Good evening Jaguar Families,

Results from testing are coming back quickly and Thurgood Marshall is doing amazing!  Proficiency levels for every Grade Level in Math, Science, and Reading have improved greatly from last year and in some categories, we have already surpassed our School Improvement Goals for the year.  We should all take a moment to celebrate the amazing growth displayed by our students and teachers.  We will continue this focus on Monday with Civics testing and we are projected once again to accel.

We also want to focus on year-end District Assessments this week where student will take final exams in the majority of their classes.  The schedule is attached to the weekly updates email.  After exam week ends, student backpacks will not be permitted on campus as textbooks, notebooks, and other supplies will not be needed.  We will be able to provide all students with the needed materials in each class. Backpacks will not be permitted on campus for May 28^th and May 29^th.

Lastly, this is an announcement for all current 6^th Grade Families.  The State of Florida requires students entering the 7th grade to have the TDAP (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) booster before the first day of school in August.  More details can be found in the email update.

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 20th is a B Day – Periods 5-8

 

Upcoming Events (* denotes Meeting Credit made available)

*5/21 – NJHS Induction Ceremony – 6pm to 7pm in the Thurgood Cafe

5/22 or 5/23 - Yearbook Distribution to Students who pre-ordered

5/27 – No School for Students and Staff

5/28 – 5/29 – District Assessment Make Ups

5/29 – 8th Grade Breakfast and Yearbook Signing/8^th Grade Parent Car Parade

• Schedule of times and process in contents below

 

Road Construction Update – 5/14

"Installation of the sidewalk along 22^nd Ave S is scheduled to being Tuesday May 14th. Starting on this date the Skyway Trail will be closed North of 22^nd 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. Thank you."

 

 

Testing Calendar for May

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
	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
26	27	28	29	30	31
	No school	A-Day Make-ups	B-Day Make-ups			District Assessments - Final Exams
						8th grade assessments

 

Tuesday, 21st A-day		Wednesday, 22nd B-day		Thursday, 23rd A-day		Friday, 24th B-day
1st	9:40am-11:20am	5th	9:40am-11:20am	1st	9:40am-10:52am	5th	9:40am-10:52am
2nd	11:24am-1:06pm 1st lunch: 11:24-11:54 2nd lunch: 12:36-1:06	6th	11:24am-1:06pm 1st lunch: 11:24-11:54 2nd lunch: 12:36-1:06	2nd	10:56am-1:10pm 1st lunch: 10:56-11:26 2nd lunch: 12:40-1:10	6th	10:56am-1:10pm 1st lunch: 10:56-11:26 2nd lunch: 12:40-1:10
3rd	1:10pm-2:25pm	7th	1:10pm-2:25pm	3rd	1:14pm-2:54pm	7th	1:14pm-2:54pm
4th	2:29pm-4:10pm	8th	2:29pm-4:10pm	4th	2:59-4:10pm	8th	2:59-4:10pm

 

***Quarter 4 exams will be given during the yellow highlighted block

 

Current 6^th Grade Students

*Required Immunizations going into 7^th Grade

The State of Florida requires students entering the 7th grade to have the TDAP (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) booster before the first day of school in August.

• Contact your child’s pediatrician for an immunization appointment.

• The Florida Department of Health provides required immunizations at NO COST, and

• Turn in your FL Certificate of Immunization (form 680) to your school’s Data Management Technician, in the front office, before school starts in August.

 

 

8^th Grade Breakfast and Yearbook Signing – 5/29

The 8^th 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 8^th Grade students.

Breakfast will be catered free of charge for all 8^th 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 9^th 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.

8^th 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 8^th 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 6^th, 7^th, or 8^th.

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)

 

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.

 

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

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
• 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.
• UPDATE – Off Duty Law Enforcement Officer has been hired by Pinellas County to be a presence at the crosswalk west of the school.  Officer will be present at school arrival and dismissal times.  This will continue until the sidewalk is fully repaired and accessible for student use.

 

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

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