NEW! What a wonderful first week of the new school year! We have had a great four days with our Tonawanda students. It has been a wonderful week of learning routines and expectations. Thank you for your help in maintaining consistent transportation and dismissal plans as that keeps our students feeling secure about their end of day.
NEW! Our Friday email communications are sent out on Friday evenings, about 5 PM. There is information from our Elmbrook School District and our Elmbrook community, and then school specific information, too. There will be a lot of information that is repeated from week to week. However if there is new information, we will note that with a NEW! at the beginning of the informational paragraph (just like for this one!)
NEW! Before School Spanish information from Futura 'Tis the season to learn SPANISH! Information flyer linked here. Classes start in October with an all-new theme: “Let’s Go with Traditions & Celebrations... in Spanish!” Students will: build vocabulary while exploring the changing seasons, discover traditions and celebrations from Spanish-speaking countries, learn Spanish through songs and games, and grow their Spanish skills while having fun. Register today! https://
NEW! Race into Scouts: Tonawanda Cub Scout Pack 156! Do your kids love camping, hiking, and building things? Boys and girls in Kindergarten through 5th grade can join Cub Scouts. Have fun, make friends, and learn new skills. Meet on September 10, 2026 at 7pm in the Tonawanda Parking Lot! Contact: Matt Seeboth at 262-617-2765/matt@amcarbon.
Mad Science After School program: NASA - Academy of Future Space Explores after school program is open for registrations through this link: https://milwaukee.
NEW! PTO Back to School Bash! This fun event includes ice cream, a food truck, and the Scholastic Book Fair on Friday, September 11 from 5:30 - 7:00 PM on Tonawanda's playground and in our gym. Mark your calendars! Hope to see you there!
NEW! The September PTO Meeting will be held on Thursday, September 10 at 6:00 PM in our Tonawanda Library. Come learn about the great ways our PTO enhances our Tonawanda school community and the planned events for the Fall 2026! You are welcome to join virtually, too. meet.google.com/bzv-evwm-
NEW! Accurate Student Attendance is important. Please communicate your child's absence from school by 8:30 AM to your child's teacher AND our attendance office at tonattendance@elmbrookschools.
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 keep as consistent dismissal plans as possible.
NEW! Changes in student dismissal plans. We understand that there will be days that you have a change to your child's dismissal plan. Please email your child's teacher and Michelle Kiese at kiesem@elmbrookschools.org as early as possible, but by noon at the latest. If you need to make last minute changes, please call our office at 262-785-3950 and/or email, but please be sure that you get confirmation that we are aware of the change. Our teachers are teaching and working with our students so do not check their emails often during the day so it may be missed.
Students may arrive on school property at 8:30 AM. Please do not have your children arrive any earlier as we do not have supervision before 8:30 AM. We have outside supervision on the playground beginning at 8:30 AM. There is a bell at 8:42 AM and at that time, the students will come into the building to prepare for the start of the school day at 8:50 AM.
Our 4K/5K students who arrive by car will walk through the front main doors to our 4K/5K courtyard near our south S1 doors. For our 4K/5K bus riders, students will be escorted from the buses to the courtyard area for their line-ups. If you are walking or bike riding with your 4K/5K student, please send them through the front entrance doors to the courtyard OR you can walk them around to the courtyard area for their line-ups.
A document with detailed descriptions and visuals of our arrival and dismissal is linked here.
Student Morning Arrival:
- Car Line Drop-Off: Families who drop their child(ren) off will use the north main parking lot from 8:30 - 8:42 AM. Please enter the parking lot and proceed slowly in the single lane (marked by cones) adjacent to the sidewalk. Please pull forward as far as you can (the fenced-in corral is noted with a purple star to drop off your child(ren). Please remain in your car as you drop off as that lane is considered an active drop-off lane only. Children should exit ON THE CURBSIDE ONLY! In order to enhance our safety procedures for student safety during our morning car drop-off, all cars will remain in the single lane until you exit the parking lot at the NE exit. We appreciate your understanding that you may be waiting in the single lane as others in front of you drop off their children.
- Students in Grades 1-5 will exit your vehicle on the sidewalk side and walk on the sidewalk to the playground. There will be many staff members in yellow safety vests greeting your Tonawanda student as they exit cars.
- Students in Grades 4K and 5K will exit your vehicle on the sidewalk side and will enter the building through Tonawanda’s main entrance. They will proceed through the main hallway and exit the south doors to join their classmates in the 4K/5K line up areas. For the first few weeks of school, our 4K/5K teachers and staff will be highly visible for our students upon arrival and will establish this routine with our youngest students.
