NEW! No School for Students on Monday, January 20th: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It is a professional development day for our teaching staff.
NEW! Chorus Musical Rehearsals Next Week: TUESDAY, January 21 before school and after school AND THURSDAY, January 23 before school and after school. The students do not have school on Monday, January 20th so the 4th grade chorus will be meeting Tuesday, January 21 morning at 8AM. 5th grade is still meeting Thursday, January 23 morning at 8 AM.
Our after-school musical rehearsals will be on Tuesday, January 21 and Thursday, January 23 next week until 5:00 PM. These characters are needed - Stowaway, dancers, prisoners, king of the high "c's", Bluebeard, Blackbeard,
Mrs. Anna Contezac, our chorus director, is looking for family/parent help! Please sign up in this document. Also, I have our costume list needs here. Students will bring them in on Monday, February 10th to get checked. Our students will wear or bring the costume to school February 13th, our performance date! Thank you!
NEW! The Grand Opening of Tonawanda's School Store is scheduled for Thursday, January 23 and then every THURSDAY. We are excited to announce the opening of Tonawanda's School Store! Starting this upcoming week, the school store will be open during your child’s lunch time on Thursdays! Tonawanda’s Leadership Club will be offering a variety of fun trinkets and school supplies for students to purchase during the last few minutes of their lunch. Items range in price from $0.50 to $5.00. To assist with money handling, please send in one dollar bills and quarters. Please do not send your child with more than $5. Thank you!
Back by popular demand.... Tonawanda PTO Parents' Night Out Trivia Night on Friday, January 31st! Registration is now open! https://e.givesmart.com/
Ticket Tiers: $45/per person Open Table Seating, Food and Trivia OR $450 VIP Team Ticket (for 8 guests) VIP tables have limited availability and includes the following per person: (1) Drink Ticket, (2) Raffle Tickets, Food, and Trivia. Hope you can join the fun and support our Tonawanda PTO, too!
Silent Auction and Raffle Items Needed for PTO PNO Trivia Night! To make the silent auction/raffle a success for Parents' Night Out, we are in need of IN-KIND donations. There is a donation link in the GiveSmart registration, or you can reach out to the PNO chairs Sarah Danforth (sarahnpotter@gmail.com) or Jamie Niederbaumer (niederfamx5@gmail.com). Thank you in advance for your items. Looking for: Sports tickets, event tickets, sports memorabilia, birthday party opportunities (dunk tank, bounce house, special venue rental), vacation packages, unique opportunities, gift baskets, gift cards, rounds of golf, high-end jewelry! Themed Baskets: Anything Sports, All Scream for Ice Cream, Backyard Chef, Backyard Fun, Beach Party Bookworm Bonanza, Building Blocks (Legos), Candle Basket, Car Wash, Chef's Delight, Coffee Break, Date Night, Day at the Pool, Disney Mania, Family Night Out!
Our PTO Little Sweethearts Dance is being held Wednesday, February 12 from 5:30-7:00 PM in our Tonawanda gym! Please RSVP! All sweethearts at Tonawanda are invited to dress up and attend the Little Sweethearts Dance with an adult chaperone. An adult is required to remain with your sweetheart for the evening. Please RSVP: SignUpGenius
Calling All Tonawanda Milwaukee Wave Fans on February 15th for the 6:05 PM game! Join your Tonawanda friends for a Milwaukee Wave game! Part of the ticket sales will go back to Tonawanda, so invite all your friends to come! Seats will be together in one section so we can cheer as a group! Special ticket link here: https://fevo-enterprise.
NEW! Dine Out Flyers linked! PTO January Dine-Out! January 22nd will be Tropical Smoothie Cafe (flyer with all the details).
Spread the information, please! Incoming 2025-2026 4K and 5K Family Information Night is scheduled for Tuesday, January 21 at 6 PM. This is a presentation specifically for Tonawanda families who have a "new to Tonawanda" child who will enter 4K or 5K in the 2025-2026 school year. The presentation will be an adult-focused presentation. Please pass on this information to any family in your neighborhood, too. Please let us know if you will attend this informational night with an email to Principal Kristin Olson at olsonk@elmbrookschools.org.
Another upcoming opportunity for Spanish at Tonawanda: Before School Spanish Class Resumes in February! Did you miss registration in the fall? We currently have space available to add your student to the class roster! Looking for an exciting way for your child to learn Spanish? This 8-week adventure, ¡Vamos con los animales!, is just what they need! From “visiting” a pet store to exploring a family farm, the zoo, the ocean, and the rainforest, students will learn new vocabulary, conversation skills, and cultural facts—all in Spanish! Join us for a wild journey! Please note: Students enrolled in the Full Year session, which started in the Fall, do not need to re-enroll. Enroll today! https://
Save the Date: Our Musical: Pirates! will be performed by our fourth and fifth grade students who are in the chorus at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts on Thursday, February 13th. More information to come.
