Keeping you plugged into the exciting things happening at the Lower School
Published September 1, 2024
Volume 231
Sherry Randolph - Early Learning & Lower School Principal
The Principal’s Piece: A Note From Mrs. Randolph
I hope everyone is enjoying a restful and fun long weekend! It's hard to believe we’ve already completed a month of school.
Just a quick reminder: remote learning packets will be due on the Tuesday we return. Please make sure your child brings theirs in so we can keep up with their progress.
Have a fantastic holiday, and we look forward to seeing everyone back at school refreshed and ready for the next month!
UPCOMING DATES
Sept 2 - Labor Day Holiday
Sept 9-13 - Homecoming Week (Parade - Sept 9)
Sept 24 - House Color Day for 1st-3rd Grades
Prayer Requests
Our Lower School administration team meets every Friday morning to pray over our students and families. If you have a prayer request, we would love to pray for you specifically. We believe in the power of prayer and are committed to supporting our families through this dedicated time of intercession.
"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up." I Thessalonians 5:11
How to Submit a Prayer Request:
Fill Out the Form: Provide details about your request in the form below by clicking on the link. You can share as much or as little as you feel comfortable with.
Submit Confidentially: All submissions are kept confidential and are only shared with our Lower School administration team who will lift your request in prayer.
Update to SAGE Offerings for 1st-3rd
We are excited to announce a positive change to our beverage offerings designed to promote healthier drink choices for our Lower School students. Starting this Monday Sage will provide water, apple juice, milk, and chocolate milk for our 1st-3rd Lower School students.
This change aligns with the current offerings already in place for preschool and kindergarten students, and it will now extend to 1st through 3rd grades as well. To support a healthier lifestyle, we will be removing sugary drinks such as sweet tea and lemonade from our Lower School menu.
We believe this adjustment will benefit our children by encouraging better hydration and nutritional habits. Thank you for your support in helping us foster a healthier school environment.
Last Week in Chapel
It was another great week in chapel as Mrs. Duncan continued our "Limitless" series! In last week's lesson, the students learned that God's POWER is limitless! He is omnipotent! All powerful! There is nothing too hard for our God, and He loves to use his limitless power to love us, protect us, and guide us through our lives. His power is always there, ready to come to our rescue when things are difficult. With God, anything is possible!
Main Focus: God's power is beyond our imagination!
Power Verse: "...with God all things are possible." Matthew 19
LOWER SCHOOL SPIRIT WEAR
This is a fun way to share in our Lower School family pride and show your TCS spirit! We have four fun designs specifically created for Lower School students and families to choose from!
Remember, all TCS spirit wear is an approved uniform option! Please click the link below to place your order.
See design styles below:
Homecoming Parade
Interested in being a part of the Homecoming parade on Monday, September 9th?
Please vsit the webpage below to learn how:
TCS Homecoming Spirit Week Dress Up Days
September 9th - 13th
As you start planning your homecoming week outfits, please use the all school guidelines below to ensure your student’s creativity is appropriate for the school day.
As a reminder for this week, in conjunction with our student handbook, we are asking for male and female students to refrain from dressing as the opposite gender as part of the homecoming week activities. Thank you so much for your help and compliance.
THEME DAYS:
Monday - ‘Merica Day - Note: Politically charged costumes will NOT be allowed (no items supporting a candidate, no costumes to depict a candidate, etc)
Tuesday - City vs. Country
Wednesday - Night In vs. Night Out
Thursday - Disney Day
Friday - Spirit Day
Specific Guidelines:
Shorts can be worn but must meet the dress code guidelines of mid-thigh.
Skirts can be worn but must meet dress code requirements..
Leggings may be worn ONLY with a top that meets the length requirement for shorts. (and fits the theme for the day)
Holes/rips/tears in jeans should not be above the knee.
Spaghetti straps or tank tops are not allowed.
Mesh or see-thru tops are not allowed.
Crop tops are not allowed. All shirts should at least touch the top of the pants, shorts, skirts, etc…
Open toe/back shoes/sandals are permitted for this week only.
Hats may be worn all week.
Full spandex bodysuits are not permitted.
If your student chooses to not participate in dressing up for spirit week, they need to be in regular dress code attire.
Elementary Clubs
Our students love to participate in our elementary clubs. These clubs are designed for 1st-5th grade students and meet after school dismisses. Check out the main page of Inside the Pride for more information.
Staying Informed and Up-to-date
with Classroom Happenings
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 replaces hardcopy newsletters. I encourage you to login each week. 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.
Important Dismissal Information
We have partnered with the company safeDISMISSAL.COM to facilitate our dismissal process for our Early Learning campus (PreK-3 through Kinder) and our Main Campus (1st - 8th grades). One of the many wonderful features of this dismissal process is that your children will remain comfortably and safely in their classroom until the moment they meet you in the "car loading zone".
Here are a few tips to follow during our dismissal process:
Please make sure to have your ‘pick-up’ card displayed in your front window when entering the dismissal line. Please keep your card displayed until your child has been loaded into your car.
Please stay in-line (no passing) during dismissal as the children will be instructed to walk to specific spots for loading.
To reduce your wait time, please keep up with the car in front of you. Stay attentive and focused on the car line.
If your student does not arrive at the loading spot before you do, you may be instructed to move to a "waiting" area where your child will be notified again. We ask you to move to this area so that we do not hold up the remaining dismissal line.
Please note: Your child is assigned to be picked up at a particular spot according to the order of cars in line each day. Please follow the car in front of you until the line stops, regardless of where you might or might not see your child. Stopping before the line has filled will cause the sequence to be thrown off and delay the line. We will get your child to the proper spot should they have gone to the wrong place.
Finally, we ask for your patience the first couple of weeks of school as everyone gets accustomed to the process. It will get faster/better each day!
The administrators and teachers are committed to making this process beneficial to all parties. Please visit www.safeDISMISSAL.com for more information. Below are a couple of helpful resources to further explain the process.
Administrative Contacts
If you have any questions throughout the summer, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We are happy to help! Please see the guide below to reach the most appropriate personnel.
Lower School Principal - Sherry Randolph (sherry.randolph@tcslions.org)
LS Academic Dean - Leslie Cook (leslie.cook@tcslions.org)
Mrs. Cook can assist you with any academic-related needs for PreK-.3rd grade
LS Director of Student Life - Ashley Moore (ashley.moore@tcslions.org)
Mrs. Moore can assist you with general questions regarding the school calendar, uniforms, supply lists, etc.
LS Director of LEO Program - Jennifer Duncan (jennifer.duncan@tcslions.org)
Mrs. Duncan oversees our Learning Enrichment Opportunity Program
(pictured l to r) Lisa Railey, Jenn Duncan, Sherry Randolph, Leslie Cook, and Ashley Moore