Cougar Connection

As we step into February, we want to kick off the month with a special "Spread the Love" challenge! Let’s make kindness and positivity contagious throughout our school. A little bit goes a long way- so we encourage students and families to share messages of kindness, do something small to help a friend out, or just make an effort to smile more. We have another busy month ahead, thanks for all you do to make this community great.

Quarter two report cards will be available in your Parent Portal Account this afternoon. You can access them by selecting "Student Reports" from the left hand column.

It's that time of year where we have everything from the flu to stomach viruses going around. We know that when our students are sick they need to stay home to rest up and feel better. When they are well, we want them here with us. Thank you for your continued partnership in meeting attendance goals for every student at TEMS.

Check out some highlights from this month:

• TE Change Leaders and the Student Council all attended the Connecticut Association of Schools Middle Level Leadership Conference. Students from Connecticut middle schools engaged in training focused on bringing about positive change to their school climate by participating in workshops designed to increase their skills in building positive school climate and positive social networking.
• All proceeds from last week's CougarThon Volleyball tournament benefited CCMC. The CougarThon club has raised over $2,500 so far this year. They will be hosting a school wide dance on February 21st.
• The TE Change Leaders are also focused on philanthropy. Each year this group of students aim to bring awareness and fundraising for a cause. This year they are focusing their efforts on cerebral palsy. This path month students had a donation drive and students had a chance to win dozens of prizes each week. They have more plans in the works. Students can tune in to TETV News each morning for the latest.
• The TEMS choral concert was held on January 9th and our Orchestra concert was on January 16th. Our musicians continue to draw in incredible crowds as they showcased their talents.
• Grade 6 welcomed meteorologist Steven Glazier to learn more about how we can predict weather. Did you know that weather chasing planes, also known as Hurricane Hunters, are aircraft that fly into storms to collect data for research and forecasting?! The data helps scientists and forecasters understand the structure of storms and how they move.
• TEMS students trained and prepared for FIRST LEGO League (FLL) competitions.

  A TEMS team-consisting of Aaron Aldrin (Grade 7), Aashish Prabhuraj (Grade 7), Saathvik Maheswaran (Grade 6), Amogh Uppala (Grade 8), and Vihaan Vijay Ragi (Grade 8) earned 1st place in Robot Design at the Farmington Regionals and 2nd place in the Core Values Project category at CT States.

We aim to keep everyone "in-the-know" about important school events and activities. You can reference the school event's calendar found on our website, or follow TEMS on Facebook, Twitter, and Threads. You can also reference the monthly calendar that I share each month below. The most up-to-date information is always shared on TETV News.

The daily TETV Morning News serve as our primary vehicle for communicating important information to students each day. This is where students can learn about upcoming events, tryouts, clubs and activities, and current events. In addition to playing during homeroom each day you can access the daily news on our school website.

• South Windsor Public Library Teen Events
• Hartford Public Library Teen Events
• 2024-2025 School Calendar
• 2025-2026 School Calendar

I am happy to share an opportunity with our community that is being offered in collaboration with South Windsor Youth and Family Services and South Windsor Police Department. Screenagers is a film that explores adolescent use of social media, video games, and the internet. We see the impact of increased use of technology every day at TEMS, and we appreciate the continued partnership with our families to make sure that our children use devices responsibly. We have worked with Y&FS and SWPD in the past to bring a screening of Screenagers last year and are happy to be offering this again thus year. This year we are featuring the elementary edition, but the information and strategies for families and schools are still very relevant to middle school parents and educators. This event is free and there will be childcare and pizza available for students in grades K-8. Please see the flier below for more information and click here to register.

Join us for an unforgettable journey across the ocean as our talented middle school cast and hardworking crews bring Moana, Jr. to life on stage! This heartwarming adventure follows Moana as she discovers her true strength, embraces her heritage, and sails into legend alongside the demigod Maui. Filled with vibrant music, captivating storytelling, and stunning performances and behind-the-scenes efforts by over 100 of TE’s very own students, this is a show you won’t want to miss!

📅 Performance Dates:
📍 March 6, 7, & 8
🕖 Thursday & Friday at 7 PM
🕐 Saturday at 1 PM & 7 PM

🎟 Tickets:

• $10 for students & adults

• $5 for seniors (65+) & children (5 & under)

• On sale starting February 24

• Purchase at the door or order in advance (details on our ticket order form)

Come support our young performers and experience the magic of Moana, Jr.! 🌺

Throughout the course of the school year the South Windsor Public Schools administers various assessments to monitor your child’s progress towards district benchmarks. The i-Ready assessment is given to students in grades 1-8 in the fall, winter and spring in both reading and math. Teachers use this information, combined with other classroom measures, to inform and guide their instruction and to match learners to appropriate supports. You can expect a family report with your child's scores sent electronically within the next two weeks.

While there is a great deal of information shared on this report, it is, however, important to note that this score reflects your child's performance on only one assessment at one point in time and that we often see some variance between administrations. This links to a guide that may help answer questions about your child’s report. Should there be any changes to programming or additional support needed, your child’s teachers will be in contact with you directly. We are committed to partnering with you to support your child’s growth and success. Thank you for your continued involvement in your child's education.

