Long Lake Newsletter

Dear Long Lake Families,

Our Olympics Day was so successful on Friday! Thank you to our parent volunteers for helping to lead the events! We are also grateful for our PTO who provided snacks! We are proud to share that we met our fundraising goal of $20,000! We look forward to celebrating together at our Closing Ceremonies on October 23rd during our House Assembly!

Just a reminder, Tomorrow is an Early Release Day in TCAPS. Long Lake Elementary dismisses at 2:02 p.m. This Thursday, we have a PTO Meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the library. Please join in on the discussion!

Warm regards,

Kate Burwinkel
Long Lake Elementary Principal

We have very busy days of learning at school! Our teachers have rigorous plans for teaching the curriculum, and meeting the expectations for the pacing of instruction outlined by the district (at all grade levels). It is important that we protect the instructional time in the classroom to the full extent possible. Below are some areas where we could use additional support and reinforcement from parents at home:

• Toys and trinkets should be kept at home. Sometimes teachers will allow the class toys or stuffies as a reward activity, but for every day planning, students should NOT bring toys to school.

• The TCAPS Board policy restricts students from having and using cell phones and personal electronic devices (PEDs), including smart watches, during the school day. If a student brings an electronic device to campus, it must remain off and in the student’s backpack/locker. If students are not following this district policy, the device will be placed in the office for parents to pick up.

• Please limit early pick ups as much as possible. If/when you do need to pick up early, please notify the office before 3:30 so that we're not having to call the classroom and interrupt learning in order to dismiss students individually. When we have advanced notice, we're able to provide a note to the teacher instead of causing an interruption.

We would love to see you and your kids at Crystal Mountain! Students must be 7 years or older by January 1. Membership includes 1 lesson/week, skiing all evening Thursdays, and for an additional fee on Sundays. Discounted Thursday night passes for adults too! Click here for more information!

We will be continuing the Long Lake tradition with our Halloween Parade scheduled for October 30th at 9:20 a.m. More information can be found on our Halloween Parade Flyer

House Assembly: Families are invited to join our next House Assembly on Friday October 23rd at 9:20 a.m. We will share in community and build house spirit!

New Students: Each new student to Long Lake Elementary this year will receive a free house shirt c/o PTO! We will distribute Prek, Jr K and K shirts once they come in!

Please join us in the library Thursday night at 6:30 p.m.for our PTO meeting. You can also join virtually by clicking this link: https://meet.google.com/rqp-hqre-sds

A huge shout out goes to our Long Lake Elementary community for their generosity and support of the Fall Festival! Last year we made $600 and this year we made $965! These funds go towards yearbook scholarships for our families in need. The winners of the raffle bundles were Danielle Begin and Lisa Gray!

We’d love for you to join us in creating a pumpkin for our Panther Pumpkin Project! It runs from October 19th thru October 22nd. Students can decorate (not carve) a pumpkin based upon the chosen theme of "Farming" for this year. Then bring the pumpkin to school to be judged by all the other students. There will be 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes from Horizon Books.

Save the date for our annual Monster Mash dance on Friday, October 23rd. Dig out your favorite Halloween costume and join us for a family friendly Monster Mash dance party! This event is free but we take donations to cover the cost of the DJ and decorations. This event is for current Long Lake students and their families only. Students must be accompanied by an adult. Pizza provided by Long Lake Grocery will be available for purchase for $2 a slice. We are looking for volunteers to make this event a success. You can volunteer by signing up here: Monster Mash Volunteer Sign Up. We also ask families to donate snacks for the event here: Monster Mash Snack Donation Sign Up

Our PTO provides popcorn to students as an extra treat once a month! However, we need volunteers to make this possible. Bring your friends and meet some new people for a fun night out for the kids. You don't need to have previous experience to help out! Volunteer positions for this include a pro-popper (someone that knows how to use the popcorn machine) and additional volunteers to help bag the popcorn. Please consider volunteering: Popcorn Popper Sign Up Link

Happy Feet is back this fall on Tuesdays and Thursdays! This is a fun extra that is made possible by our parents! Happy Feet allows students to run/walk on the track during lunch recess to earn foot tokens. Our students absolutely LOVE this opportunity and we’re excited to get it back up and running this fall! Happy Feet will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays from September 22nd through October 29th! Find out more about the Happy Feet Program and consider signing up to punch running cards at the track. Please sign up using the Volunteer Sign Up Link This is a fun extra that is made possible by YOU! Thanks for considering!

To Family and friends close and far away we would like to say thank you so much! We have exceeded our fundraising goal for this year- together! We had so much fun at the Olympics on Friday celebrating with all the kids!

Looking for a way to help out your child’s classroom? Click on the link below to find your Teachers name at the bottom of the spreadsheet and take a look at the items needed for their classroom. Make sure to mark off if you are able to purchase any items. Thank you! Teacher Wishlist Link

Join us at Thirlby Field on Friday, Oct 23 as the Trojans and Titans come together to honor Veterans, active-duty military, and first responders! Gates open at 5:30 PM, with ceremonies starting at 6:35 PM and kickoff at 7:10 PM.

Tickets are $7 in advance on GoFan.co or 7–8 at the Thirteenth Street gate. Admission is FREE for all Veterans, active military, and first responders. Be sure to pick up commemorative apparel at either high school from Oct 12–23 (red for Trojans and blue for Titans) with all proceeds benefiting Reining Liberty Ranch.

Skip the lines and get full event details at www.tcaps.net/tcpatriotgame!

Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) Superintendent, Dr. John VanWagoner, monthly “office hours”, will be in person at Horizon Books, Second Floor Mezzanine level, 243 E. Front Street, Traverse City, MI 49684, on October 13, 2026, at 5:00 p.m.

October 12th:Early Release Day for TCAPS Students. Long Lake Releases at 2:02 p.m.

October 15th: PTO Meeting 6:30 p.m. in the library or you can join virtually @ https://meet.google.com/rqp-hqre-sds

October 23rd: House Assembly 9:20 a.m. All Families are welcome to join!

October 23rd: PTO Sponsored Monster Mash Dance 6:30-8:30 p.m.

October 30th: Halloween Parade @ 9:20 a.m.

November 2nd: No School for Students Regional Staff Development Day

November 4th: Picture Retake Day

November 4th: Parent Teacher Conferences

November 4th-6th: Vision and Hearing Rescreening

November 10th: Parent Teacher Conferences

November 12th: Parent Teacher Conferences

November 14th: PTO Sponsored Craft Fair 9:00-3:00

November 19th: Mobile Health Unit Visit to Long Lake

November 19th:PTO Meeting 6:30 p.m. in the library or you can join virtually @ https://meet.google.com/rqp-hqre-sds

November 24th: Early Release Day for Students

November 25th-27th Thanksgiving Break

TCAPS 2026-2027 Academic Calendar
TCAPS 2026-2027 Building Hours

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/