Tiger Tales Newsletter
October 10, 2022
Upcoming Dates
October 13 - TCE PTA Membership Meeting @4:00
October 21 - No School, Teacher Inservice
October 24 - Picture Retakes
October 25 - Vision & Hearing Screening
October 27 - TCE PTA Trunk or Treat @6:00-7:30
Principal's Message
Jog-a-Thon Thanks
Our fall fundraiser brought in $13,817 of our $15,000 goal to help support field trips and scholarships for fifth graders for Camp Seymour. Thank you very much for your generosity and support!
Panorama Survey
We will be asking students in grades 3-5 to complete an online survey at school this week. The survey content will ask students to self-reflect on self management, grit, self efficacy, effort, learning strategies and emotional regulation. The confidential responses will guide our planning and focus for our School Improvement Plan goals.
PTA Membership Meeting
Our first PTA Membership meeting will be held on Thursday, October 13 at 4:00 in the library. We will also broadcast the meeting over Zoom. We will be approving our budget and new board, discussing fundraising and planning events, so we look forward to seeing you there!
Trunk or Treat
We are excited to host our first PTA Trunk or Treat event on Thursday, October 27. Staff and families will decorate their trunks and hand out candy to students. Students and families are welcome and costumes are encouraged. Our Trunk or Treat event will be open from 6:00-7:30. Please let the TCE PTA know if you would like to host a trunk and pass out candy.
Glow Grams
The Twin City PTA will be selling Glow Grams to celebrate Halloween. Each Glow Gram will include a card and two Glowsticks with all proceeds will go towards fifth grade camp. Sell dates are 10/12, 10/19, 10/26. Please let the TCE PTA know if you would like to volunteer to sell or help our fifth graders package and deliver.
School Improvement Plan
Our staff has been finalizing goals for our School Improvement Plan and I look forward to sharing it with families next week. Our focus this year is a combination of academic and social emotional supports for students.
Transportation Changes
Please inform the office of student transportation changes before 2:30 when possible. Just a reminder that our student pickup begins at 3:20 and the office closes at 4:00 daily.
Thanks,
Jennifer Allen, Principal
Staff Roles
Lindsey Jacoby is teaching our 4/5 Highly Capable classroom. She is working on her administrator certificate through Eastern Washington University and will serve an internship this year with Mrs. Allen. She will be working with Mrs. Allen on academic, behavioral, and social emotional supports for students.
Snacks Needed
Please send a snack to school with your child each day, especially if they are purchasing a school lunch. Every classroom offers a snack at some point during the day and kids are hungry when they flexing their brain muscles to learn!
If you'd like to donate snacks to your child's classroom or the office, we would appreciate it! Most common snacks are granola bars, fruit snacks, Goldfish, graham crackers, or fruit.
Please think about completing the meal application. The guidelines have changed and many families may now qualify. Our school and district benefit when you complete the application and it allows us to access funding for staffing and programs. You can find more information and application materials here.
Community Facilities Advisory Committee Invitation
This year, the Stanwood-Camano School District will form a Capital Facilities Advisory Committee (CFAC). This team’s purpose is to affirm that public schools belong to the entire community, and funding for capital improvements is generated through voter-approved bond measures. Also included in the team’s work are recommendations for how families are assigned to particular schools based on where families reside, school capacity, and immediate and projected enrollment.
Community members play a key role in developing our long-term capital facilities plan and providing input on facility use to ensure the community's values and priorities are accurately represented.
If you are interested in joining this committee or would like to know more, please complete this form.
Third Grade Swim
The schedule for lessons will be as follows:
Mrs. Hansen’s class the week of October 3-7
Mrs. Haugstad’s class the week of October 10-14
Mrs. Shoe’s class the week of October 17-21
Mrs. Langdalen’s class the week of October 24-28
We do not want this opportunity to be a financial hardship, so if your child needs a swimsuit or swim shorts, please contact Jennifer Allen at jallen@stanwood.wednet.edu or 360-629-1270.
Counselor Corner
October is all about responsibility! We are digging into this character trait this month in all classrooms through our PurposeFULL People curriculum. Enjoy the read aloud, A Little Spot of Responsibility, as a family about learning to be responsible at home.
JoAnna Schwarze, Counselor
The Reading Nook
We have been learning together about how children learn to read. Over the last few weeks, I’ve shared some information about the Science of Reading, and tips to address the important components of learning to read. You can always find the Reading Nook newsletters from each week on our Title I/LAP website.
