Dear Parents,

Although we have not had too much snow – winter is in full swing. This week we had all of our children indoors during morning drop off. Thank you to all the parents who cooperated with us by dropping off their children at the door, while our staff made sure they made it to the auditorium.

Here are some of the events happening this week:

Because of the MLK Holiday, as well as our Community Campus Park Meeting – There will be no Saturday School for the next two Saturdays.  In the near future we may be opening the program up to more students, depending on interest and available staff. I will have more information next week.

Be on the look out for new after-school opportunities starting in the next few weeks, I will send a letter home and post more information on our website.

Winter MAP Testing continues next week. For more information on MAP testing please visit our website. ACCESS testing for our ESL students as well as DIBELS/TRC testing for our primary students is also underway

I want to thank everyone who participated in the parent and student surveys regarding our future playground. I want to remind everyone that we are developing the designs for the Thorp Campus Park next Saturday, January 26 from 9:45 am – 12:30 pm in the auditorium. We are expecting many distinguished members of our community, including our alderman Mr. Timoothy Cullerton, our surrounding neighbors, as well as our students and parents. Everyone is welcome, and your opinion deserves to be heard. On Sunday the 27^th we will present our initial plans along with preliminary sketches and models. If you haven’t filled out your survey please take a minute and visit:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Thorpplaygroundsurvey

I have asked teachers to give extra-credit to those students whose families attend. Students and teachers are encouraged and to attend, we will have a number of learning stations just for kids!

Parents, I have noticed that our PTA membership levels are not where they should be. On Tuesday you will be receiving a letter and an envelope asking you to join if you have not joined yet. I hope to have 100% membership from our families in the Thorp PTA as well as in Friends of Thorp by Report Card Distribution Day on February 6^th. Membership in the Thorp PTA is $5 for an individual and $10 for a family. Membership in Friends of Thorp is free. Both of these organizations help support the children of Thorp  and allow us to provide our students with learning opportunities unique to our school. By the way, I’d like to thank our PTA for their help with the crosswalk signs, and I would like to thank Friends of Thorp for organizing our upcoming Campus Park Meeting.

Your questions and comments about anything related to Thorp are always welcome.

Efren D. Toledo – Principal