TMS Dragons
PRO: Perseverance, Respect, Ownership December 2025
From the Principal’s Desk
I hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. As we head into the final three weeks of December, there’s a special energy in the building—students are excited, classrooms are lively, and our staff is focused on finishing the calendar year with joy and purpose. It’s a great time to celebrate growth and highlight successes.
As the mornings get colder and busier, please continue to be patient and aware during student drop-off. Your care and attentiveness ensure that every student begins their day safely and with a positive start.
Thank you for bringing such warmth and support to our school community.
Opening day of the Snack Dragon!
We have several students who have been working hard over the past several months to put together a snack cart to sell snacks and drinks to the teachers and staff! After putting lots of thought and planning into their project, the students had the opportunity to present the Snack Dragon to the Board of Education and hand out invitations to the opening day.
Dr. Heller, our new superintendent, came to Turner this week and was the Snack Dragon’s first official customer! This project allows students to work on communication skills, problem solving skills, real world math and literacy skills in a very hands on and engaging way!
🎵 Orchestra concert
Tuesday, December 16
🎵 Band concert
Wednesday, December 17
🎵 Choir concert at BHS
Thursday, December 11
🚫No School, Winter Break
Monday, December 22, 2025 -January 2, 2026
🚫No School for Students
Monday, January 5, 2026 (Teacher Work Day) & Tuesday, January 6, 2026 (Staff PD Day)
🚫No School, Martin Luther King Holiday
Monday, January 19, 2026
Student course fees and any unpaid athletic fees are now posted to your student’s account.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our bookkeeper:
📞 970-613-7405
📧merri.hocker@tsd.org
Thank you for taking care of these balances promptly!
TMS Counseling Department Notes & News:
Summary of School Counseling Services:
We’ve been busy checking in individually on students who may struggle with breaks from school, along with taking requests from students, teachers, and parents/guardians.
In November, we met individually with approximately 120 students across all 3 grades.
We will be wrapping up 2 groups with 8th grade students soon! We had 25 students participate and they learned skills for coping with anxiety, identifying sources of anxiety, and how anxiety impacts our brain, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Inclusion Club:
For their December Monthly Awareness topic, they chose Safe Toys and Gifts Month.
They’ll be helping support the school with a holiday gift tree, where students can write a note about a student they are concerned may have something they need for the holidays. Other students can then choose a gift tag off the tree for an anonymous student in need. Counselors will check in with families before adding anyone to the tree.
Additionally, the club members will be volunteering with the Greyson Project to help stuff bags with holiday decor for families who have children in hospitals across Colorado and other states. This is their second service learning project of the school year!
Sources of Strength:
Peer leaders just did their second campaign in PRO classes. They touched on gratefulness since it’s timely for this season. The students presented a slideshow and why gratitude is important, different ways to express it, and gratitude practices in general.
Information for TSD Choice Enrollment & Open Enrollment Thompson School District Choice & Open Enrollment for the 2026-2027 school year is available November 3, 2025 - January 30, 2026. If you live inside the Thompson School District boundaries and wish to attend a school that is outside of your designated attendance area, please apply for Choice Enrollment. If you live outside the Thompson School District and wish to attend a TSD school, please apply for Open Enrollment. Families are encouraged to submit their applications at any time during the enrollment period. Thompson School District reviews applications and includes eligible applications in a lottery. More information is available at https://www.tsd.org/choice. If you have any questions, please email choice.enrollment@tsd.org or call 970-613-5355.
in PRO.....
6th grade recently completed the Signs of Suicide presentations.
In 7th grade, they did a Character Strong lesson about understanding health & well-being. 7th grade will receive the Signs of Suicide presentation in December.
8th graders learned about selflessness.
All grades participated in connection circles and did an attendance lesson to practice problem solving conflicts with peers or staff that might be a reason why they don’t want to attend school
In Literacy News:
In literacy, students will be taking the Middle of the Year (MOY) assessments in early December). Please encourage your child to do their best and ask if they showed growth from their Beginning of Year diagnostic score! In class, students are wrapping up our unit about how imagination enhances our lives. They will be finishing composing their creative short stories and following plot structure.
In Social Studies News:
In Social Studies we have wrapped up studying the Maya and the students closed the unit by creating a historical fiction story about a Mayan person. We have moved to studying the Aztecs. We will continue working on our close reading skills before moving to the Inca before Winter Break.
In Math News:
Students will be taking the Middle of the Year (MOY) assessments in Math starting in early December. Please encourage your child to do their best and ask if they showed growth from their Beginning of Year diagnostic score.
