Debra Hixon, Chair

Sarah Leonardi, Vice Chair

Lori Alhadeff

Maura McCarthy Bulman

Brenda Fam, Esq.

Dr. Jeff Holness

Nora Rupert

Rebecca Thompson

Dr. Allen Zeman

Dr. Howard Hepburn

Superintendent of Schools

Greetings Tradewinds Families,

As we reflect on this school year, we’re filled with gratitude for the many occasions and activities that have brought us together as a school community. Your unwavering support and involvement make you an invaluable part of our Tradewinds Elementary Eagle Family, and we truly appreciate you!

To streamline communication and ensure you receive timely updates, including quarterly student interim reports and report cards, the district has transitioned to the Parent FOCUS Portal. This user-friendly app provides real-time access to student information, grades, school updates, and more. If you haven’t already, please visit Parent FOCUS Portal for instructions on signing up and downloading the app.

With Quarter 2 wrapping up, we encourage all families to register for FOCUS and connect with your child’s teacher to schedule a parent-teacher conference. If you need assistance with the registration process, please don’t hesitate to contact us — we’re here to help!

December may be a short month, but it’s packed with opportunities to support our students’ growth and learning. We are excited to continue working with families during the FAST and iReady PM #2 assessments, which are critical in closing achievement gaps and preparing for spring testing. Your partnership in monitoring your child’s progress is key, and we’re here to support every step of the way.

We also invite you to join our active PTA, SAC, and SAF groups, where parents and staff collaborate to plan student activities, celebrate successes, and share ideas. PTA memberships are just $10 and directly benefit our students. Don’t forget to check out our website and attend our monthly SAC and SAF meetings to stay informed. Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, December 5th, at 2:20 PM in the media center — we hope to see you there!

As we enter the holiday season, a time for love, laughter, and togetherness, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude for your incredible support. You are the heart of our Tradewinds Elementary community, and we couldn’t do this work without you.

With immense gratitude and best wishes for the season,

Dr. Priscille Elie
Proud Principal
Ms. Natalie Brantley
Assistant Principal

Our Mission Statement & Vision Statement

Our Mission: A diverse community of learners and educators striving toward educational excellence for all.

Our Vision: Committed to developing a learning community of caring individuals and life-long learners. Self-worth is cultivated in a nurturing environment and decisions are based on what is best for students.

Please do not hesitate to contact our main office at (754) 322-8700 if you have any questions.

Educationally,

Dr. Priscille Elie

Proud Principal #Excellenceisthestandard

Important Message

• Your Input Matters! 2025/26 School Year Calendar Survey

  
  

  We are excited to announce the Superintendent's Calendar Committee is
  seeking your input on three proposed calendar options for the upcoming 2025/26 school year.
  Take the survey at browardschools.com/calendarsurvey.

1. Awesome Buddies
2. Cheer/Dance
3. Debate
4. Enrichment Masters
5. Environmental
6. K.I.N.D.
7. Robotics
8. Safety Patrols
9. SECME
10. Student Council

Tradewinds PTA is getting ready for the holidays! Our holiday shop flyers will be coming home soon and we are looking for volunteers to assist at holiday shop to help make it a great experience for the students!

Sign up here:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050D4EACA72CAAFA7-53138827-holiday#/

Our annual Tradewinds GIving Tree is up and running! Sign up below by choosing a child to shop for and help spread some holiday joy for our Tradewinds students.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050D4EACA72CAAFA7-52756389-twegiving#/

The PTA is also looking for enthusiastic volunteers to join our Events Committee! Sign up here for more information

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeFaocVgjQSf-gdTgpZjdyKqeGPYfwMOFZZevckMssLTL40AQ/viewform

We are sad to lose our 2nd Vice President Lauren Dunaj but we are thrilled to announce that Steffany Goldfarb is our new 2nd Vice President and Lisbeth Linert is our 3rd Vice President. New to the board is Kerene Robinson who is now our Correspondence Secretary.

We are currently accepting donations of gently worn uniform items for our Second Threads Donation Closet. We are in particular need of girls and boys clothes, sizes 8-12.

Members can win a Yoga Cure gift certificate by purchasing a membership or sponsor a teacher or friend to win. Our classroom membership competition ends this week, the teacher with the most memberships wins a $25 Amazon gift card and the class receives a pizza party!

Join here:

At Tradewinds Elementary, we are fortunate to have a team of wonderful teachers dedicated to your child’s success. Please note that there is no need to submit specific teacher requests, as we cannot guarantee placement with a particular teacher.

