It is official, the 2024-2025 school year is off to an amazing start! Students entered the halls smiling and eager to begin anew. It is lovely to watch friendships rekindled and new bonds being formed. Children have the opportunity to expand their world in so many ways when school is in session!

Many of our returning families know that the Smore newsletter provides valuable information each week that will help you plan accordingly and take advantage of so many opportunities. We strive to include important dates, procedures and photos of students each week. Our new families can connect in meaningful ways to create a strong sense of community. Kindly read through to the end of the newsletter for many critical pieces of information.

As always, we are delighted to have all students and staff back in the building. We are also grateful to our hard working custodial staff for preparing the building over the summer. Their dedication and planning allows for us all to learn in a clean and safe environment.

Wishing you a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Enjoy the long weekend and we look forward to seeing the students again on Tuesday.

Best,

Ms. Ponte, Principal

Ms. Molloy, Assistant Principal

Please join us on Thursday, September 5, for our annual Back-to-School Night. The purpose of this event is to strengthen the vital communication process between families and teachers. You will have the opportunity to become familiar with the grade level curriculum, learning goals, classroom procedures, and how to best support your child at home. A thorough understanding of expectations in these areas is the first step in maximizing student success.

Our continued focus is on ensuring all students develop to their full academic, social, and emotional potential. We are extremely fortunate to have a wide array of personnel in our elementary schools and strive to utilize all staff in an equitable manner to achieve these goals. Parents play a key role in their child’s development and a robust school-home partnership is the hallmark of a quality school.

Times for the event are as follows:

• 6:00 – 6:45 p.m. Grades K, 1 & 2 in classrooms
• 7:00 – 7:45 p.m. Grades 3, 4 & 5 in classrooms

Our specialist staff members are available to answer questions face-to-face in their classrooms throughout the entire evening. The PTA/Father’s Club will also be present in the cafeteria for information, sign-ups and will have Middlebrook spirit wear for sale.

The staff and administration feel very strongly about the necessity of consistent school-home communication; our Back-to-School program is a major component of this communication. Please make every effort to attend. This is for parent/guardians ONLY.

We look forward to seeing you on September 5th!

In order to keep all our children safe, and to avoid any dings or dents on your automobiles, please read carefully if you are using car pick up and/or drop off.

It is necessary for all parents to stay in their vehicle. A staff member will gladly assist in helping your child into or out of the car. Having your child exit from the passenger side ensures they exit onto the sidewalk and not into oncoming traffic. The color coded tag provided to you must be displayed in the passenger window. This helps our staff members call your child to your car in a timely manner. Pulling all the way forward allows us to unload and load students in a safe and expedient manner. In the morning, we will be closing the doors at 8:35 promptly. If you arrive after 8:35, please proceed to the main entrance.

We ask that you are mindful that we have students who may require extra assistance. We seek to provide each student with the best plan for their well being.

As always, thank you for your cooperation.

During the first few weeks of school we acquaint students with a myriad of procedures necessary for a successful year. This includes district-required safety drills; such as a fire drill, lockdown/stay put drill and an extreme weather drill. The fire drill is repeated eight months out of the year, the lockdown/stay put drill three times and the extreme weather drill one to two times. Teachers and students follow the procedures outlined in the district’s Classroom Emergency Response Chart. Teachers discuss these procedures with students prior to the actual drills so students are relaxed during the drills.

We explain that the lockdown/stay put drill is an indoor drill to keep us safe. We do not allude to the actual purposes of the drill, such as an intruder on campus or air quality issues. We explain that the extreme weather drill is designed to keep us away from the windows should a large storm pass through our area.

All the drills are low key and most students seem to enjoy the responsibility of participating. Please discuss the drills we conduct at school with your child and address any concerns.

Together we make Middlebrook School a safe learning environment for all.

Now is the time to enroll your child in our band and strings programs. Please use the link below to access information and enrollment instructions. Students love working with Mr. Turechek, our band teacher, and Mrs. Savkovic, our strings teacher.

Band & Strings Registration Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdsZn3Y61JCQKX07KdYTvvrB0eAsIitZlXKgdiVcHn6jER7BQ/viewform

SAVE THE DATES!
2024-2025 Concert Dates:

December 9th - Winter Concert

May 14th - Spring Concert

My name is Milica Savkovic, and I am the strings teacher at Middlebrook School. I would like to let you know that strings lessons will be on Wednesdays this year. Please fill out the registration form using the link above before your child’s first strings lesson.

Strings lessons will start on Wednesday, September 11th.

Please note that third-year strings students will use Essential Elements Book 2 this school year. All beginning students should have their instruments and books ready by September 18th at the latest.

If you have any questions, please email me at savkovim@trumbullps.org or call me at

203-452-4411 ext.7142.

Band lessons will begin on Monday, September 16th.

Postural Scoliosis Screening will be completed for female students in grade 5. Please have your child wear a tank top/bra under their shirt. Screenings take place on Wednesday, September 25th and Thursday, September 26th.

If mandated screenings were documented on a physical exam for the current school year, and they were submitted to the school nurse, they may be used as the valid screening for this year.

If the results of any screening tests indicate further evaluation, the school will notify the parent/guardian and recommend further medical evaluation of the suspected problem. If the nurse is unable to test a student, the parent/guardian will be notified.