Additionally, students are wrapping up units on ratios, unit rates and expressions. These units have SO many real-word applications! Shopping around and cooking for the holidays is a great way to involve your student and check their knowledge on these topics!
In Science News:
Our young scientists have concluded their Geologic Times and are now extending their learning to Space: our Solar System and the Universe. With the shorter daylight hours and better night viewing, please encourage your astronomer to gaze into space and see if you can identify any of our neighboring planets. “Live Long and Prosper” Spock.
As we head into the final month of 2025, students are wrapping up projects, celebrating their growth, and preparing for a strong finish before winter break.
In Math:
In Math 2.5 we are finishing our unit on rational and irrational numbers which make up our real numbers and students have practiced identifying and comparing examples from both groups. After Thanksgiving Break, we will begin studying circles, angles, and triangles, focusing on key properties and how to solve related problems.
In ELA:
ELA just wrote their essay that answers the question, "How do we overcome adversity?" Next, they are working on an informative essay on a person of their choosing who has overcome adversity.
In Science:
Science students will soon explore how fossils form, what they can tell us about Earth’s past, and how scientists use evidence to construct the geologic time scale. We’ll investigate major events in Earth’s history and learn how life on our planet has changed over millions of years.
In Social Studies:
Students have recently learned about Ancient Greece and Rome. When we come back from Break, we will be finishing up Rome and learning about culture! Student's will be researching and creating a project to show their own culture. In December time will fly by, all missing or late work is due no later than December 12.
This month in Science, our 8th graders are diving deeper into our Chemistry Unit!
Students will explore what happens to materials as they undergo both physical changes and chemical reactions, learning how to clearly tell the difference between the two. They’ll study the five indicators of a chemical reaction and apply their knowledge to everyday situations to understand how chemistry shows up all around them. Throughout the unit, students will also be building essential lab skills—such as safe equipment handling, accurate data collection, and effective teamwork—which will support them in future science courses.
As we investigate physical processes, students will dive into the states of matter and examine how changes in temperature and energy cause substances to melt, freeze, evaporate, or condense. One of the highlights of this unit will be a liquid nitrogen demonstration, where students will get to see dramatic changes of state happen right before their eyes.
Throughout the unit, students will take part in hands-on labs, including using Bunsen burners to determine the melting points of different materials and observe how various substances behave in a flame. Toward the end of the unit, be sure to ask your student about our colored flame lab—it’s always a favorite!
NEWS FROM ELECTIVE CLASSES
‘Twas the month of December and all through the halls,
Not a 6th grader off-task, 3D projects for all.
Industrial Tech students exploring engineering with care,
Different projects: woodworking and laser engraving done there.
The 8th grade children were nestled all snug in their class,
Finishing “Comida es Cultura” Unit without any sass,
Speaking, reading, and writing in Español,
Comparing holiday food and traditions were fun for all.
When in 7th grade, there rose such a clatter,
Señor Alex heard the description of holiday guests through the chatter.
The 6th graders were learning about school in Spain,
They will end the quarter with dates and weather, like rain.
The moon on the breast of the newly learned pronouns,
Saw the 6th graders saying, “me gusta/no me gusta,” testing the new sounds.
When, what to my wondering ears should I hear,
But the choir, band and orchestra playing music near.
With a little old teacher, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment blood-typing’s not a trick,
Treadmill, airplanes, Legos, and flight,
The Plus 1 class will debate and learn to not fight.
More rapid than fermentation, the learning came,
As she whistled, and directed, and called them by name!
Now Basketball! Now pickleball! Now table tennis they called,
Do pushups! Count situps! Run the shuttle, be enthralled.
To the top of the stage! Sit and reach to the wall!
Now improve! Now improve! Now have fun y’all!
As 6th grade ceramic dries and is put in the fire,
Kids learn new ways to see art than they had prior,
We’ll make ornaments, and houses, and a sketch or two,
Matisse cutouts and value drawings in art to show you.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard in FACS,
A group of students cooking and saying their thanks,
The 8th grade babies were stressful, and yet they learned,
To make good choices or goals could be upturned.
The teachers sprang to their rooms, gave a whistle,
And away the semester will end like the down of a thistle.
But you will hear them exclaim, as they enter the last grade,
“Happy holiday to all, and we hope your joys are overpaid.”
Gifted Education news
Math Counts will continue to meet on Mondays in January.
Spelling Bee Club will continue to meet on Wednesdays in January.
The Thompson District Chess competition will be held on Saturday, January 24th from 8 am - 1 pm at Lucille Erwin Middle School. Check the TSD.org website for registration. This is a popular activity and usually fills up early. Registration opens Dec. 1.
