May 12, 2024 Callout
Good evening Jaguar Families,
Testing continued this week and scholars at Thurgood are making great gains. Our reading proficiency for all grades improved 4% from last year and our 8th Grade Science score increased by 8%. This is a true testament to the hard work and dedication by our student and staff. Please make sure to refer to the testing calendar in the weekly email for Civics and Math Testing.
The weekly email will also include an update regarding the road construction project. Installation of the sidewalk along 22nd Ave S is scheduled to being Tuesday May 14th. Starting on this date the Skyway Trail will be closed North of 22nd Ave S. It will remain closed during the installation of the sidewalk in that area. The crosswalk at the Trail will also be closed and a crossing guard/officer will not be present. There will be detour signage for the trail. Please continue to utilize the car circle for student pick up and drop off.
Finally, a special thank you to everyone who came to support Teacher Appreciation Week. Teachers and staff were overwhelmed with gifts, food, and praise. Our PTA, volunteers, and students made this such a special week and our teachers and staff genuinely appreciated everything that was done in celebration of them.
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, May 13th is an A Day – Periods 1-4
Upcoming Events (* denotes Meeting Credit made available)
*5/13 – SAC Virtual Meeting – 6:00pm-6:30pm
*5/13 – Learning Lab Virtual Meeting - 6:30pm-7:00pm (same link as above)
*5/14 – Band Spring Concert – 6:30 – 8:00 pm in the St. Petersburg HS Auditorium
*5/16 – Orchestra Spring Concert – 6:30 – 8:00 pm in the Thurgood Café
5/17 – GradVenture – 8th Grade Trip to Universal – Tickets are sold out
*5/21 – NJHS Induction Ceremony – 6pm to 7pm in the Thurgood Cafe
5/27 – No School for Students and Staff
5/28 – 5/29 – District Assessment Make Ups
5/29 – 8th Grade Breakfast and Yearbook Signing/8th Grade Parent Car Parade
- Schedule of times and process in contents below
Road Construction Update – 5/14
Installation of the sidewalk along 22nd Ave S is scheduled to being Tuesday May 14th. Starting on this date the Skyway Trail will be closed North of 22nd Ave S. It will remain closed during the installation of the sidewalk in that area. The crosswalk at the Trail will also be closed and a crossing guard/officer will not be present. There will be detour signage for the trail. Please continue to utilize the car circle for student pick up and drop off.
Testing Calendar for May
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Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
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5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
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12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
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A-Day Da Silva 7th & 8th Math |
B-Day Russell 7th & 8th Math Da Silva Geometry
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A-Day Harding Algebra 1 |
B-Day Myers 7th & 8th Math |
A-Day Greth 6th & 7th Math **Grad Venture |
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19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
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B-Day - CIVICS 7th Grade -Stone 8th Grade - Vines |
A-Day 1st and 4th Exams |
B-Day 5th and 8th Exams |
A-Day 2nd and 3rd Exams |
B-Day 6th and 7th Exams |
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26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
31 |
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No school
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A-Day Make-ups |
B-Day Make-ups |
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District Assessments - Final Exams |
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8th grade assessments |
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Tuesday, 21st A-day |
Wednesday, 22nd B-day |
Thursday, 23rd A-day |
Friday, 24th B-day |
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1st |
9:40am-11:20am |
5th |
9:40am-11:20am |
1st |
9:40am-10:52am |
5th |
9:40am-10:52am |
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2nd |
11:24am-1:06pm
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6th |
11:24am-1:06pm
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2nd |
10:56am-1:10pm
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6th |
10:56am-1:10pm
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3rd |
1:10pm-2:25pm |
7th |
1:10pm-2:25pm |
3rd |
1:14pm-2:54pm |
7th |
1:14pm-2:54pm |
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4th |
2:29pm-4:10pm |
8th |
2:29pm-4:10pm |
4th |
2:59-4:10pm |
8th |
2:59-4:10pm |
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***Quarter 4 exams will be given during the yellow highlighted block
8th Grade Breakfast and Yearbook Signing – 5/29
The 8th Grade Breakfast and Yearbook signing will be in the café on 5/29 from 10:00 – 11:30
This event is not open to the public, but is free for all 8th Grade students.
Breakfast will be catered free of charge for all 8th Grade students. We will have celebrations, guest speakers, yearbook signings, and time for students to say their final good-byes to their teachers and friends
PARADE 5/29 - 8th Grade Parade Announcement
• 8th Grade Parade Timeline - (11:45 AM-12:45 PM)
8th graders will be dismissed from the cafeteria at 11:30 to line the car circle and await the parade's beginning.
Decorate your cars to support your Rising 9th Grader! – Pictures, FatHeads, Names, Educational Mascots, etc. are all welcome! Focus on where they’ve been and where they are going. You are so proud of what they have accomplished at Thurgood, so decorate with a Jaguar theme, or even show pride in where they will be next on their educational journey.
