Tradewinds Eagle Parent Newsletter
October 2026 Volume 4 Issue 3
SCHOOL BOARD OF BROWARD COUNTY, FL
Debra Hixon, Chair
Sarah Leonardi, Vice Chair
Lori Alhadeff
Maura McCarthy Bulman
Brenda Fam, Esq.
Dr. Jeff Holness
Nora Rupert
Rebecca Thompson
Dr. Allen Zeman
Dr. Howard Hepburn
Superintendent of Schools
Principal's Message
Greetings Tradewinds Families,
Happy October, Eagles! 💚💛🦅 It is hard to believe we are already entering another exciting month of the 2026–2027 school year! Our students have settled into their routines, our classrooms are filled with meaningful learning, and our Eagles continue to show us what it means to SOAR!
Our theme, “Learning Takes Us to Infinity and Beyond!”, continues to guide our journey as we remain focused on academic excellence and ensuring that every student makes meaningful progress. During October, our teachers will continue using classroom assessments, progress-monitoring data, small-group instruction, and targeted interventions to meet students by name and need.
As we move deeper into the school year, we are asking every Eagle to keep reaching higher! Our schoolwide goal is 70% or higher proficiency in Reading, Math, and Science — 70+! 70+! 70+! 🚀 Achieving this goal takes all of us working together—students, staff, families, and our community.
Attendance Counts! Every day and every instructional minute matter. We need our Eagles in school, on time, and ready to learn each day. Families can support success by maintaining consistent attendance, establishing strong bedtime and morning routines, reading with your child at home, reviewing assignments, and talking with your child about what they are learning.
October is also a great time to check in on your child’s progress. Ask your Eagle: “What are you learning?” “What are you working to improve?” “What are you proud of?” and “What is your goal for this month?” These conversations help students take ownership of their learning and remind them that school and home are one team.
As we continue through the first quarter, please stay connected with your child’s teacher and monitor your child’s academic progress through the FOCUS Parent Portal. Communication and partnership are essential as we work together to ensure that every student receives the support, encouragement, and challenge needed to succeed.
Thank you, Tradewinds families, for your continued partnership, support, and trust. We are incredibly proud of our students and staff and grateful for the families who make Tradewinds Elementary such a special place.
Let’s make October a month of strong attendance, focused learning, continued growth, and EXCELLENCE!
Together, we will continue to learn, grow, achieve, and SOAR to infinity and beyond! 🚀🌟
One Team. One School. One TWE Family. 💚💛🦅
#ExcellenceIsTheStandard
Please visit our website at www.browardschools.com/tradewinds for important updates and information.
Follow us on social media:
X (formerly Twitter): @TradewindsES
Instagram: @TradewindsBCPS
Also, be sure to register for the FOCUS Parent Portal at www.browardschools.com/focus to access important information about your child throughout the school year.
We are honored to serve as your administrative team and are grateful to partner with you in making Tradewinds Elementary an A+ school for ALL!
Let’s SOAR through October! 💚💛🦅🚀
Sincerely,
Dr. Priscille Elie
Principal
Ms. Kim Marinacci-Rohloff
Assistant Principal
Our Mission Statement & Vision Statement
Our Mission: A diverse community of learners and educators striving toward educational excellence for all.
Our Vision: Committed to developing a learning community of caring individuals and life-long learners. Self-worth is cultivated in a nurturing environment and decisions are based on what is best for students.
Meal Benefits Update for School Year 2026-2027
Beginning next school year, Students will no longer eat lunch at no cost. Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) families will need to apply to determine their eligibility for free and reduced-price lunches.
The Food and Nutrition Services Department will start accepting online Meal Benefits Applications for the 25-26 school year on Monday, July 14, 2025, at www.myschoolapps.com.
My School Bucks 2026-2027
An online payment portal designed to allow parents and guardians quick and easy access to online payments for additional meals or à la carte items.
À la carte items include: Sparkling water, Ice-Cream, Pop-Tart, Rice Crispy Treats and more. All à la carte items are USDA Smart Snack approved.
A nominal fee of $2.49 is charged per credit/debit transaction.
Meal Prices
Second meals will be charged at the adult price of $4.95. We encourage parents to register through My School Bucks payment portal for easy and convenient online payments.
Read About Your Parent Rights
The School Board of Broward County (SBBC), Florida maintains its commitment to honoring the rights of parents/legal guardians. Parent involvement in our District is a critical function in the education of students. This webpage contains important information relating to the rights of parents/guardians and the promotion of parental involvement in our schools.
PTA President Message
🍂 October with PTA!
Fall is here, and October is packed with opportunities to connect, volunteer, and have fun with our Tradewinds community! We’re excited for a busy month and appreciate all of our families who help make these events possible.
🎃 Trunk or Treat — October 23 from 5:30-7:00 PM
Get those costumes ready! 👻 Join us for an evening of decorated trunks, and treats.
🚗 Interested in hosting a trunk?
Sign up here!
