Hello Tonawanda Families,
We hope that you have been enjoying these summer days! Our custodial team has been working hard to make our school clean and shiny for our students' return for the upcoming 2026-2027 school year.
A warm WELCOME to the new families joining our great Tonawanda school community. If you are a new family, I would be happy to give you a tour of our fantastic school before the 2026-2027 school year begins. Please reach out to schedule a 30-minute tour to Michelle Kiese, our administrative assistant in our main office, at kiesem@elmbrookschools.org or via phone at 262-785-3950.
New Family Information Night is scheduled for two Wednesdays, August 19 OR August 26 at 6 PM in our Tonawanda library. Only need to attend one evening as the same presentation will be presented at each evening. This will be an adult-focused presentation about our Tonawanda school community with Principal Kristin Olson and Associate Principal Megan Gray. There will be time for Q&A, too!
NEW INFO! Welcome to Tonawanda Yard Signs for New Families. If you'd like to have a "Welcome To Tonawanda" yard sign for your incoming new student (4K, new 5K, or new family), please sign up on this google form. If you will be attending the 4K/5K Popsicles on the Playground event, you are welcome to pick up your yard sign from that event otherwise they will be delivered to your home. You will have them just in time for our "first day of school" pictures!
NEW INFO! PTO Event: 4K/5K Popsicles on the Playground: August 25 from 5:30 - 6:30 PM. We welcome our families with incoming 4K/5K students to join the fun on August 25 from 5:30 - 6:30 PM on our Tonawanda playground. Hope you can stop by to meet other 4K/5K families, too. Siblings are welcome.
NEW INFO! School Supply Lists: No option to order the pre-packaged supplies any longer, but here are the school supply lists! Please note that for 4K, there are separate lists for AM or PM. Additionally, for Gr2, Gr3, and Gr5, there are lists based on your child's last name. Thank you!
Tonawanda's Library is open this summer on selected Mondays from 12:30-1:15 PM for book checkout. Mark your calendars - hope to see you there! TWO Mondays remain: August 3 and August 17.
Summer Resources for Supporting Learning at Home! As we head into the summer break, we want to ensure our students feel confident and prepared for the upcoming school year. To help bridge the gap between grades, we are excited to recommend a number of optional resources for both math and literacy support. We appreciate all you do to support your child’s learning at home. The links in this Summer Learning Options document include lists of different activities that families can do at home to support their child’s development over the summer months.
Students' summer access to web-based resources through Clever via MyElmbrook! This is a job aid that guides families through logging into Clever via MyElmbrook through personal devices at home.
Summer Reading Program: Elm Grove Public Library There is still time to join in on the fun! See this linked flyer for all the details for programming and events.
Summer Communications from Tonawanda Beginning with this first July 7th communication, our 2026-2027 Tonawanda families will get summer updates about every two weeks. Much of the information will be repeated, but it is important information for a smooth start to the new 2026-2027 school year.
Updated Medication Authorization Forms for 2026-2027 do need to be submitted for each student prior to the start of the new school year on September 1, 2026. A Medication Authorization Form is available on the district website. In keeping with board policy, you are reminded that all completed Medication Authorization Forms must be on file in the health room before any medication can be administered. Please follow this link to all forms for student health.
Mark your calendars with all the dates of the new 2026-2027 school calendar. It can be found here: https://www.elmbrookschools.
2026-2027 Class Placements will be available for family review through the Infinite Campus Parent Portal on Friday, August 14.
Mark your calendars! Our Strong Start Conferences will be held Thursday, August 27 and Friday, August 28. Each student in grades 5K - 5 will have this 20-minute scheduled time to meet individually with their teacher to get to know one another a bit and to complete some literacy assessments. For our 4K students, a parent or adult family member will join for these 15-minute conferences. More details and sign-ups will be coming out on August 14th. While these scheduled Strong Start conference times with your child are important to us, we certainly understand if your family is taking a late August vacation and your child will not be able to attend. Our teachers will be sure to connect with your child within the first week of school.
