It's not too early to think about hosting a party in March for the Achieve Foundation's largest annual fundraiser, Nights of 100 Dinners. You create the guest list, and Achieve sends invitations on your behalf. Instead of bringing a hostess gift or bottle of wine, guests make a donation to the organization. 
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Since its inception in 2005, the Nights of 100 Dinners has raised more than $500,000 to fund Achieve’s programs and benefit all ten schools in the district.
​Register as a host or email100dinners@achievefoundation.org to learn more!

Tuscan's annual collection of Thanksgiving food items (including turkeys!) is about to begin! Please bring in your non-perishable food items to benefit families in the Tuscan community. Look for the collection box in the front hallway, starting Monday, Nov. 12. Fresh turkeys will be accepted on Wednesday morning, the day before Thanksgiving.

Thank you for your generosity, Tuscan!
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​As you look forward to your Thanksgiving Holiday, please join our staff and Tuscan PTA to help thirteen Tuscan families who need a little extra support. 

We are asking students to bring in ONE or TWO dollars that will help the Tuscan PTA purchase grocery store gift cards so that our thirteen families can prepare Thanksgiving feasts according to their own tastes and cultural traditions. 

The deadline for donations is Monday, November 19.

Also,we continue to appreciate donations to the Holiday Food Drive, (advertised in the Tuscan newsletter), which will support the food bank and vulnerable families throughout the winter season.

Tuscan Show Host Auditions - Wed, November 14th - 6-9 PM.
Open to any 4th or 5th grader who has not previously been a host! If your student is interested, sign up using this online form.
Questions? Email tuscanshow@gmail.com. 

Come join us for our October PTA Meeting! 

Monday October 29th @ 9:15am 
Tuscan Auditorium

Topics on the Agenda:
October Events
Read-A-Thon
PTA Budget
Thanksgiving Food Drive
& much more

On Wednesday, October 17, Tuscan students can donate what they'd normally spend on lunch to Table to Table, a NJ-based organization that rescues food that would otherwise go to waste and delivers it to hungry kids and families.

Look for more information (and lunch bags) in your child's backpack!

​Our first information and interest meeting for returning and new directors will be:
Wednesday, October 10
7:30-8:30pm
25 Tuscan Road
Home of Tuscan Show Directors - Natalie Moore & Bard Goodrich

The theme for this year is...

Tuscan Presents:
The American Soundtrack
An exploration of American musical genres in the recorded era

The Parenting Center offers a free lecture series to everyone in the district.

​Check out the calendar below for the 2018-19 school year.  

Thank you to all those that attended our first PTA Meeting of the year.
We had a great turnout. If you didn't make it you can download our meeting minutes (pdf) or view them below.

​Our next meeting is Monday, October 29th @ 9:15am. Hope to see you there.
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Tuscan Elementary will be running a 2018 Reading Raiser from Oct 2 to Nov 2, 2018.

A Reading-Raiser is like a jog-a-thon, except your child will be reading books instead of running laps, and earning pledges based on how much they read. Everything is tracked online, which makes inviting sponsors and logging reading much easier!

Here are two videos that explain how to participate in the Reading-Raiser:
- How to authorize your child's Reading-Raiser account
- How to become a sponsor and invite more sponsors

Your child will receive a private online account at https://fund.whooosreading.org/ where he/she will log reading. Parent and student instructions on how to use the website have been sent home. Your child will not be able to invite any sponsors without your authorization. View instructions on how to use your parent account online.

IMPORTANT: Whooo's Reading works best if you use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox or Safari.

Unlike other fundraisers where we keep only 40-60% of each donation, our school keeps 85% of each donation using this program. We are really excited to promote reading and help our school raise the necessary money for our ongoing needs.

Thank you so much for your support!

​It is once again time to sign up for TV Turnoff! 

Last year, over 400 Tuscan students successfully completed the TV Turnoff challenge! Students from kindergarten to fifth grade challenged themselves to explore their interests such as reading, learning a musical instrument, keeping a journal, participating in sports, writing, or drawing instead of watching TV.Studies have shown that students who watch ten hours or less of television a week perform better in school.
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TV Turnoff will officially start on Monday, October 1, 2018.   The deadline to sign up for TV Turnoff is Friday, October 12th.

Sign up for TV Turnoff online.  Please complete one form per child. 
Please note that TV Turnoff sign up is online only.

The first SEPAC (Special Education Advisory Committee) meeting for 2018-2019 is Tuesday, 9/25/18. This is a General Support Meeting and will include voting for New Executive Board. All SEPAC meetings take place 7:30-9PM in the Central Office District Meeting Room, unless otherwise specified (525 Academy St).

SEPAC is an advocacy group focused on policies, programs, and practices within the South Orange/Maplewood School District. Families and caregivers of student(s) with learning needs or students eligible for or receiving services under an IEP or 504 plan are encouraged to attend SEPAC Meetings.

This year, the community has one special education parent group as the Special Education PTO has merged with SEPAC. SEPAC provides parents with tools and information to work collaboratively with the school district and to be more effective advocates for their children with special educational needs. Our meetings consist of featured conversations/ presentations as well as support, resource sharing, and the ability to connect with other members of the special education community. Meetings with featured topics are our attempt to get those with similar concerns in the same room at the same time but all are always welcome!

See full schedule below.
Questions? Website: sepacsoma.org Email: sepacsoma@gmail.com

If you are interested in being the Class Coordinator for your child's class, please sign up to volunteer. Class Coordinators act as the liaison between the teacher and the parents/guardians throughout the year. The time commitment is approximately 4 hours per month. 

We need two Class Coordinators per class. If more than two people sign up, we will draw names to randomly choose the Class Coordinators. Deadline for sign up is Tuesday 9/18.

There will be a Class Coordinator Orientation Meeting at the PTA meeting on Monday 9/24. 
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If you have any questions, please contact Carla Morreale, carlamorr@gmail.com.