Good evening Jaguar Families,

The end of the year is almost here. I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to our families, volunteers, community members, students, and staff for making positive changes during this school year.  We have worked together, collaborated, and listened to ensure needs were being met and growth was possible for every student.  Thank you for being a part of the Thurgood School Community.

A few reminders as we wrap up our final week of the 2023-2024 school year.  All Pinellas County Schools are closed on Monday, May 27^th, in observance of Memorial Day.  Backpacks will not be permitted on campus May 28^th and May 29^th.  Starting June 3^rd, Summer Bridge will be at Thurgood Marshall.  Please register for this great opportunity to extend the student experience for a stress free day of learning and collaborative fun.  If you have already registered at a different school for Summer Bridge, you are always welcome to change the location and come to Thurgood.

Lastly, May 29^th is a day to celebrate with our 8^th Grade Families.  We welcome all family and friends to help celebrate with a car parade for the 8^th Grade students as they move on to high school.  Please decorate your cars, create banners, and showcase your pride for your student as you make your last trips through the car circle.  The car circle gates will open at 11:45 and will remain open until 12:45. We can’t wait to see you for this final farewell.  After the parade, all student pick ups will be conducted through the front office and parents must drive around to the front parking lot.  Students will only be released to adults that are listed on Focus for student pick up.  Notes provided for alternative pick up will not be accepted. 

As always, if you have any questions, please call us at 727-552-1737.

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

 

Tuesday, May 28th is an A Day – Periods 1-4

 

Upcoming Events

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

6/3 – 6/27 – Summer Bridge at Thurgood (8:00 – 2:00 pm)

• Free to all students
•  

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.

 

 

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
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31
	No school	A-Day Make-ups	B-Day Make-ups			District Assessments - Final Exams

 

 

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.

 

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)

 

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.

 

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