The Topsail Times

Good afternoon, Topsail families!

We’re finally starting to feel that warm North Carolina weather we all love! As a reminder, don’t forget to “spring ahead” on Sunday evening by setting your clocks one hour forward. We’re excited to enjoy a little more daylight after school as we move into Daylight Saving Time.

We are now in our final quarter of the school year, and after this week we are only three weeks away from Spring Break, with EOGs just around the corner. This is an important time for students to stay focused, work hard, and finish strong! Please take a moment to look through this week’s Topsail Times for all the updates and information you need for the weeks ahead.

Important Dates This Week:

• 3/9: TMS Theater Rehearsal
• 3/10: PCS Board Meeting @ 6PM
• 3/11: Baseball/Volleyball Tryouts Begin @ 3:30PM
• 3/12: TMS Theater Rehearsal (Aux Gym) @ 3:35pm
• 3/12: PTO Meeting @ 5:30PM
• 3/6: FCA (Aug Gym) @ 4pm

Please join us in congratulating our amazing bus driver, Mrs. Yarborough in being Topsail Middle School's Bus Driver of the Year! She greets our students with a smile every morning and cares deeply for each child she serves. Mrs. Yarborough goes above and beyond every day—whether she is driving for field trips, taking time out of her own day to help secure buses in Burgaw, or simply being someone our students and community can always count on. We are incredibly grateful that she drives for TMS, and we thank her for all she does each and every day!

Spring sports season is almost here at TMS! Official tryouts for baseball and volleyball will begin on March 11. Please make sure your student-athlete has all eligibility requirements completed and their Big Teams/Student Central account updated prior to tryouts. The number of tryout days will depend on how many students attend. Scan the QR code in the flyer for full details.

Jersey Mike’s is hosting its annual Month of Giving this March in support of Special Olympics North Carolina and the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games in Minnesota. All month long, you can visit participating Jersey Mike’s locations to show your support, and on Wednesday, March 25, 100% of sales will be donated directly to Special Olympics. This is a great way for TMS families to enjoy a meal out while helping an amazing cause!

Interested in supporting the Pender County Special Olympics? You can help by purchasing a shirt using the link below.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfWs1hlO5RS9NRGZp1qMFUq6jt_cr_iX5QrYMU3MQvt1i16tg/viewform

As the weather warms up, we want to remind students and families of the Topsail Middle School and Pender County Schools dress code expectations. More information can be found in Board Policy 4316 . We ask students to follow these guidelines for their health and safety, and because we believe clear standards help promote discipline and self-respect. All TMS students are expected to follow the Pender County Schools dress code each day.

As a reminder, when reporting absences, please email tms@pender.k12.nc.us. Please do not email your child’s teacher directly.

Thank you for your support with this!

CLICK HERE for our rock calendar and instructions to reserve your dates.

Teacher and staff appreciation week is quickly approaching! Volunteers are needed to make the week run smoothly. Please see the sign-up genius below for volunteers and sign up if you are able to help!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C044BA8A629A7F85-62807976-tmstaw#/

Pender County Schools is excited to share a new online resource for families: Parent ProTech. This user-friendly platform is designed to help parents and caregivers navigate kids’ technology use, social media, and online safety with confidence. Parent ProTech offers short videos, guides, and practical tips on topics like managing screen time, setting up parental controls, understanding popular apps and games, and supporting healthy digital habits at home.

Families can explore the growing library of courses and resources any time by visiting:
https://app.parentprotech.com/courses or scan this QR Code:

We encourage you to browse what’s available and use these tools to support your child’s safe and responsible use of technology.

It's that time of year again! It's time to order your student a TMS yearbook!

Please CLICK HERE for this March's cafeteria menu.

Also, as a reminder we are a peanut-free school, so please do not send any peanut-based products with your TMS students for lunch or a snack.

Thank you for your support with this!

TMS Community,

Thank you to everyone that has been following our new traffic pattern for drop off and pickup. We have seen a major reduction in the number of cars that are blocking traffic on Hwy 17 in the morning and afternoon. However, in reviewing our traffic flow over the last several days, we are starting to see an increase in traffic entering the main entrance in both the morning and afternoon. All cars that are dropping off students in the morning or picking up students in the afternoon should enter at the stoplight on Jenkins Rd.

In an effort to support this, starting on Monday February 9th, cars that enter through the front entrance to the school will not be able to enter the pickup traffic pattern and will have to go back out to Hwy 17 and down to the light at Jenkins rd.

NCDOT has let us know that impeding traffic on Hwy 17 is not acceptable. Having all cars enter on Jenkins Rd will eliminate this issue.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Dr. Mac.

Topsail Middle School would like to remind our families and students of a few important reminders:

• Sick/late notes must be received within 3 days of absence/tardy. Please email the to the following: tms@pender.k12.nc.us Please do not email your teacher.
• Our final check out time at TMS is 3pm.
• Please, no outside food/drink in cafeteria, and only water bottles in classrooms (i.e.: no Starbucks, Dunkin drinks, fast food drinks, sodas, energy drinks, etc.).
• To parents who are dropping off their students in the parking lot in the morning, please do not let your child out of the car before the bell at 8:10am. We do not have staff out there before that time and several parents have been dropping off before the bell, which is causing a major safety issue.

• Please remind your children that they may only use their own lunch accounts. They are not permitted to use accounts belonging to siblings, relatives, or friends. Unfortunately, we have had to turn several students away this week because of this issue.

  
  

We have a few important systems that will help our school year run smoothly. Please take a moment to make sure you have access to each one:

Infinite Campus

• What it does: Lets you view your child’s grades and attendance, and submit excuse notes.
• Step 1: Get your student’s activation code here: Lookup Activation Code
• Step 2: Use your code to create your account here: Infinite Campus Login

Here Comes the Bus

• What it does: Allows you to see your child’s bus location, receive alerts when the bus is near, and have peace of mind about arrival times.
• What you need: Your child’s Student ID number
  • If you do not know it, email jeremy_mortensen@pernder.k12.nc.us and he will send it to you.
• District Code: 29081
• Sign Up Here: Here Comes the Bus

Rooms

• What it does: Our county-wide communication system for messaging between teachers and parents.
• Set up your account here: Rooms Information

Thank you for taking the time to set up these systems. Having access will make communication and daily routines much smoother for you and your child! We greatly appreciate the tremendous partnership we have with our TMS families!

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