Good evening Jaguar Families, 

We have an exciting week ahead. On Monday, we will have our monthly PTA meeting in the Café at 6:00 pm.  The focus for this event will be Progress Monitoring and FAST Assessments for Math and Reading.  We will also be celebrating our teacher of the year, Ms. Jacqueline Harding, as well as our emerging teacher of the year, Ms. Natalia Scevola, at the Pinellas County Schools Night of Excellence. On Thursday, we have a tentative boys basketball game at 4:45.  On Friday, our PreAp World History students will be showcasing their National History Day presentations for families, friends, teachers, and fellow students.  This event will allow for parents to earn a meeting credit; parents are welcome to attend starting at 10:00 am.  Just remember, if you are planning to attend this event, you will need to sign in through the front office and wear your visitor’s pass while on campus.

In the email attached to this communication, you can find an updated 8^th Grade events calendar and flyer as well as an update to the roadway construction.  The update for this project is noted in the email and will provide specifics for next week as the sidewalk on the South side of 22nd Avenue will be closed, but a temporary sidewalk will be added back to the North side of the roadway.

As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Have a great rest of your weekend, thank you for your time, and Go Jaguars!

 

Monday, January 22^nd is a B Day – Periods 5-8

 

Upcoming Events (* denotes Meeting Credit made available)

*1/22 – PTA Meeting – 6:00 – 7:00 pm in the Café

            FAST PM1 and PM2 Testing Updates and Parent Support on Tracking Progress

1/25 - TENTATIVE - Boy's Basketball Game @ TMFMS (4:45 - 6:00)

*1/26 – National History Day – 10:00 to 11:30 am for Parent and Family Viewing

 

 

8^th Grade Activities Parent Letter

2023-2024 8th grade activities letter.doc 

 

 

Please Donate - School Store and PBIS  

We have an exciting opportunity to support our school improvement initiative to reward positive behavior - PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention System).

Your donation will help purchase items for our school store. Students can use their PBIS points to purchase these items from the store.

Please click on the link below to contribute. Any amount is appreciated and thank you in advance for your support!

http://www.finditfunditflorida.com/pinellas/grant/39650/

 

 

Get Spotted Reading

For Quarter 3, all students will need to access one of the books listed below.  These books can be purchased with some being accessible online for free.

Third Nine Weeks
6th grade	7th grade	8th grade
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom (Free Online) Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad by Ann Petry	The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain (Free Online) The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas by Thor Heyerdahl	The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald (Free Online) Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela Shane by Jack Schaefer

 

Thurgood Basketball Practice

• Girl’s Basketball Team will Practice on Monday and Thursday from 8:00am – 9:00am
• The Boy’s Team will practice on Tuesday and Friday from 7:50am – 9:00am

 

YEARBOOK PRESALE!!!!

The yearbook costs $37 from Jan 1^st - March 31st.

 PRE-SALE will close March 31st

(We will have a very limited number of extra books for sale so we strongly encourage our families to pre-order.)

 

ONLINE ORDER LINK   https://www.yearbookordercenter.com/job/515

 Yearbooks can also be purchased with cash or a check to TMFMS in Ms. Katz's room – 1-121

 

Construction of Roadways - Impact  for TMFMS Sidewalk on 22^nd Ave S

UPDATED PATHWAY for 1/23-1/26

The south side of 22^nd Ave will be closed for tree work.  The East gate off 38^th street will remain open for walker and bike riders.  Those traveling from the west side will have temporary access to a sidewalk on the north side as well as the re-opening of the entrance gate sidewalk on 40^th street.  Remember, this will only be temporary.  We will continue to provide updates as information becomes available.

NOTE:  Once the tree work is done on the South side of 22^nd Ave, we will be returning to the pathways we are currently using as seen below.

The roadwork began in late December and the 22^nd Ave S. roadway, sidewalk and drainage improvement project will continue to construct a sidewalk on the north side of the road and fill in sidewalk gaps on the south side of the road while upgrading ADA features at the side streets.  The project also includes a construction of a center left turn lane in front of Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School.

Here is what we can expect:

• Sidewalk on Northside of 22^nd Ave will be closed in front of school
• Gate at main entrance of Thurgood on 22^nd Ave will be closed to pedestrians
• Gate on 38^th Street on the North side of 22^nd Ave will be open to pedestrians to enter campus on the Southeast corner in morning and exit in afternoon
• Students walking to and from school will have access to the sidewalk on the South side of 22^nd Ave S and
• When we return on January 8^th all student walkers and bike riders who would be travelling to or from the West will have to make use of the detour. The trail has a signaled crosswalk with flashers to the West. There is a crossing guard at the corner of 38^th St S. on the Southeast corner of the school.

