TCS News to Know

Tekonsha Community Schools is a Title I district. This means that our school receives federal funding through the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to provide programming that is designed to:

• help students achieve academic success in reading and math;

• provide support for children learning English as a second language;

• increase student achievement in schools with a high economically disadvantaged population;

• increase teacher efficacy through research-based professional learning opportunities;

• support parents’ ability to help their children succeed through quality parental involvement and learning.

To promote student success, we offer the following Title I supported programs:

• free breakfast and lunch for all students

• small group and individual instruction
  

• intervention support in reading (K-5)

• intervention support in math (K-5)

• academic support in ELA & Math (6-12)

• computer-based learning opportunities for remediation and advancement

Parent partnership is another important element of student success. Each year, Title I schools hold a parent meeting to develop ideas for family engagement and provide information about Title I. Our meeting usually takes place on the evening of the Back-to-School Open House. All parents are invited to attend the meeting and provide input.

At our meeting this year, it was suggested to collect more information via a survey from families to help plan our family engagement activities. The family engagement activities are for families to engage in fun academic and enrichment activities outside the regular school day. A hard copy of this survey will be sent home with all students in grades K-5 this week. For any parent that would prefer to digitally respond, you can also complete the survey by clicking the button below!

Additional information about Title I services, parental rights, and family engagement can be found on our website, www.tekonshaschools.org under Departments and Curriculum & Instruction. If you have any questions about our Title I programming, please contact Mrs. JoEllen O’Keefe or Mrs. Aryn Henry.

Have you noticed the new bookshelf in the Tekonsha Elementary lobby entrance? This is our new FREE library! As teachers and individuals clean out their bookshelves, we want books and educational games to go to new homes. Everything on this shelf is free and families are encouraged to take whatever they want! Reading a "new to you" book can be an exciting way to spend an evening together!

Elementary students in grades K-3 have enjoyed making their own unique fish during art class to represent how special each and every student is within the school!

This year, during the village-wide garage sales, the Class of 2025 set up a dunk tank as a class fundraiser for their senior trip. Many seniors took a turn taking the plunge, along with underclassmen willing to get in on the fun. Tekonsha Superintendent Mrs. O'Keefe even got talked into taking a turn on the plank, all in good fun, to raise money for the seniors! After two days of dunking, the seniors raised more than $600! Thank you to all that participated in this extra fun fundraiser!

Did you know that ALL students can have a FREE breakfast every morning at school? The United States Department of Agriculture compiled research on the importance and impact of school breakfast on students. Some of the highlights include:

• Eating breakfast can help improve math, reading, and standardized test scores.
• Children who eat breakfast are more likely to behave better in school and get along with their peers than those who do not.
• Breakfast helps children pay attention, perform problem-solving tasks, and improves memory. Children who eat school breakfast are likely to have fewer absences and incidents of tardiness than those who do not.
• By eating breakfast, students get more of important nutrients, vitamins and minerals such as calcium, dietary fiber, folate and protein.
• Studies have shown that children who eat breakfast on a regular basis are less likely to be overweight.
• Eating breakfast as a child is important for establishing healthy habits for later in life.
• What you eat for breakfast can have an impact on learning. One study showed that eating breakfast food high in fiber and low in sugar for breakfast helped students sustain the cognitive effects of breakfast.
• School Breakfast provides daily servings of fruit, whole grains, and milk, plus roughly ¼ the recommended calories needed for lasting energy.

(Source: https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/sbp/toolkit_benefitsflyer.pdf)

At Tekonsha Community Schools, a FREE breakfast is served to all students in grades K-12 everyday! Students in the elementary eat with their classes in the multipurpose room. Grades 3-5 report to breakfast as soon as the doors open at 7:50 am, eating from 7:50 - 8:05 in the multi-purpose room, K-2nd grade come down at staggered times with their classes between the times of 8:05 and 8:25. In the HS and MS, all students in grades 6-12 can go through the breakfast line in the HS cafeteria as soon as doors open at 7:50 am. Students can eat in the cafeteria or take breakfast to their first hour classes!

But sure to check out the daily breakfast menu to see all of the options available to students each day! All breakfast and lunch menus can be found on the district website at https://www.tekonshaschools.org/departments/food_service or links are posted at the bottom of the weekly TCS News to Know newsletter!

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has compiled some helpful tips for a positive start to the school year. A great suggestion is to print a copy of these tips and hang them somewhere the entire family can reference them! Overall, having a set routing, building connections, managing stress, and seeking outside resources are the building blocks for success at any age! (source: https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/basics.html

• Tips for parents of Children under 12
  
• Tips for Teens

It is not too late to purchase a yearbook from the 2023-24 school year. Don't miss out on this collection of memories! All yearbooks must be ordered through the online site listed below. Click on the photo to access the link! These will only be for sale until the end of September!!

Breakfast and lunch menus for both the elementary and the MS/HS are now available on the website! Click on the links below to access these. Breakfast is available for FREE for all students and is served in the elementary from 7:50 - 8:25 am (times vary by grade) and in the MS/HS from 7:50 - 8:00 am. Lunch is also available for FREE for all students, served from 11:00 am - 12:10 pm in the elementary (times vary by grade). In the HS, lunch is served from 10:45 - 11:11 am and from 11:41 - 12:06 pm for the MS.

• Elementary Menus
• MS/HS Menus

USDA Non-Discrimination Statement

Website: www.tekonshaschools.org
Location: 245 South Elm Street, Tekonsha, MI, USA
Phone: 517-767-4121
Facebook: facebook.com/TekonshaCommunitySchools