TPMS Community Newsletter

Last week proved to be busy but filled with lots of great activities and events which provided opportunities to engage in real life learning, supported our well-being and celebrated individuals and our diverse community!

We began the week with the last day of the 7th grade field trip to Finance Park at the Thomas Edison Center. Students engaged in a store front simulation of managing finances to be able to provide for themselves and possibly a family. The resounding takeaway was that adulting is challenging and there are many financial responsibilities and decisions that cause one to consider individual circumstances, familial obligations and planning for today and the future. I'd like to extend my appreciation for our parent/caregiver volunteers and the Junior Achievement volunteers that facilitated the simulation. Our students were highly engaged and represented TPMS well! Back at school, we also enjoyed welcoming our parents and caregivers in for open house! It was fun getting to connect with our parents and have them observe and/or participate in their child's classes.

Last week, we also held our first quarterly House Meeting. During the first two hours of the day, students assembled in their advisories to engage in wellness and SSL activities and their houses to acknowledge and celebrate one another as we recognized our STRIVE students of the quarter, our SSL achievements and our academic achievements. We had 134 students who have earned their graduation requirement of 75 SSL hours, 538 students who made Honor Roll (3.0 or higher GPA), and 328 students who earned Straight A's (4.0 GPA). Our therapy dog visited and brought joy to our students and staff during lunches. Ms. Murphy's Theater 3 class took a field trip to Blake HS to preview their fall performance of Mamma Mia! The Our Minds Matter club recognized International Stress Awareness Week (a week delayed) during lunches as students had the opportunity to participate in an awareness display. And finally, the PTSA and TPMS held our Annual Multicultural Night on Friday. This was an amazing celebration of the cultural heritage of our families. A huge thanks to our organizers, Summer Lingard Smith, Vishal Sinha, Emily Modde and Ramata Diop. Check out photos from all of our events throughout the newsletter!

Parent Conferences - November 25th (1:30-6:30pm)

On Monday, November 25th, we encourage parents and caregivers to participate in our TPMS Parent Conferences. During this event, parents and caregivers will be able to visit and conference with individual teachers for a 5 minute conference. We recommend parents to make a list of the teachers they want to meet with prior to the event. Parents do not need an appointment. If you have any questions about parent conferences, please reach out to Carlyn Patterson-Breese or Pam Lever.

Sincerely,

Erin Martin

This Thursday, November 21st, the Bell Schedule Committee will hold a parent engagement meeting to discuss the TPMS Bell Schedule for the 2025-2026 school year. Here is the zoom link:

Join Zoom Meeting

https://mcpsmd.zoom.us/j/5927982432?pwd=Zk9WdHhtckRpZVdIc0pFUEczQ2ZmQT09

Meeting ID: 592 798 2432

Passcode: 594195

The SGA is sponsoring their annual Fall Dance. All students are invited to attend but MUST sign up ahead of time to attend. Students may not bring anything larger than a purse to the event. If you have any questions, please contact our SGA sponsors, Jessica Weichert or Jacob Chow.

Last year, our staff expressed an interest in re-examining our bell schedule. We convened a committee to engage our stakeholders to provide feedback on the benefits and drawbacks of our current bell schedule and the ways in which it both benefits student learning and teacher's ability to deliver high quality instruction and was in which it complicates teaching and learning. We used multi-stakeholder feedback to examine multiple options. Last week, we engaged our teaching staff to provide an update and get their feedback. This week, we will be engaging our 6th and 7th grade students, on Wednesday, through our advisory period. This Thursday, we will be holding a 6th and 7th grade parent meeting to engage our parents and caregivers.

On Monday, November 25th, Spirit Wear will be on sale during parent conferences from 1:00-6:30pm. Please the flyer below for items and pricing. Please contact Hilary Ericson if you have any questions.

As part of our advisory program, we focus on building community, lifting student voice and providing Social Emotional Learning (SEL) on a variety of topics. As part of our SEL lessons, we incorporate lessons that focus on digital citizenship utilizing the Common Sense Media lessons. Please see the chart below for the lessons we will be incorporating this year.

Additionally, Common Sense Media provides family resources to support your child at home.

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Citizenship Resources for Family Engagement

The next MCPS Special Education Advisory Committee meeting is November 21 at 7pm. SECAC is comprised of parents/guardians, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) staff members, and representatives of Montgomery County community groups that advocate for students with special needs and serve to advocate for, and advise, the Office of Special Education (OSE).

SECAC is open to everyone.

• “Please sign up to bring soup or pie for our teacher-caregiver conferences on Nov 25! Happy teachers make for happy students, and nourishing them with delicious food is an easy, fun way to support our community! Let's treat our wonderful staff to a soup and pie dinner during the upcoming teacher-caregiver conferences on November 25th. Please sign up to donate food and/or to help staff the dinner. Thank you!”
• Alisa and Amy, PTSA Staff Appreciation
• https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0C4DA4AC28A4F49-53167012-soup

The TPMS community was in full vibrance on Friday night, showcasing cultural talents, foods, items and fashions. I want to extend special thanks to parents, Vishal Sinha, and Summer Lingard Smith for helping plan and make this event happen. A huge thanks to teachers and staff who came to see their students, and/or help support and staff the event. And of course, a huge amount of gratitude goes to the students and families who created such wonderful table displays, prepared delicious foods to share, and performed to hundreds of TPMS community members - without you, this incredible event is not possible.

• NOTE: If your student participated or volunteered for the event, and signed up to do so, they will receive their SSL hour forms on Monday in the front office.