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Timber Wolf Times

News for TMS Families Week of September 6, 2021

Timber Wolf Times News for TMS Families Week of September 6, 2021

Principal Welcome

Dear Trailside Families,

Happy Labor Day to all of our families. As we look ahead to the week, we will be remembering the 20th Anniversary of September 11, 2001. In COMPASS, we will have a read aloud and also shared memories from the staff. We will be honoring all of the lives lost and impacted from this day.


I would like to inform you of the process that will be used when there has been a report of a student or staff member that has tested positive for COVID-19. When we are notified of a positive case of COVID-19, school administration and the health clinic staff work with a contact tracer to identify close contacts of that individual. When a student or staff member has been identified as a close contact, the staff member or parents of the student will be contacted and provided with information regarding quarantining and next steps. Depending on when the school is notified of a positive case, identification of close contacts could take a day or more. In that case, you may receive a notification that your child’s class is on “pause” for a day. This does not mean that your child is a close contact. When a student or staff member has been identified as a close contact, the staff member or parents of the student will be contacted individually and provided with information regarding quarantining and next steps. For more information on Mask and Mitigation strategies and Frequently Asked Questions, please refer to https://www.lcps.org/Page/237406.


All my best,


Bridget Beichler

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Back to School Night -UPDATED

BTSN is Monday, Sept. 13, 2021 6:00-8:15 PM

If your child attends Spectrum class (gifted class) please plan to meet at 5:30-5:55 PM in the school cafeteria with Mrs. Dolinich. Parking is a challenges at TMS and we encourage you to either carpool, walk, or park in alternate spaces near the school. Newton Lee and Trailside Park is another option. Transportation is not able to provide shuttles this year or to relocate the buses in front of our school. Our SRO and SSO will be on hand to support traffic direction. There is a virtual option to view BTSN presentations from the teachers. The links to their videos will be sent out on Monday, September 13th.


1. All parents will begin in your child's 9th block, COMPASS promptly at 6:00 PM. Every class will have 10 minutes with a 4 minutes transition.

2. During Resource block, you may visit your child's locker.

3. I encourage you to print out your child's schedule or bookmark in Parent VUE. We will have paper copies available however the line can be very long.

4. During the evening, please take time to visit the PTA table, cafeteria to meet our cafe manager, library, and our school spirit table.

5. All visitors must wear a mask the entire time they are inside TMS.

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Masks and Health Mitigation Practices

All staff, students, and visitors are required to wear a mask while inside school. Please note the image above as to how the mask should be worn. If anyone should forget their mask, we have plenty of masks on hand to give. Mask wearing will be enforced per LCPS guidelines.


There will be mask breaks outside during the day. For more detailed information, please go to the following link:

https://www.lcps.org/Page/237406


Lunch @ TMS: We will be having lunch offered both outside and inside in order to allow social distancing in the cafeteria. We have seating for 200 plus students outside which will allow for 50% capacity inside.

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Car loop, Dropping off and Picking up Updated!

The Clairborne Loop is the longest car loop. You may want to consider using the Gloucester loop, entrance is at Newtown Lee elementary. When you enter the loop, please pull as far up as possible. Please watch for the staff directions. For safety reasons, please do not drop off your child in the parking lot and have your child cross through on-coming traffic. We are very fortunate at TMS to have 2 parent drop off lanes.


We have had some parents picking up their children behind the school and also in the parking lot. Please note that the road behind the school is a service road and you are not permitted to park there. Please do not have your children walking through the roadways and parking lots. The safety of our children is our top priority.

Student Names and Pronunciations in Parent VUE

We are asking every parent to please go into Parent VUE before the first day of school. Please click on the following link for directions on how to do this. It can only be done through the mobile app

https://www.lcps.org/cms/lib/VA01000195/Centricity/domain/17270/pvue_help_docs/PVUE_NamePronunciation_MobileOnly_ENG.pdf

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School Contact Information

“Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

Email: bridget.beichler@lcps.org
Website: https://www.lcps.org/Trailside
Location: 20325 Claiborne Parkway, Ashburn, VA, USA
Phone: 571 252 2280
Twitter: @TrailsideMiddleSchool

Important Dates and Communication

9/9- 9/10 MAP Assessment


9/13 Back to School Night for Parents Grade 6-8 6:00-8:00 PM, You may attend either in person or virtual


9/13-9/15 Grade Level Pep Rallies out of COMPASS


9/15 Principal Coffee @ 9:30 AM


9/16 School Holiday


9/20 No Tech Day @The Trail


9/22 PTA Meeting, counselors presentation @ 7:00 PM


9/23 and 9/24 School Pictures out of HPE class

TMS School Spirit Store from Cheers is on-line

https://trailsidetimberwolves.itemorder.com/sale

School Hours

Arrival: 8:10-8:30 AM

Late Bell: 8:35 AM (students are tardy if arriving after the bell and will need to report to the main office for a tardy pass)

Dismissal: 3:23 PM

Harris Teeter Card

Beginning August 1, Trailside Middle School proudly joined Harris Teeter's Together in Education program to help raise funds for our school. It's easy and it's FREE. Simply give the cashier our code, 2529, and your VIC card when you check out and your card will be linked for the entire school year. That's it! You only have to link your VIC card once each school year. Once your card is linked, Trailside will receive a percentage of your Harris Teeter brand (Harris Teeter, T.T. Traders, Harris Teeter Organics, HT Farmers Market, and purchases in the HT Pharmacy) purchases credited back to our account.

