their children to school. A reminder that students are expected to be in their 1st Period classes by 7:30 AM. If a child is late to school because of CBSD transportation, their tardiness will be excused. If a student is late to school because of car trouble, over-sleeping, or they are in the car drop-off line, their tardiness is unexcused. Typically, there are few cars in the drop off line from when the doors open at 7:10 until about 7:20. After 7:20, the line begins to get very long.

If you drive your child to school and the weather is poor, please consider leaving home earlier so that your child arrives to class on time.

Thanks for your assistance!

The regular school day is from 7:30--2:30.

7:10: Students may be dropped off at Tamanend.

7:10--7:20*: 7th Graders wait in the Auditorium; 8th Graders wait in the Cafeteria; 9th Graders wait in Main Gym

7:20: Classrooms open to students

7:27: Reminder bell rings

7:30: First period classes begin

*Breakfast is available to students in all grades beginning at 7:10 in the Cafeteria.

Last year, CB middle schools began running a weekly intervention and enrichment period. The purpose of this period is to provide time, space, and support for students to receive help from a teacher, to participate in enrichment activities, and to prepare for upcoming assessments and projects. At Tamanend, we called this time Tiger's i. For the 2022-2023 school year, our middle schools will be expanding this from a weekly program to a daily program. Students' Tiger's i groups will meet during the I & E block on their schedule.

You may report your child's absence in any of the following ways:

• Phone (Attendance hotline): 267-893-2920
• Written note to be turned in to Main Office
• Through Portal. Click here to learn how to report student absences through Portal.
  

Tamanend is committed to ensuring that every child has a positive experience at our school. We work hard to ensure that we have financial supports in place for families in need. Please be aware that we can help with the following resources:

• Food--pantry with healthy snacks and personal care items available all day outside of Guidance; meals to take home (students and/or parents and guardians can contact Mrs. Consoletti in the Guidance Office or Mrs. Myrtetus in the Health Office); weekend food packages to take home (students and/or parents and guardians can contact Mrs. Consoletti in the Guidance Office or Mrs. Myrtetus in the Health Office)
• Clothing
• Internet access
• Field trips, school supplies, fees
• Holiday gifts

If your family experiences a financial hardship, please feel free to email one of the staff members below so that we may help:

Brian Caughie (Principal) bcaughie@cbsd.org

Kyle Dudley (Assistant Principal) kdudley@cbsd.org

Lauren Myrtetus (Certified School Nurse) lmyrtetus@cbsd.org

Jeff Klein (Guidance Counselor and Athletic Director) jklein@cbsd.org

Mandy Cammann (Guidance Counselor) mcammann@cbsd.org

Andrea Consoletti (Guidance Secretary) aconsoletti@cbsd.org

Please click on the link below to learn about food assistance for families in Central Bucks:

https://vimeo.com/748146211 (English version)

https://vimeo.com/748143109 (versión en español)

Any Central Bucks family who may need a little extra food assistance is welcome to join on us at Barclay Elementary School. Our 2022-23 drive-up food distribution runs from 4:30 to 5:30 PM on the second and fourth Thursday of the month. We generally have free dry goods, fresh produce, milk, eggs, and bread, and often have some frozen meat and poultry. At each event we pass out an average of 10,000 pounds of food. No advanced sign-up is necessary. We kindly ask that you do not line up before 4:30 so as not to interfere with our student dismissal, and that you do not block our neighbors’ driveways. If you do line up during our student dismissal, you will be kindly asked to leave. Also, do not pull forward until you are certain that you have enough room and will not block someone’s driveway. Our neighbors are very understanding and supportive of our work, but also need to come and go during our events.

We received a donation of brand new backpacks. If you would like one for your child, please email one of the following staff members and we will set one aside for you:

Brian Caughie, Principal bcaughie@cbsd.org

Patti Hartz, Secretary phartz@cbsd.org

Andrea Consoletti, Student Service Secretary aconsoletti@cbsd.org

Here is a list of ways Tamanend communicates with students, families, and the community:

• Tamanend website: includes important information, resources, calendar of school events, and daily announcements
• Calendar of school events (posted on our website)
• Daily announcements (Posted each school day morning on our website and in Canvas. Look for the “Tamanend Announcements” course. Students will self-enroll in this course during the first week of school.
  
• TV show (weekly, during Advisory period)
• Email blasts from Tamanend administration regarding important news, new procedures, and reminders
• Parent Portal: student information, grades, and attendance
• Tamanend Connections newsletter: useful information, important reminders, and school highlights emailed weekly during school year and posted on Tamanend website
• Twitter: @CBTamanendMS highlights of activities, events, and daily life at Tamanend
• CBSD app: highlights of activities, events, and daily life in Central Bucks
  

¡Bienvenidos a Tamanend! Yo soy Brian Caughie, Director de Tamanend Middle School. Soy hispanohablante. Pasé mucho de mi vida en España. Estoy aquí para apoyarles a todos los estudiantes y familias en Tamanend. Favor de llamarme or escribirme (en inglés o en español) si Ud. tiene cualquier duda o pregunta.

Correo electrónico: bcaughie@cbsd.org

Oficina: (267) 893-2900

Starting with the 2022-2023 school year, Tamanend is changing how we publish daily announcements. We will continue to post our daily announcements on our website. We will also be publishing daily announcements through Canvas. We believe this change will make students more connected to the many activities and events available at our school. Tamanend Students will self-enroll in the "Tamanend Announcements" Canvas course during the first week of school. If parent(s)/guardian(s) wish to receive the daily announcements via email blast, they should email Mrs. Patti Hartz.

Tamanend students make a difference in our community. Share your story about the accomplishments and good work of a Tamanend student with Dr. Caughie at bcaughie@cbsd.org so that he may highlight this good news in an upcoming edition of Tamanend Connections.

Email: tms@cbsd.org
Website: http://www.cbsd.org/Domain/25
Location: 1492 Stuckert Road, Warrington, PA
Phone: 267.893.2900