2/17/23

Translation is available in other languages - click on Translate Newsletter

Hello TLA Families!

This week was a bit shorter than we anticipated. However, we still managed to accomplish some great things. Today began with an unexpected fire alarm. Scholars and staff immediately exited the building and proceeded to a safe zone. There was no fire, the alarm was triggered because of the construction and we were able to reenter the building shortly after confirming it was all clear. Thank you to the parents who were waiting in line to drop off their scholars for your patience and understanding.

Parents please remember that scholars are prohibited from using their cell phones during the school day. If your scholar reaches out to you on their personal device, they are in direct violation of the school code of conduct. Please help us enforce this and continue to encourage scholars to be responsible with their devices. See Mr. Cieplewski's message below to read more about our cell phone practices.

We wanted to share some quick reminders with all of you:

• No School Monday, February 20th - Presidents' Day
• Progress reports will be sent home Tuesday, February 21st
  
• PLC is Tuesday, February 21st from 6:00 - 7:00 pm - take a look at the agenda below

Now, let's go be great.

Tavi Riddle - Principal, K4-5th

Priscilla El-Amin - Principal, 6th - 12th

Parents and guardians in order to provide your scholar with all of the opportunities and rigor we have to offer, we need your scholar here at school from 8:00 to 4:00 pm engaged in the learning. Picking up your scholar before 4:00 pm dismissal will count as a tardy. We ask that you only pick up your scholar early for appointments and emergencies. Please try to prearrange early pick-ups by sending a note to school with your scholar or calling the office before 3:30 pm. We will do our best to honor any requests for early dismissal received after 3:30, however, want to remind you that the traffic and transitions may still cause you to be stuck in the parking lot until after dismissal.

We are more than happy to pass along a message to scholars to help support them as they transition between school and home. We ask that you only request to speak to scholars during school hours for emergency. This will help us decrease the number of disruptions to the school day and help scholars remain focused and on task. We look forward to our continued collaboration and appreciate your support in making sure scholars are present and engaged in the learning.

Our monthly PLC meeting is Tuesday, February 21st from 6:00 - 7:00 pm. We hope to see you there. Below is the agenda.

• Updates

• Someone Special and Me Dance - Success!

• Open enrollment dates 2/1 - 2/28 - Referral Drawing

• State testing focus plans across all grade levels

• Construction Update

• Advocacy Support Needed

• Event Volunteer Opportunities

• Read Across America (2/27 - 3/3) - class readers

• Q3 Conferences (3/30 - 3/31) - book fair helpers

• Q3 Incentive - skate trip chaperones

• Rolling Volunteer Opportunities

• Virtue of the month readers (empathy, next up honesty)

• Career focus of the moth readers (STEAM, next up healthcare)

• Class special project helpers (EL, K4 CKLA, 3rd Imagine Reading)

• Flashcard friends (help with foundational skills drill and review)

• Breakfast helpers

• Recess/lunch helpers

• Talk around Town (Events around town that we should know about)

• TLA Parent Coffee and Cake Morning - TBD

• Winter Farmers Market and Craft Fair - every Friday from 9am-12pm

• Beloit International Film Fest 2/24 - 3/4

• Event Planning

• Scholar Forward Testing Care Bags

• Staff Appreciation Week

SEE YOU TUESDAY!

Ms. Swanson’s and Ms. Brown's 1st grade classroom was selected as a National Imagine MyPath Bowl MVP classroom for averaging 240+ minutes with Imagine MyPath during the contest. We encourage our scholars to keep up the great work, stay motivated, and never stop learning! We are excited to see what successes our scholars can accomplish along this educational journey.

As a reward for all of their hard work, the class won gift cards and will be celebrating with a pizza party. Keep up the great work!

Hello TLA families!

What an eventful week with Kindness Day, a Snow Day, and an upcoming three-day weekend. We hope you and your scholar(s) enjoy the break and return refreshed. Here are a few updates and reminders:

• We are extremely lucky to have scholars who are dedicated to helping TLA continue to grow into the premier K-12 school in the state of Wisconsin. Scholars have contributed some great ideas for community building and collaboration across the grade levels.
• Cell phone usage is becoming more frequent. Please remind your scholar that their cell phone should be OFF and AWAY all day. This means they should be powered off and in the scholars back upon entrance into the building, then stored in their lockers until dismissal.
• If scholars have their cell phones on their persons, staff will collect their cell phones and turn them in to the DOS. The phone will be returned to the scholar at the end of the day.
• If this occurs a second time, parents will need to pick up the cell phones from the DOS at school.
• Any additional occurrences will result in scholars being placed on a cell phone plan, which entails turning in their cell phone once they enter the building, daily.

Hello TLA families,

Winter is still here and the snow continues to fall. Mornings can be a little hectic with getting scholars up and ready for school, especially after having a day off. Please try to remind your scholar to pack their solid black shoes. We have had several scholars forgetting their shoes and have had to call home. Creating a routine and or a checklist in the morning, would help scholars in remembering all of their school supplies and winter items. Thank you for helping us uphold the TLA dress code policy and making sure scholars are prepared for class.

Monthly Attendance Winners!

