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Save the Date: Parent Speaker Event 12/4

December 4th, 7:00-8:30 pm 

Patrick Green's Digital Wellness Parent Workshop

In this fast-paced, interactive experience, we separate fact from fiction while looking at the latest studies on issues such as technology addiction, gaming, cyberbullying, and anxiety. We will explore practical parenting strategies and mindsets for talking with your child, promoting healthy digital habits and positive online behavior. You will leave with a toolkit of resources to help you connect with your child and create a healthier and more balanced digital world for your family.

Patrick Green, who recently published “Classroom Management in the Digital Age”, and “50 Ways to Use YouTube in the Classroom” just completed his 20th year in education and is an Apple Distinguished Educator, Google Certified Innovator, Google Education Trainer, Common Sense Digital Citizenship Certified Educator, and YouTube Star Teacher.

This is a wonderful opportunity for our TMS parent community, join us on Dec 4th!!

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September 2025 Board Meeting Minutes

The PTO Board for the first Board Meeting of the year, see link to minutes below.

A few highlights from the meeting:

-We are wrapping up Rising Tides fundraising campaign and hoping to get involvement from more families as we near the finish line.

-We are looking for a Communications manager to join our board to help with Social Media posts and parent communication. Do you know anyone that can help?

-We have an amazing Parent Speaker set to join us on 12/4. Patrick Green will join us to speak on Digital Wellness. This is a huge opportunity for our Tumwater Community.

-For those interested in volunteering at TMS, we have Art Lit, TEMPO, teacher appreciation, plus more. Sign up to volunteer today!

Thank you for being part of our Tumwater Middle School Community!

Minutes

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There’s Still Time To Donate to Rising Tides!

Hello, Tumwater families! It’s the last two weeks of our one and ONLY fundraiser: Rising Tides. WOW! The community showed up BIG this week. Together we have raised 70% of our $42,000 annual budget. THANK YOU! Let’s finish strong and get to 100% by October 9th! Any amount you are willing to give helps get us closer to our goal, which will fund things like teacher grants and events that instill a sense of community for our kids. 

As a review, here’s what we’re asking you to do (it’s easy!):

  1. Click HERE

  2. Donate ($100-150 per student is recommended, but any amount that is reasonable for your family is appreciated)

  3. Check to see if your employer matches donations here

That’s it; that’s the whole ask. No Jog-A-Thons, no selling cookie dough or wrapping paper, and this is the only time of year we’ll bug you. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for helping our PTO support this amazing group of teachers and students!

ICYMI:

Our goal is to entice 200 families to participate in this fundraiser and raise $42K, which supports all 1,000+ TMS students with things like: 

  • TMS Community Grant program (nearly HALF of our budget!): 
    *This program enables teachers to implement programs that make the learning experience more engaging and impactful for our kids

  • OBOB

  • Student socials (one per semester)

  • Field Day (last day of school)

  • And more!

You can donate directly via PayPal. Don’t have PayPal? Follow the link anyway and select the credit card option!

You can match your contribution through many local employers. Here are a few of the most common:

*Please search by our EIN (#87-1380669) to ensure you are donating to Tumwater Middle School Parent Teacher Organization.

QUESTIONS:  Head to www.tumwaterpto.org/fundraising or email our CO-VP of Fundraising, Nadia Wald and Amanda Walker (vp@tumwaterpto.org).

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram (@TumwaterPTO) and Facebook!

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Welcome Back Events!

Ice Cream Social

We look forward to welcoming back students & families on August 21st for our annual Ice Cream Social. This will be an opportunity to take a self-guided tour of the school, meet your teachers and enjoy each other’s compamy with ice cream provided by Handel’s.

Due to limited parking at Tumwater, we strongly encourage carpooling, walking and biking. Below are the recommended times by last name, to help spread out student entry times.

6:00-6:30, student last names A-G

6:45-7:15, student last names H-O

7:30-8:00, student last names P-Z

Upon arrival, students will receive their class schedules and can proceed from classroom to classroom greeting their teachers for the school year. When they reach their final ‘B’ day class, students will receive a coupon for a free ice cream in the cafeteria. Additional ice cream will be available for purchase for family members as well. We will have additional tables set-up with information in the cafeteria.