NEW INFO! 2026-2027 Student School Pictures. Our photographer will be at Tonawanda on Monday, August 24 from 8:15-10:30 AM, on Thursday, August 27 from 10:30 AM-1:30 PM, and on Friday, August 28 from 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM. PRE-ORDER here (with password prepay) and our yearbooks are included with many photo packages. Please don't worry, if your family has vacation plans this week, we will have an additional time during a school day in early October for retake/make-up photos.
First Student Day of School for the 2026-2027 school year will be Tuesday, September 1, 2026. Our school day begins promptly at 8:50 AM. Students are marked tardy if they are not in their classrooms at 8:50 AM. We have outside supervision on the playground beginning at 8:30 AM and the students will come into the building at 8:42 AM to prepare for the day. Student arrival into the school after 8:50 AM results in your child(ren) being marked tardy. On time student arrival to school is important.
Student Arrival and Student Dismissal Consistent plans for student arrival and dismissal are important. No matter if your child(ren) will be riding the bus, walking/riding bikes, or family drop-off/pick-up, we encourage you to start on the first day of school with a consistent plan. It is extremely helpful to your child to always know the consistent plan for how they are getting to school and especially how they are getting home from school each day. Much more information and expectations for safe student arrival and dismissal to come in the upcoming summer updates.
NEW INFO! All families will complete this annual online process: 2026-2027 Annual Registration and Fee Payment opens on Tuesday, July 28. There will be information sent out directly to our enrolled families soon from our district communications team. This is an annual process to register your children, pay the student fees (and any outstanding fees from 2025-2026 school year), and update any family/household contact information, etc. For our new families and our 4K/5K families, the registration process seems very similar to the enrollment process, but it is different and is required annually. Thank you!
New Student Enrollment for 2026-2027! Did new neighbors just move in? Please encourage them to call Tonawanda to tour the school and enroll in the Elmbrook School District via our district website.
Bus Information: Go-Riteway is the bus company that serves our Elmbrook School District. Bus route information for the 2026-2027 school year will be sent via email to your family in mid-late August. If you have questions, please connect directly with Go Riteway at 414-249-5048. Sign Up for the Stopfinder app! You can track your child(ren)'s bus for the before school and after school routes! Please see the link for more information on the Stopfinder app. Due to large ridership on our buses, only routed students will be allowed on the buses again this school year. We cannot have unrouted students ride home with other students on their buses for playdates. Only routed and assigned bus riders may be on our buses. Thank you for your understanding!
Interested in joining our school community as a part-time employee working with our students as they play on the playground and enjoy lunch in our cafeteria? We would LOVE to have you apply to join us as a lunch room and/or playground supervisor at Tonawanda. It is a great way to meet your child(ren)'s classmates. The position is daily from approximately 11:25 AM - 1:10 PM, however we would be happy to have you as many days as you are able even if it's only one or two consistent days a week. Please apply at the district website:https://www.
Volunteers Needed! The Elmbrook Education Foundation (EEF) is looking for volunteers to help elementary students build strong literacy skills. Just a few hours a week reading with a student can make a lasting impact! We welcome volunteers of all ages - parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, retirees, college students, and community members. If you or someone you know is interested, please see this flyer to learn more.
Summer is a great time to do: Background Check Process for Volunteers! We love our family/parent/grandparent volunteers! In hopes that we will be able to welcome you all back in to help out this upcoming school year, we wanted to share the process for becoming a volunteer in our schools. Please see https://www.elmbrookschools.
Please reach out with questions to Principal Kristin Olson at olsonk@elmbrookschools.org or Administrative Assistant Michelle Kiese at kiesem@elmbrookschools.org.
Wishing you and your families a continued fun, healthy, and safe summer!
Kristin Olson, Principal
Megan Gray, Associate Principal