Toll Gator Gazette

Assistant Principal: Cindy Davis

Assistant Principal: Scott May

Secretary: Tassie Hall

Office Assistant:Jaclyn Davis

Counselor: Darren Drake

Nurse: Tami Tackett

Health Assistant: Nick Root

Dear TGE Families,

YOU have the best kids! They are working hard each and every day. Thanks for all you do to reinforce our expectations at school. We have had so much success with our GOLDEN GATOR award drawings each Friday, and we appreciate how your children are doing the next right thing every day!

Paper orders for our mum sale are due on 9/11 but we are extending online ordering through the 13th. We have had 20% of our students participate in the mum sale; we would love to boost that to 50%. If anyone wants to buy extra mums and donate them to the school, I will plant them in our front and back beds! :)

We look forward to a partnership with our families so that we can ensure all children reach their potential. Through our collaborative efforts, we will continue to witness why TGE is the place to be!!

Sincerely,

Erika Lomonico
TGE Principal

• This newsletter can be translated into different languages. See the dropdown menu at the top of the page to translate.

• You will receive news, updates, and message the principals and teachers via Talking Points. The message is sent out in your language.

In an effort to enhance our safety and security across the district, all visitors who wish to enter the building during school hours and certain events should be prepared to do the following:

• Enter and exit the building via the school's main entrance.

• Upon entering the building, provide a government issued (U.S.) driver's license or ID. School staff will scan the ID and use the visitor management software to complete a check against various national and local databases and aid with the check-in process.

• Please note the system will only record the visitors name, date of birth, and check against the sex offender database. Additional data from the government issued driver's license or ID is not collected. In certain instances, the visitor's photo will be taken to be printed on a temporary badge.

• If a visitor does not have a valid government-issued ID, they will not be permitted to continue into the school without an escort or approval from a building administrator.

• Once the check in process is complete, staff will issue a visitor badge that contains the visitor's photo and information related to the purpose of their visit. Visitors will be required to wear their badge throughout the duration of their visit and adhere to all board policies related while in the building and on school grounds.

• In most instances, parents will only be required to provide an ID on the first visit of every school year.

• Those who are dropping off items will not be required to check in via the system.

We would like to thank you in advance for your cooperation with this new standard that has been widely accepted amongst school districts across Central Ohio and the nation, and we are looking forward to a safe and exciting school year with you and your family!

Thanks to all the families who have helped us "Fill the Fridges" with different drinks for our teachers and staff (as of now, we have 106 staff members at TGE)! We have 4 fridges in our school, and I would LOVE to fill them all every few weeks!

You can drop off soda, water, sports drinks, coffee drinks, all kinds of snacks, etc. at the front office from 8-4 PM!

Our staff can't do amazon wish lists, but this is something nice we can do to show our support for all they do every day. Please consider donating! We hope to restock the refrigerators every couple of weeks for our staff, and we hope you will help us make this a successful tradition. Thank you in advance!

Pickerington Schools contracts with Petermann Bus Services for its transportation services. You can contact Petermann at 614-837-8525 with any questions.

CLICK HERE for detailed information on how to access your child's transportation information.

Toll Gate Elementary uses Talking Points to communicate with families about things going on in class, in the building, and to send reminders. Talking Points syncs with Infinite Campus so whoever is listed as priority 1 in Infinite Campus receives the Talking Points communication. Also, some families have selected to receive the communication via the Talking Points App instead of as a text message. You may want to login to Talking Points (https://app.talkingpts.org/login) to see your preferences. If you would like more than 1 parent to receive the Talking Points communications, please email me (erika_lomonico@plsd.us), and I will add contacts to Talking Points.

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s),

Toll Gate Elementary School will have the opportunity to provide some therapeutic work to our students and staff this year through the use of a therapy dog. The dog that will be coming into our building has been certified by a therapy dog licensing agency and has completed extensive training to provide support and service to individuals in a variety of settings, including schools.

Therapy Dog research reveals many positive effects as listed below:

• Encouraging communication from students reluctant to speak in other situations

• Facilitating practice of social skills and encouraging a safe environment for sharing

• Helping people cope with grief and loss, illness, or disappointment in their life by creating a calming effect and helping reduce anxiety or stress responses

• Raising endorphin levels in the body through stimulating these senses

• Lowering blood pressure

The therapy dog will mainly be utilized through the counseling office in individual and/or small group settings with selective participants but there will be times that he/she will be available to visit a classroom for arranged academic and social learning support. While we want to offer opportunities for all the benefits that the therapy dogs can provide we also want to protect and uphold our policy toward the health and safety concerns of all of our students. We realize that some students have allergies or other concerns that we need to take into consideration while continuing to provide a safe environment for all. If your child has a medical or emotional issue that would prevent him/her from being near the therapy dog, please contact Mr. Darren Drake, our school counselor, at 614-834-6300.