If a parent/guardian does not want a student to participate in any of the screenings they should notify the school nurse in writing/email at jhoggatt@trumbullps.org

Summer Math Reminder: Elementary Summer Math Website

All students that participated in the TPS Summer Olympics Math Program have 2 items due:

1. Please be sure you have done the Paper Summer Math Exit Ticket and send the corrected packet back to school to be handed to classroom teacher. (Downloadable Packet and Answer Key can be found here for your entering grade level) Due by Friday 9/13/24 Summer Math Exit Ticket
2. Please be sure to fill out this google form to be included in both the CT Commissioners Summer Math Challenge and the TPS Summer Math Olympics. Due by Friday, 9/13/24 CT Commissioner's Summer Math Challenge 2024 Form
   

Final submissions for summer reading are due by Friday 9/13.

Here is the link the google form:

https://forms.gle/7J8bTcQNGinqxWz8A

The CHET Dream Big! Competition launched on August15th! This competition is brought to you by the Connecticut State Treasurer’s Office as Trustee of the Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET). Dream Big! is open to all Connecticut residents in grades K-12.

This is an opportunity to win contributions toward your child's CHET 529 college savings plans!

This year, they will be awarding almost $350,000 in CHET 529 College Savings Plan – Direct Plan (“CHET 529 Direct Plan”) account contributions to students in grades K-12 and technology prizes to schools. For the winning students, they will be awarding:

• Three prizes of $20,000
• 24 prizes of $6,000
• 239 prizes of $500

To enter, students are asked to answer a question in the form of a drawing, painting, essay or video. Younger students will be asked to answer a question focusing on lessons they’ve learned and their dreams for the future. Older students will be asked about an experience or person that has impacted them and how that will influence their future goals

Submissions must be uploaded by 11:59 p.m. on November 4, 2024. There is no cost to enter. For program details and entry process visit:

www.chetdreambig.com

Thank you for your support!

The CHET Dream Big! Competition Team

Welcome Middlebrook Families! The Middlebrook Fathers Club is excited to welcome our new and returning members!

The club is a group of fathers who get together to plan exciting events for the students throughout the year. Our biggest and most popular event, taking place on Friday October 25th, is our annual “Zombiebrook” Halloween Party! The event is filled with games, food, and of course, our famous Haunted Hallway! Keep reading the weekly SMORE for more details in the coming weeks. As we get closer, tickets will be available on the Membership Toolkit.

We have more exciting events to be announced in the near future!

If you’d like to join the club, please use the following Google link to sign up!

https://forms.gle/BGXXBijaG8cqxrsJ7

Our first meeting will be held in the Middlebrook cafeteria on Wednesday September 11th from 7-8 PM to discuss the planning of Zombiebrook. We look forward to seeing you!

If you have any questions about the club, please email your Co-Presidents at middlebrookfathersclub@gmail.com

Ryan Mones & Max Palmer

Co-Presidents, Middlebrook Fathers Club

The first meeting of our Parent-Teacher Association is on Monday, September 23rd at 7:00pm in the library. We'd love to see you there!

https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1724692407/trumbullpsorg/r8pvk47vxvle5xmn1rxr/ele.pdf

• Use the translate and accessibility buttons at the top of the page to make the newsletter format work for you.
• Previous newsletters are stored on our school website as the year progresses.
  
• Use the Table of Contents on the upper left side of the newsletter to quickly navigate to a specific section with just one click.
• Open the weekly newsletter before the weekend begins so your family is ready for all that is happening at Middlebrook and can relax Sunday night.
• Share the newsletter with your child.

Please take the time to fill out the TPS volunteer form for the 2024-2025 school year. All individuals seeking to volunteer in the Trumbull Public Schools must fill out and sign this “School Volunteer Security Check” form prior to beginning volunteering. The form must be completed annually. No person whose name is listed on the Department of Children and Families (DCF) Child Abuse and Neglect Registry, or who is registered as a sex offender under state or federal law may volunteer in any District schools. Failure to provide complete or accurate information on this “School Volunteer Security Check” form will disqualify an individual from volunteering in any District school. A volunteer is defined as an individual, other than an employee, who works with the students at any of the Trumbull Public Schools.

If you plan on volunteering, please fill out this form. Keep in mind, every cell of this form needs a response in order to be processed. If a cell does not apply to you, please indicate N/A. We thank you in advance for volunteering! 😊

Monday, September 2nd

No School - labor Day

Thursday, September 5th

Back to School Night

Grades K,1,2 6:00-6:45pm
Grades 3, 4, 5 7:00-7:45pm

Sunday, September 8th
Grandparents' Day

International Literacy Day

Tuesday, September 10th

BOE 7:00pm

Wednesday, September 11th

Patriot Day

Strings lessons begin

Father's Club 7:00pm in the cafe

Sunday, September 15th - Tuesday, October 15th

National Hispanic Heritage Month

Tuesday, September 17th
Citizenship Day/Constitution Day

Saturday, September 21st
International Day of Peace
World Gratitude Day

Sunday, September 22nd
First Day of Autumn

Monday, September 23rd

PTA 7:00pm in the library

Tuesday, September 24th

BOE 7:00pm

Tuesday, September 24th - Thursday, September 26th

Vision and Hearing Screenings grades K, 1, 3, 4, 5

Thursday, September 26th

Picture - more info to come

District ML (Multilingual Learners) Night 6:00pm (location TBD)

Friday, September 27th

School Store - grades 1-5