On February 10th at our all school assembly, all scholars who achieved 95% or higher attendance for the months of December and January were eligible to participate in a live drawing for recognition and prizes. Each month is a new opportunity to meet that attendance goal and win! The following scholars (one per grade level for each month) earned some pretty fun prizes including Chick-fil-A gift cards for all winners:

December Winners:

K4 - Omar Portillo

K5 - Bryson Woods

1st - Malachi Gosha

2nd - Natalie Hernandez

3rd - Madeline Ramirez-Torres

6th - Corbin Kehoe

7th - Jordan Engleson

8th - Kendra Filczer

9th - Geno Delafuente

10th - Layla Murry

January Winners:

K4 - Trino Pulido

K5 - Georgina Driscoll

1st - Cori Denson

2nd - Steven Dooley

3rd - Emilio Gonzales

6th - Nevaya Rodriguez

7th - Alexa Tapia

8th - Shawn Prengel

9th - Sebastian Bayona

10th - Corbin Redieske

TLA 2022-2023 Average Attendance - 92.36% - OH NO!

TLA Goal - 95%

Middle and high school scholars interested in art, IT, and military careers all met with a representative in the field this week to learn more about the career. Scholars asked questions about training, salary, and skills needed. Scholars enjoyed learning what a normal day looks like for someone in these Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) careers. Thank you to the career experts that took time out of their day to meet with scholars!

A few of our 9th grade scholars participated in the Girls That Build Event that was hosted by The Morse Group this week. Scholars learned about different opportunities available in the electrical field and were able to participate in hands-on activities bending conduit, running wiring from a source to a switch and setting up a circut to power a light and fan.

The Early College Credit Program (ECCP) permits anyone in 9-12th grade to attend a University of Wisconsin College to take one or more courses and earn both high school and college credit simultaneously.

The Start College Now (SCN) program permits anyone in 11-12th grade to attend a Wisconsin Technical College to take one or more courses and earn both high school and technical college credit simultaneously. SCN includes certificate programs such as Nursing Assistant, Emergency Medical Technician, Fire Safety, etc.

If interested in participating in either program, scholars must submit the application to the High School College and Career Counselor by March 1 for Fall and October 1 for Spring courses. If a comparable course is offered at TLA the course will not be approved to take as SCN or ECCP. All University of Wisconsin System institutions and all Wisconsin Technical Colleges participate in the program. Private colleges and universities participation is an individual decision.

Once approved, scholars will apply to the college of higher education during the semester before enrollment. They must meet admission requirements and application deadlines. Scholars will only be admitted if there is room in the course. The scholar is encouraged to list alternate course selections so that the High School College and Career Counselor can determine the acceptability of alternative courses if first-choice courses are full.

Scholars will earn .25 high school credits for every one credit earned at a post-secondary institution. TLA will pay for up to 18 credits of SCN/ECCP during your time at TLA. Scholars cannot enroll in ECCP and SCN in the same semester. TLA will seek reimbursement from the parent/guardian and scholar for any class that a scholar drops or fails while participating in the SCN or ECCP.

Our College and Career Counselor is available to answer any questions regarding ECCP/SCN. We know this is new to a lot of you. Please email questions to erin.wolf@tlabeloit.com.

Registration for March Afterschool Programs are open. If you are interested in Trades, Health Care and/or Technology you should sign up here.

Congratulations to the JV Girls Basketball team on their 5th place finish at the Freeport Invitational. The girls went 2-1, beating both Rockford Jefferson and Belvidere! Also, a shout out to wrestler Aaron Vidal Rosales for placing 2nd in the Cambridge Invitational. This is Aaron’s second tournament in a row with a top two finish.

Winter Athletics Team and Individual Pictures are completed! Here is the link to the —>Gallery<—. The download password is: TLASports.

Please mark your calendars, the TLA athletic department will be hosting an Winter Athletic Awards Banquet on February 27th, from 5:30 - 6:30. Doors will open at 5:20. Dinner will be provided at 5:30. We look forward to celebrating our athletes accomplishments!

February

Career Focus - STEAM (including IT)

• 2/20 - NO SCHOOL - Presidents’ Day
  
• 2/21 - Progress Reports Sent Home
• 2/21 - PLC Meeting (6:00 - 7:00 pm)
• 2/27 - 3/3 - Read Across America Week
• 2/27 - 3/24 - Character Virtue - HONESTY

March

Career Focus - Healthcare

• 3/6 - Oral Reading Assessment (K5-3) & MAZE (6-8 and identified 9th graders)
• 3/7 -TLA Enrollment Lottery Drawing
• 3/14 - PIE Day Assembly
• 3/16 - Dress Down Day - College Wear or Future Career
• 3/17 - NO SCHOLAR ATTENDANCE - Records Day /Quarter 3 Ends
• 3/21 - PLC Meeting (6:00 - 7:00 pm)
• 3/21 - State Assessments Begin
• 3/27 - 4/28 - Character Virtue - PERSEVERANCE
• 3/30 - Parent/Teacher Conferences & Book Fair
• 3/31 - Parent/Teacher Conferences & Book Fair
• 3/31 - NO SCHOLAR ATTENDANCE