Schools of the Week: Thompson's Station Elementary, Grassland Middle

This week, the Schools of the Week spotlight is on Thompson's Station Elementary and Grassland Middle. We asked the principals of both schools to share a few things that make their schools special.

Thompson's Station Elementary

• Thompson's Station Elementary shares a mascot with Thompson's Station Middle. The  schools chose the Thunder to honor the sound of the railway that was present in the early years of the community.
• The school opened in the 2018-19 school year, and students who started in kindergarten that year are now in third grade.
• Every day during afterschool announcements, Principal Robert Bohrer reminds students about the importance of reading, practicing their math facts and spending time with family.

Students at Thompson's Station Elementary are taking their first steps into the world of coding.

TSES media specialist Shannon Murphy is using Ozobots to teach students about programming. By using a series of colors, students can dictate when the robot will speed up, slow down, spin around and more as it travels down a path.

"It's pretty fun, and it's cool to do coding," said TSES third grader Kai Anderson. "Different patterns made the robot move differently. I liked watching the robots go through the track, and I think they're awesome."

Grassland Middle

• Grassland Middle's band has grown 35 percent from the 2020-21 school year to the 2021-22 school year.
• Grassland Middle had the most students in the district audition for the Honors Orchestra. Eleven GMS students qualified for the group.
• The school's boys tennis team had an undefeated season this year.

Sixth grade students at Grassland Middle are trying to do what the ancient Egyptians did thousands of years ago: build pyramids.

In GMS teacher Dana Nelson's class, students are learning how the pyramids were created and what they symbolize. After learning the history, students were given different materials to build their own pyramids. Some were easy to use, like blocks and LEGOs, and other materials were more difficult, such as army men and pencil cap erasers.

"We're learning how the pyramids were tombs for pharaohs and their journey to the afterlife," said GMS student Samuel Gillespie. "When we built our own pyramids, we couldn't use anything other than the materials we were given. We got a harder material and had to use straws, but we figured out how to make it work."