Long Lake Newsletter

Dear Long Lake Families,

This is Mrs. Burwinkel, the proud Principal of Long Lake Elementary School! Each Sunday evening, I send a quick message to families via email and voicemail to fill you in on upcoming events for the week. You can also always find this information on our school website. Please see below for information to keep you informed for the first week of school!

School Day: Our first day of school is on Tuesday! School starts at 9:05 a.m. and we release at 4:02 p.m. (PreK at 3:50 p.m.). Please make sure your child knows how he/she is getting home on the first day of school. Please contact the office before 3:30 p.m. when dismissal plans change. We do not have supervision for students before 8:50 a.m. so please wait with your child until our front doors open.. When students arrive, they can go directly to the classroom or stop in the cafeteria for breakfast. This document with dates for early release and half days might be helpful.

Safety Procedures: The first day of school can bring a lot of emotions! If this is your oldest child embarking on school, that makes it even more of a big deal! Please know that we take great pride in caring for our students! Additionally, safety is of the utmost importance to us! Given this, unfortunately we’re not able to have parents in the wing hallways during drop off and pick up (even on the first day of school). We ask that parents drop students off at the front door before 9:05 a.m. As you can imagine, the first day can bring a level of nervousness for all students and having more people in the hallways makes it more difficult for students to find their classrooms. We will have MANY extra staff members on hand to help students find their classrooms on the first week of school. Thank you for your understanding!

Parking Lot: Our school serves over 400 students and that means a lot of families and vehicles. Please be courteous in our parking lot and follow safety procedures. Please reference our Pick Up and Drop off Procedures, which are summarized below.

Drop Off: Families should park only in designated areas. Preschool families are able to park vehicles in the lot or along the sidewalk near the classroom doors until 8:50 a.m.only. At 8:50 a.m. our sidewalk becomes our car line and the vehicles there need to continue to move for drop off and pick up. When using the car line, please plan to load and unload your children on the sidewalk side of the car only. This ensures that we don't have students in the middle of the driveway as cars are passing. Do Not park in non-designated areas in the lot or in the grass. This poses a safety hazard for other families who can't see around vehicles when driving. If there are not spaced available in the parking lot, please consider using the car line. Please do not bring pets to school during drop off/pick up times.

Dismissal: It takes time to get into our routines and more families tend to pick up on the first few days. Please expect this to take longer at first and thanks for your patience with us as we get settled. If you are driving to pick up your child, there are two options for your family.

1. Park in the lot and walk across to the stones near our front entrance. Please only park in parking spaces and not along curbs or along the sidewalk in our car line.

2. Drive through our car line. Please have your Family Name Sign on your visor, dash, or mirror. If you don't have a sign, any paper with your last name works! Please pull forward all the way. Students need to enter vehicles on the sidewalk side of the car. To keep the car line moving, please continue to pull all the way forward. We will ask students to walk with the vehicles as they pull up.

Early Release on Friday: This coming Friday, September 5th is an Early Release Day for students. Long Lake students will dismiss at 2:02 p.m.

Thank you for taking the time to read our weekly newsletters to stay connected to your child(ren)'s learning! It's going to be an amazing year together!

Warm regards,

Kate Burwinkel

Throughout the year we post photos celebrating students on our school and district Facebook pages and newsletters. If you haven’t checked out our facebook page yet, you can find it here: https://www.facebook.com/LongLakeElementarySchoolTCAPS If you are not interested in your child being sponsored in these pages, please communicate your preference via email (burwinkeka@tcaps.net) or in writing to our school office. We look forward to sharing our learning with our families!

The TCAPS Elementary Handbook can be found on the TCAPS website: www.tcaps.net Please sign and return the acknowledgement page that was included in the Open House Packet.

The Long Lake House System was a great way to bring our community together last year and we look forward to celebrating our students through our House Assemblies again this year! If your child is a returning panther, he/she will stay in their same house. If you are a new family, your child will have the opportunity to reveal their house at the first assembly. Our PTO provides 1 free house shirt for every new student to our buidling. Please keep and eye out for a shirt size form coming home the first week of school. An overview of our House System can be found here: House System Overview For Parents.

As you catch summer sales, here are the school supply lists for each grade level for next year!

It is crucial that ALL our families complete the Educational Benefits form this school year. This form, formally called the Meal Magic Application allows families to gain access to additional resources such as extra-curricular discounts, meals, and supports. Additionally, Long Lake receives grant funding to hire additional teachers, instructional assistants, and instructional resources based on the form returns. These resources are vital to our program, and we need your help by completing the form to ensure we keep these resources in the future! Please click: https://traversecity.familyportal.cloud/benefits/onlyapplying The information provided is kept strictly confidential. Paper copies of the form are available in our school office. Thank you in advance!