Mrs. Leonard is looking for adult or high school volunteers to grade at the Math Counts competition on Feb 5. Answers provided! Please contact her at kristina.leonard@tsd.org if you are interested.
Spirit Week Dec. 15 - 19
Monday - Ugly Sweater Day
Tuesday - Candy Cane Day - Wear only red and/or white
Wednesday - Snow Day! Dress like you are going to be playing in the snow! Or you can wear all white that day.
Thursday - Anything but Christmas - Dress up for any other holiday besides Christmas.
Friday - Grinch or Santa, who do you prefer? Wear green for the Grinch or red for Santa.
Castle Colors or Turner Blue Day
Keep Your Chromebook Safe This Winter
STUDENTS: As winter sets in, a reminder: do not leave chromebooks in cold cars overnight. This can damage the battery and other functions of the computer, to the point where it may stop working, or even crack the screen! Students/Families are responsible for these damages, as insurance does not cover negligent acts such as this. Also, please remember to bring your fully charged chromebook when you return from break! Misplaced your cord? The most affordable replacement option is purchasing one yourself online: district recommended option
TSD Implements System to Support Students Online
I.T.S. offers software to help manage your student's device at home, whether they use an iPad or Chromebook. While we hope these tools are helpful, no filter or device restriction is perfect, and we encourage you to use other network management tools, such as parental controls built into your home router, if necessary.
Securly is a powerful safety tool that works in the background on all district-issued devices. It helps ensure that students stay safe and focused by filtering content on the browser, managing screen time, and keeping parents in the loop. Here’s what it offers:
Website Filtering
Inappropriate or unsafe sites are automatically blocked to help protect students from harmful content.
Weekly Email Activity Reports
Receive a summary of your child’s online activity directly in your inbox. Reports are sent to the email address you provided during the district’s Annual Family Check-in.
Custom Time Limits at Home
With the Securly Home App, you can set your own rules for when the Chrome browser is available outside of school hours—making it easy to manage screen time.
Learn more about the service by visiting the Securly Home App Set Up Guide
Amazon wish list
Will you please help our TMS staff fulfill their Amazon Wish Lists:
Update from Nutrition Services
Propositions LL and MM passed and that means the Healthy School Meals for All program (that we are operating currently) will continue.
Here are a few reminders about the meal program:
students may have 1 free breakfast and 1 free lunch daily
seconds and a la carte items (including a la carte milk) are NOT free
adults may NOT have free meals (with a few exceptions)
students must take at least 3 items from the 5+ offered including a fruit or vegetable
students do NOT have to take milk
we still encourage families to fill out an application for other benefits (fee waiving, discounts outside of the district, etc)
NOCO Emergency Alert
Larimer County Fire Departments have asked us to share this information. This emergency alert will alert those who sign up for it with emergency notifications from Larimer county. Please text NOCOALERT to 888777.
Safety Drills
TMS practices emergency safety drills on a continuous basis throughout the year. The type of drill we practice and discuss with students is rotated. We help students to become familiar with the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) which outline 5 situations and the actions that both the students and the adults do during an emergency.
How sick is too sick?
Please refer to the document, "How sick is too sick", from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) when deciding if students should stay home due to symptoms of illness. Reach out to the school health office with questions.
Absence reporting
1. You can call the attendance line at 970-613-7490 and leave us a message.
2. Notify us of planned absences directly through the portal, ensuring a seamless and efficient communication process.
Access the How-To Guide HERE for further instructions.
TMS PTO
TMS parent teacher organization (PTO) meets at Turner Middle School.
Please feel free to join them for the next meeting on Friday, December 5 at 9:00am.
See TMS Website for contact information.
SAAC
If you are interested in being a part of our School Accountability and Advisory Committee (SAAC) committee, please contact Adam Kohn at adam.kohn@tsd.org.
Turner Middle School
Mission:
We will provide a safe and inclusive environment and ensure a high level of learning for every student to become engaged citizens and lifelong learners.
Vision:
Cultivate Excellence, Celebrate Diversity, Connect with Community
Interim Principal: Adam Kohn
Interim Assistant Principal: Cassie Warwick
Dean: Lacey Scadden
Secretary: Merri Hocker
Attendance Secretary: Kelly Sandoval
Registrar: Brandii Wilson
School Nurse: Stephanie Roberts
School Health Office Aide: Pam Sargent
Website:https://tms.tsd.org/
Location: 950 Massachusetts Avenue, Berthoud, CO, USA
Phone: 970-613-7400
Email: Info.TMS@tsd.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TurnerMSBerthoud
Twitter: @tmsdragons