Long Lake Newsletter

Dear Families,

The upcoming week is a shortened one for students. We have an Early Release Day on Thursday, March 26th. Long Lake will dismiss at 2:02 p.m. TCAPS Spring Break starts on Friday March 27th. Students return to school on Monday, April 6th.

We were excited to celebrate the Rock Hunters House for having the highest points ahead of our March Assembly on Friday! Our Focus Trait in April is Integrity and we will highlight this after break!

Warmly,

Kate Burwinkel

Long Lake Elementary Principal

Please be sure to stop by our lost and found station outside of the library. All items left at the end of the school day on March 26th will be donated. As a reminder, it is a great idea to label your student's items. Thank you for helping us get these items back to you!

We are showing our School Spirit around campus after Spring Break!

April 6th Make It Your Color Monday- Go all in by wearing your house color

April 7th Tropical Tuesday- Wear your summer style and bright colors

April 8th Wacky Wednesday- Wear mismatched socks and clothes

April 9th Thinking Cap Thursday- Wear your favorite hat

April 10th Fan-tastic Friday- Wear your favorite sports team gear

We are excited to partner with the Boardman River Nature Center this year to participate in our All School Field Trip on May 28th. They are organizing and planning specific field lessons to match each grade level content standards. We will be looking for parent chaperones for the date. Please keep an eye out for a permission slip and more information coming home after spring break.

Thank you to all the families who signed up and are using Abound Parenting! This is the free app for LL families that builds reading skills at home through vocabulary development. The developer shared that Long Lake Elementary has had the highest rate of involvement across all of the schools they are working with! 160 families have participated, and we accumulated almost 600 stars in the short time we have had our school on board. Abound Parenting will soon be starting a monthly challenge to earn books for schools! Perhaps we’ll be the first winners if things continue like this!

If you're interested in signing up, Go to the App Store or Google Play, download & open the Abound Parenting App. Enter account info (e.g. your email, and create a password including a symbol, number, upper and lowercase letter). Enter your INVITE CODE, LLE2026 If you have any questions about the App or presentation, please contact info@aboundparenting.com, or joan@aboundparenting.com.

The following students have been selected to participate in the 2026 Crooked Tree Art Center Youth Art Exhibit. The exhibit will be at 322 Sixth Street in Traverse City, and will run from March 10-April 11, 2026. There will be a reception and awards presentation on Sunday March 15th from 1-3pm. Awards will be announced at 1:30 and will start with elementary school students.

Congratulations to the following students for their artistic efforts!

JK–Charlotte Sleder

K Schluentz– Madelyn Warner

K McCall–Ike Zenner

K DeLonge–Nora Harrelson

1 Kroese–Brantley Marsh

1 Luecke–Ruby Becker

2 Guggemos– Evelyn Fetters

2 Guggemos–Jack Jencka-Roche

2 Guggemos–Margot Kipke

2 Mackenzie–Sloan Wood

3rd Jayne— Elaina Laford

3rd Dzierwa–Merrielle Lahti

3 Key– Josey Gedman

3 Key– Vayda Leonard

4 Carlson–Molly Rykse

4 Schopieray– Gia Stremlow

4 Schoperiay–Clara Harrelson

5 Vincent– Lincoln Knysz

5 Peterson- Jaxon Rademaker

5 Peterson- Owen Chichester

Yearbooks are available to purchase online and the deadline to order is April 17, 2026. To order, visit the following website: www.ybpay.lifetouch.com. You will need the Long Lake yearbook ID Code which is 15170526. The cost is $12 per yearbook. We do have funds available to help families in need. If your family would benefit from a scholarship for a yearbook, please complete the request scholarship for yearbooks form or contact the school office to let us know.

Our next House Assembly is Friday, April 24th @ 9:30 a.m. Families are welcome to join us and be a part of this celebration! Just sign in at the office upon arrival. We will highlight one student per class and recognize classes for attendance and for following our lifelong guidelines!