Overwhelming Amount of Lost and Found Items! If your child is missing something, it's probably in our lost and found! We have MANY items including sweatshirts, coats/jackets, boots, hats, and mittens/gloves. If you have some time, please come in to check-out from 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM. You will have to check-in through our Raptor system to enter the building.
Calling budding scientists! Tonawanda Science Fair 2025: Our Science Fair is scheduled for Thursday, February 6th from 6-7 pm. Please view this letter for more information and to access the Google Form to sign up. Families must sign up to participate using the Google Form linked in the letter. The deadline to sign up is Monday, January 27th, 2025.
Shh! Parents of Fourth and Fifth Grade Students: You are welcome to be a mystery reader for your child's library time. Please see the new linked sign-up for January: https://signup.com/
Student Arrival, Dismissal, and Transportation Reminders!
As always our students' safety is our highest priority! As you know, the times of student arrival and student dismissal are our busiest times in our parking lots and neighboring streets. As always, please use caution and drive slowly in our parking lots and around our surrounding neighborhood streets. Additionally, please continue to be considerate of our neighbors. Thank you, always, for your patience, understanding of, and cooperation with our procedures and expectations as they are put in place for student safety. Please review our arrival and dismissal plans linked here.
Yearbook Orders- Be sure to order: Order your 2024-2025 Tonawanda Yearbook here: https://mortensen.
Brown Paper Grocery Bags Needed! We use at least four brown paper grocery bags daily for our composting efforts during our student lunch times in the cafeteria. We will gladly accept your donations of these paper bags. Thank you!, 2024
Important BEFORE SCHOOL TIMES: Outside Supervision Begins at 8:30 AM, Students Enter School Building at 8:42 AM, and the School Day begins at 8:50 AM! Please be sure that your child is not arriving before 8:30 AM each morning as our staff is not available for outside student supervision until 8:30 AM. Students may arrive anytime between 8:30 - 8:42 AM. Students enter the school building at 8:42 AM. Our school day begins promptly at 8:50 AM so please have your children to school between 8:30 - 8:42 AM. The eight minutes (8:42-8:50 AM) allow your child to get all settled into their classrooms for a great start to the school day at 8:50 AM. Thank you for your cooperation!
Students will need their warm winter gear every day! Our students will go outside for recess every day unless the temperature is below zero and/or if there is a negative windchill. Students should have mittens/gloves, hats, jackets, snow pants, and boots to fully enjoy the snow and to stay warm when playing on the playground. It is helpful to have all items labelled with their name.
IMPORTANT! Change of Plans for After-School Dismissal. Please notify us of any change in your child(ren)'s after school dismissal plans. Please send an email to your child's teacher and copy both our administrative assistant Mrs. Michelle Kiese at kiesem@elmbrookschools.org
Please keep up to date! Background Check Process for Volunteers! We love our family/parent/grandparent volunteers! We wanted to share the process for becoming a volunteer in our schools. Please see https://www.
Monthly attendance email will be sent for your child(ren). Email communication sample: The School District of Elmbrook is committed to student achievement and every school day counts. Regular school attendance promotes continuity of the learning process and academic success of every student. Frequent absences deny students the benefit of planned classroom instruction, participation, hands-on or active learning, and can rarely be regained despite extra instruction or support. Every month, we will update families on their child's attendance in an effort to work collaboratively to ensure regular attendance for all Elmbrook students. Then specific attendance information will be shared regarding your child. Wisconsin law allows for families to excuse their children from school up to 10 days per school year.
Student Attendance Matters! Accurate student attendance is important to us. If your child(ren) will be absent from school, please email our attendance office at TonAttendance@
Medically Excused Absences: Families may submit verification of medical appointments and/or illness from a medical provider to the school attendance office in order to be reflected in their child(ren)'s attendance. With these medical verification documents, the documented absences will not be included as a part of the up to ten allowed days of absences per school year.
Vacation Request Form linked here. Please complete this form for trips when your child(ren) will miss 3 or more school days due to the vacation. Please complete this form with as much advance notice as possible. Thank you!
Follow our Tonawanda PTO on social media! The PTO Instagram account is @tonawandaPTO and join the private Tonawanda Parents Facebook group. To join, please provide the grade/assigned teacher for one of your children in order to be approved to join, so we can keep it to our community.
Support the PTO: Scan your box tops! Have you downloaded the Box Tops App for your phone? You can earn some major Box Top bonuses for Tonawanda with back-to-school shopping! Just by linking your Walmart account, you can earn $5 without purchasing anything! Referral code for an extra 25 box tops: XCDU04RV
Family guests may join their child(ren) for lunch in our cafeteria. Due to limited space in our cafeteria, only your child(ren) may join you at the "guest table" (unfortunately no friends are allowed to join) and families must PRE-REGISTER to join lunch by calling the office at 262-785-3950 or email Michelle Kiese at kiesem@elmbrookschools.org
Bus Information: Go-Riteway is the bus company that serves our Elmbrook School District. Bus route information for the 2024-2025 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 Here Comes the Bus 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 Here Comes the Bus 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!