Greetings Titans,

Welcome to the 2016-2017 school year! This is Dr. Crowther with some reminders for Monday and for the first week of school at Eleanor Joy Toll Middle School, the best middle school in GUSD!

Please note there is NO period 0 on the first day of school. Class begins for all students at 8:05 a.m. Those students who missed orientation and who not yet have their schedules, should report to the auditorium for schedule distribution and a few reminders about expectations for school.

We also ask for all families to complete the free and reduced lunch application provided when students were issued books, and also available online through the GUSD website. Families who have previously qualified must resubmit an application each year. We would like all families to submit this paperwork, even those who do not believe they will qualify as we are provided Federal money based on both the percentage of applicant and the percentage of applicants who qualify. This money helps support programs for all of our students.

Students who still want to purchase PE clothes, locks, or other items will be given the opportunity to do so during PE classes the first three days of PE class.

Lunch lines will be longer than usual the first few weeks of school as students get familiar with the routine of utilizing their number to purchase food, as lunch applications are resubmitted, and as students get familiar with the menu choices. We work through this, and all students will be fed. Please note that we have an extensive menu of items, while all students will be have the opportunity to enjoy lunch, I cannot promise we will never run out of pizza, or hamburgers, or some of the other more popular items during the lunch break. Not to fret, Ms. Lina and her crew work tirelessly to ensure a good dining experience for our Titans.

I am pleased to announce that Toll has hired many new faces and brought several new programs to the mix of course offerings this year. These include Drama, Robotics, Coding and our established programs such as Industrial Tech, Art, Forensics, Spanish, French, Choir and Band. We make every effort to place a student with their first elective choice and a pathway to a high school program. That said, classes are impacted and not every student gets their first elective choice each semester.

Additionally, while we balance classes the first week of school, we make every effort to ensure students stay with the same teachers and core, Please note that we do not make teacher changes based on teacher requests or core requests. Our teachers deserve the opportunity and the courtesy to get settled with their students for the 2016-2017 school year. They are all dedicated to your child and amazing educators.

Here is to an amazing opening week at Toll, have a wonderful weekend!