Volunteer to allow this event to happen! Link to Volunteer for Bro Glow

Volunteer to donate snacks: Snack Donation Volunteer Link

We are excited to announce that our online store is now open through APRIL 7th! (They were so kind to give us an extra week for orders due to all those snowdays!) Simply place your orders online, and items will be sent home in your child’s backpack once they are printed. If your order is a gift, please email the PTO or call the school to make alternative pickup arrangements.
House Tees Store Link (Access Code: 2026)

PTO Logo Tees Store Link (Access Code: 2026)

PTO is happy to provide the entire school popcorn once a month and volunteers are needed. Bring the kids with you for extra helping hands and it is a fun way to meet new friends! Below is the sign up genius to help pop popcorn for students. Please consider helping out. Popcorn Sign Up Link on Sign Up Genius.

We are looking for donations for our thrilling Silent Auction held at the end-of-year Spring Fling event in May! If you, your business, or someone you know may want to donate a gift certificate or auction item, please fill out the Silent Auction Donation form and we will reach out to you to gather the item. Thank you for your consideration!

If you would like a digital copy from the Photo Booth, please email the PTO at Longlakepto1@gmail.com with your name and your daughter’s name and we will gladly send you a copy.

Thanks to the generosity of our community, our PTO exceeded their fundraising goal this year! During the last meetings, PTO discussed nominations for use of these funds and they are in the process of making these purchases! Thanks to our community we are receiving additional books for our school library and additional seating in the space, a future assembly with the John Ball Zoo, reupholstered hallway and library benches and renovations to the staff lounge! This wouldn't be possible without your support of our fundraising efforts each year! Thanks for allowing us to provide extras for our school!

Please note that Spring Recess runs from Friday, March 27 - Friday, April 3, 2026. All TCAPS school offices and the TCAPS Central Office will be closed during this time, with buildings reopening on Monday, April 6, 2026.

The March edition of the District News is available. Check it out here: District Outreach Newsletter TCAPS March District Newsletter!

The 2026-27 TCAPS Academic Calendar has been approved by the Board of Education. View the 2026-2027 Academic Calendar here.

The Great Lakes Region 2026 Child Safety Conference is coming to the Central High School Auditorium in Traverse City on Thursday, May 7. This event provides a dedicated space for officers, parents, and faculty to learn about protecting children in schools, sports, and across the community.

The afternoon and evening will feature four sessions led by national and local experts:

• 4:00 PM – Campus Safety: MSU Deputy Chief of Police Chris Rozman will draw on 25 years of experience to discuss security risks and building a positive safety culture.

• 5:00 PM – Bullying and Abuse Prevention: Jenna Baker of the Traverse Bay Children’s Advocacy Center and Prosecuting Attorney Noelle Moeggenberg will provide training on awareness and reporting child abuse.

• 6:00 PM – Online Exploitation: Founding partner of Marsh Law Firm, James Marsh, will share insights on protecting children from digital threats.

7:00 PM – Keynote Presentation: Renowned advocate and attorney Rachael Denhollander will deliver the keynote on supporting injured students through trauma-informed care.

March 23rd: 5th Grade Visit to WMS 9:30-11:00 a.m.

March 26th: TCAPS Early Release Day: LL dismissal 2:02 p.m

March 27th-April 5th: No School Spring Break

April 6th: Welcome Back!

April 16th: TCAPS Early Release Day: LL dismissal 2:02 p.m

April 16th: PTO meeting at 6:30 p.m. https://meet.google.com/fxd-mvaf-iic

April 21st: MSTEP Testing Begins for 5th Graders

April 22nd: Music Informances 10:55-11:25 2nd Luecke

April 24th: Long Lake House Assembly @ 9:30 a.m. All families are welcome!

April 24th Music Informances 10:20-10:50 K Schlunentz 10:55-11:25 K Richardson

May 4th: MSTEP Testing Begins for 4th Graders

May 5th: MSTEP Testing Begins for 3rd Graders

May 15th: PTO Sponsored Spring Fling

May 18th-May 22nd: NWEA testing for K-5th Graders

May 22nd: Long Lake House Assembly @ 9:30 a.m. All families are welcome!

May 25th: No School Memorial Day

May 28th: Save the Date- Long Lake All School Field Trip to Boardman River Nature Center

May 28th: PTO meeting at 6:30 p.m. https://meet.google.com/fxd-mvaf-iic

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/