TMS Enews 1/28/22
TALAWANDA MIDDLE SCHOOL ENews 1/28/2022
School News and Information:
Parents,
ATTENTION 8TH GRADE FAMILIES – Next Wednesday, February 2 - THS parent scheduling meeting for next year’s 9th graders - 6pm at THS Performing Arts Center. Please contact THS Guidance at THS guidance 513.273.3218
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All 8th Graders have been invited to attend a Butler Tech field trip the week of February 7th (date to be assigned by staff). Please make sure your 8th grader has turned in the permission slip. There is an option for opting out of this field trip. All students must wear a mask on the bus as well as the entire time they are at Butler Tech. If your student cannot attend, they can still be given information about what Butler Tech has to offer! See your student's school counselor for more information.
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Oxford Multicultural Family Alliance LOGO DESIGN CONTEST CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Oxford Multicultural Family Alliance (OMFA) is a local group looking to empower diverse students in Oxford to achieve their full potential by providing support, advocacy and influencing policy. Although this is a year round effort for us, we invite you to participate in our Logo Design Contest in honor of Black History Month. Link to form to participate: https://bit.ly/OMFAlogo
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From Dr. Theroux:
The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) has changed and updated COVID-19 procedures. The Butler County Health Department (BCHD) also endorses these new changes. The new protocols will go into effect Monday 1/31/22.
Schools are no longer required to do contact tracing unless there is an outbreak found within a building. Students and staff who are positive need to report their status to the school nurse or administrator. If a student or staff member is positive for COVID-19, the person must stay home for 5 days (even if the student or staff member does not have any symptoms). The nurse or administrator will provide additional guidance and directions when the family or staff member contacts us.
If a student or staff member has COVID-19 symptoms and a positive case has not been determined, the student or staff member needs to stay home for 5 days. Again, call the nurse or administrator who will provide additional directions. If a student or staff member is a direct contact but does not have any symptoms, the student or staff member may return to school, but must wear a mask for 5 days. Again, please notify the nurse or administrator of any direct contacts, such as living with a person who is positive. If a student or staff develops COVID-19 symptoms or is not feeling well, please stay home, contact the nurse or administrator, and follow the directions provided.
The guidance also provides information regarding vaccination status. While we are not requiring you to disclose your vaccination status. Students and staff who are vaccinated or had COVID-19 within the last 90 days are highly recommended to share this information with our nurses or administrators. Again, this is your choice to share or not share.
The Test-to-Play still remains in effect for extra curricular activities including athletics. For further information, click on this link HERE. It is imperative that we keep our schools open, stop spread, and maintain a healthy environment. If individuals are ill, have COVID-19 symptoms, or you are not sure, please stay home and contact the nurse or administrator for additional directions.
Our nurses and administrators will continue to partner with BCHD. We will follow all orders such as isolation and quarantining issued by BCHD.
Currently, Talawanda has a mask mandate in place for all of its buildings. We recommend the Kn95 or N95 masks. Doubling or tripling cloth masks or wearing surgical masks are better than a single cloth mask. With these new requirements and the mask mandate, almost all students and staff will be able to return back to school as long as the individuals are not positive for COVID-19, ill, or have COVID-19 symptoms. We will follow the new procedures and NOT contact trace UNLESS there is an outbreak as determined by BCHD.
In the recent 2 weeks, we have seen an uptick in COVID-19 for both our students and staff. This has resulted in a shortage of staff in conjunction with the limited number of substitutes available. We have moved the middle school to remote learning and closed the district due to staffing issues, COVID-19, and ensuring our schools can operate safely. With these new procedures, we want to ensure we can remain open to in-person-learning. Thank you for your continued support to keep/stay home for both students and staff who are ill. Consider any illness as a possible COVID-19 positive illness unless there is a negative COVID-19 test or an alternative diagnosis.
You will no longer receive exposure letters if your child was exposed in the classroom. COVID-19 is in our community, state, nation, and world. If your child becomes ill during the day, we will call you. We also continue to use the CARES room, use additional cleaning protocols, separate people as much as possible, and assist our families with COVID-19 information and directions from BCHD. We have had many students quarantined that were exposed but have never developed any symptoms or become positive, yet have had to miss school. We also have students and staff members who live with a positive person and have become positive within the 1-10 day timeframe. We will need to work with you for a careful balance. We do not want an outbreak and we want to keep our schools open. These procedures could change again, as we have witnessed throughout the pandemic. We will keep you informed as we receive new or updated information from health officials. Please contact our nurses and administrators if you have any questions.
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TMS SPRING PHOTOS will be on Monday 2/28. We will only be calling students to be photographed if they are planning to order pictures. Please buy your student's spring photos in advance at:
https://my.lifetouch.com/mylifetouch/#/
School Name: Talawanda Middle School
Picture Day Date: Monday, February 28
Picture Day ID: EVT3N86XV
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Ongoing reminders:
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TMS’ doors do not get unlocked until 7:40am.
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It is expected that students will bring their chromebook CHARGED to school
-If your child is absent from school for any reason, please to check Google Classroom or email teachers for missing assignments.
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If your child is going to be absent, please notify the office by 9am by calling 513.273.3300 and following the prompts to the attendance line.
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FEES: School fees can be paid on the TSD’s website via EZPay or you can send a check and have your child drop it off in the main office. If you have any questions regarding fees, please call 513.273.3305.
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UPCOMING DATES:
February 2 - THS parent scheduling meeting for next year’s 9th graders - 6pm at THS PAC -contact THS with any questions - THS guidance 513.273.3218
February 7, 8, 9, or 10 - 8th graders to Butler Tech (each 8th grader will be assigned a date)
February 18 - No school - Staff PD Day
February 21 - No school - Presidents Day
February 24 - THS & TMS Orchestra Concert @ THS PAC - 7pm
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What’s for lunch at TMS?? Click HERE!
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Want to watch a basketball game or a wrestling match?
For tickets please see this flyer for information on how to purchase tickets for home TMS and THS events. Cash is not accepted at the gate.
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Don’t miss out on a TMS Yearbook!!
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Yearbooks are now available for pre-order by going to the following website: ybpay.com and using the following Yearbook ID code: 10975622. As always, I will have a few available if for some reason you forget to order one, but it will be on a limited basis so to guarantee that your student gets a yearbook, pre-ordering is the way to go. If there are any questions, please feel free to contact me, Suzanne Burch at burchs@talawanda.org.
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JOIN THE TMS’ ART CLUB! Forms are in the office or you can find the form here
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A new session of The Parent Project is to begin on March 3rd! Click the link to see more information. You may email Amy Macechko, Talawanda’s Health and Wellness Coordinator at macechkoa@talawanda.org also. Learn how to never argue with your child again, improve school performance, stop unwanted behaviors and get answers for children diagnosed with ADD/ADHD.
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The Great Miami Crew is organizing their spring season. If your child has an interest in rowing please email president@greatmiamirowing.com or check out their website at https://www.greatmiamirowing.com/ Looks like a lot of fun!!
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PARENTS–PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT TMS’ LOST AND FOUND HAS GROWN IMMENSELY! WE HAVE COATS, PANTS, WATERBOTTLES, HOODIES, PE CLOTHES, FOOTBALL CLOTHING–AND DID I MENTION WE HAVE COATS???? Items not claimed by January 28th will be bagged and donated to a nearby charity. Please feel free to come in during school hours (with a mask) and have a look.
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