Tuscan Tidings

Tuscan Reopens for Students on Thursday, September 8th, 2022

Tuscan School Hours

Full Day 8:45 am – 3:15 pm

4 Hour Day 8:45 am – 12:45 pm

Dear Tuscan Family~

Welcome back to our returning Tuscan families, welcome to our new Tuscan families and a special welcome to Tuscan’s 2022-2023 Kindergarten Class!

We are extremely excited to welcome our students to a wonderful new school year at Tuscan! Know that we are deeply thankful to have emerged from the most challenging days of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are also pleased to report that the construction project at Tuscan School is very near to completion. We are still diligently working to ensure a smooth and successful opening of school, for all Tuscan students, families, teachers and staff.

At Tuscan School

We are committed to creating and cultivating a safe, supportive and inclusive learning community that affirms and uplifts our students, families, faculty and staff. We deeply want our new to Tuscan families, and all Tuscan families, to feel welcomed and connected as valuable members of a harmonious school community that genuinely seeks to work together in support of all Tuscan children.

Tuscan is a Wonderful School for Learning!

Tuscan is fortunate to have an abundance of caring, compassionate, and hard-working teachers and staff all dedicated to meeting the academic, social and emotional needs of Tuscan’s children. In the delivery of instruction we foster and encourage curiosity, creative thinking, problem-solving, persistence and perseverance. We are deeply dedicated to teaching in ways to expand our students’ capacity to demonstrate empathy, kindness, understanding, respect and appreciation for all members of our community. We are continuously working to ensure that your child’s school experience is filled with engaging, joyful and meaningful opportunities for learning. Please be assured that, Tuscan’s children will be deeply cared for and treated with dignity, respect and love.

Parent Involvement at Tuscan

Tuscan has supportive, actively engaged, and generous parents and we deeply value parent involvement and positive partnerships. Throughout the school year, the Tuscan PTA works closely with the school to provide enriching experiences for Tuscan’s children.

The Tuscan PTA website offers a wealth of information and reminders about Tuscan School and Tuscan PTA events. If you have not already done so please consider joining the Tuscan PTA and signing up for the Tuscan PTA newsletter.

Our 2022-2023 PTA President, Nora O'Rourke offers a welcome letter with valuable insights and guidance for helping parents to successfully navigate the Tuscan experience. Nora’s welcome letter can be found here.

We understand that as parents of school age children you face a myriad of challenges and we deeply appreciate your positive partnership, insight and voice. Please know that we are here to support you and your child in every way that is possible. Should you have any questions or concerns about the Tuscan experience please email us at RoarforTuscan@somsd.k12.nj.us. Please know that we will do our best to respond to emails as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, continue to enjoy summertime family fun!

~Ms. Majeed

At this time of the summer, we know that children are eagerly awaiting their teacher assignment letter.

Teacher Assignment Letters will be available via the PowerSchool Parent Portal

The SOMSD elementary school PowerSchool Parent Portal is expected to open by the end of the day on Thursday, September 1st.

Parent Portal information will be sent to all new registered parents prior to the September 1st launch.

If new or returning parents have any difficulties accessing a parent portal account, please review the information found here: https://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/district/information-technology/parentportalhelp/.

Tuscan is fortunate to have a strong team of caring and dedicated teachers who will diligently work to make the 2022-2023 school year as enjoyable and enriching as possible for all of our students.

Our low rate of staff turnover adds richly to our ability to consistently provide Tuscan’s children with high quality learning experiences. However, some school years, teaching assignment changes are inevitable and we invite you to join us in warmly welcoming the following faculty/staff assignments for the 2022-2023 school year.

New Faculty Members & Teaching Assignments

for the 2022-2023 School Year!

• Welcome back to Tuscan Special Education EBR Teacher Ms. Van Wert who is returning from leave and excited to meet students and return to teaching.

• Welcome back to Tuscan Special Education POR Teacher and new mom, Mrs. Weber (formerly Ms. Rodrigues) who is returning from leave and looking forward to a wonderful school year of teaching and student learning.

• To teach a new section of Grade 1, we are pleased to welcome Mrs. Jessica Wheeler to the fabulous 1st Grade Team. Also welcome Ms. Lauren Erdman who will serve as Leave Replacement Teacher for Mrs. Nelson through the end of December 2022.

• We are fortunate and thrilled to welcome Mrs. Makasakit to the terrific 3rd Grade Team, filling the position created by Mrs. Donatelli’s retirement.

• Welcome Ms. Kendal McKeon to the phenomenal 4th Grade Team, for this school year, to serve as Leave Replacement Teacher for Mrs. Rodriguez.

• On the amazing 5th Grade Team, Mrs. Rickard will teach Mathematics, Science and Social Studies teamed with Mrs. Skawinski who will continue to teach English Language Arts. Additionally this school year, we are delighted to have the opportunity for Mrs. Smith to provide instruction primarily to support 5th Grade students in the development of writing.

