Keeping you plugged into the exciting things happening at the Lower School
Published October 10, 2021
Volume 101
Sherry Randolph - Early Learning & Lower School Principal
The Principal’s Piece: A Note From Mrs. Randolph
HAPPY FALL BREAK!!! I hope your family enjoys some extra time together!
Wednesday, October 13th - School Resumes
Wednesday, October 13th - 2nd Grade Field Trip to Ole McDermitt’s Farm
Thursday, October 14th - Fall Pictures (see specific grade levels below)
Friday, October 15th - Fall Pictures (see specific grade levels below)
Updated Lunch times for 1st-3rd Grades
Please note the adjusted lunch times for 1st-3rd grades. This will go into effect upon our return from Fall break. This adjusted schedule is more conducive to the classroom learning environment and will ensure our students are benefiting from all aspects of our curriculum.
1st: 12:10-12:35
2nd: 12:35-1:00
3rd: 12:40-1:05
Classroom Highlight - A Peek Into Our Classroom Fun
Our first graders enjoyed an Apple Day celebration last week, as they extended their learning of the Fall season, God's creation of fruit bearing trees, and life cycles. Here are a few pictures of the fun from Mrs. Varela’s class.
Updated Attendance Process
Thank you so much for your patience as we have all been learning together how to navigate the Blackbaud system while also updating and aligning our procedures to create a better flow and process. Recently, we communicated changes in regards to our attendance process in order to help get us caught up on updating records. To do so, we implemented a Google Form to help. I’m pleased to announce that all submissions through the Google Form and older emails have been updated so your child’s attendance should be accurate at this point. We recognize there still may need to be updates made that have not yet been communicated or were somehow misplaced or overlooked in the process. Please be sure to review the guidance and steps listed below based on your child’s grade level on how to make any necessary attendance corrections and to provide absence notifications moving forward:
Pre-K through 8th Grade Process:
The Google Form link for reporting attendance has now been closed and will no longer be used now that all of the records have been updated.
Moving forward, the following steps should be taken for reporting attendance for Pre-K - 8th grade.
We have reopened the attendance@tcslions.org email.
Please send doctor’s notes and excuses for absences to the attendance@tcslions.org email moving forward.
Any questions or issues may be communicated through the attendance@tcslions.org email as well.
*PRE-ABSENCE REQUESTS (family trips, etc.) should be submitted by using the Pre-Absence Form found on Blackbaud. Forms may be printed and given to your child’s teacher at the beginning of the school day.
ALL School COVID Process:
In order to receive advisement regarding COVID, quarantine, and to discuss documented medical needs, please submit inquiries to the TCS Nursing Staff at nurses@tcslions.org.
Fall Pictures are Coming Soon!
Thursday, October 14th and Friday, October 15th
Students should wear uniforms (except for Pre-K). This picture will be in the yearbook! Here is the schedule:
Thursday, October 14 ~
5 day PreK3 class
5 day PreK4 classes
Kindergarten
2nd grade
Friday, October 15~
3 Day PreK3 class
3 Day PreK4 class
1st and 3rd grades
Preschool Thanksgiving Programs
We are approaching a special time of year, when our sweet preschool students are learning all about a spirit of thankfulness, God’s goodness, and the beautiful Fall season. We invite you to join us for our Thanksgiving Preschool Programs! Our programs will be in the evening and each program will be followed by a Thanksgiving celebration. More details soon! Please note that these will be evening programs.
K3 Students - Thursday, November 18th
K4 Students - Thursday, November 18th
Elementary Clubs
Our students love participating in after school clubs! We will be adding an elementary dance club. Please see the Performing Arts section for more details about this exciting opportunity. If you have any questions, please email Lisa Railey (lisa.railey@tcslions.org) who oversees all of our elementary clubs.
Mondays
Drama Club - 1st - 3rd grades
Wednesdays
Drama Club - 4th-5th grades
Running Club - 1st-3rd grades
Thursdays
Chess Club 1st-5th
Running Club - 4th-5th grades
Blackbaud: Classroom Updates & Information
To stay informed of what’s happening in your child’s classroom, please login into Blackbaud weekly. You will be able to see information such as weekly classroom announcements, upcoming events, weekly academic focus, grades, attendance, etc. This is the key to staying informed and will replace the hardcopy newsletter sent home in the past. I encourage you to login each week. We are excited for this new format! Information will be updated each Sunday at 5pm.
Accessing your child's class information weekly:
Login to your Blackbaud account and select your child's name under "Children".
Find your child's homeroom class under the "Progress" tab by scrolling down to where classes are listed.
After selecting the homeroom class, you will see the teacher's main class page where you will locate upcoming dates, class reminders and news.
Select the "Topics" tab to see specific information for each individual subject. Within each subject folder, you will see a plan for the week and upcoming projects and test information.
The "Topics" pages update each Sunday evening at 5pm and will remain current until the following Sunday evening.