Summer is right around the corner, and we are very fortunate to offer yet another year of summer school at Taft! Teachers and administrators are currently working on summer school lists, who we might think would benefit from some extended work. Our plan is to create class lists based on needs first, then open up enrollment to those who might be interested. Be on the lookout for more information in the coming weeks, but in the meantime see below for some general information regarding summer school at Taft. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me in the office.

Taft Summer School

Dates: June 6 - June 30 (Monday through Thursday only)

Times: 8:30am - 11:45am

Topics to cover: General education classes, extended learning, interest focused lessons, specials

Please come and join us for Taft's Little Library Reveal and Bingo for Books. Check out the flyers below for more information.

Taft will hold its last Scholastic Book Fair of the year on May 19th & 20th. This will be a great opportunity to stock up on summer reading materials for your students. Please be on the look out for a parent volunteer letter that will be sent home next week.

We have just completed our final round of MAP testing! We are all so proud of our students for working so hard these last few weeks on the different testing they have had to take. We will be sending their latest results home next week after we can make sure we test any students who might have been absent. As a reminder, these scores help us gather short and long-term data so we can properly plan and execute effective instruction to our Taft students. Please look for that form to come home and talk to your kids about their results.

Summer school notes will also be coming home next week. We will be asking for specific students to attend first, those who we feel would benefit from it the most. After that, we will open it up to the entire school. We try to keep our class sizes low to ensure we can maximize the learning potential in each grade level. Please look for these forms to come home as well, along with your child's MAP results.

Taft Summer School

Dates: June 6 - June 30 (Monday through Thursday only)

Times: 8:30 AM - Noon

With Teacher Appreciation Week now come and gone I would really love to thank all of Taft's teachers and staff for all of the things they do to make our school a great place for kids. Working in education is not an easy profession. Every time you turn on the news there seems to be an all-out assault on public education and teachers feel the brunt of that. Our staff comes to school every day and attempts to give each and every one of our students the best education possible. They truly are the magic that makes our school work and I truly appreciate all of their efforts.

I would also like to thank all of our parents for their outpouring of love and support for our staff this past week. The amount of food and treats that were delivered to our schools was a sight to see. It is sometimes difficult for all of us to see the results of our hard work and our parents certainly showed us that they appreciate all of our staff's efforts and I am truly thankful for that.

On Wednesday we are going to reintroduce the use of lunch tables in our lunchroom. Over the past several weeks we have greatly reduced the number of mitigations and distancing between our students and things have been going exceptionally well. Please reach out if this change still makes you feel uneasy and we can work to find a suitable solution for your child. Our students and community have done a fantastic job of respecting each family's individual decisions and I anticipate that will not change in the near future.

Please use the button below to access the 2022-2023 School Calendar.

Registration for the 2022-2023 school year opens tomorrow and can be accessed through the Taft website using the button below. There are several grade levels that we are looking closely at in terms of enrollment as we look to make staffing decisions for next year. Parents are encouraged to register as soon as possible to help us with our planning. Every year there are several grade levels that have numbers that seem high for one section but extremly low for two sections. We are not in the position to hire extra staff, so we need to take a wait-and-see approach which really makes things difficult for students and staff at the beginning of the year. Please do your best to complete this process as quickly as possible.

Taft is proud to have the “Stop It” program up and running for the 2021-2022 school year. Stop it is an online program that students can use to report bullying or any unsafe behavior while remaining anonymous. These reports come through to the Superintendent, Principal, and Social Worker via text so we can address the situation right away. This provides the student with an opportunity to share their concerns if they feel they cannot speak immediately to an adult.

We continue to teach our students to advocate for themselves in situations where they feel they can speak to a situation on their own. The students are reminded there are different approaches to stop bullying or unsafe situations outside of reporting things anonymously. Students are encouraged to share concerns with friends, staff, and family to learn to advocate for themselves. However, we understand that there are some situations where students may feel safer reporting discreetly.

If you have any questions regarding the Stop It program, please contact Mr. Davini or Mr. Calabrese.

5/10/22 - BETA Club Library Reveal - 5:30 PM

5/13/22 - Strategic Planning Committee Meeting - 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM

5/14/22 - Strategic Planning Committee Meeting - 8:00 PM - Noon

5/14/22 - 8th Grade Dance and After Party

5/19/22 - Board of Education Meeting - 6:15 PM - Closed Session - 6:45 PM Regular Meeting

5/24/22 - Art Club - 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

5/26/22 - Kindergarten Graduation - 9:00 AM

5/26/22 - 8th Grade Graduation - 6:30 PM

5/30/33 - No School Memorial Day

6/1/22 - Last Day of School 11:30 AM Dismissal