If you have any questions or concerns about your child working with the therapy dogs, or any questions about the program in general, please feel free to contact Darren Drake (darren_drake@plsd.us).

In English:

Pickerington Schools will take reasonable steps to ensure that persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) have meaningful access and an equal opportunity to participate in all services, activities, and programs available throughout the district. It is the policy of PLSD to ensure meaningful communication with LEP students and families and to communicate information related to the education of all students. All services needed to comply with this policy will be provided for students and their families in need of such assistance free of charge. For assistance, please call 614-833-2110.

(In Nepali)

भाषा सहायतासम्बन्धी सूचना:

Pickerington Schools ले सीमित अङ्ग्रेजी प्रवीणता (LEP) भएका व्यक्तिहरूसँग डिस्ट्रिक्टभर उपलब्ध सबै सेवा, क्रियाकलाप र कार्यक्रमहरूमा अर्थपूर्ण पहुँच र सहभागी हुन पाउने समान अवसर छ भनी सुनिश्चित गर्नका लागि उचित कदमहरू चाल्ने छ। LEP भएका विद्यार्थी र परिवारहरूसँग अर्थपूर्ण सञ्चार सुनिश्चित गर्ने र सबै विद्यार्थीहरूको शिक्षासँग सम्बन्धित जानकारी सञ्चार गर्ने PLSD को नीति हो। यो नीतिको अनुपालन गर्न आवश्यक पर्ने सबै सेवाहरू यस प्रकारको सहायता आवश्यक भएका विद्यार्थी र उहाँहरूका परिवारहरूलाई निःशुल्क रूपमा उपलब्ध गराइने छ। सहायताको लागि, कृपया 614-833-2110 मा कल गर्नुहोस्



En Español:

Las escuelas de Pickerington tomarán medidas razonables para garantizar que las personas con dominio limitado del inglés (LEP) tengan un acceso fácil y la misma oportunidad de participar en todos los servicios, actividades y programas disponibles en todo el distrito. La política de PLSD es asegurar una comunicación significativa con los estudiantes LEP, sus familias y comunicar información relacionada con la educación de todos los estudiantes. Todos los servicios necesarios para cumplir con esta política se proporcionarán a los estudiantes y sus familias que necesiten dicha asistencia de forma gratuita. Para obtener ayuda, llame al 614-833-2110.

En Francais:

Le district scolaire de Pickerington prendra des mesures raisonnables pour s'assurer que les personnes ayant une compétence limitée en anglais (LEP) ont un accès adapté et une chance égale de participer à tous les services, activités et programmes disponibles dans le district. La politique du PLSD est d'assurer une communication efficace avec les étudiants et les familles LEP et de communiquer les informations relatives à l'éducation de tous les élèves. Tous les services nécessaires pour se conformer à cette politique seront fournis gratuitement aux élèves et à leurs familles qui en nécessitent. Pour toute assistance, veuillez composer le 614-833-2110.

2023-24 PTO Meeting Dates (in the TGE Media Center):

JOIN US!!!
Come out to TGE Night at the Columbus Clippers on 9/9 at 7:05 PM! Discounted tickets can be purchased at the following link:

https://fevo.me/tollgateelementary

Dear Pickerington Local School District Families,

We thank you and your family for being our partners as we work together to educate the children in our district. Pickerington Local School District values input from our community, and we need to hear from your child(ren). Their voices are important as we work to improve the overall school experience for students and their families.

We would like your child’s feedback via a 20-30 minute online survey that they will be completing at school. The survey will provide us with social and emotional learning (SEL) information. SEL is the process through which children and adults apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. These are the skill sets that promote success in life.

We are asking that all of our students in grades 3-12 participate in the surveys, as their feedback will provide important insights into their school experiences for direction in planning to meet their needs. If a student does not feel they have enough information to answer a question, they will be able to skip the item altogether. We are partnering with Panorama Education to support us in the survey process. To view the PLSD survey content, please feel free to copy and paste the following links into your browser:

Grades 3-5 SEL Competencies Supports & Environment

Please notify us if you do not want your child to participate in the survey by September 22. To opt-out, you may return the completed form or email your child’s School Counselor.

We thank you in advance for your support. If you have any questions about the survey, please do not hesitate to contact Cathy Ely, Executive Director of Prevention & Intervention Services, at 614-835-2091.

Sincerely,

Darren Drake,

School Counselor

Nepali Translation

Spanish Translation

AVAILABLE RESOURCES FOR PARENTS

The link below contains FREE resources that are being made available to our PLSD parents through a grant between the Fairfield County Educational Service Center and the Cook Center for Human Connection. They are provided as a convenience for our parents and families.

ParentGuidance.org

Website: https://www.pickerington.k12.oh.us/Domain/13
Location: 12183 Tollgate Road, Pickerington, OH, USA
Phone: 614.834.6300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TollGateES
Twitter: @PLSD