Tuscan school administrators and support staff are profoundly grateful to have such an outstanding and talented team of teachers and specialists to work with and support on behalf of Tuscan’s children.

2022-2023 School Year Free & Reduced Lunch: Please note that the USDA meal waiver extension (which provided free meals to all SOMSD students for the 2021-22 SY) will not apply for the 2022-2023 School Year.

For 2022-2023 School Year SOMSD will offer students healthy meals daily at a reasonable price:

· Elementary: $3.25

· Middle: $3.50

· High School: $3.75

Families may prepay for student meals through the Meal Pay Plus online payment system.

To Receive Free & Reduced Meal Benefits or the 2022-2023 School Year eligible families must complete a new free and reduced lunch application online: Free & Reduced Lunch Application.

Chromebook Distribution (New Students):

• Grades K - 2 Chromebook distribution will occur near the end of September (if not sooner).
• Grade 3 - 12 families of new students and students that will need upgraded devices were notified via email that appointments are required for families to pick up Chromebooks from the Technology Office starting August 29th, 2022.
• Chromebook appointment sign up and pick up location can be found here: https://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/district/information-technology/1to1/

Chromebook Information (Returning Students):

• Students who attended the district during the 2021 - 2022 school year and were assigned a Chromebook should continue to use that Chromebook during the 2022 - 2023 school year.
• The Technology Department will reach out to families to coordinate any device replacements for Chromebooks that are no longer compatible with current requirements.

Chromebook Repairs:

• Chromebook repairs will be coordinated through classroom teachers in the elementary schools.
• Elementary school students that have broken Chromebooks should bring their devices into the classroom and leave them in the class.
• Teachers will submit request for Chromebooks repairs to the school IT technicians.

Additional Chromebook info for families can be found here: https://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/district/information-technology/1to1/

As we know with most construction projects, delays can be anticipated. At Tuscan, we planned for this possibility and this delay has not dampened our excitement or enthusiasm.

Until further notice, we will continue to use the staff parking lot for arrival/dismissal and outdoor recess.

Teachers and classes that were assigned to the Portables, last school year, have been relocated to classrooms within the main building.

Additionally, to guarantee that all 5th Grade students could be assigned to the four newly constructed classrooms, we have 26 students in each 5th grade class; as permitted by SOMSD class size policy. Although the four newly constructed classrooms for Tuscan’s 5th Grade class of 2023 will not be move in ready on the first day of school, our project manager is working hard to turn over the new instructional space for our teachers and students enjoy as soon as possible.

The Tuscan Construction Update – Fall 2022 below was received on 08/29/22, from our School Business Administrator Eric Burnside and the district's construction management firm.

Tuscan Elementary School

• All Classrooms and the Main Office within the existing building will be ready for the start of school with new air conditioning units operational.

• The Portable Classrooms will be utilized for the first 2 months of school, until the New Addition can be occupied.

• The New Classroom Addition will be ready to occupy after the school’s November break.

• Auditorium ready to occupy; however, RTU duct work to be installed and equipment started.

• The Gymnasium will be ready to occupy with new roof top air conditioning the week of September 26th.

• The parking lot will be repaved and striped during the fall break.

• The Boiler Room will be completed for the start of heating season – October 15th

Additional construction updates can be found here.

Opt-In For Text Messages

In order to participate in the text messaging service, you must indicate your willingness to receive text messages to your phone, even if you received text messages this year. You must do this whether you have a child in the school system or belong to a community organization that wants to keep up-to-date with our alerts.

To learn more about signing up for SMS text messaging visit: website: https://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/headlines/district-news/2019/12/16/sms-text-message-communications-from-the-district/

REMINDER! Update Contact Information for All Parties Via School Messenger:

In order to communicate with you through School Messenger, it is important that we have the most up-to-date contact information available for all parties.

• Parents/Guardianss, if you have not yet completed the annual online parent portal forms, we are requesting you do so as soon as possible. More information for parents is found here.
• All staff members are asked to communicate any telephone number changes to the Human Resources department using the “Change staff contact information” form found on the Human Resources website.

September 8: First Day of School @ Tuscan 8:45 am - 3:15 pm Grades K - 5!

September 26 & 27: Rosh Hashanah —District Closed

October 5: Yom Kippur —District Closed

October 11: 4 Hour School Day/12:45 pm Dismissal (PD for staff)

October 13: 4 Hour School Day/12:45 pm Dismissal / Back to School Night 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

The School District of South Orange and Maplewood

Email: ROARforTuscan@somsd.k12.nj.us
Website: www.somsd.k12.nj.us/tuscan/
Location: 25 Harvard Avenue, Maplewood, NJ, USA
Phone: 973-378-5221