Fundamental Policy Reminders

An Increase has been identified for Infractions that are being tracking in our Student Conductor system for Dress Code, Tardies, Lunch misconduct, and much more.  These are the items to remind students about each day as they prepare to leave for school:

* Ripped/Torn Jeans are not permitted

* Gum is not permitted at school

* Skirts/dresses/shorts are not to be more than three inches above the knee

NOTE: These infractions will continue to be tracked and students who continue violation of these guidelines will be provided consequences based on progressive discipline.

 

PLEASE Update Parent Contact Info in Focus

Parents, please make sure you are updating your email and phone numbers in Focus so we can ensure you are receiving the most up-to-date information regarding school events, testing, academic achievements, athletics, etc.  These contact types can be updated if you go to the parent login in in Focus, look for the shortcuts on the right side of the screen, and update/change your contact information.  Addresses are still not able to be changed this was as you have to show two proofs of residency.

Athletics at Thurgood

This year we established sports beyond intramurals that have the potential to play against other local schools. What this mean is that we will need to buy equipment and jerseys that are required without having a budget designated for schools that do not officially have an athletic program. We are requesting donations or resources so this can be possible.  Any monetary or resource donation would  be greatly appreciated. The sports that we are planning this year are the following: golf, volleyball, basketball, flag football and track. Hopefully as the programs grow and opportunities arise this will be a fully developed part of Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School.

The process to give is through the school bookkeeper’s office – checks are the preferred method of donation payment. Please make checks payable to TMFMS with the memo line to read “Athletic Supplies.”

$1 Donuts – TMFMS Theater Booster Fundraiser

Wednesday Morning; $1 in Bus Circle & Car Circle

All Sales Support TMFMS Theater Boosters

STEM Club

The TMFMS STEM Club will be meeting on Wednesdays and Thursdays in room 5-207 from 4:15-5:15

• Wednesdays – Engineering and Design
• Thursdays - Robotics

 

Cheerleading Club

Practice: Tuesday and Thursday from 4:15-5:15 in the Fitness Room

 

Reporting an Absence

Parents, if your student is out sick please make sure you are reporting the student absence on our school website.  In the top right corner of the TMFMS website you will see an icon that says "Student Absence." Click on the icon and you will see a large blue circle that says "Report Student Absence."  Once you open the blue icon it will open an email to our attendance clerk. In the email please state:  your child's name, date of birth, grade level, date of absence and reason for the absence.

 

Dress Code 

• Please use the link below to access the Thurgood Marshall Dress Code for the 2023-2024 School year.  
• https://www.pcsb.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=102&ModuleInstanceID=62205&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=111833&PageID=197 
• Hoodies are not permitted on campus.  Students are only permitted to wear jackets, sweatshirts, or long sleaved items as long as they do not have an attached hood.  All items must adhere to the Fundamental Policies, be school appropriate, and meet the guidelines set forth in the PCS Student Code of Conduct. 
• We have provided multiple warnings and submitted a variety of dress code violations for this infraction.  Starting Monday, Hoodies will be confiscated if they are being worn on campus.  Parents will be able to pick the hoodies up at the front office during normal operating hours.  Keeping a hoodie in a backpack or locker is fine as long as it is not out or worn.

 

UPDATED - TMFMS – Meeting and Events Calendar

Please review the attached document that includes the current list of scheduled events for the year.  Use this calendar to guide yourself in deciding which meetings to attend for your meeting credit options.  Remember, you will need to attend 6 meetings this year to be in compliance with the Fundamental schools parent agreement.  There are also options for volunteer work, chaperones, booster groups and committees that allow for you to earn credits as pertaining to the parent agreement and Fundamental policy.

 

R'Club

If you are interested in enrolling your child/ren at R'Club where we focus on teaching Respect, Resourcefulness, Responsibility and Responsiveness then this is the program for you for before and aftercare! Please contact Roshelle Foster (Director) AKA Ms. Ro for more details. First come first served. I may be contacted @ (727)323-7041/(727)433-4346

 

Cell Phone Policy – Phones are to remain away all day. 

Phones that are out in any school setting can be confiscated and provided to the front office where a parent will have to pick up.  Phones that are confiscated will not be handed back to students at the end of the day.  Students may use phones in the morning as they wait to enter the building, but once they enter for breakfast, the phones are put away.  Students are also permitted to use phones after school ends as they wait for buses and parent pick up.

School Lunch

Free to All Students (students will use their Lunch PIN to log they have received a lunch.  This PIN will also be used for our Tardy tracking system which will begin next week)

 

School Hours – Student hours are from 9:40 – 4:10 Monday through Friday. 

• Students can be dropped off by parents in the car circle located behind the school off of 19th Ave South.   
• Students should not arrive to campus before 9:10 each day. 
• Students will be permitted to enter campus at 9:10 each morning where they will report to the cafeteria for breakfast. 
• Students must be picked up by 4:40 each afternoon. 
• If students are participating in any ELP, Tutoring, Enrichment, or club opportunities, they must be picked up by 5:15pm. 

 

Thank you for your time, 

Kevin Schottler