Greetings Parents, Students and Friends,

Welcome to the 2009-2010 school year. We are proud to share with you some of our accomplishments from last year, and some initiatives we have planned for the new year.

Our second year as a PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports) school was a huge success. We received two excellent reviews that surpassed most programs in their second year. The staff and students have taken the basic principle of establishing a positive learning environment very seriously. Our three school character traits, selected by students and staff, are to be Respectful, Responsible and Safe. We conducted a school wide contest to choose a school mascot and the Wolf won by a landslide. You should be seeing, or hearing about, compliment ‘wolf paws’ and ‘wolf raffle tickets’ that recognize students who demonstrate these character traits. We continue to sing our “wolf themed” school song, and the high school team created a wolf costume that has allowed our wolf mascot to join us for many of our school activities!

Our Attendance Award program continues to be a highlight of each month. We have a monthly assembly and present Attendance Certificates to students who have attended every day of school during the month. If they attend and are also in school on time, there is a special seal added to the certificate. This program has worked so well that we’ve at times had to remind our students to take care of themselves and stay home when they’re feeling under the weather!

Highlights from the 2009 summer program include: graduation in June (4 HS graduates); our annual field day with three legged races, egg relays, water balloon toss  etc.; the Annual Family Picnic with incredible family representation; our Annual All School Pulaski Park outing with hiking, swimming, sand castles and a cookout. We also ended the summer with a splash, bringing back the staff dunking machine so that students who had good summer attendance had the opportunity to dunk a staff person. The high school followed last summer’s production of The Real Story of the Three Little Pigs by A. Wolf, with this summer’s The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Once again, the costumes, props, original music and acting was fantastic. In addition, classrooms went swimming and on community field trips each week including multiple visits to a local garden.

TPCS proudly opened the Botvin, Porcaro, and Teverow Families Therapeutic Playground on September 23, 2009. The state of the art playground has received rave reviews from our early childhood students, who are already dreading the thought that winter weather will prevent them from being outside in this fantastic new space.

Our clinical capacity has expanded considerably. Our clinicians continue to hold office hours so that students can make appointments to talk with a counselor. We have also established specialty groups focused on the following issues: diabetes management, bully prevention, and substance abuse education. Additionally, there is an intensive planning process for students in crisis. The Character Education Curriculum continues to support our PBIS initiative, and the therapeutic needs of our student body. Our clinical team also works closely with the agencies Child and Family department to provide outpatient therapy and psychiatry, as well as home-based services.

On behalf of the classroom staff, support staff, family support/clinical team, and administration, we welcome you as part of TPCS team. We know that partnering with students, families, colleagues, community agencies and local school districts strengthens our ability to be successful. Please contact us if we can be of service.

Marty Morris                                                                             Erin Lane           
Principal/ Special Education Administrator                               Clinical Director      
(401) 276-4141                                                                       (401) 276-4183