Updates from the Principal

January 15, 2021

Dear Tashua Families,

It was so wonderful to have the majority of our students back in the building again this week. We thank you for your continued support in following all of the COVID-19 safety protocols. With all of us working together, we can further ensure the wellness of our students, staff and Tashua families. If your child is not feeling well, please notify us and keep him/her home from school. We can make arrangements for your child to access his/her learning remotely, if he/she is feeling well enough to do so.

As you know, parent involvement has always proven to be a vital component of determining a child’s success, especially during the past 10 months. As you continue to support your child with the development of social-emotional learning and self-management skills, I recommend that you explore the text, The Distance Learning Playbook for Parents: How to Support Your Child’s Academic, Social, and Emotional Development in Any Setting, a guide to support your child?s academic, social, and emotional development in any learning environment, including times of distance learning. This resource provides parents with tools to develop routines and strategies to support your young learners during these challenging times.

This essential guide will provide you with the tools and insight to:

• Create an environment conducive to learning, establish routines, and most importantly, take care of yourself and your child
• Maximize the time you spend supporting learning by focusing on what is proven to work best in education
• Help your child develop the cognitive attitudes and habits that foster creativity, critical thinking, and increased responsibility for their learning
• Support the development of your child’s social and emotional learning skills, including the ability to navigate social interactions, build friendships, and regulate emotions at a time when they have never been more important to have, and more challenging to maintain

The following YouTube video will provide you with a preview of the text from one of the authors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwzjMS_dUpU

Another way to motivate your child is to check out the International Literacy World Children’s Choices. Each year, children (grades K-6) from different regions of the United States evaluate books and vote for their favorites. Please use the link below to view the winners from 2020 as well as prior years. https://literacyworldwide.org/get-resources/reading-lists/childrens-choices-reading-list

To further support our families, our K-5 Curriculum Program Leaders, Terry Buckingham (Reading), Elizabeth Doherty (Science), and Mary Santilli (Math), have created a parent website to provide ongoing communication. Please use the link below to access their monthly updates. This website is also posted to our district webpage and will be added to our school webpage. https://sites.google.com/trumbullps.net/programleaders-site/home

Finally, please note that starting on Wednesday, January 20th through Wednesday, March 10, students will follow a half-day remote learning schedule instead of a full remote learning day. The remote learning will end at 1:00 PM on these Wednesdays. Classroom and specialist schedules will be adjusted to provide a balance of instructional time. This will be a full working day for staff.

Again, I thank you for your continued support and partnership in ensuring the success and happiness of our students. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any questions, concerns, suggestions or good news to share.

Warm regards,

Mrs. Neumeyer

Principal

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, January 18 – No School; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Tuesday, January 19 – OLSAT Testing; Grade 5 – this date will be rescheduled for early to mid-February to allow for staff training and technology alignment. The rescheduled date will be shared a.s.a.p.
• Wednesday, January 20 – Early dismissal for students; 1:00 PM – Teacher work day in the afternoon
• Thursday, January 21 – Virtual PTA Meeting; 7:00 PM
• Tuesday, January 26 –
  • OLSAT Testing; Grade 3 – this date will be rescheduled for early to mid-February to allow for staff training and technology alignment. The rescheduled date will be shared a.s.a.p.
  • BOE Meeting; 7:00 PM
• Wednesday, January 27 – Early dismissal for students; 1:00 PM – Teacher workday in the afternoon

Updates and Reminders

• Walker Lines: I have received communication again from some of our Tashua families reporting that individuals are driving to and from the walker lines to drop students off in the a.m. or to pick them up in the p.m. As was shared before, in doing this it creates unnecessary traffic and confusion at these locations and puts our students at risk. In fairness to all, if you need to drive your child to school due to distance or weather, we need you to be utilizing our parent drop-off and pick-up circle in the back of the building. Walker lines are not intended to be drive and drop spots. All of our Tashua families have received a parent drop-off/pick-up number tag to be placed in their windshields. If you have misplaced your child’s tag, please contact Mrs. Holmes in the office, 203-452-4433 for a replacement. We thank you in advance for your cooperation.
• Kindergarten Registration: The Trumbull Public Schools has opened new student registration, including Kindergarten registration, for the 2021-22 school year. Online registration can be accessed via the Trumbull Public Schools website under “General,” then “Student Registration.” A direct link to the form is available by clicking here. After completing the initial form, a parent/guardian will be contacted for additional information, including information regarding residency requirements. Please note that Kindergarten for 2021-22 is open to children born on or before January 1, 2017. Any questions can be directed to Maria Vaz, TPS Registrar, at 203-452-4348 or mvaz@trumbullps.org.
• Breakfast and Lunch: Reminder that all children are eligible for breakfast and lunch. Food Services will have three PICKUP Days per week (Monday, Wednesday & Fridays) starting this Friday January 15th. Because of the Martin Luther King Holiday on Monday January 18th this week’s Friday Jan. 15th PICKUP will include Saturday, Sunday, Monday & Tuesday meals. Moving forward Friday PICKUP will include Saturday and Sunday meals. You may drive around to the back of the school between the hours of 9:30-11:00 AM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to pick-up meals. Please take advantage of receiving these meals. In doing so, you are actually helping our district. For your convenience, Tashua families are allowed to pick up and distribute meals for each other for convenience.
• Wearing Masks and Social Distancing: Please continue to wear masks and be socially distanced at all times. This includes events and gatherings that occur beyond the school day. When children are wearing masks all day at school, but then gather on the playground after hours without masks, it sends a conflicting message to our children and makes others feel uncomfortable. By working together, we can make a difference!

Tashua Takes-Out

Support local restaurants that have graciously donated to our Tashua PTA. Mention “Tashua PTA” when you place your order from one of the restaurants below to receive a discount.

Support our local restaurants AND receive a 10% discount.

Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays: Brick Oven on Main (Take-out) – 203-870-6836

Tuesdays: Trumbull Pizza Company (They deliver!) – 203-261-1430 or 203-261-1431

MiCi – 203-880-5988

Again, thank you to Mrs. Stein for organizing this event!

PTA Membership

Please join our PTA! You can access membership by using this link: www.tashuaschoolpta.membershiptoolkit.com.