Telra Telegram - May 6, 2025
- sharilynstrain
- May 6
- 8 min read
Updated: May 7
In this issue:
A Note from the Principals
Dear Telra Families,
This week was Teacher and Staff Appreciation week at Telra Institute! We want to take a moment to appreciate all that our amazing staff does every day for our students. We are so lucky to work with staff who are dedicated to each and every child’s success and academic growth, and the passion that they show day in and day out is incredible. We get to see this firsthand every day, and we want to share some of those instances with you.
This year, we had many teachers take on clubs, sports, performances, and events. Because of our staff, we were able to host movie nights, have our first ever competitive sports teams, introduce students to new sports like pickleball and track, start a school newspaper, put on a performance of A Tale of Two Cities, host the art walk and craft fair, and so much more. All of these before and after school activities are ways that our teachers go above and beyond.
There are so many day-to-day parts of being a teacher and Telra staff member that make a huge difference. Every day, staff bring energy and joy to their lessons, inspiring our students to love subjects, no matter how challenging. We love hearing our teachers’ passion for their subjects and seeing them get just as excited as the kids (or sometimes even more so!) about the new novel their class is reading, the experiment they are about to perform, the multi-step math problem the class tackles together, the new era in history they get to explore, the new sport they get to introduce students to, the artist’s life they are studying...the list goes on and on! Our teachers also work to build personal connections with their students. We love getting to see the positive rapport between our students and staff, and it is such a joy to see those great relationships in action.
Teachers and staff put in so many extra hours behind the scenes to make everything at the school possible. Between internalizing their lessons to deliver the very best for their students, sitting down to work together to solve problems, ensuring their Teams are up-to-date each week, keeping our building and grounds clean and safe, and so much more, it barely scratches the surface of everything our staff do every day. We truly cannot thank them enough for all they do, and it truly is the little things that make the biggest difference.
Thank you for showing your appreciation for our amazing staff during Teacher and Staff Appreciation week and throughout the school year!
Principals Ozer and Rearick
Virtue of the Month
Core Virtues of the Month - Hope and Joy
This month, our Core Virtues are Hope and Joy. As we work to instill this virtue in our students at school through modeling hope and joy, we encourage families to discuss the values or hope and joy at home. Below, you can find some book recommendations that help reinforce the virtues of hope and joy.
There's No Place Like Hope by Janet Lawler
Dadaji’s Paintbrush by Rashmi Sirdeshpande
The Water: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chips by Jeanette Winter
Sing a Song of Seasons by Fiona Waters
One Giant Leap by Robert Burleigh
τau Secret Donor Challenge
The τau Secret Donor Challenge had a total of 14 donations that met the challenge! Thanks to a generous offer from one of our Telra families, our secret donor will donate an additional $700!
This week, you can donate to help us fund the meals, treats, and other bonuses staff will receive. All donations to the Telra Annual Use Fund from May 5 - May 9 will go to support Staff Appreciation events!
Staff Appreciation week - May 5-9
Telra team members and parents have been working behind the scenes to prepare a special week this week to show our appreciation for staff. The image shows some of what we have planned, and if you're wondering how you can get involved, here are some ideas:
Chalk the walk - come see the amazing artwork and messages completed on Sunday, 5/4!
Send in a note to your child's teacher (from you or your child) to express your appreciation
Volunteer to help set up or clean up some of the planned activities - sign up here
Donate to help us fund the meals, treats, and other bonuses staff will receive. All donations to the Telra Annual Use Fund from May 5 - May 9 will go to support Staff Appreciation events! Donate here.
Transportation Update
We have brought the transportation service in house and have now acquired four buses to run our routes. We have three routes up underway. We understand the routes are long and students are on the bus for an extended period of time. We are adding the 4th bus soon to our system and hope to provide relief to our longer routes. More to come soon!
It's important to remember:
Bus riders - As mentioned above, some of the bus routes are long, so be courteous and be ready with your students at the stop. Any delays will impact all the remaining stops and school arrival for that bus route.
Arrive 10 minutes early to the bus stop.
Have your child "Bus Ready". Meaning, that your students is ready to board the bus immediately upon bus arrival at the stop. Any loading preparation, material gathering, lunches, bookbags and goodbyes, etc. need to be conducted before the bus arrives at the stop
The bus times on the schedule are when the buses will LEAVE for the next stop, so plan accordingly. (See point 1)
Car riders - Tips for a safer and stress-free commute:
Mornings: The first 10-15 mins of morning car line have almost no wait. This is the Green Zone. Aim to arrive between 7:50-8:05 to ensure your child is not tardy. Coming in later means you hit the rush and you might get tardy! Too many families are dropping off at the same time.
Afternoons is the reverse: Don't arrive early before 3:05 or you will be stuck blocking traffic on McKee Rd. Even arriving shortly after 3:05 means you will be waiting at least 30 minutes for your pickup. Savvy families arrive between 3:40-3:55 for a much shorter wait!
