Join us for our annual Welcome Picnic Potluck on Friday, August 21 from 5-7pm!

This event is open to all TPMS families as a celebration back to school.

• Sign up to bring a potluck item
• Sign up to volunteer and help set up/clean up
• Link to flyer for info
• Link to the Principal’s Summer letter

What to expect:

• Meet new and returning TPMS families and students,  Teachers and Administrators
• Tour the school building with administrators
• Enjoy food and drinks brought in by the TPMS PTSA and families just like you
• Play games, listen to music, enjoy the day!

Last Friday night, 6/12/2026, the PTSA threw an epic Dance Party to celebrate our 8th graders launching into High School. It’s amazing to see 200+ 8th graders dancing and singing together, and cementing their friendships.  What a great group of kids!

Parent Volunteers

Meg Kiernan

Bonita    Williams
Tracee    Matthias
Alisa    Tang
Fatou    Tamba
Ann    Schaeffler
Kelly    Doordan
Beverly    Hassell
Sonya    Edelman
Manju    Bolleddu
Ella    Nickerson
Mary    Masland
Desha    Fisher
Sally    DeLeon
Jessica    Glover
Desha    Fisher
Pavy    Bacon
Malawi    Welles

Image from the glow in the dark space mural.

This dance is for 8th Grade Takoma Park Middle School Students ONLY. All others will be turned away (including siblings)

When: Friday, June 12th, 7-9pm

Where: Takoma Park Middle School

Ticket Sales are now over:  $7.  Buy them online until Friday at 5pm (below).   No tickets sold at the door.

See flyer for more details.

Dress your best for fun in what feels right for you!  Let’s celebrate!

Please enter your student’s first and last name(s) when purchasing the ticket. 

You will not receive a ticket or confirmation after purchase, instead your name will be added to a list.  At the dance you will give your name at the door and we will know you’ve made a purchase.

8th graders only-Save the Date! 

The PTSA will launch our 8th graders into orbit between 7-9pm ET on Friday, June 12th at Takoma Park Middle School.  The “To the Moon Disco Party”  will offer pizza, drinks, and space-themed snacks alongside a blacklight party featuring a live DJ, glow gear, and a photo booth to capture the moment. To be inclusive of all, we’ll be hosting a sensory-friendly chill zone, sponsored by xMinds. The PTSA still needs a flight crew to help set-up, chaperone, and break down the event. You can find available seats to the party here through this link.

Hello all,

We are nearing the end of a contentious, exhausting, and challenging county operating budget process.

There is still time, but not a lot of time, to share your thoughts with councilmembers.

Tomorrow, 5/13,  the Council will be discussing and voting on some revenue options and signs point to a discussion of a smaller property tax increase than that proposed by the County Executive, as well as final consideration of progressive income tax scenarios.

This article shares some of what will be discussed:

https://bethesdamagazine.com/2026/05/12/modest-property-tax-rate-hike-back-on-table-moco-councilmembers

There are real budget impacts on the horizon, including ones that will impact many of our key MCCPTA priorities. This morning, Dr. Taylor sent the following messages to MCPS staff:

https://montgomeryperspective.com/2026/05/12/taylor-to-council-please-dont-do-this/

Even under additional revenue scenarios that the council will discuss tomorrow, it is likely MCPS would still need to make tough decisions. But if you’d like the Council to prioritize looking for additional revenue to mitigate the most challenging cuts, now is the time to reach out to Councilmembers before their discussion of revenue tomorrow and straw vote on the entire budget on Thursday.

This form will email the entire council (https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/government/legislative-branch/county-council/contact-council/email-all-councilmembers) or you can write individual emails to councilmembers by using the naming convention Councilmember.LastName@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Thank you!

Brigid Howe

2025-2026 MCPS SSL Awards Information

Middle school and high school students should continue earning SSL hours towards their SSL graduation requirement by engaging in SSL opportunities during the 2025-2026 school year, including traditional in-person opportunities and select virtual/remote opportunities that follow the SSL guidelines posted on the MCPS SSL webpage (www.mcps-ssl.org).

Please refer to important information about the MCPS SSL Awards that middle school and high school students are eligible to earn and the requirements for these awards provided below:

Additional information about the MCPS SSL program is provided below:

Dear TPMS Families,

Our school is known for its incredible diversity and its commitment to inclusion, particularly through our ARS (Autism Resource Services) and LAD (Learning and Academic Disabilities) programs.  The ARS program in particular is hosted in only three MCPS middle schools. However, recent and upcoming budget cuts from the MCPS Central Office are putting these programs—and our students—at risk.

We have seen the removal of critical Autism Specialists and are facing a future of even deeper staffing cuts. This doesn’t just affect students with IEPs; it affects every classroom where these students learn, grow, and build friendships. When our special education staff is overextended, the entire school loses the support it needs to thrive.

Want to know more?  Read the talking points and information provided by xMinds (Non-profit improving education for autistic students in MoCo) here:

• Autism services
• Additional bullet points
• A separate, but also important issue on defunding and descoping a summer learning program for kids with Autism.

How You Can Help:

Please take two minutes to email the Board of Education and the Superintendent. You can use the template below – feel free to add a sentence about your own child’s experience at TPMS to make it even more impactful.

