Welcome back to the 2017-2018 school year. The administration and staff at Towanda Area Elementary School has an exciting school year planned for our students. We have made some significant changes to enhance our student’s educational experience.
First, the building’s daily class schedule has been revamped to enhance and promote individual student learning. Each grade level will has a time allotted for every student to have time for additional Math and English Language Arts. The additional time has been worked into the schedule to allow for enrichment/intervention/review/previewing based on student need. In addition, lunch and recess time has been increased by 10 minutes, for a total of 40 minutes each, in order to provide students with a well-rounded educational experience. Research suggests that students need breaks to be more attentive and ready to focus on coursework. Additionally there are social, emotional, physical, and cognitive benefits for students.
During the year TAES will once again be implementing a program of School Wide Positive Behavior. Each student can earn a monthly reward activity by demonstrating and successfully meeting the positive behavior expectations. The reward to be earned for September is a “Back to School Bash’. Please remind your student that in order to earn the monthly rewards, he/she must demonstrate the individual PRIDE expectations throughout each month, the choice is his/hers to make each day.
In order to increase community awareness of school activities and events, the elementary school will continue to send out notifications on the Schoolway app. Be sure to sign up on the App so that you can receive messages wherever you are! If you are not familiar with the APP you can download the App through either the APP Store, Google Play, or check it out on myschoolway.com. The APP is free!
Finally, I want to make you aware of our three goals at TAES. The first goal is to provide the best individual education for all students. The purpose of the goal is to help our students close the achievement gap and to ensure that more of our students have a well-rounded education and are on track to be college and career ready by graduation. In order to do so, the staff at TAES will be expecting our students to demonstrate proficiency in the soft skills, such as public speaking, teamwork, problem solving, and collaboration.
Our second goal is to develop writing across the content areas in order to enhance and push our students to higher levels of thinking as well as to develop writing proficiency. Each student will be expected to use five types of writing, use various forms of writing, and display their writing through technology.
The final goal is to increase community involvement and create a community focused on our students’ success, and in order to do this we will need your support. We ask for volunteers for the PTO, tutoring, and classroom support for each homeroom. Please consider getting involved. In order to do so, you must have your clearances. The District pays for two of the three clearances. Please consult the website for the information on becoming a volunteer.
I look forward to a great school year. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Susan Higley, Principal
Towanda Elementary School