The Telra Times - May 2025
Please read the first edition of our Telra Times!
Camp Wonder @ Telra
Telra is launching summer camps! Designed as an alternative to your typical summer camp, Telra camps combine learning and fun with clear instructional goals and an opportunity to move the needle on student learning in three short weeks.
The camps are open to students from any school, but spaces are limited and Telra students will have priority. (Otherwise, they will be allocated in order of registration, so sign up fast!)
All of our camps...
Focus on the basics: We use evidence-based curriculum with explicit, systematic instruction to help students gain mastery and confidence
Enjoy a high supervision ratio: 1 teacher per 5-7 students
Provide 3 sequenced weeks of instruction
July 14 - Aug 1 (Monday - Friday)
8am - noon
Core camp pricing is $250/week ($750 total, as you must sign up for the entire camp)
Optional add-ons can be purchased for individual weeks:
Lunch bunch (noon - 1pm) - pack your own lunch: $25/week
Afternoon sports & games camp (noon - 4pm): $200/week (includes Lunch bunch)bunch
Three exciting camp options
Please visit our website to register!
Share your photos
Telra Community, we need your photos of the following:
1st day of school (yes, from back on August 19!)
7th grade JCC field trip (May 6)
Craft fair (May 1)
5th grade movie night (May 9)
Other upcoming field trips and meet-ups
Here's how to share
Navigate over to https://bit.ly/TelraShare24
Select files to upload
After you upload, you'll be prompted to fill out two fields
Where it prompts "First Name", please describe the event/activity, e.g., "4th grade picnic at Beatty Park"
Where it prompts "Last Name", please list your full name, e.g., "John Doe"
Join us for a visit from James Edge for an evening talk about scholarships for college.
Free Money: Scholarships are Easier and Broader Than You Think
Friday May 9th 6-7:30pm
College costs have already more than doubled in the 21st century. Currently, the average in-state student spends nearly $30,000 for all costs associated with one year of a four-year degree at a public institution. These costs are considerably higher for students applying for out-of-state or private colleges. At the moment, the average federal loan total for each student is $38,375, and the average borrower takes more than 20 years to pay off these loans. These statistics are frightening.
Fortunately, there are ways to mitigate these exorbitant costs. In fact, nearly $100 million in scholarships and $2 billion in grants go unclaimed each year simply because candidates fail to apply for them. Essentially, these figures are free money and may only require a small portion of information and some brief essays. Moreover, you do not need a 4.0 GPA, an athletic career, or be a graduating senior for a large portion of these opportunities. There are scholarships for nearly everything.
For this talk, come and learn about the best and easiest ways to reduce academic costs and begin applying to funding opportunities immediately.
Peer Tutoring - New Offering
A select group of 9th graders is offering tutoring sessions on Tuesdays from 3:40-4:45pm. If you are interested in signing up your child, please fill out the form via the link below. If you have more than one child, please fill out a separate form for each child. There are a max of 10 slots per session to start and they can be booked three weeks out.
OMB Meet Up - May 24th, 2pm
Family Council hopes all Telra families will join us for our Spring family meet up on May 24th at 2pm at the Olde Mecklenberg Brewery in the Ballantyne Bowl. We will meet on the back patio near the kids play area. Please RSVP so we can get a headcount!
Join the Family Council
Are you or someone you know interested in being more involved with directly making decisions that help build community and support Telra’s wonderful staff? Fill out this quick nomination form!
Fairytale Ball K/1 - Monday, May 19th, 4-5pm
Calling all Princes and Princesses! You are respectfully invited to our K/1 Fairytale Ball in the Telra gym! Wear your best Prince, Princess, Knights, Fairies or other Fairytale attire!
Only Telra Kindergarten and First Grade students may attend. Please RSVP for your child HERE by 5/14/25. If you have more than one child in Kindergarten or First Grade, please fill out one form for each child.
Pickup is at the front of the school no later than 5pm. Lofthouse Frosted Sugar Cookies, Capri Sun Drinks, and chips will be served. If your child has any allergies, please document them in the form below.
There are many items needed to make this event a success. Please sign up to bring or order items!
Upcoming social events
Remember to find all this on our Telra Events Calendar.
Friday May 9 - 5th Grade Movie Night, 4-6pm
Friday May 9 - Edgeucation Talk on Free Money: Scholarships are Easier and Broader Than You Think, 6-7:30pm
Monday May 19 - K/1 Fairytale Ball, 4-5pm
Saturday May 24th - OMB Family Meet-Up, 2pm
Friday May 30th - All Pro Dads, 7am
Tuesday June 10th - Field Day volunteer sign-ups to come!
We'd love volunteers to help organize these events! Let us know by clicking below.