If your family completed any of summer academic workbooks over the summer, please write your child's name on the front of the workbook and drop it off in the school office during the first couple of weeks of school. After the completed workbooks are turned into the office, we'll send home an Accomplished Medal!

Life Touch will be on campus on Wednesday, September 16, 2026 for fall pictures. All students will have their picture taken that day. If you would like to order school pictures, there are two ways to order. Orders can be placed online at mylifetouch.com using picture day ID number for Long Lake which is EVTWSCFKN. Your child can also bring their completed flyer with cash or check on picture day. Orders after picture day must be placed online at mylifetouch.com.

Yearbooks: New this year, you can order yearbooks when you place your school picture order. Yearbook orders are placed online at ybpay.lifetouch.com. The Long Lake yearbook ID code is 15170527.

In the past, our PTO provides popcorn to students as an extra treat once a month! PTO plans to coordinate popcorn popping again this year! However, we need volunteers to make this possible. Bring your friends and meet some new people for a fun night out for the kids. You don't need to have previous experience to help out! Volunteer positions for this include a pro-popper (someone that knows how to use the popcorn machine) and additional volunteers to help bag the popcorn. Please consider volunteering: Popcorn Popper Sign Up Link

Please consider being a popcorn sponsor this year for popcorn Fridays. School-wide popcorn Fridays starting in September. As a $100 donor, your business logo will be posted in the front window of the office, viewable to all who enter the school or use the car line. If you are interested, please complete the Popcorn Sponsor Form. Deadline is September 30th.

Happy Feet is bacl this fall on Tuesdays and Thursdays! This is a fun extra that is made possible by our parents! Happy Feet allows students to run/walk on the track during lunch recess to earn foot tokens. Our students absolutely LOVE this opportunity and we’re excited to get it back up and running this fall! Happy Feet will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays from September 22nd through October 29th! Find out more about the Happy Feet Program and consider signing up to punch running cards at the track. Please sign up using the Volunteer Sign Up Link This is a fun extra that is made possible by YOU! Thanks for considering!

Selection of members will be based on three criteria – expressed interest, ability to attend meetings as required, and that you meet one of the following categories:

• Parent of a student attending TCAPS

• Educator

• Local clergy

• Community health professional
  
  

According to the committee bylaws, 50% of the membership shall be the parents of current TCAPS students. If there are more volunteers than there are openings, a lottery system will be used to select members. If you are interested, please apply on or before September 28, 2026, using the 26-27 TCAPS Sex Education Advisory Board Application. Any questions can be directed to Erin Johnson, TCAPS Sex Education Coordinator, at johnsoner@tcaps.net.

The newest edition of theTCAPS District News is live! Stay updated on the latest stories from across the district. District Newsletter

Per state requirements developed in collaboration with Michigan Tribal Nations, families have the option to annually report their student’s tribal affiliation. This optional data helps strengthen communication with Tribal Nations and allows our district to explore potential grant opportunities to support Indigenous students. All submitted information is strictly confidential and protected under privacy laws, including FERPA.

How to participate: If you choose to share your family's affiliation, please complete the 2026-27 Tribal Affiliation Questionnaire by September 30, 2026. To learn more, visit the Tribal Affiliation Data in Michigan Schools page.

September 8th: First Day of School!

September 11th: Early Release Day for TCAPS Students. Long Lake Releases at 2:02 p.m.

September 16th: Picture Day for Long Lake Elementary

September 17th: Constitution Day; Students will participate in related activities

September 17th: PTO Meeting 6:30 p.m. in the library or you can join virtually @ https://meet.google.com/rqp-hqre-sds

September 18th: House Assembly 9:20 a.m. All Families are welcome to join!

October 5th: Kindergarten Oral Health Assessments

October 7th: Count Day

October 9th: Long Lake Olympics Day

October 12th:Early Release Day for TCAPS Students. Long Lake Releases at 2:02 p.m.

October 15th: PTO Meeting 6:30 p.m. in the library or you can join virtually @ https://meet.google.com/rqp-hqre-sds

October 23rd: House Assembly 9:20 a.m. All Families are welcome to join!

October 23rd: PTO Sponsored Monster Mash Dance 6:30-8:30 p.m.

October 30th: Halloween Parade @ 9:20 a.m.

TCAPS 2026-2027 Academic Calendar
TCAPS 2026-2027 Building Hours

Long Lake Website: https://www.tcaps.net/o/lles

Long Lake Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/LongLakeElementarySchoolTCAPS

PTO Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Long-Lake-Elementary-PTO-305155839569856/