Dear TMS Community,
The month of February offers two opportunities for families to connect with TMS. Parent Teacher Student Conferences on Thursday and Friday, 2/15/24 & 2/16/24 and conferences are a great time to meet with your child and your child's teachers to gain insights on middle school progress. Another opportunity that we hope ALL TMS families will participate in is the 5Essential Survey. Please take a few minutes to share your feedback with us by taking the 5Essentials Survey.
In this newsletter you'll find new information for:
Parent Teacher Conference Sign-up Timeline
Daily School Attendance Matters
IAR & MAP Spring Testing Dates
Glenbard Parent Series
Congratulations to the TMS 7th Grade Boys Basketball Team for advancing to IESA Sectionals!
Congratulations to D25 Spelling Bee winner TMS 8th grader Aashritha!
Best wishes SRO Malik!
8th Grade Information - Illinois Youth Survey Information (Survey date 2/26/24 during Advisory)
5th Grade/Incoming 6th Grader Information
Upcoming Events:
Arlington Height Police Department K-9 Argos Visit to TMS TODAY - 2/2/24
Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences - 2/15/24 & 2/16/24
- IAR Testing - Week of 3/11/24
Spring MAP Testing - Tuesday, 4/16/24 & Thursday, 4/18/24
Take care and stay warm!
Lori, Nick, & Greg
TMS Administrative Team
5Essentials Survey
- Click here to take it
- If you have not already, please take a few minutes to complete the 5Essentials Survey. Your participation in the parent portion of the survey will help us understand the conditions at our school and guide improvement. A report will be generated only if we have 20 percent parent participation.
- Survey Link: https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/
- Click here for the 5 Essentials Parent Letter
- Your identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child.*
- Student Survey (Grades 4-8 ONLY) The Illinois 5Essentials Survey will be administered at Thomas Middle School in the near future. For a copy of the questions, click here.
- If you do not want your child to participate, fill out the information at the bottom of this form (linked here) and ask your child to return this sheet to their teacher.
Parent-Teacher-Student Conference Information
Sign Up Time Line:
- A select number of families were sent a request for a Team Conference for the student and parent to meet with multiple teachers at the same time. These families are currently signing up for Team Conferences.
- On Saturday, 2/3/24 @ 8 AM - Conference sign-ups open up for everyone.
- A parent email will be sent TODAY (2/2/24) from D25 with the the conference platform PTC Wizard login information for each TMS student along with an email from TMS with specific conference sign-up instructions on navigating the PTC Wizard platform.
- On Monday, 2/12/24 @ 8 AM - Online conference sign-up CLOSE. Please reach out to your child's teacher directly if you miss the sign-up deadline and wish to schedule a conference. The classroom teacher is the only person who can schedule a conference for you after the sign-up deadline.
Daily School Attendance Matters!
Daily attendance at school is expected and essential to school success. Please work with us to ensure that your child is attending school each day. If support is needed, please reach out to us.
- ABSENCE REPORTING: The TMS attendance reporting options are open 24 hours a day 7 days per week. If your child is sick or unable to attend school, the parent/guardian MUST report this to the TMS office by filling out the Online Attendance Form OR calling the office at 847-398-4260 by 8 AM, the latest, on the day of the absences. Please be sure to report your child's absence so that we can account for all students each day. Advanced notification of absences is greatly appreciated.
- ARRIVAL TIME: Students should arrive at school between 7:30-7:40 AM so that they can stop at their locker and be seated in their homeroom class by 7:50 AM.
- LATE ARRIVAL/TARDIES: Students arriving late to school are unexcused unless a parent or guardian calls to report the reason for the late arrival. Oversleeping and traffic are not considered excused absences. Students must sign in at the office upon arrival at school.
- EARLY DISMISSAL: If your child has a doctor's appointment and needs to leave school before dismissal at 2:45 PM, please be sure to report this to the TMS office by filling out the Online Attendance Form OR calling the office at 847-398-4260. Students must sign out in the office before leaving school early.
Students who are absent from class are encouraged to check Schoology for assignment information. In addition, it may be helpful for students who are absent to attend Homework Club / Office Hours for a few days upon returning to school.
Glenbard Parent Series
District 25 is a partner in the Link Together Coalition which gives our community access to the Glenbard Parent Series. Please check out the various Glenbard Parent Series presentations that work to engage top experts, parents and school staff to become proactive and informed in pursuit of the mutual goal to strengthen our communities. Programs are free and open to the public. No registration required.
Congratulations to Aashritha on winning the D25 Spelling Bee!
