Timber Ridge News

• Thursday, September 4: Open House, 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
• Friday, September 12: NO SCHOOL: Teacher Institute Day
• Tuesday, September 23: NO SCHOOL

Welcome back, Timber Ridge families! The Parent-Teacher Organization is in full swing and ready to get back to supporting our wonderful families and amazing staff!

To welcome our students back to Timber Ridge, we hosted a backpack drive. We know that back to school can sometimes be chatotic with shopping so students received a free backpack filled with supplies. It was fun watching the students pick out their backpack to start off the school year!

We are also excited to host our first Cold and Flu Drive during the Open House at Timber Ridge. We will have tables set up with wonderful products to help families with all of the lovely germs our kids bring home when school starts. We have so much more on the horizon for the upcoming school year so please be on the lookout!

Our email address is timberridgepto@nsseo.com and don't forget to like us on Facebook!

We are always looking for new members to join us! If you have questions or would like to join, please email us at timberridgepto@nsseo.org.

Please like and follow us on Facebook at Timber Ridge PTO - Parent Teacher Organization

Together we make a difference!

The start of the school year brings a mix of excitement and anxiety as students have a fresh start towards their goals. Students may be working with different staff this year, along with being in a classroom with new friends. The crucial piece at the start of the year is recognizing that students need to feel safe, they need to feel connected and they need to experience a sense of belonging before they are able to fully engage in learning. So, these first few weeks have been focused on balancing learning with building warm and welcoming classrooms where students know that all staff will work together to support their growth.

We look forward to a great year ahead!

As we get back into the swing of things this school year, we had our Fall Kick-Off this week as classrooms worked together to record videos and make posters of our expectations on the bus, in the hallway, in the classrooms and outside so that our students know their expectations throughout the building!

Primary Grades
Our youngest STREAM learners kicked off the year by reviewing lab safety and learning what a hypothesis means. We also began our exciting ABC STEM unit! For the letter A, students explored how airplanes fly and even designed their own. They also blasted off into space-themed activities, creating fun and imaginative aliens. To wrap up the month, they had a blast making elephant toothpaste, a foamy chemical reaction experiment that wowed everyone!

Intermediate Grades
Intermediate students also started with lab safety and then dove into the scientific method. To put their learning into action, they conducted a Skittles Lab—testing which color Skittle dissolved the fastest in hot versus cold water. Students had fun making predictions, observing results, and recording their findings just like real scientists. They also joined in on the fun by creating elephant toothpaste, learning how mixing simple ingredients can cause a foamy reaction!

Junior High
Our junior high students began the year with hands-on engineering challenges, including designing contraptions to see how many marbles their structures could hold. Recently, they’ve been focusing on the scientific method through the Penny Lab, where they tested how many drops of liquid a penny could hold. Through this, they discovered the amazing concept of surface tension in action!

STREAM is off to a fantastic start, and we’re excited for all the learning and creativity to come this year!

STEM at Home Challenge

Skittle Rainbow Experiment 🌈

Question: What happens when Skittles mix with warm water?

Materials Needed:

• A plate

• Skittles (any colors)

• Warm water

Steps:

1. Place Skittles in a circle around the edge of the plate.

2. Carefully pour warm water into the center of the plate until it touches the Skittles.

3. Watch as the colors spread toward the middle, creating a rainbow effect!

STEM Connection:

• Science: Students see how the sugar and color coating dissolves in water.

• Math: Families can compare how fast different colors dissolve.

• Engineering/Technology: Encourage kids to try different patterns (lines, shapes) to see how the colors spread.

Family Challenge:

• Try cold water instead of warm—what changes?

• Predict which color will reach the center first!

Timber Ridge school maintains the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program to further support our students. PBIS is a proactive approach to establishing behavioral supports and social culture needed for all students to achieve social, emotional, and academic success.

Students started the year with our PBIS Fall Kick-Off! They reviewed the PBIS expectations for each area of the school and practiced how to be safe, respectful, and responsible throughout the day.

Each classroom was assigned a different area of the school—such as the hallway, classroom, or PE space—and created a poster to highlight the expectations for that area.

We wrapped up the celebration with a fun Field Day and a special visit from the KONA Ice truck. It was a wonderful way to kick off the year, and we are excited for all the learning and growth ahead!

Dear Parents,

We’re excited to have kicked off a new school year and are looking forward to the fun and enriching experiences ahead!

As part of our program, all classrooms will be visiting Sunrise Lake Outdoor Educational Center. With outdoor activities planned, we want to ensure your child is as comfortable and protected as possible.

Attached (or linked below) is an insect repellent permission form, should you choose to have your child use repellent during the trip.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Timber Ridge Nurse’s Office at (847) 463-8309.

Warm regards,
Timber Ridge Nurse’s Office

https://campussuite-storage.s3.amazonaws.com/prod/1559142/55884a52-4353-11ed-aeba-0e8d50c885b7/2517116/0df52e7a-6ffa-11ed-9982-0ed2366e4fed/file/Consent-for-Insect-Repellant-English.pdf

https://campussuite-storage.s3.amazonaws.com/prod/1559142/55884a52-4353-11ed-aeba-0e8d50c885b7/2517117/0df53050-6ffa-11ed-90f6-0ed2366e4fed/file/Consent-for-Insect-Repellant-Spanish.pdf

Are you aware of any events or opportunities outside of school that might benefit some of our Timber Ridge students or families? If so, please share them with us! Please reach out to either mwagrowski@nsseo.org or nmilne@nsseo.org to help spread the word. We’d love to share any information that might help to support opportunities or resources outside of Timber Ridge!

• Thursday, September 4: Open House, 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
• Friday, September 12: NO SCHOOL: Teacher Institute Day
• Tuesday, September 23: NO SCHOOL