Learning About Literacy Together
Good readers know that every word is made of sounds, or phonemes, and that these phonemes are written using one letter or a combination to represent each phoneme in a word. Readers learn to pay attention to letters within a word to determine what an unknown word is. Once we know the common letter patterns, or phonics, we can read simple and more complex words with ease. When our students get stuck with reading a word, the clues to figuring out the word are right there in the word! We want their brain to find the phonics patterns, the clues, that will help them solve the puzzle of that word, rather than focusing on things that take them away from the word (guessing based on pictures, only looking at the first letter to make a guess, etc.).
Some things you can do at home
When your child gets stuck on a word, remind them to look at the word for letter patterns and sounds they recognize. In the word fighting, they might know the first letter says the sound /f/, they know the sound /t/ that the t makes, and they might know the suffix -ing, but they are stuck on the long /i/ sound represented by the long i spelling igh in the middle of the word. This is great! They have a lot of the clues they need to figure out the word, and you just have to help them with the igh phonics pattern.
When the child figures out the word that was tricky, have them reread the sentence with the correct word, so they can practice reading accurately.
Some words are too challenging for the child's level, and should be provided (we wouldn't expect a student in 1st grade to be able to read the word palace on their own without some help), but can provide opportunities to be exposed to more complex words, which help them gain skills that provide a strong foundation in reading.
By far, the best thing you can do to help your child learn to read is to read to and with them, everyday!
TCE PTA News
Trunk or Treat Volunteers
We would love families to host their own trunk and pass out treats to students while their child participates. Please email the PTA if you'd like to host. All host should plan to arrive by 5:30 for set up and stay until 7:30.
Glow Grams
The Twin City PTA will be selling Glow Grams to celebrate Halloween. Each Glow Gram will include a card and two Glowsticks with all proceeds will go towards fifth grade camp. Sell dates are 10/12, 10/19, 10/26. Please let us know if you would like to volunteer to sell or help our fifth graders package and deliver.
Grocery Outlet Fundraiser
Please save your Grocery Outlet receipts and send them to school with your student. The PTA earns 5% back on all purchases, excluding alcohol. Please make sure the date is intact on the receipt. Thanks!
COVID Health Guidelines
The Washington State Department of Health has issued updated COVID-19 health and safety guidance for schools this fall. Following these safety measures reduces the spread of COVID-19 in our school community.
Health and safety requirements for this fall:
Students and staff who show symptoms of COVID-19 are required to stay home, or go home, if they become ill at school. Individuals with COVID-19 symptoms must have a test to rule out COVID-19 before returning to school.
Students, staff, and families seeking testing should contact their schools directly. All COVID-19 testing at school will still require paper or digital consent to be signed or on file.
Students and staff who test positive for COVID-19 are required to isolate themselves at home for 5 full calendar days. After day 5, if symptoms improve and they have had no fever for the past 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications, students and staff can come back to school.
It is recommended, but not required, that students and staff returning to school after their 5 days of isolation:
wear a well-fitted mask from days 6 to 10, and
remain masked for sports and other extracurricular activities on days 6 to 10.
Students and staff who test positive after 5 days of isolation must stay at home for the full 10-day isolation period.
We will continue to communicate cases and outbreaks to families and staff in our weekly COVID-19 dashboard. The dashboard will be updated weekly on Wednesdays. These requirements are in place for all public and private K-12 schools and childcare facilities in Washington state. Schools and childcare facilities are required by state law to follow these guidelines.
Families are encouraged to test as needed at home. Students, staff, and families may access tests at no cost from all of our schools. Additionally, in Washington state, you can receive free self-tests from Say Yes! COVID Test program. Most insurance covers the costs of up to 8 self-tests per individual per month.
COVID-19 vaccinations remain the best protection for everyone against hospitalization and severe disease from COVID-19. The COVID-19 vaccine is now available for children 6 months and older. Booster doses are also available for children 5 years and older. You are encouraged to vaccinate your children if they are eligible, in consultation with your healthcare provider.
Contact Us
Jennifer Allen, Principal
Email: tceinfo@stanwood.wednet.edu
Website: https://tce.stanwood.wednet.edu/home
Location: 26211 72nd Avenue Northwest, Stanwood, WA, USA
Phone: 360-629-1270
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TwinCityPTA