TCAPS Early Release Schedule Change 🗓️

Due to today’s inclement weather closure, the 2-hour early release originally scheduled for today has been moved to Thursday, January 22. 🗓️

Please note that the scheduled early release for Friday, January 23 remains in effect. Students will have a 2-hour early dismissal on both Thursday and Friday.

Start & Dismissal Times: https://5il.co/3jfxa
Academic Calendar: https://5il.co/3jfx6

For questions, please contact your school directly.
about 12 hours ago, Traverse City Area Public Schools
TCAPS Update

SCHOOL IS CLOSED: All TCAPS schools are closed today, Monday, January 19, 2026 due to inclement weather. Students in Michigan Virtual, Acellus, or Dual Enrollment classes should follow the direction of the instructors for those programs.

For more information on snow days, including how they are communicated and how decisions are made, go to www.tcaps.net.

about 18 hours ago, Traverse City Area Public Schools
TCAPS ALERT Schools are closed due to inclement weather.

🔔 Reminder: TCAPS has an early release day this coming Monday, January 19.

Find start and dismissal times here: https://5il.co/3jfxa

View the academic calendar here: https://5il.co/3jfx6

For questions, contact your school directly.

2 days ago, Traverse City Area Public Schools
TCAPS Alert Early Release Day
Congratulations to this week's ROAR Model award winners!
3 days ago, Courtade Elementary
This week's ROAR Model award winners.
Word Power at TCAPS!

Did you know a strong vocabulary is a top predictor of reading success? At TCAPS, our CKLA curriculum builds "word power" from Kindergarten through 5th grade by immersing students in exciting, real-world topics. It’s not just about knowing a word; it’s about understanding it deeply and being able to use it!

Here is a look at the vocabulary our students are mastering:

Kindergarten: Building the Foundation In K, we introduce fascinating topics like "Farms," "Seasons and Weather," and "Colonial America" through captivating read-alouds. Your child is learning words like: harvest, migration, and colony! 📚

1st Grade: Expanding Horizons First graders delve into domains like "The Human Body," "Fairy Tales," and "A New Nation." They're learning words like circulation, heroic, and independence! 🌳

2nd Grade: Digging Deeper In second grade, topics like "Ancient Greek Civilization," "The War of 1812," and "Ecology" bring more complex vocabulary into play- such as democracy, conflict, and biodiversity. 🔍

3rd Grade: Bridging Listening to Reading Now, students are reading more independently, and CKLA helps them tackle more sophisticated texts in units like "The Ancient Roman Empire," "Astronomy," and "Immigration." They learn words like emperor, celestial, and immigrant. 🏰

4th Grade: Mastering Academic Language Fourth grade dives into subjects like "Early American Civilizations," "Geology," and "The American Revolution." Vocabulary becomes even more crucial for academic success. Words such as Mesoamerica, erosion, and patriot. 🌎

5th Grade: Preparing for Middle School In their final elementary year, students engage with challenging topics like "The Renaissance," "The Civil War," and "Human Anatomy and Physiology." Students learn words like patron, secede and skeletal. 🚀

From their first day to their elementary graduation, we are empowering TCAPS students to own their language!
5 days ago, Traverse City Area Public Schools
Infographic titled 'Words are Power' showing CKLA vocabulary: Harvest, Migration, and Colony for K-2; Emperor, Celestial, and Perspective
Courtade's annual (and awesome) Math Night family event takes place on Thursday, January 22nd from 5:00-6:30. This event features a hands-on experience in our gym provided by the Great Lakes Children's Museum, some awesome math games and ways to practice math at home with your math-minded Cougars, and a pizza dinner from our friends at Peegeo's! Use the link below to register!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeA9WSxdi2iiIXercb-7XblJrw_dxuI3y2D62Uipp6GKVgb0w/viewform?usp=header
5 days ago, Courtade Elementary
Math Night last year
Math Night last year
Math Night last year
Math Night last year
Math Night last year

SCHOOL IS CLOSED: All TCAPS schools are closed today, Wednesday, January 14, 2026 due to inclement weather. Students in Michigan Virtual, Acellus, or Dual Enrollment classes should follow the direction of the instructors for those programs.

For more information on snow days, including how they are communicated and how decisions are made, go to www.tcaps.net.

6 days ago, Traverse City Area Public Schools
TCAPS ALERT Schools are closed due to inclement weather.
🧠 Challenge Your Student: Explore the TCAPS Talented and Gifted Program Program!

The Talented and Gifted Program offers 4th graders accelerated learning with less repetition, focusing on growth mindset and challenging projects. Give your student the opportunity to learn in this unique environment.

Qualification testing (CogAT) is optional for all interested 3rd graders.