As it relates to addressing teacher concerns, If you have any concerns, you’re welcome to reach out to the administration, and we’re happy to assist. However, we will always ask: Have you communicated with the teacher? Is the teacher aware of your concerns? Have you scheduled a parent-teacher conference? Our staff is committed to addressing any issues that are brought to their attention, so please make every effort to speak with the teacher first.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. We’re all in this together, and I sincerely appreciate your partnership in supporting our students.

Parents this is for YOU! The District will implement a new Student Information System (SIS), Focus School Software, beginning in the 2024-2025 school year. Student's schedules will be available for parents to view on FOCUS beginning August 7th.

Focus will replace Pinnacle, Virtual Counselor, PCG (EdPlan), BASIS, and TERMS. It centralizes all applications used by parents into one districtwide system, incorporating attendance, grade book, scheduling, report cards, transportation, and communication.

To sufficiently inform parents and guardians, the Parent and Community Involvement Task Force and District staff hosted Parent University: Get Focus(ed)! on April 8, 2024, to provide an introduction and overview of the system. The recorded webinar may be found at https://www.browardschools.com/parentuniversity.

For detailed information, Focus Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and translated directions for parents and guardians to register for the Focus Parent Portal, visit https://www.browardschools.com/focus.

For Focus SIS project information, please check the Focus Resource Hub.

Should you have any questions, please reach out to Focus Communications at focuscommunications@browardschools.com.

Tradewinds is a unified dress school and students are expected to follow the color patterns of hunter green, gold, khaki and white. As these colors may be a bit challenging to find during certain seasons, students are permitted to wear variations of greens and yellows.

We are pleased to announce that there will be 2 NEW On-Campus Enrichment Clubs (i.e. the STEAM Club and the Strive Sports Club) at TWE for the 2024/2025 school year. The STEAM Club participants explore 8 Different Programs (e.g. Robotics, Painting), while Strive Sports Club participants learn and practice 4 Different Sports (e.g. Basketball, Flag Football).

Clubs will be conducted at the school and held once a week from 2:00pm to 3:30pm. Few spots remain for K-1st graders as well as 2nd-5th graders for Monday club classes. Once filled, the provider might offer a Wednesday class for TWE, which will have 20 SPOTS for K-1st graders and 20 SPOTS for 2nd-5th graders. To register or for more information, click the links below or see the attached flyer. See essential links by clicking button below.

Tradewinds Elementary DOES NOT, allow birthday celebrations or allow bringing in birthday celebration items such as cupcakes, treat bags, drinks, pizza, etc. There will be two classroom celebrations occurring during the school year (Winter break and End of Year celebrations). Your child’s teacher will advise you of the exact date of these celebrations.

A monthly “Birthday Table” sponsored by the PTA will celebrate the students’ birthdays in lieu of individual classroom activities. This also takes the place of sending balloons, cupcakes, flowers, surprise gift or “goody bags,” etc. to your child during the day. We are unable to accept these items. If they are sent to school, they will not be accepted and will have to go home with the parent. No exceptions.

Parents, guardians, and community. We look forward to assisting you in any way we can, however, when calling or emailing to get in touch with a member of the administration team or any staff member please allow 24-48 hours for us to return your call or respond to your email. We will gladly assist you with addressing your concerns, comments questions, or suggestions.

Thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation in this matter.

The first bell rings at 7:50 a.m. In order for students to be considered on-time, all students must be in their classroom by the 8:00 a.m. bell. Once the 8 o’clock bell rings, children will have to be signed into the front Office by a Parent/Guardian. Help start our Tradewinds students' day out right by attending school on-time each day and on time!

Students & Staff: It is mandatory and imperative that ALL students AND staff wear their school issued identification badges while on campus. There are no exceptions.

Visitors: Any visitors on campus, if they need to gain access onto the campus, must be issued an ID badge from the front office and processed through the Raptor System with a valid ID. Also note that parents or guardians picking up students early must have a valid ID in order to do so. Not having an ID will prevent your child to not be released until proper identification is presented to the front office staff.

Safety and security are our top priorities. Please make sure to remember the following safety procedures:

• All visitors must report to the front office.
• All visitors must go through our Raptor Visitor System.
• All visitors must have an I.D. in order to gain access to the school.
• All parents must have a Dismissal car tag to pick-up their child. A picture of the sign on your mobile device is acceptable as well.
• Students will wear their I.D.s while on campus
  
• Parents must update their contact information with the front office.
• All students should be in uniforms. Our uniform policy is listed in this newsletter and our website.
• Consistency with dismissal is critical. Please alert the teacher and office ASAP of any changes.
• Early student sign-outs will cease at 1:30 p.m.

Parents please ensure that you make it a priority to check your child's backpack daily if need be and speak with your child about what is allowed and not allowed to be brought to school such as real or toy weapons, such as guns, knives, and other things as indicated in the Code of Conduct. Class A and B weapons if found on an individual could be considered as an expulsion offense. Safety and Security is everyone's responsibility. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me at 754-323-6800. Also take a look at the Code of Conduct and the infraction and the consequences.

