Thunder Clubs and Activities

All of us want our kids/students to “experience” all that middle school has to offer. Research tells us that students who have the most successful middle school journeys are the ones who engage with their school on many different levels. These kids engage in the classroom, in the sports arena, connecting with performing music, or being a part of a school club. As we get settled in, our Thompson Clubs are gearing up. One of the many advantages of being a large middle school is that our students have ample opportunities to join clubs. This year, we will have a mixture of both remote and in-person club opportunities. A list of our club offerings can be found here. Additionally, I encourage you to subscribe to our daily announcements as, week to week, club announcements can be found there. You can subscribe to our Thompson communications by clicking here. Please join our Thunder Staff in encouraging your middle schooler to get involved with “beyond the classroom” activities so they can really experience ALL that middle school has to offer.

End of the First Quarter

The end of the first quarter is four weeks away on Friday, October 16th. Please have a discussion with your child to make sure that this date is on his/her “radar.” It is important that students are aware of this date so that action can be taken to ensure that all assignments and activities are completed and turned in before the end of the quarter. Please contact your child’s teachers if you have questions or concerns about classwork.

Parent Drop Off and Pick Up

As a reminder, parents dropping off students in the morning should pull all of the way forward in the East lot and exit promptly to minimize any traffic issues that might occur during student arrival. Parents are also able to drop off their child on Indiana Street, just west of the tennis courts, and students can enter through the Door 5.

Have a great weekend,

Steve

Any student who would like to try fun acting, come to the Improv Club. We meet on Mondays and Thursdays from 3:30 - 4:15 pm in the orchestra room. Come to the club on the day you are in school. The first meeting is this Monday, September 21st, for ‘B’ students and Thursday, September 24th, for ‘A’ students. A permission slip and calendar will be handed out.

Remote students are welcome! Please get dropped off at the main entrance at 3:40 pm and have your self-certification with you, either printed out or on your phone.

Everyone, please make sure you have a ride home at 4:15 pm. Questions, email Mrs. Pogge.

Beginning September 29th, we are starting a new club called ‘Saints tutoring Thunder (STT)’. This club will meet on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The Saints tutoring Thunder (STT) club will provide students with an opportunity to receive help on homework, projects, and/or comprehension of material that they are learning in classes. The Saints tutoring Thunder (STT) club is available for both students attending in-person or remotely.

SST allows students to meet virtually on zoom with a Thompson club supervisor and a St. Charles East Sophomore tutor from 4:15 until 5:00 pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The Thompson club supervisor will facilitate the after school support while supervising the high school students tutoring our students.

Middle school conferences are scheduled for Thursday, October 8th from 8:00 am - 8:00 pm and Friday, October 9th from 8:00 am - 12:00pm. Sign-up for conferences opens next Monday, September 21st at 7:00 am via the Pick-A-Time conference scheduler. All conferences will be virtual this year via Zoom.

Sign-up Directions:

1. Login to your HAC Account

2. Click on the link for ‘Parent-Teacher Conference Scheduler’ (Click here for directions)

3. Only choose Q1 teachers

A few notes about sign-up:

1. Most conferences will be 8 minutes long with an individual teacher.

2. Parents should not feel obligated to sign-up for conferences. If your child is doing well at school, both academically and socially, then you might choose not to participate in conferences. If your child is struggling, we would suggest that you attend conferences!

3. You might only feel the need to meet with one teacher or just a few teachers. There is no obligation to meet every teacher.

4. If you wish to meet with the explore teachers, please sign-up to visit your child’s first quarter explore teacher(s).

5. You can sign-up for a conference with a teacher only one time. Our student services team (counselors, social workers) will be available for conferences too.

6. In some cases, a teacher may contact you in advance to set-up a conference time. That means we want to guarantee you a time to meet with your child’s teacher(s).

7. We would like for you to have your Thunder student with you during conferences! It is important that they hear what you hear.

We are looking forward to our time collaborating together. If you have any questions, please call the Thompson main office at (331) 228-3100.

Thompson Middle School will be offering two sports starting September 21st. Volleyball will be offered to all 7th and 8th grade girls. Football will be offered to all 7th and 8th grade boys. As of now, we will not be scheduling any games against other schools. All students who want to attend must have a current physical and an Agreement to Participate in Interscholastic Sports on file with the front office before attending any sessions. The cost to participate is $120 and will be billed through PushCoin.

This is a great opportunity for kids to be involved and active. We ask that you please be patient as many things may change throughout the season. In the meantime, please email any questions to Mr. Wilke at christopher.wilke@d303.org.

Welcome to remote learning! Remember that remote students have classes every day. Below are resources for our full remote learners:

• Remote Academy Calendar (and Bell Schedule)

• Overview and Expectations

• Teachers and Resources

You can check the attendance for any of your students at any time by logging into the Home Access Center and clicking on the attendance tab to view. Toggle between students using the arrow in the upper right hand corner.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call the main office at (331) 228-3100! We are here to help!

We want to make sure that all students and staff members are included in our yearbook this year! If you did not get your picture taken, and cannot come to Thompson for picture make up days, please upload your own portrait to:

• www.yearbooksforever.com
• Access code: thompsonms

Mr. Harmon, one of our yearbook advisors, created this video to show you how easy it is to upload your child's portrait.

If you have any questions, please call the Main Office (331) 228-3100.

Students can continue to pick up lunches at Thompson on Mondays and Thursdays from 8:45 - 9:15am. If Monday or Thursday is a non-attendance day, the pick up will be available on the next attendance day.

Also, buses will be at two locations from 11:00 am until noon every Monday and Thursday (except holidays and no attendance days). The two locations are Saint Charles Place (pick up is Indiana and 15th street) and Cumberland Green Cooperative (pick up is by the office lot near court #1). At the current time all of these lunches, whether remote only, daily A/B, and A/B next day, are being fully subsidized.

Students must apply for the privilege of using pre-arranged absence days through the

Principal/Assistant Principal’s office when an absence is anticipated in advance. Pre-arranged absence forms must be completed and signed by each teacher and turned in two (2) school days prior to the date of the prearranged absence.

The building principal or designee has the authority to grant up to five (5) days of excused absence per year for the following types of absences:

❖ Career Education Visits

❖ Participation in regional and/or national contests or awards

❖ Family Vacation-qualified by the phrase “accompanied by a parent”

❖ Special Religious Events

Any date which is in excess of these five days is considered to be unexcused.

TMS Pre Arranged Absence Form

Parents and Guardians: Please note that, as some families and students are choosing to move from in-person to remote learning, we must continue to make adjustments to student schedules, which in most cases may also include a change in teacher. When class sections become too small or large based on these adjustments, your child’s schedule may also need to be adjusted. Although our preference is to keep consistency in our scheduling, please understand that it has become necessary to accommodate the choices families are making for their children. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we try to balance all of the different constraints we are managing during the pandemic.

• Monday, September 21 - Pick-a-Time Conference Scheduler Opens
• Thursday, October 1 - PTO Meeting from 9:00 - 10:00 am
• Tuesday, October 6 - Pick-a-Time Conference Scheduler Closes
• Thursday, October 8 - Conferences from 8:00 am - 8:00 pm (No School for Students)
• Friday, October 9 - Conferences from 8:00 am - 12:00 pm (No School for Students)
• Monday, October 12 - Columbus Day Holiday
• Wednesday, October 14 - Picture Retake Day
  
• Thursday, October 15 - Picture Retake Day