This program does not interfere with your VIC savings or cost you any money!

Don't forget to link your VIC card to our account code next time you are shopping at Harris Teeter

TMS Online Payment Portal

Easy access to TMS's Online Payment Portal - now that PE Uniforms, Sketchbooks, Class Fees, Instrument Rentals, etc... are posted. Parents can always check the site for updates regarding products posted.

https://tinyurl.com/TMSOnlinePaymentPortal

Trailside Middle School

Online School Payments (OSP) portal is a service provided to parents to facilitate payment for school fees for a variety of products and services.

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Green Team @ The Trail

Green Team

Did you know the average school throws away over 56,000 pounds of food and trash every year?

We here at Trailside Middle School want to help make a difference. We have started a Green Team to help ensure we are leaving a positive impact on our world.

Our initial goals are to compost and recycle over half of our waste and donate unopened food items to those in need.

We would love your help!!

We are looking for volunteers who can support over the lunch blocks to assist students in separating out the different categories.

We are also calling all parents/guardians and students to join us. Please fill out the form below and let us know what area you are interested in helping with.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDk69Js12sbY2UUdNyLXGaF2zuMSlBlq8WJhPUsyEPCF2Hjg/viewform?usp=sf_link

Staff:

The Green Team is already off to a great start. It is awesome to hear the students asking if it can be composted or recycled at the end of lunch. Just the idea that they are starting to think about it, is a win!

Our initial goal is to have all students and staff successfully composting and recycling in the correct containers. Bins have been put in all the staff workrooms, kitchen, cafeteria, and FACS kitchen. Once we all get a good idea what goes where, we want to start making our own garden soil out of the compost. This will all be student led.

A quick guide:

Compost: Fruits & Vegetables and their peals, eggshells, and coffee grounds

Recycle: Water bottles, paper bags, cans, foil, paper products

Trash Can: Plastic baggies, greasy containers, and unfinished food

Thank You for all your support,

The Green Team

The Pack is Back Spirit Week! August 30-September 10

The Pack is Back


Assessment Information

Virginia Growth Assessments 2021 – 2022

The information below was sent to families by the Office of Assessment Services on August 23, 2021 concerning the new Growth Assessments.

The new school year brings a welcome return to in-person learning, creating opportunities to see what academic skills our students retained from last year and what supports they need for success this year. It is important that teachers spend time collecting data to inform their instruction so they can consistently remediate and enrich student learning. Some of the data is collected through day to day informal assessments and other data is obtained through formal methods, such as state and federal testing.

To support student learning, the Virginia Department of Education has developed new growth assessments in reading and math which will be administered for the first time October 1-15, 2021. These tests will aid teachers in identifying any unfinished learning from last year and set a benchmark for measuring future growth, within year and across years. The online, computer adaptive growth assessments will be administered to students in grades 3-8. Students will take these tests in addition to the Standards of Learning (SOL) tests.

Student Detail By Question (SDBQ) score reports from the growth assessments will be available for parents/guardians in ParentVUE under the Documents tab, soon after the test window has closed. The reports will show the academic standards on which the student was assessed and whether the test item was answered correctly, without assigning a passing or failing score. Questions about the report or the test administration can be directed to your student’s school.

Trailside will be administering the Reading Growth Assessment on Wednesday, October 6 and the Math Growth Assessment on Thursday, October 7. Additional information is available via the Office of Assessment Services webpage and the Virginia Department of Education’s new webpage concerning Growth Assessments. Virginia does not have an assessment opt-out provision; however, parents/guardians may refuse to permit their student to participate in one, some, or all of Virginia’s required assessments. Annual refusals must be made in writing via the Permission Click

Parent/Guardian Refusal Form for the Virginia Growth Assessments 2021 – 2022 form.

MESSAGE FROM STONE BRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL

Students are no longer aloud to bring bags or backpacks to the SBHS football games and any other events at SBHS.

Student Council Interest Meeting this Week!

The Student Council Association will be hosting an interest meeting on Wednesday, September 8th in the auditorium during Compass. Any students who are interested in becoming officers for the council should attend the meeting after checking into Compass for attendance.