February 2, 2026

Dear Families,

What a joy to celebrate our kids, families and staff this month! We launched 2026 with a huge celebration of our school-wide growth in reading. 98% of our students improved in their reading fluency, which is a testament to the dedication of every single member of our community. We are grateful for our partnership with the Scripps Howard foundation and Scholastic for helping to make this possible. Thanks to Channel 6 for highlighting our good news!

We celebrated with a special kick off assembly, a family breakfast and ice cream social for students who made the most growth, and a free week long book fair. We also honored our staff, whose collaboration and commitment to professional learning have helped to get us this far. Generous sponsorship from our Taft Family Collective, our generous cafeteria staff, and our foundation account helped make the staff recognition possible.

Kindergarten registration is coming up next month. We will host incoming families here at Taft on March 5th. Families with children who will be 5 years old on or before September 1, 2026 should register online and/or at their home schools. Open enrollment applications are also welcome beginning this week. Please help us spread the word about the wondeful things happening at Taft!

Finally, if you want to send appreciation to a Taft staff member consider sending them a tribute here, and we will see that they are recognized.

Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, celebrations, or concerns.

Sincerely,

Amy Collinge

Principal & Lead Learner

Taft Elementary

It is finally feeling like winter! We loved our day with a dusting of snow. As a reminder, students should come to school with coats, hats, gloves/ mittens and any other clothing needed for the weather. We do continue outside recess until the temperature falls below 20 degrees as per district guidelines. If your child needs winter clothing please let us know.

We are proud to offer a free hot supper to students after school from 3:15-3:30 in the cafeteria. This is available to all students who walk/ bike home, or who are picked up. Please pick students up by 3:30 at the back doors of the cafeteria by the outdoor courtyard. Students who go to Kid City also have access to supper through the Kid City program. If you need childcare past 3:30 please reach out to Kid City about enrollment options, as we do not have supervision available after that time. Students between 18 months and 5 years old are also welcome to attend supper club with a parent.

Mrs. Gudmundsen, our wonderful counselor, teaches weekly lessons in all grade levels. Please click here to learn more our what students are learning in these lessons.

Please join your child on the playground for Family Fun Fridays! Please see the flyer for details. This is for recess time only, we do not have the capacity to host families for lunch as well. Here are the recess times:

Kinder 11:15-11:45

4th & 5th: 11:30-12:00

1st: 11:45-12:15

3rd: 12:00-12:30

6th: 12:15-12:45 

2nd: 12:30-1:00

Thanks for being part of our family engagement plan!

Spring Break is coming up March 16-20. Please see the flyer before for details about their camps.

Do you love working with a team? Are you looking for a way to give back to our community with a flexible schedule? We are always looking for qualified substitutes and interpreters! To apply to be a substitute in any area (classroom teacher, playground supervisor, special education assistant), please follow the instructions here. We now offer higher pay for substitutes serving in qualified special education positions. To join our team of interpreters please contact Diane Goicoechea-Price.

Here is an opportunity for in free person English language classes here in Boise.

Safety of our students and staff is our priority in the Boise School District. Part of that priority is our district-wide threat assessment process, and communicating this process to you. Please see this notification for more information on how we engage in the threat assessment process.