🏆 Think you have the best trunk?
We’ll be voting for the Best Trunk, and the winner will receive a $25 gift card! 🎉 So get creative, decorate your trunk, and bring your best spooky, silly, or spectacular setup!
We can’t wait to see what our Tradewinds families come up with! 🎃👻
📚 Scholastic Fall Book Fair — October 23–30
The Scholastic Fall Book Fair is coming to Tradewinds! Students will have an opportunity to shop during the school day from October 23–30.
🙋♀️ Want to volunteer at the Book Fair? Sign up here!
Our volunteers help make the Book Fair possible, and we appreciate your support!
✨ Visit our Book Fair homepage: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/tradewindselementaryschool
On our Book Fair page, families can:
💳 Set up an eWallet — Create an eWallet for your student and add funds for them to use while shopping at the fair.
👀 Get a Sneak Peek — Check out some of the books and exciting titles that will be available before the fair begins!
📚 Learn More About the Fair — Find Book Fair information and get ready for a fun week of reading and shopping.
👕 Class Shirts Update
Class shirts are with our vendor! 🎉
Once they are ready, they will be delivered to the school and distributed to students. Thank you for your patience while we get everyone’s shirts ready!
💚 It’s Never Too Late to Join the PTA!
Have you joined the PTA yet? It’s only $10 for the entire school year! Joining does not mean you have to volunteer or attend meetings. There is absolutely no obligation—but we would love to have you as part of our Tradewinds PTA family!
Your membership helps us continue supporting our students, teachers, and school community all year long.
📱 Stay Connected with the Tradewinds Elementary PTA! 💙🦅
Don't miss out on school events, volunteer opportunities, spirit wear, fundraisers, and important PTA updates!
✨ Follow us on social media:
💙 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradewindsElementaryPTA
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradewindspta/
SAVE THE DATES GENERAL MEETING DATES & TIMES
Location: All General Meetings will be held at Tradewinds Elementary in the Media Center.
Dates and Times:
August 31st 6:00pm Virtual
-
January 25th at 6:00 PM
-
May 11th at 6:00 PM
Unified Dress Code
Tradewinds is a unified dress school and students are expected to follow the color patterns of hunter green, gold/yellow, khaki and/or white. As these colors may be a bit challenging to find during certain seasons, students are permitted to wear variations of greens and yellows.
CLASS PLACEMENTS FOR 2026-2027 🏫🍎🚸
At Tradewinds Elementary, we are fortunate to have a team of wonderful teachers dedicated to your child’s success. Please note that there is no need to submit specific teacher requests, as we cannot guarantee placement with a particular teacher and will not accommodate friend requests placements.
As it relates to addressing teacher concerns, If you have any concerns, you’re welcome to reach out to the administration, and we’re happy to assist. However, we will always ask: Have you communicated with the teacher? Is the teacher aware of your concerns? Have you scheduled a parent-teacher conference? Our staff is committed to addressing any issues that are brought to their attention, so please make every effort to speak with the teacher first.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. We’re all in this together, and I sincerely appreciate your partnership in supporting our students.
FOCUS PARENT PORTAL
Parents this is for YOU! The District will implement a new Student Information System (SIS), Focus School Software, beginning in the 2024-2025 school year. Student's schedules will be available for parents to view on FOCUS beginning August 6th.
Focus will replace Pinnacle, Virtual Counselor, PCG (EdPlan), BASIS, and TERMS. It centralizes all applications used by parents into one districtwide system, incorporating attendance, grade book, scheduling, report cards, transportation, and communication.
To sufficiently inform parents and guardians, the Parent and Community Involvement Task Force and District staff hosted Parent University: Get Focus(ed)! on April 8, 2024, to provide an introduction and overview of the system. The recorded webinar may be found at https://www.browardschools.com/parentuniversity.
For detailed information, Focus Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and translated directions for parents and guardians to register for the Focus Parent Portal, visit https://www.browardschools.com/focus.
For Focus SIS project information, please check the Focus Resource Hub.
Should you have any questions, please reach out to Focus Communications at focuscommunications@browardschools.com.
Kindly keep birthday treats at home
Tradewinds Elementary DOES NOT, allow birthday celebrations or allow bringing in birthday celebration items such as cupcakes, treat bags, drinks, pizza, etc. There will be two classroom celebrations occurring during the school year (Winter break and End of Year celebrations). Your child’s teacher will advise you of the exact date of these celebrations.
A monthly “Birthday Table” sponsored by the PTA will celebrate the students’ birthdays in lieu of individual classroom activities. This also takes the place of sending balloons, cupcakes, flowers, surprise gift or “goody bags,” etc. to your child during the day. We are unable to accept these items. If they are sent to school, they will not be accepted and will have to go home with the parent. No exceptions.
RETURNED CALLS 24-48 HOURS
Thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation in this matter.