Register by January 21, 2026! Learn more at www.tcaps.net/TAG.
7 days ago, Traverse City Area Public Schools
Girl on a paper airplane looking through binoculars, surrounded by icons for science and discovery.
Friday was a blast! We started the day by honoring the first ROAR Models of 2026. We then had a fun ROAR Day assembly where we talked about New Year's resolutions and played a fun "New Year's Eve Ball Drop" game.
7 days ago, Courtade Elementary
New Year's Eve Ball Drop game
New Year's Eve Ball Drop game
High fiving ROARY
ROAR Models
Don't forget, you can support our fifth grade overnight camp experience by bringing in your returnable cans to the drop off line on Wednesday mornings! You can also drop them off in our garden shed anytime.
13 days ago, Courtade Elementary
Can drive flyer
Welcome back to school, and Happy New Year, Cougars! We had a great break, but it was good to be back at school. Check out this huge show drift on our awesome playground! These kids are on both sides of the fence at one time!
14 days ago, Courtade Elementary
Big snow drift with kids on both sides of the fence.

🔔 Reminder: No School Dec 22 - Jan 2.

Enjoy the winter break! All TCAPS school offices and the TCAPS Administration Building at Glenn Loomis will be closed during this time.

Buildings and classes will resume on Monday, January 5, 2026.

View the academic calendar here: https://5il.co/3jfx6

29 days ago, Traverse City Area Public Schools
Warm-toned photo with a silhouette of a person reading under a large tree and the TCAPS school logo

🔔 Reminder: No School Dec 22 - Jan 2.

Enjoy the winter break! All TCAPS school offices and the TCAPS Administration Building at Glenn Loomis will be closed during this time.

Buildings and classes will resume on Monday, January 5, 2026.

View the academic calendar here: https://5il.co/3jfx6

about 1 month ago, Traverse City Area Public Schools
Warm-toned photo with a silhouette of a person reading under a large tree and the TCAPS school logo
It's Holiday Headgear and Cougar Pride day today as we wrap up Spirit Week. And Mr. Rob and Mr. Phillips are the only two jolly elves around today. Happy snow day! From all of the staff at Courtade Elementary School, we wish everyone in the Courtade Community a happy and magical Holiday Season. See you in January!
about 1 month ago, Courtade Elementary
Mr. Rob and Mr. Phillips matching shirts and holiday hats.

SCHOOL IS CLOSED: All TCAPS schools are closed today, Friday, December 19, 2025 due to inclement weather. Students in Michigan Virtual, Acellus, or Dual Enrollment classes should follow the direction of the instructors for those programs.

For more information on snow days, including how they are communicated and how decisions are made, go to www.tcaps.net.

about 1 month ago, Traverse City Area Public Schools
TCAPS ALERT Schools are closed due to inclement weather.
Congratulations to this week's ROAR Model award winners! We also had a ROAR Day assembly today. The theme was appreciation. We appreciated having the talented musicians from East Middle School be the main guests at today's ROAR Day!
about 1 month ago, Courtade Elementary
EMS Band
EMS Choir
ROAR Models - Week 10
EMS Orchestra

🌟 Beyond Sounding Out: CKLA Knowledge Units Build Confident Readers! 📚

While learning to sound out words is essential, did you know that CKLA Knowledge Units teach your child about the world (like history and science) and grow their vocabulary by introducing important, academic words? This strong foundation of knowledge and words is how they move beyond simply sounding out letters to actually understanding the meaning of what they read, making them skilled and confident readers.

 CKLA Connected—check out the learning adventures happening right now!

 Kindergarten: Underdogs and Heroes: Stories 
First Grade: Common Threads: Different Lands, Similar Stories 
Second Grade: Legends and Heroes: Greek Myths
Third Grade: Rhythm and Rhyme: Poetry
Fourth Grade: Meaning and Metaphor: Poetry
Fifth Grade: Visions in Verse: Poetry

about 1 month ago, Traverse City Area Public Schools
Young girl using a pocket chart for a phonics lesson, placing a letter card under the 'Chaining' category.
Student learning what is inside the human body at school
Teachers and students in a classroom hold up cards with shapes (star, circle) and letters ('f', 'o', 'g') for a lesson.
Students learning in the classroom
Students with paper masks learning in the classroom
2nd Grade, Courtade:  Domain 2, “Ancient Greece” Display
Group of students smiling together in the classroom.
We have an award winner on our teaching staff! Fabulous first grade teacher Mrs. Liz Lautner was recently recognized as a Michigan Lottery Excellence in Education award winner. In October, she went downstate to be professionally interviewed. Her segment aired for the first time as part of the 5:00 9 and 10 news. Many of her admirers celebrated with her tonight with some delicious pizza, compliments of Courtade's PTO. For more information, see the press release linked below. Congratulations Liz! This award and recognition is well-deserved!

https://milotteryconnect.com/
about 1 month ago, Courtade Elementary
Excellence in Education
Watch party
Watch party
Group photo
Under the leadership of Ms. Partman and Mr. Boyce, tonight was the first night of the third year of the Creative Explorers Program at Courtade! This free, after school program has 33 Cougars who will be learning all about coding, robotics, and problem solving in a very hands-on way. Tonight, students were introduced to Lego Spike kits. We can't wait to see what these Explorers build!
about 1 month ago, Courtade Elementary
ROAR expectations
Exploring
Exploring 2
Exploring 3
Creative Explorers title slide
Congratulations to this week's ROAR Model award winners! And thank you to the GT Metro Fire Department for brining some Chill Out for Winter Safety lessons to our school this year!
about 2 months ago, Courtade Elementary
Chill out for winter safety
ROAR Models - Week 9