- The car circle gate will be opened no later than 11:45 a.m., and cars may begin to drive through the parade. Parents, please decorate your cars and be ready to celebrate our students. Parents can loop through the line as often as they like until 12:45 p.m. If you are going to loop through multiple time, you will need to exit the car circle each time and report to the back of the line. We will promptly end the parade at 12:45 p.m.
- We ask all 8th-grade students to wear their 8th-grade shirt (if they purchased one) or Thurgood attire/colors. Hats will be permitted while students are outside.
8th Grade Parent Pickup starts at 12:55
- Parents who want to pick students up immediately after the parade must park in the main parking lot and sign students out from the front office like normal. No pickups will begin before 12:55 pm. Please be patient with us during this sign-out process as we want to ensure all students are safe. Students will all report back to the Café from the parade and we will have multiple staff members to help with groups of 8th Graders being dismissed.
Safety and Discipline Update
Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School is dedicated to upholding our ROAR guidelines for success to Responsible, Organized, Always Safe, and Respectful. Lately, there have been instances of unsafe behavior that need to be addressed.
Any actions that compromise a safe learning environment will not be tolerated. These actions include, but are not limited to:
- Posting on social media or communicating in a way that could cause disruption on or off campus
- Engaging in fights on or off campus, before, after, or during school hours. This also applies to areas like parks, sidewalks, and bus stops.
- Capturing disruptions using phones on campus, gathering around disruptions, or spreading rumors via phone to create potential conflict
We remain committed to enforcing our ROAR guidelines at Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School. Any jaguar students who fail to adhere to the school's policies and Pinellas County Schools Code of Conduct will be promptly sent before IAC where they can be dismissed from the Fundamental program and sent back to their zoned schools. 8th Grade Students - As a reminder, tickets for Grad Venture, the 8th Grade Dance, and other 8th Grade activities are non-refundable. Participation in any unsafe behavior will result in the loss of permission to take part in these activities.
Summer Bridge at Thurgood – 6/3 – 6/27 Monday through Thursday www.pcsb.org/SummerBridge.
Enrichment for students entering 6th, 7th, or 8th.
Credit Recovery – Students with grade of F in core content classes can recovery this grade using the platform of Edmentum (on site, but can be accessed at home to speed up the process)
STEM Summer Camp at Thurgood – July 8 - 18 (Monday – Thursday)
There are still spots available here at Thurgood for this summer’s Middle School Summer Innovation Camp! The camps will be held July 8th – July 11th and July 15th – July 18th from 9am-3pm. This is a free camp offered by the district and our very own teachers will be facilitating it.
Students will be able to choose between a week with Robotics and Movement in STEM and/or a week with 2D and 3D art design in STEM. Students can sign up for one or both weeks! Please use the provided link to sign up! Spots are LIMITED, so be sure to act on this fabulous STEM opportunity! Hope to see some familiar faces this summer!
https://forms.office.com/r/HSeFx0Z5qX
Flag Football Camp at Osceola High School
Osceola High School Football and flag football programs are running two camps this summer to engage our students in competitive drills, agility drills, position related techniques, football fundamentals, speed essentials, and form running. The camp includes t-shirt, games and fun. Optional meals and snacks available, along with free entry to both flag and football games for the upcoming seasons at OFHS. The camp dates are June 3rd-6th or June 17th-20th from 9:00AM – 3:00PM Monday through Thursday at 9751 98th St N, Seminole, FL 33777. Checks or Cash can be made payable to Osceola Football, please RSVP to Montgomerych@pcsb.org
TMFMS Theater Booster Fundraiser
SNACKS for SALE - Wednesday Morning in Bus Circle & Car Circle
All Sales Support TMFMS Theater Boosters
Please Donate - School Store and PBIS
http://www.finditfunditflorida.com/pinellas/grant/39650/
Student Update for School Issued Computers
There has been a sharp increase since winter break of students with physically damaged computers – broken screens and purposefully damaged keyboards (removed keyboard frame and/or keys). The process for the ordering of parts to repair these devices is long – 4-6 months from receiving the damaged device to receiving the part from Dell. This has depleted our reserve of loaner computers.
This is a gentle reminder that fines will be assessed for physical damage to devices. Please remind your scholars to treat their school-issued laptop gently and that every backpack should be treated as if there is a laptop inside.
Scholars, please remember to keep your login credentials, your R2D2 and password, private. Your login can be used with malicious intent and cause problems for you and for others. Do not share this information with anyone.
YEARBOOK SALE!!!!
Yearbook pre-orders are no longer available.
A small amount of additional yearbooks have been ordered for sale upon their arrival.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
UPDATED - TMFMS – Meeting and Events Calendar 23.24 TMFMS Meeting Calendar.docx
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 school's 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
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