TARDY POLICY
STUDENT & STAFF IDs
Visitors: Any visitors on campus, if they need to gain access onto the campus, must be issued an ID badge from the front office and processed through the Raptor System with a valid ID. Also note that parents or guardians picking up students early must have a valid ID in order to do so. Not having an ID will prevent your child to not be released until proper identification is presented to the front office staff.
SAFETY FIRST
- All visitors must report to the front office.
- All visitors must go through our Raptor Visitor System.
- All visitors must have an I.D. in order to gain access to the school.
- All parents must have a Dismissal car tag to pick-up their child. A picture of the sign on your mobile device is acceptable as well.
- Students will wear their I.D.s while on campus
- Parents must update their contact information with the front office.
- All students should be in uniforms. Our uniform policy is listed in this newsletter and our website.
- Consistency with dismissal is critical. Please alert the teacher and office ASAP of any changes.
- Early student sign-outs will cease at 1:30 p.m.
Emergency Management / Emergency Response Protocols
SEE SOMETHING! SAY SOMETHING!
School Climate & Discipline / Code of Conduct (browardschools.com)
The Code Book For Student Conduct (browardschools.com) (K-2) UPDATED 26-27 COMING SOON
The Code Book For Student Conduct (browardschools.com) (3-5) UPDATED 26-27 COMING SOON
The Code Book For Student Conduct (browardschools.com) (ENGLISH) UPDATED 26-27 COMING SOON
Libro del Código de Conducta del Estudiante (browardschools.com) (SPANISH) UPDATED 26-27 COMING SOON
Cêdigo de Conduta do Estudante (browardschools.com) (PORTUGUESE) UPDATED 26-27 COMING SOON
Final Code SY 2021-2022 11_4_21v4b_ht.pdf (browardschools.com) (HAITIAN CREOLE) UPDATED 26-27 COMING SOON
PARENT/GUARDIAN CONSENT FOR SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICES
RATIONALE: Under new Fla. Stat. § 1014.06, licensed health care providers and practitioners as defined in Fla. Stat. § 456.001 may not provide, solicit, or arrange to provide health care services to children without first receiving written parental consent. Schools should note that § 1014.06 provides that violators will be subject to disciplinary action under licensing statutes, administrative fines, and potential criminal action.
The Parents’ Bill of Rights allows parents to do the following:
• Access and review all medical records (unless the parent is the subject of a criminal investigation for harm to a child).
• Opt out of HIV/Aids education for their child.
• Opt out of any portion of the school district’s comprehensive health and sex education.
• Reject medical treatment for a child unless the state can prove the child’s own welfare would be best served by such treatment.
• Exempt a student from required immunizations.
• Create a list of people, by priority, who may consent to the medical care or treatment of a minor when a parent or legal guardian can’t be reached.
Free Educational Websites
Scholastics First (K-2)
- Log into https://sso.browardschools.com
- Click Log in with Active Directory
- Log in username and password
- Click on Scholastics F.I.R.S.T
NewsELA:
- Log into https://sso.browardschools.com
- Click Log in with Active Directory
- Log in username and password
- Click on NewsELA
- Log into https://sso.browardschools.com
- Click Log In with Active Directory
- Log in username and password
- Click on BrainPop or BrainPop Jr.
Khan Academy
Readworks:
- Log into https://www.readworks.org/
- Log into https://www.spellingcity.com/
STEMScopes:
- Log into https://sso.browardschools.com
- Click Log in with Active Directory
- Log in username and password
- Click on STEMscopes
- Reading Sites
- i-READY www.i-ready.com
Weekly Reader -The same great magazine used in classrooms around the country has a great website devoted to extending reading activities at home.
http://www.weeklyreader.com
Scholastic's Book Central - https://kids.scholastic.com/kids/home/
Scholastic Activities for families to participate together.
https://www.scholastic.com/parents/kids-activities-and-printables.htm - Kids-Reads A great resource to find out about books, authors, and illustrators.
http://kidsreads.com
Star Fall - http://www.starfall.com
Time For Kids - http://timeforkids.com/tfk/
"Ultimate Guide to Reading Comprehension"
http://www.supersummary.com/reading-comprehension-guide/
The School Board of Broward County, Florida, prohibits any policy or procedure which results in discrimination on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation. The School Board also provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Individuals who wish to file a discrimination and/or harassment complaint may call the Director, Equal Educational Opportunities/ADA Compliance Department & District’s Equity Coordinator/Title IX Coordinator at 754-321- 2150 or Teletype Machine (TTY) 754-321-2158.
Individuals with disabilities requesting accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008, (ADAAA) may call Equal Educational Opportunities/ADA Compliance Department at 754-321-2150 or Teletype Machine (TTY) 754-321-2158.
About Tradewinds Elementary
Email: priscille.elie@browardschools.com
Website: https://www.browardschools.com/tradewinds
BCPS Website: http://www.browardschools.com
Location: 5400 Johnson Road, Coconut Creek, FL 33073
Phone: 754-322-8700
Instagram: @tradewindsBCPS
Twitter: @tradewindsES