Thompson Friday Forecast

End of the 4th Quarter

The end of the 4th quarter and the school year is just three weeks away! What a way to end the school year! Please check to make sure that your child is engaged in learning during this quarter using the Home Access Center and contact teachers if you have any questions. Students will need to have work completed by Friday, May 22nd. Report cards will be posted in HAC by Monday, June 1st.

Fourth Quarter Grading

Earlier today, students and families received a ParentLink message detailing District 303’s expectations regarding grading during this time of remote learning. The policy includes clarifications, examples, and scenarios. This document was developed using current district policies. It was refined and revised for clarity by a group of district and 6-12 administrators, including me. Additionally, it has been shared with our teachers and continues to be aligned with District Policy. I can tell you that a great deal of time and effort was contributed in an effort to make this document clear for 6-12 students and families. From a middle school perspective, I would like to highlight and summarize a few of the important points of the document.

The starting point for the 4th quarter, grade wise, for each of our students in their core classes is whatever their third quarter final grade was. Students who make attempts at additional learning, who participate in remote learning activities provided by their teachers during the 4th quarter grading period, will receive, at minimum, whatever their 3rd quarter grade was. However, they can certainly improve upon that mark based on their 4th quarter performance.

Students in a new exploratory class for the 4th quarter should be connecting with their teacher and attempting to acquire new learning in that subject area. By doing so, their 4th quarter exploratory grade will be reflected as a “P” or pass. If students do not engage in their 4th quarter exploratory class, they will receive an “I” or incomplete. Students who are completely inactive during the fourth quarter can expect the teacher to reach out to them directly to “problem solve” how we can get them involved. If that is ineffective, teachers and possibly administrators will be reaching out to parents in hopes of getting their student engaged in learning. If a student shows no evidence of effort or new learning, this will be reflected as an Incomplete on the 4th quarter grading cycle.

At the end of the day teachers are looking for student effort and ownership of new learning. If students reflect that, the grading side should take care of itself.

PLTW Shines!

Thompson and Wredling have been recognized as PLTW Distinguished Schools for the 2019-2020 school year! TMS and WMS were two out of only 176 middle schools in the country to receive this recognition this year. This shows the hard work and dedication staff, students, and families put in to provide innovative and authentic learning experiences through PLTW. Congratulations!

Have a great weekend!
Steve

Teacher Appreciation week is May 4th - May 8th!

Since our students are not able to tell our teachers, administrators or support staff in person, the PTO wanted to send out some suggestions that your student can do to show his or her appreciation for their Thompson teachers and staff!

Reach out via email or send in a Google Document or Slide Show with one of the following:

• send a note to show just how much he or she is appreciated. You could also send it to your team leader and it can be shared with the rest of the teachers on your team.
• let your teacher, administrator or support staff know how he or she may have made a difference for your while you were a student at Thompson.
• write a fun poem.
• take a popular song and switch out the lyrics.
• list all the reasons you appreciate your teacher, administrator, or support staff.
• list your favorite memories from this year.
• make a poster or card and take a picture of it or include yourself in the picture holding it.
• write your message with sidewalk chalk and take a picture of it.
• send any of the above in a video of you. Think about your style... maybe you want to be a news reporter. Be creative!

Tell your friends about this and encourage them to do the same!

Parents, this is also a great time for you to send an email to your student’s teachers, administrators, and/or support staff to let them know how much they are appreciated!

Post your appreciation for a teacher, administrator, or support staff member on Instagram and use the following hashtag: #tmsvirtualteacherappreciationweek

WEB (where everybody belongs) is a middle school transition program that fosters leadership in 8th grade leaders to successfully mentor and welcome the new incoming 6th grade class!! Please click on this link for more information and contact information to sponsors if you have any questions. Applications are due on May 5th.

Please join us for the next PTO meeting this coming Thursday, May 7th from 10:00 - 11:00 am. We will be voting to amend one section of our bylaws and electing officers for next year. This will be the last meeting of this school year. All are welcome! If you would like to attend, please email Nicole Snopko or Kim Walters for a link to the virtual meeting.

Northern Illinois Food Bank invites you to our drive-thru Pop-Up Market to pick up fresh groceries this Saturday at Elgin Community College.

Anyone in the community that may need a little extra help during this time is welcome to join us. No ID is needed.

El Banco de Alimentos del Norte de Illinois les invita a nuestro mercado emergente para recoger comestibles frescos este sábado al colegio de la comunidad de Elgin.

Le invitamos a cualquier persona de la comunidad que pueda necesitar un poco de ayuda adicional durante este tiempo. No se necesita identificación.

When/Cuando: Saturday, May 2 | Sábado, el 2 de Mayo | 10am-1pm

Where/Dónde: Elgin Community College | 1700 Spartan Dr | Elgin, IL 60123

A group of three 8th grade students finished in 1st place in the entire state of Illinois for the 'Stock Market Game.' This is remarkable due to the fact that they finished 1st out of 699 teams! Specifically, each team began with a balance of $100,000.00. They can simply invest in stocks or mutual funds of their choice in this game. This team obviously played the game very well as they finished with a balance of $193,568.23, almost doubling their money. Congratulations to Gabriella Duffin, Jesse Lazenby, and Carson Stephens from Mr. Brandon Petersen’s 1st hour Social Studies class!

And also congratulations goes to Danielle Eng, Allison Gizewicz, and Carl Hoyt from Mr. Petersen’s 3rd hour class. They earned 5th place in the state of Illinois by finishing with $172,720.59! Visit Econ Illinois to learn more about the Stock Market Game.