School Climate & Discipline / Code of Conduct (browardschools.com)

The Code Book For Student Conduct (browardschools.com) (K-2)

The Code Book For Student Conduct (browardschools.com) (3-5)

The Code Book For Student Conduct (browardschools.com) (ENGLISH)

Libro del Código de Conducta del Estudiante (browardschools.com) (SPANISH)

Cêdigo de Conduta do Estudante (browardschools.com) (PORTUGUESE)

Final Code SY 2021-2022 11_4_21v4b_ht.pdf (browardschools.com) (HAITIAN CREOLE)

ACTION: Schools must obtain parent/guardian consent for school health services. All parents must provide written consent if they wish for their child to receive school health services. The attached consent form should be distributed to all parents/guardians immediately. Schools should exhaust all options necessary to obtain parent/guardian consent.

RATIONALE: Under new Fla. Stat. § 1014.06, licensed health care providers and practitioners as defined in Fla. Stat. § 456.001 may not provide, solicit, or arrange to provide health care services to children without first receiving written parental consent. Schools should note that § 1014.06 provides that violators will be subject to disciplinary action under licensing statutes, administrative fines, and potential criminal action.

The Parents’ Bill of Rights allows parents to do the following:

• Access and review all medical records (unless the parent is the subject of a criminal investigation for harm to a child).

• Opt out of HIV/Aids education for their child.

• Opt out of any portion of the school district’s comprehensive health and sex education.

• Reject medical treatment for a child unless the state can prove the child’s own welfare would be best served by such treatment.

• Exempt a student from required immunizations.

• Create a list of people, by priority, who may consent to the medical care or treatment of a minor when a parent or legal guardian can’t be reached.

Scholastics First (K-2)

• Log into https://sso.browardschools.com
• Click Log in with Active Directory
• Log in username and password
• Click on Scholastics F.I.R.S.T

NewsELA:

• Log into https://sso.browardschools.com
• Click Log in with Active Directory
• Log in username and password
• Click on NewsELA

BrainPop and BrainPop Jr.:

• Log into https://sso.browardschools.com
• Click Log In with Active Directory
• Log in username and password
• Click on BrainPop or BrainPop Jr.

Khan Academy

• https://www.khanacademy.org/
  

Readworks:

• Log into https://www.readworks.org/

Spelling City:

• Log into https://www.spellingcity.com/

STEMScopes:

• Log into https://sso.browardschools.com
• Click Log in with Active Directory
• Log in username and password
• Click on STEMscopes

• Reading Sites
  
• IREADY www.i-ready.com
  
  Weekly Reader -The same great magazine used in classrooms around the country has a great website devoted to extending reading activities at home.
  http://www.weeklyreader.com
  
  Scholastic's Book Central - https://kids.scholastic.com/kids/home/
  
  Scholastic Activities for families to participate together.
  https://www.scholastic.com/parents/kids-activities-and-printables.htm
  
  
• Kids-Reads A great resource to find out about books, authors, and illustrators.
  
  http://kidsreads.com
  
  Star Fall - http://www.starfall.com
  
  Time For Kids - http://timeforkids.com/tfk/
  
  "Ultimate Guide to Reading Comprehension"
  http://www.supersummary.com/reading-comprehension-guide/
  

The School Board of Broward County, Florida, prohibits any policy or procedure which results in discrimination on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation. The School Board also provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Individuals who wish to file a discrimination and/or harassment complaint may call the Director, Equal Educational Opportunities/ADA Compliance Department & District’s Equity Coordinator/Title IX Coordinator at 754-321- 2150 or Teletype Machine (TTY) 754-321-2158.

The School Board of Broward County, Florida, prohibits any policy or procedure which results in discrimination on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation. The School Board also provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Individuals who wish to file a discrimination and/or harassment complaint may call the Director, Equal Educational Opportunities/ADA Compliance Department & District’s Equity Coordinator/Title IX Coordinator at 754-321- 2150 or Teletype Machine (TTY) 754-321-2158.

Individuals with disabilities requesting accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008, (ADAAA) may call Equal Educational Opportunities/ADA Compliance Department at 754-321-2150 or Teletype Machine (TTY) 754-321-2158.

Tradewinds Elementary School: "Building A Brighter Future"

Email: priscille.elie@browardschools.com
Website: https://www.browardschools.com/tradewinds

BCPS Website: http://www.browardschools.com
Location: 5400 Johnson Road, Coconut Creek, FL 33073
Phone: 754-322-8700
Instagram: @tradewindsBCPS
Twitter: @tradewindsES