Thonotosassa Elementary is a part of the Hillsborough County School System on Florida's West Coast, a Head Start through Fifth grade elementary school in  rural eastern  Hillsborough county. The boundaries of our school were approved by the School Board of Hillsborough County on 02/18/92.     

Vision Statement- 

We envision Thonotosassa students as having a positive self-concept that will enable them to have enthusiasm for learning and the persistence and resourcefulness to face the challenges they may encounter in life.

Mission Statement-

At Thonotosassa Elementary School we will develop in each student a positive self concept. With enthusiasm and creativity, we must instill a desire for learning by best meeting the individual needs of all students. We will establish a curriculum that will ensure an enthusiastic, innovative and challenging approach to learning in all subjects. In order to develop citizens who are persistent and resourceful in meeting life's daily challenges we will involve students, parents, businesses and community.

Teaching reading is an important and difficult job in which both the school and the parents can cooperate .  We are listing many ways in which you can help us teach reading to your child.  

1)    Talk to your child.  Almost from the day a child is born they are ready to express themselves.  At first they will respond by cooing and gurgling.  Later they will pick up a few words and sense the rhythm of language.  help them to add words to their speaking vocabulary.  

2)    Listen to your child.  Children must have many opportunities to express themselves.  Encourage your child to talk about things they have seen or done.  The more a child talks, the better they are likely to read.  Pay attention when they talk to you.  Listen to your child read.  Suggest that before they read aloud to you, they should read the story silently to be sure they know all the words.  This makes listening to them read much more interesting.  

3)    Read to your child.  Every time you read to your child you are building an appreciation of books and reading.  A child who has been read to is usually more anxious to read alone.  Reading becomes more important.  

4)     Help your child with reading.  Tell the child the words if they are in the beginning stages of reading.  Helpo your child work out the word if  they are in the later stages of reading by looking at the picture, skipping over the unknown word and reading the rest of the sentence to see if this suggests a new word, and by checking to see whether the word make sense in the sentence.  

5)    Take your child to the library.  Thonotosassa is blessed with a particularly fine Public Library where children can choose their own books to read.  

6)    Buy books for your child.  Pride of ownership can be a powerful motivator.  Letting them buy books they enjoy makes children excited about reading.  

7)    Praise your child.  As parents, you are the most powerful influence in your child's life.  Let them know you are proud of t he progress they are making and  balance criticism with praise when you work with your child.  

8)    Check your child's report card.  Reading at home is important, but make sure they are reading at school too.  

REMEMBER:  Children learn to read by reading.  The more they read, the better readers they will become.  

Sincerely,  
Anne J Sanborn  
Assistant Principal