If you ordered spiritwear from The Hairy Ant, the PTO will contact you regarding delivering it to you next week. Thank you for your patience!

Currently, the State of Illinois has not issued any information regarding changes in the school health requirements or their due dates for the upcoming school year. St. Charles CUSD 303 will continue to monitor and report any changes as they become available from the Illinois Dept. of Public Health/State of Illinois. We recognize that medical, optical, and dental appointments may not be readily available and that specific medical conditions may affect the scheduling of appointments. We recommend that families work with their primary care providers as social distancing practices evolve.

This week's SEL lesson focuses on perspective taking; The ability to look beyond your own point of view, so that you can consider how someone else may think or feel about something. To do this successfully, you must have some understanding of others' thoughts, feelings, motivations, and intentions.” (Socially Skilled Kids, 2020). There are activities embedded in the presentation for students and adults. The five developmental stages of perspective taking; age 3 through 15+ is interesting and helpful to understanding this social-emotional competency.

• Social awareness: The ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others from diverse backgrounds and cultures, to understand social and ethical norms for behavior, and to recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.

The challenges and uncertainty facing families and children are impactful on overall mental health and well being. We are hopeful the resources shared will be a support to parents/guardians and children. If you have any questions on the information provided or are seeking additional support for yourself or child, please contact Patti Palagi, Director Instructional Interventions (patti.palagi@d303.org or 331-228-6457).

We want students to learn every day! Monday through Thursday our teachers will be providing lessons. Friday is a day to continue learning by completing lessons, catching-up on past or missing work, or doing enrichment lessons.

Please visit the website D303 Optional Remote Learning For Students to access enrichment lessons. In addition to the weekly SEL activity, the website houses a variety of optional learning experiences in the areas of math, digital citizenship, English Language Arts, college and career, and STEM. We encourage you to ask your child to engage in the SEL lessons before exploring the other choice options. Although these optional learning experiences were designed for use on Fridays, students are welcome to engage in the learning experiences on the website anytime.

As you know, Principal Morrill recently lost his wife Diane to cancer. Diane was a music/orchestra teacher for Addison District 4 for many years. A scholarship fund to support District 4 students who participate in orchestra has been established in Diane's name. If you are interested in contributing, please click on this link for more information.

Please keep Steve and his sons in your thoughts!

If your child has medication in the health office that you need to retrieve at this time, please email Diane Isbrandt RN, PEL-CSN at diane.isbrandt@d303.org for assistance. When guidance for public access to school settings is received from the Illinois Department of Public Health/CDC, details on a general medication pick up process/timeframe will be shared.

Thank you for your understanding and support at this time!

Returning Student Registration for 2020-2021 has moved to an online format that opened on Monday, April 27th. In years past, parents completed the necessary paperwork in paper format. This year, all acknowledgments and authorizations are contained in a single electronic, online registration form that will be easily accessible from most electronic devices (computer, Chromebook, and Smartphones).

Parents can sign into the Returning Student Online Registration form using their Home Access Center (HAC) credentials, select individual students, and complete their registration. The form is located in the Parents/Community menu of the District website and on Thompson’s website under Parents/Registration Materials.

Registration fees for elementary and middle school are available in PushCoin and billed to reflect the early bird discount of $10.00 if paid by May 22nd. High School fees will be available in June. For families who may qualify for a fee waiver, and are not directly certified by the state, a 2020-2021 district fee waiver application will be available on the District 303 website in July, accessible from the Parent/Community menu.

Please contact the main office if you have any questions at (331) 228-3100!

Although the administrators and office staff are following the governor’s stay-at-home order, we are still available to answer questions and assist you when needed. Please call the main office at (331) 228-3100 or email one of the administrators. We are here for you!

• 6th Grade Assistant Principal - Shane Darnell
• 7th Grade Assistant Principal - Grant Montgomery
• 8th Grade Assistant Principal - Sarah Cann
• Principal - Steve Morrill

Unfortunately, all field trips and track season are canceled for the remainder of the school year. If you paid in PushCoin the money was credited to your account. If you paid with a check or cash, a check from the school will be mailed to you. Please be patient as this will take a bit to issue these checks. If you have any questions, please contact Kim Walters.

Every year, Thompson students publish a Thompson Yearbook. Students who decide to purchase a yearbook are given this keepsake at the end of the school year. Buying a yearbook is optional and not all students choose to own one. The price of the yearbook is $25.

Have you ordered your Thompson 19-20 Yearbook? You can check your PushCoin account to see if you have purchased one by going to 'transactions' and then adjusting the start date back to April 1, 2019. Contact Kim Walters (kimberly.walters@d303.org or 331-228-6410) if you have any questions or need financial assistance. Or stop in the main office during conferences!

• Thursday, May 7 - PTO Meeting from 10:00 - 11:00 am
  
• Friday, May 22 - Last day for Early Bird discount for 2020-2021 fees
  
• Friday, May 22 - Last Day of School

Mr. Steve Morrill - Principal

Mrs. Sarah Cann - Assistant Principal

Mr. Shane Darnell - Assistant Principal

Mr. Grant Montgomery - Assistant Principal

Let's Talk!

Email: kimberly.walters@d303.org
Website: http://thompson.d303.org
Location: 705 West Main Street
Phone: (331) 228-3100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thompson-Middle-School-671638232903851/