New Beginnings at TCPS
Head of School, Rachel Szalay, and the TCPS Tiger at annual Bubbles Ceremony on first day of school.
We’re a few weeks into the 2026–27 school year at TCPS, and what a wonderful start it has been! Classrooms are buzzing with learning, friendships are growing, routines are taking shape, and our students and teachers have settled into the rhythm of a new year.
September is always a time of new beginnings. New teachers and classrooms. New friendships and experiences. New academic challenges and opportunities to grow. For some students, it means returning to a familiar school ready for the next chapter. For others, it means walking through the doors of TCPS for the very first time.
Perhaps nowhere is that sense of newness more exciting than in Kindergarten.
Kindergarten: Where the Adventure Begins
Our newest Kindergartners arrived with fresh backpacks, new faces, excited parents—and perhaps a few butterflies—as they began one of the first big adventures of childhood. Just a few weeks later, they are already becoming part of the rhythm and community of TCPS.
Kindergarten is the beginning of a long educational journey, and we believe those first experiences with school matter. At TCPS, our intentionally small Kindergarten class gives children the opportunity to be truly known by their teacher. In a caring, nurturing environment, children have room to ask questions, make mistakes, take appropriate risks, discover new interests, build friendships, and develop confidence in themselves as learners.
Most importantly, we want our youngest students to discover something we hope stays with them throughout their lives: learning is exciting.
Growing Through Elementary School
As our students move through the Elementary School, that foundation continues to grow. First graders return a little more confident than they were in Kindergarten. With each passing year, students become more independent, their questions become more complex, and their academic skills and interests deepen.
Because TCPS is small by design, our teachers have the opportunity to know the children in front of them—not simply where they are academically, but how they learn, what interests them, when they need encouragement, and when they are ready for greater challenge.
That relationship between student and teacher is at the heart of a TCPS education.
We believe strong academics and educating the whole child belong together. Curiosity, kindness, resilience, responsibility, confidence, and a sense of belonging all contribute to a child’s ability to learn and grow.
A New Beginning in Middle School
New beginnings aren’t only for our youngest students. For some of our returning students - last year’s fifth graders - September brought an exciting transition as they came back to TCPS as sixth graders—and Middle School students.
Just a few months ago, they were finishing Elementary School. Now they are among the older students on campus, taking on new responsibilities, new academic challenges, and new opportunities for leadership.
One of the special qualities of a K–8 school is that students can make this important transition within a community that already knows and cares about them. Our Middle Schoolers have room to become more independent, take on greater responsibility, and discover who they are while still enjoying the benefits of an age-appropriate K–8 environment while pursuing increasingly higher level academic challenges that are preparing them for the next level in high school. They can grow up and become more confident, developing a strong sense of self, without being asked to grow up too quickly.
Our Middle School teachers encourage students to think more deeply, advocate for themselves, develop strong academic habits, and become increasingly independent learners. At the same time, our older students have opportunities to lead and connect with younger children throughout our close-knit school.
The Kindergartner who once looked up to the “big kids” can eventually become one of those big kids themselves.
A Community Growing Together
This year also marks a new chapter in TCPS leadership as Rachel Szalay begins her first school year as TCPS Head of School. While her role is new, Rachel certainly is not! She has been part of the TCPS community for 15 years, beginning as our Kindergarten teacher before serving as part of our administrative team as Lower School Lead and, most recently, Assistant Head of School.
Rachel’s journey from Kindergarten teacher to Head of School seems particularly fitting as we celebrate both new beginnings and the continuity of the relationships that make TCPS special.
At every age, children do their best when the adults in their lives work together. The partnership between parents and teachers is an important part of our community. We share the same goal: helping each child grow academically, socially, and emotionally while nurturing the curiosity and joy that make children want to learn and happy to be at school each day.
With our first few weeks behind us, we’re grateful for the strong start our students have made—and excited for everything still ahead: discoveries, challenges, friendships, traditions, accomplishments, and countless everyday moments of learning and growth.
To our returning students and families, welcome back for another great year!
To our new students, new Kindergartners, and families joining TCPS for the first time, welcome to our community!
To each and every member of our TCPS community: students, parents, staff, extended family, we are so glad you’re here.
Here’s to a joyful year of learning, growing, and thriving together at TCPS. Go Tigers!!