Winning the District25 is a remarkable achievement and have earned Aashritha the opportunity to represent District25 in the upcoming Scripps Spelling Bee competition.
Aashritha's hard work and commitment to excellence are to be commended. Best wishes for success at the Scripps Spelling Bee!
Arlington Height Police Department K-9 Argos Visit to TMS - 2/2/24
8th Grade Information
Class of 2024 Graduation Information - Check out the newly added information on the 5/22/24 Great America Field Trip
Graduation Photo opportunity from Stuart Rodgers - 2/15/24 & 2/16/24 - Click here to book an optional appointment
8th Grade Illinois Youth Survey Information - Survey date 2/26/24
District 25 Pre-Registration is now OPEN
Pre-Registration is NOW open to families with incoming new and kindergarten students for next year, 2024-2025! Please begin the registration process by visiting www.sd25.org/Registration and clicking on the 2024-2025 Pre-Registration drop down.
School Resource Officer Update!
School District 25 has a wonderful partnership with the Arlington Heights Police Department and we are very fortunate to have two outstanding School Resource Officers that support our schools. The SROs attend various TMS events throughout the school year and they are an essential part of our Wolf Pack.
- Congratulations to Danny Malik on his new role as the Director of Safety for 2 neighboring school districts.
Once the new SRO is hired by the Arlington Heights Police Department, we will share information.
Please know that you can report concerns or social media incidents to the school administration and or school social workers. In addition, our School Resource Officers from the Arlington Heights Police Department are available to address your concerns and the police station is open 24-7 to report incidents that occur outside of TMS after school hours and on the weekends.
Officer John O'Leary
School Resource Officer
Arlington Heights Police Department
M: 847-878-2949
W: 847-368-5393
TMS PTA INFORMATION
Join the TMS PTA and help support the TMS community! Check out the TMS PTA Website.
TMS PTA meetings are held in the TMS LMC at 7 p.m. All are welcome to attend!
- Tuesday, March 5
- Tuesday, May 7
2023-2024 Executive Board Members
- President: Megan Puzen
- President-Elect: Kris Dugan
- Vice President: Nora Muenkel
- Treasurer: Diane Beardmore
- Secretary: Joclyn Katz
Are you willing to volunteer? Do you have a question for the PTA? Please contact the PTA at: thomasmiddleschoolpta@gmail.com
Student Academic Support Is Available
TMS After School Support by Team is available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays! Students are invited to stay after school for academic support.
Please encourage your child to attend Office Hours/11th Hour/Homework Club and to reach out to teachers if they need help or just want a place to work on their academics after school. This support is FREE and can be extremely helpful.
Click here for more details on options for your child to get help from staff at TMS. The activity bus departs TMS at about 3:35 PM. Please see the Activity Bus Black Out Schedule below.
IMPORTANT HEALTH OFFICE INFORMATION
Student Health: Please continue to use the links and phone numbers on this page: https://www.sd25.org/Page/1451 to report your child’s absence. If your child has tested positive for COVID-19, you can notify the school nurse for guidance regarding how many days it is recommended to stay home (5 days with day 0 as the onset of symptoms or test day if asymptomatic) per Illinois Department of Public Health.
- Physical Forms: Athletes must have a current physical BEFORE they can participate in ANY practices. Physicals are good for 13 months. Physicals can be turned in at the TMS office or uploaded to the TMS Health Office form linked here.
- Dental Forms are due by May 15th, 2024 must be dated after November 15th, 2022.
Please contact the TMS Health Office if you have any questions:
Laura Toussaint - ltoussaint@sd25.org
Stephanie Musolf - smusolf@sd25.org
Bus Information
- All students need to show their bus pass in order to ride the bus!
- Click here for the Bus Safety Guidelines and Rule as well as details on lost items on the bus.
- Bus Company Questions: Contact Cook Co. School Bus Company at 847- 439-0923
- Please direct bus transportation questions to the District 25 Transportation Specialist: Laura Comastro as she can answer your questions and resolve issues.
Safe2Help Illinois
Safe2Help Illinois is a 24/7 program where students can use a free app, text/phone, and website (safe2helpil.com) to share information on school safety issues in a confidential environment. Once vetted, the information provided will be shared with local district and school officials and/or local 911 call center, depending on the nature of the information shared. Safe2Help Illinois is a long-term initiative to change the school culture in Illinois by helping students reach out when they have concerns. To learn further about Safe2Help Illinois, please see the videos below. More information can also be found on their website at safe2helpil.com.