- Student Bus Riders: Buses use our south parking lot for arrival and dismissal. Buses arrive at Tonawanda between 8:30 - 8:42 AM. Staff are greeting and assisting students as the buses arrive each morning. Students walk to the playground.
- Student Bike Riders and Student Walkers: Students and families are highly encouraged to use our sidewalks and pathways on our school property. Please walk bikes upon arriving on school property. Please avoid walking and biking in our parking lots. Please use crosswalks as available.
Student Afternoon Dismissal:
- Student Bus Riders Students are dismissed from their classrooms as the buses arrive in the south parking lot.
- Student Walkers/Bikers Students who leave independently from school grounds on foot or by bike. Students and families are strongly encouraged to use our sidewalks on our school property and to use the provided crosswalks near our school, too.
- YBase After-School Care Students who stay at Tonawanda for YBase child-care will report to our cafeteria.
- Car Line Pickup Instructions: We are asking any family that utilizes a vehicle to pick up their child to use the car pickup. For our students’ safety, please do not park on neighboring streets or in our parking lot and please instead use the car line pick-up process. Please enter our north parking lot from the west as there is a no-left turn sign into our parking lot at the end of the school day. Upon entering the parking lot, please create two car lines until the school's main entrance awning where cars will merge to form a single lane. Referencing the map above, a staff member will call your child’s name while your child waits in the corral (purple star). Students will enter vehicles at the cones and flags (orange smiley faces on map). Once your child is safely loaded into your vehicle, we will utilize a rollercoaster type dismissal where all 6 cars will leave consecutively.
- Please follow the traffic pattern and resist stopping before your called number - this causes our line to slow down! Please help our line by loading quickly into your car. Please stay in your vehicle. If you need more time to get your child situated, please pull forward into the “Buckle Zone.” Please, kindly, do not drive around other cars and be patient with delays as our families, students and staff use our dismissal system.
- Map Meetup: Families and caregivers who walk or bike to Tonawanda at dismissal to meet their student(s) are asked to walk on a Tonawanda sidewalk to the US MAP on the Tonawanda Playground (see aerial map) to meet their child(ren). We ask that you utilize sidewalks around Tonawanda and not walk through the parking lot during our Car Pickup process to keep everyone safe. For the 2026-2027 school year: Our MAP Meet-Up will be in Mr. Plockelman's (fifth grade teacher) classroom. Students will be let out of Mr. Plockelman's classroom door (B3) when the students' families have arrived. His classroom door is just south of the painted US Map on our playground. There will be a sign on his classroom door window and an additional sign pointing our families to his door for the first few weeks of school.
Sign up for the PTO Student Directory! Our school staff cannot share contact information to other families so this is your chance to have connections with other families in our school community. It is helpful to arrange playdates, send birthday invitations, etc. Of course, inclusion in this directory is optional. Please know that you do NOT have to include all information; only what you'd like other families to have. Sign up here:Here is the link for the sign up form. Deadline to sign up is 9/25/26.
ACTION needed please! Tonawanda PTO Information! Our Tonawanda PTO generously supports our school community with social events, academic enrichment programs/opportunities, and fundraising. There are so many ways to get involved.
- See the committee chair information linked here and then please sign up to get involved: SIGN UP GENIUS LINK
- Interested in being on the Executive Committee? The open positions are linked here and the election process for those positions is linked here.
- Please offer feedback to the proposed update of the Tonawanda PTO Bylaws using this linked information. The proposed update of the PTO bylaws are linked here.
PTO Fall Spirit Wear Sale is LIVE! Show your Tonawanda Tiger pride! The Tonawanda PTO Fall 2026 Spirit Wear online store is officially open. We have a fantastic lineup of gear for students, parents, and families—including t-shirts, hoodies, and accessories to keep us all looking sharp for the new school year. Click Here to Shop the Fall Spirit Wear Store Be sure to place your order before September 13 so you don't miss out! See additional information on the store page.
Mark your calendars with all the dates of the new 2026-2027 school calendar. It can be found here: https://www.
Soccer Stars School Spirit League at Tonawanda Elementary! Get your child in the game this school year! The Soccer Stars School Spirit League brings fun, age-appropriate soccer, teamwork, confidence-building, and skill development right to Tonawanda Elementary. No extra driving, no weekend commitments—just a fun and convenient way for your child to stay active, make friends, and grow on and off the field! Registration for the 2026–27 school year is now open! Give your child a chance to play, learn, and be part of the Tonawanda Soccer Stars family! CLICK HERE to register!
Bus Information: Go-Riteway is the bus company that serves our Elmbrook School District. If you have questions about your child's stop, 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!
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.