Parent Coffee

All parents/guardians are invited for coffee, pastries and conversation in the TMS Commons from 10-11am on Wednesday, August 27th. This will be a drop-in, casual event, so stop by for a few minutes or stay for the entire hour. This will be a great chance to meet other TMS parents!

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Community Grant 2024-25 Projects!

This year, the Tumwater PTO’s Community Grant program was able to fund 25 projects, thanks to generous donations from our Rising Tides campaign. The projects this year supported afterschool clubs, science, technology & design, art, drama, PE, Spanish, student services and other amazing programs at TMS!

In total, Tumwater PTO awarded over $20,000 to support these specific asks of Tumwater staff:

  • Art Dept - Clay

    AVID - 5 sets of Tassel Dash board game

  • Computer & Design: 3 Sewing machines, 1 Cricut machine, software for CTE Future Labs & drones

  • Drama Dept: Costumes, plastic storage & sound system upgrades

  • Incentives for new attendance program

  • Multimix wireless for choir department

  • Recess & PE equipment

  • Scholastic’s NY Times Upfront subscription for the entire 7th grade

  • Science Expo support

  • Spirit Trophies

  • Spanish Dept: Gimkit subscriptions & headphones

  • Speech - Language curriculum

  • SRC / ISC: Cooking supplies, sensory aids, storage, & activities

  • TMS Garden Club: planting beds and equipment

  • WINCO gift cards for families to use over the holiday breaks

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Tumwater PTO Community Meeting Minutes 

Last week, we hosted our final PTO Community meeting of the year! We heard updates from Principal Smith, voted in new Board Members for next year, approved a few final budget requests for this year and voted on a new budget for next year.

Please see link for minutes from the meeting, as well as a link to the slideshow presented in the meeting. Minutes

Field Day & the 8th Grade party are coming up and are great ways to get involved. Sign up in Parent Square to volunteer!

Finally, we are still looking for a Committee Chair to lead the Welcome Events for the next school year! These are easy ways to get involved and make a big impact! Please reach out to president@tumwaterpto.org if you are interested.

Thank you to all of our volunteers and everyone who has poured time and resources into making this year a great one for our Tumwater Middle School Students!

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Community Meeting THIS THURSDAY, 6:30pm!

Join us this Thursday in the TMS Library for our final Community PTO Meeting. This will be a great chance to meet the 2025-26 Board Members, hear updates and chat with other Tumwater parents. We hope to see you there!

Check out the draft agenda here.

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May 2025 PTO Board Meeting Minutes

The PTO Board met last week for our final Board Meeting of the year. See link below for minutes from our meeting.

As we near the end of the year, we are looking forward to our final Community Meeting on 5/22 at 6:30pm where we will vote in a new TMS PTO Board for next year and approve a new PTO budget. See minutes for proposed Board candidates and proposed budget.

There are still multiple ways to be involved as we race toward the finish line. Sign up to volunteer for Field Day on 6/10 or for the 8th Grade Celebration! Signups in Parent Square.

Thank you for all of the volunteers this year and for all of the Rising Tides donations!

Board Meeting Minutes

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PTO Community Meeting Notes

In case you missed the PTO Community Meeting, please see a link to the information that was covered! Community Meeting Details

There is so much going on at TMS as we sprint toward the end of the year. A few highlights:

  • State Testing is coming up - encourage kids to take the testing seriously, it matters for our school!

  • Art Literacy Training shifted to 4/16 at 6:30. Join the team to learn about artist Keith Haring. Teaching will occur April 21-May 9th.

  • Volunteers needed for TEMPO Play-a-thon, Monday April 7th, especially 12-3pm. Sign up in ParentSquare to help!

  • The week of May 5th is Staff Appreciation Week. There will be an opportunity to donate snacks & drinks to compliment the PTO funded staff lunch. Say thank you to both teachers & staff at TMS!

  • Other upcoming events at TMS: Beetlejuice Theater Production; Science Expo; 8th Grade Celebration; Field Day

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TMS Information Night for New Families!

This Thursday, February 27th, we welcome incoming 6th Graders to Tumwater Middle School. This will be a great opportunity to tour the school and learn more about the year ahead. There will also be an opportunity to learn more about the PTO board and how to get involved!

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