TPS District Newsletter

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) recently made the 2023 school and district report cards available on the report cards website. The site also contains supporting documentation and FAQs, both of which are available in English and nine other languages.

Kindergarten report cards and progress reports were issued on February 14th. If you're having trouble accessing the report cards, please refer to the emailed instructions from your school principal.

The second trimester marking period end date for our students in grades 1-4 has been changed to March 8. This change was approved by School Committee at the February 14th meeting.

Please see the Standards Based Report Cards website here.

School Committee has approved the official calendar for the 2024 - 2025 school year. You can access it via the button above.

The Tewksbury Public Schools is seeking nominations for the 2024 Annual Ginsburg Family

Award to recognize an individual, a group, or a company/organization who has had a

significant impact on the Tewksbury Public Schools in the area of physical, monetary, tangible

contribution(s), or volunteering for the benefit of a school or the district, as well as the 2024 Annual Krissy Polimeno Outstanding Educator Award, given annually to honor an individual

educator in the area of active involvement, volunteering, and giving a generous amount of

time and energy to the quality of the educational system as an advocate for students in the

Tewksbury Public Schools. We invite you to send in your nominations using the following forms:

Ginsburg Family Award Nomination Form

Polimeno Outstanding Educator Award Nomination Form

Tewksbury Public Schools participated in National No One Eats Alone Day activities a day early on Thursday, February 15th (due to the half day on February 16th.) This movement, which was started by an organization called Beyond Differences and supported locally by District Attorney Marian T. Ryan, aims to combat the loneliness which students may experience during the school day, particularly at lunch. The mission of National No One Eats Alone Day is to encourage students to include everyone at lunch so that not even one student is left alone to eat.

Two Center School students have been entered into the Massachusetts School Library Association bookmark contest. Congratulations to third grader Kelly Kim and fourth grader Ivy Wickham for being selected from the dozens of school entries to represent Tewksbury. This year's theme was "Every Story Matters"

Plans for this year’s All Night Long Graduation Celebration are underway! The All Night

Long party begins at 10:00 pm on graduation night, Friday, June 7th and ends at 5:00 am on Saturday, June 8th. Your graduate must pre-register to attend! Please note that while ANL is part of senior week, it is not included in senior week activity fees, it is a separate event fee. You can access more information and the registration form here.

The Center School PAC and Charity Legvold, STEAM teacher, are bringing back STEAM Night! Second grade's night in January was a huge success.

This month, it's third grade's turn! Reach out to Anna or Molly at CenterElementaryPAC@gmail.com if you are available to help.

This App makes finding information about your child's school much easier. This FREE app is available on the Apple App store for iOS devices and Google Play store for Android devices. Check it out!

The Tewksbury Public Library is hosting a series of Black History Month and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion programs throughout February and March. You can find all of the details by clicking the button above.

The Public Health Museum will be open and offering indoor and outdoor tours during the February vacation week. Kids are free! They will also be hosting a family movie night featuring Balto on February 17th at 5:30pm.

The Town of Tewksbury invites parents, educators, and interested community members to participate in the free Youth Mental Health First Aid courses taking place February 21st and February 22nd. The program teaches adults how to identify, understand, and respond to mental health and substance abuse challenges among children and adolescents ages 12-18. There are two different events to choose from:

February 21, 2024

9:30am - 3:30pm

Tyngsborough Old Town Hall

10 Kendall Rd, Tyngsborough, MA

Registration contact: Ashley Pavlakos at apavlakos@tewksbury-ma.gov

February 22, 2024

9am - 3pm

Chelmsford Town Hall - Fire Training Room

50 Billerica Rd, Chelmsford, MA

Registration contact: Taryn Angel at tangel@chelmsfordma.gov

We are delighted to announce that kindergarten registrations for the Tewksbury Public Schools will be open from January 16, 2024 through April 26, 2024. To streamline the process families are required to complete online registration paperwork and upload necessary documents, including: Child's birth certificate, current mortgage statement / lease, current utility bill, updated physical and immunization record for the child and parent's photo identification (current driver's license). All this information is mandatory for all families, even if you have previously registered another child. During the registration appointment, you will have the opportunity to select a kindergarten screening appointment date, which will be in May. To provide essential information and guidance, an informational video will be available on our website and local cable access channel starting January 2, 2024. On this date, families can also begin scheduling virtual kindergarten registration appointments, unless an in-person meeting is requested. We appreciate your cooperation in ensuring a smooth registration process for your child's exciting educational journey with Tewksbury Public Schools.

It has come to our attention that "Published" report cards in Aspen only stay available (in the published widget section) for 2 weeks. In order to access it, the system automatically downloads the report to your computer or device. The system is purged after the 2 weeks. As a courtesy to our families, we are extending the window for 7-10 weeks. After 7-10 weeks, the report card will no longer be accessible in the published widget section. Be sure to access and store the report in a convenient place during that time frame. However, Aspen has informed us that there will be updates to our published widget section later this winter. We will keep you informed once new updates and/or changes occur in retrieving published documents.

As a friendly reminder, here is the video on how to retrieve a Grade 5-12 published report card in Aspen.

Grades K-4 Standards-Based Report Cards are stored in the "Documents" side tab.

We are pleased to share with you Massachusetts Partnership for Youth Parent Resources, which are as follows:

• Mental Health Knowledge and Skills
  
• Parenting Principles for Progress, not Perfection
• Inspire School Success for Elementary, Middle & High School Students
• Support Your Anxious Child Library
• Help Your Neurodiverse Child Thrive

The Department has partnered with the nonprofit uAspire to provide free support to students and school staff to help seniors complete their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

uAspire will offer a FAFSA webinar for students from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 27. Registration is open online. In addition, FAQs are available in English and Spanish, and more resources are posted on uAspire.org/resources, uaspire.org/Checklist, and uaspire.org/FSAID.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is planning to administer the Next Generation Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (NG MCAS) test for all students in grades 3-10 this Spring. We have identified the planned testing weeks at each grade level with some helpful links (see MCAS Testing Schedule button above). Please note, the specific details in this testing memo may be subject to change if required or necessary.

Childcare programs will be scheduled during the February and April vacations. For more information, please click the button above.

TPS is looking for daily substitute teachers and daily substitute classroom aides for every grade level K-12. The daily substitute pay rate has been increased to:

• $110.00 daily rate for substitute classroom aides (this is a 6-hour 20 minute day)
• $150.00 daily rate for substitute teachers (this is a 7-hour day)

For more information, please click the button above and scroll down for links to the Substitute Application, CORI form and information on Fingerprinting.

All students should sign-up for Athletics and/or Clubs through Community Pass. Community Pass will automatically adjust fees for Family maximum amounts. If you have any questions, please contact your child's school.

Tewksbury Public Schools is now on Facebook!

Website: https://www.tewksbury.k12.ma.us/
Location: 139 Pleasant Street, Tewksbury, MA, USA
Phone: (978) 640-7800