To: boe@mcpsmd.org, superintendent@mcpsmd.org

And/or send to individual BOE members and MCPS administration:

Subject: Protect Special Education Staffing at Takoma Park Middle School

Dear Members of the Board and Superintendent,

As a parent at Takoma Park Middle School, I am writing to urge you to restore and protect the specialized staffing resources for our ARS and LAD programs.

The recent removal of the centralized Autism Specialist has left our school leadership to manage 160+ IEPs without the necessary district-level support. We are seeing the impact of these cuts on our staff’s ability to provide the high-quality, inclusive education that TPMS is known for.

Further cuts projected for 2027 are unacceptable. I am asking the Board to:

1. Restore the Autism Specialist positions to support our ARS programs.

2. Increase RTSE staffing so that each specialized program has dedicated leadership.

3. Ensure transparency regarding how MCPS plans to support neurodivergent students moving forward.

Our students deserve a school that is fully staffed and legally compliant. Please prioritize our most vulnerable learners in this budget cycle.

Sincerely, [Your Name] TPMS Parent

Teacher vs. Student Basketball game!

Where:  Takoma Park Middle School (TPMS) in the Cafeteria

When:  Saturday, February 28, 2026, 10am-1pm

Who:  All community members and school families who wish to support TPMS

Join us for our Used Book Fair Fundraiser & Community Event in support of Takoma Park Middle School

– Browse to find treasures at our epic used book sale
– Enjoy a concert by the school Jazz Band and Flute Choir
– Admire the Art Show by students
– Buy your plants for spring by the school Horticulture Club
– Make your bids on incredible items at the Silent Auction
– Indulge on treats at the Bake sale
– And plenty of other fun activities!

Interested in donating books for this event?

We take all types of books (picture books, first readers, chapter books, Young adults, fiction, non fiction, cookbooks, travel books, etc).

• Donations taken through February 26
• Contact TPMS.PTA.president@gmail.com for instructions on how to donate

This page is collecting information about where / when you can find out more info on TPMS’s Outdoor Ed program for 6th Graders – Spring 2026.

Outdoor Ed is held at Camp Letts.  There will be three sessions of outdoor ed.   Your student will be placed in one of these sessions.

• Session 1 – May 4 – 6
• Session 2 – May 6 – 8
• Session 3 – May 18 – 20

An informational meeting about Outdoor Ed is tentatively scheduled for March 11th.  More infomation will be shared about this to 6th grade families in February.

Get more information about this program through the  Outdoor Education Chaperone Flier .  This flyer includes links to slides that include information about the program.  It also includes a recording of the meeting describing chaperoning.

Please consider chaperoning/volunteering to make this trip possible.  Find out more here: Outdoor Education Chaperone Flier

MCPS describes their Outdoor Program here at the MCPS site. 

On October 8, 2025 the Takoma Park Transit Planner and Police Department made observations of the TPMS Pick up and Drop off times in the TPMS parking lot and surrounding streets.

The findings were gathered into a report which can be found here.

The TPMS PTSA would like to gather your feedback on pick up and drop off, as well as Safe Routes to School topics affecting you and your student.  Please share them through this form (the form will close on February 6, 2026).

These findings were presented at our January 2026 PTSA meeting.  You can read the minutes here (includes links to meeting slides) or below.

Findings from the Observations of pickup and dropoff Review

Kayci-Ann from the City of Takoma Park presented the observations from the October 8, 2025 review. The review looked at two locations including at pickup and dropoff to see what a typical day at TPMS is like related to the movement of our students.  Find out more at our website:  https://www.tpmspta.org/pick-up-drop-off-observations-oct-2025/ 

There were many things that were working well: 

• Students generally follow crossing rules
• Crosswalks and signals functioning as designed
• Bus stop locations appropriate with good visibility
• School staff actively assisting where possible

Challenges: the primary safety concern is related to heavy congestion blocking intersections. THis was worse in the afternoon because the dismissal is all at once. There were also concerns about vehicles making unsafe actions including …

Piney Branch Rd

• Vehicles stuck in intersection due to congestion
• Crossing guard arriving late / leaving early
• Guard not actively crossing students or using hand signals
• Red light violation exiting school.

Grant Ave

• Drop-off line backing onto Grant & Chestnut
• Students exiting vehicles into traffic lanes
• Mid-block crossings between parked cars
• Three-point turns and idling reduce roadway width

Another issue was the crossing guard did not arrive early enough and was not using appropriate signals and engaging students in safe behavior.   This crossing guard has since been dismissed and is no longer working as a guard. 

The recommendations are focused on things that can quickly improve student safety, examples.

• There isn’t a crossing guard at Grant, but the school does a great job picking up the need for assistance. 
• Reinforce no-exit and no-turn
• Assess if Grant Ave can be one way and improve visibility. The overall goal is to make sure students, caregivers, staff, and community members are making sure that everyone is safe. The students are mostly operating in a safe manor with the cars having the largest negative impact. The City looks forward to continuing to work with the PTSA, the School, and others to make sure that everyone is safe. 

Mr. Loznak thanked Kaysi-Ann, the TPMS Police Department, and the City for all their help and support to make sure our kids are safe. He also shared some adjustments that have already been made related to traffic flow. There were some students observed walking to parked cars across Piney Branch. This has been eliminated. There was also observed walking on Grant Ave, where our buses come up for pickup. Students have been asked to stay on the sidewalks. The school has already seen a difference in student and caregiver behavior. THere is a new crossing guard at the Piney Branch location to help students move safely to and from schools.