The Smarter Balanced (SBAC) assessment in English language arts (ELA) and

mathematics will be administered to all students in grades 3 through 8 as part of Connecticut’s summative assessment system. In addition, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) test will be administered to students in grades 5 and 8. Please click here for the family letter with information about the state testing schedule at TEMS.

We start the month of February with celebrating National School Counseling Week February 3rd-7th. I want to take a moment to express our gratitude for the incredible work of our school counselors. Their dedication to supporting our students' academic, social, and emotional growth is truly invaluable.

Our counselors play a critical role in fostering a safe and nurturing environment, helping students navigate challenges, and guiding them toward success. This week serves as a reminder of their commitment to our students’ well-being and the positive impact they make each and every day.

Please join me in thanking and recognizing our school counselors- Mrs. Levrault, Mrs. Kutz, Mrs. Jennings, and Mrs. Lakomy for their hard work and unwavering support of our students and school community.

In our efforts to help families plan ahead, our school nurses want to share information with 6th grade families about the medical requirements for the start of 7th grade.

A current physical and record of the vaccines listed below needs to be completed and shared with our office before the start of seventh grade. Some doctor’s offices administer these vaccines during the 6th grade physical so it is likely that some families may already have this documentation.

Please reference the following health requirements for the start of 7th grade:

● Most Recent Physical- within the last year

● Tdap (brand name: Adacel, Boostrix) - one dose

● Meningococcal (Menactra, MCV4) - one dose

Come for an evening of fun and learning. Interact with professionals working in STEM fields and learn more about clubs and programs at TEMS and SWHS. Pizza will be available for purchase and the Book Fair will be open for families to shop.

Mrs. Eva Longo is the TE Library Media Specialist. In addition to managing circulation in the library she also supports students' access to information and resources. This month she would like to share information about the resources available on the TE Library webpage.

During the months of December and January, all sixth grade students learned how to access our district and school databases through the TE Library Media Center webpage. For this lesson, we specifically focused on using Britannica School. Students also created an account and correctly cited one or two sources using our district wide citation generator, NoodleTools.

We talked about the difference between using a database versus a website and how a database was a good place to start any research when looking for reliable background information on a topic. Many students already knew the importance of citing one’s sources. All students brought up the importance of giving credit to where credit was due as well as practicing being ethical users of information.

I was proud of all sixth graders who worked diligently as we walked through the process of creating correctly formatted citations within NoodleTools. The exposure to knowing where to go for good, vetted information before going to the open web, along with knowing how to access and use NoodleTools will serve students well as they progress through middle school and help prepare them for their research experiences going forward.

The South Windsor Preschool Outreach Program is now accepting applications for the 2025-2026 school year. Learn more about the program by clicking here. Here is the link for the application: POP Role Model 25-26 application.

Grade 8 families- see the flier below for more information about the upcoming ACTFL Assessment being administered in February. Click here to download the flier and here to watch a video with more information.

Our growing middle-schoolers face problems of all kinds. Why is it that sometimes it seems that someone can go through really rough times and still bounce back? The difference is that those who bounce back are using the skills of resilience.

The good news is that resilience isn’t something you’re born with or not—the skills of resilience can be learned. Resilience—the ability to adapt well in the face of hard times; disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, or fires; tragedy; threats; or even high stress—is what makes some people seem like they’ve “got bounce” while others don’t.

Click the link to read more from an article from the American Psychological Association titled Resilience for Teens: 10 Tips to Build Skills on Bouncing Back from Rough Times.

The next meeting is scheduled for February 20th at 6:30 and will be virtual. Go to the TEMS PTO Website to stay up to date on news and activities. Here is the link to join the meeting.

The PTO is looking for more volunteers to support the planning of Teacher Appreciation Week. Email teptopres@gmail.com for more information or to volunteer.

The PTO is also asking for student feedback about what types of engagement events they'd like to see planned. Click here to submit your response.

Key PTO Events:

• PTO Staff Appreciation Planning meeting 2/3 @ 6:00
• PTO Meeting 2/20 @6:30
• PTO Sponsored Scholastic Book Fair March 10th-17th
• PTO Sponsored "Mad Scientist", Book Fair, and Pizza on March 14th @ 6:00

We are welcoming grade 5 parents and guardians to an information night at TEMS on February 12th. This has been shared with families but help spread the word. Thank you!

We're excited to be bringing back the TEMS Writing Center. Students can come to our student run writing center for help with a research paper, essay, or any other writing assignment.

CLICK HERE to visit our website and schedule an appointment.

If a student device is not functioning correctly, please refer to the Troubleshooting Common Chromebook Issues Document.

If a student device is broken or not working correctly, please have the student visit the Chromebook Help desk at school in room 376. The updated hours for the help desk are 7:45am-12:00pm daily.

For additional resources, please visit the EdTech Resources for Students website.

Tuesday's at the Teen Center are back! These are special hours just for Timothy Edwards Middle School students. If your child is looking for something fun to do and hang out with friends, the South Windsor Teen Center has got what they need. They even provide transportation if you need it. Students have to fill out this form to attend. Any questions please call the Teen Center at 860-648-6360. Hope to see your middle schooler here!