What a glorious sight it was to hear and see 370 of the cutest angels singing! Our elementary Christmas program was phenomenal. The children sang beautifully and everyone in attendance was amazed by their talent. Our music teacher, Mrs. Dawn Gregory, does a fabulous job with our students and teaches them to perform with such strong voices, confidence and stage presence. This night was the perfect kick off to our Christmas holiday and reminded us to focus on the real reason we celebrate which is the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Our third grade students traveled to Parkway Cove Assisted Living on Wednesday for their yearly service trip. Our boys and girls sang to the residents and made a Christmas ornament with them for the residents to keep. It was such a blessing for us to spend time with these precious senior citizens. I am extremely proud of these students in the way they interacted with the residents and had meaningful conversations with them. I know these ladies and gentlemen will long remember our visit, and it added so much to their Christmas memories. Our service field trips may be one of my very favorite new traditions. It is so important to teach our children to serve and care for others. It was a great day!
Thank you to our amazing PTO for the delicious breakfast they provided for us this week. It was catered by Daily Bread and was wonderful. We are so very thankful for our PTO! They support us in so many ways and we appreciate every single one of their acts of kindness.
Please remember our schedule for next week.
Monday- wear pjs (no gowns) for movie day- we will watch “The Star”- Dismissal for elementary school will begin at 11:30 AM with No TREC
Tuesday - wear red / green or Christmas attire-Dismissal for elementary school will begin at 11:30 AM with No TREC
Wednesday-wear Christmas attire-Christmas party 10:00 AM- Dismissal for elementary school will begin at 11:30 AM with No TREC
As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, we want to thank you for the joy and partnership you and your children bring to our school. Your support, prayers, and trust in us mean so much. May your homes be filled with God’s peace, hope, and joy this Christmas season, and may His love surround your family in the coming year. Have a wonderful Christmas break and we will see you all on Tuesday, January 6.
We hope you have a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us! It is a joy to serve our students and families. We will be praying for your child and look forward to seeing them back on January 6, 2026!
Treble Honor Choir
Congratulations to 6th graders Logan Crull, Riley Jo Thomas, and Sophia Vego who were selected to represent our school for the Tennessee Treble Honor Choir. It is an honor to be chosen for this elite choir selected from hundreds of auditions submitted from across the state of Tennessee. Students will perform at the Opryland Hotel in April at the TMEA conference. Congratulations!
Christmas Fun!
Building community and relationships is crucial for middle schoolers. It fosters a sense of belonging, improves academic engagement and social-emotional well-being, and reduces behavioral issues by helping them feel seen and valued. We are intentional about building community throughout the year, but especially at Christmas! On Friday, our Junior Beta and Student Council officers led us in four rounds of Christmas Trivia. Each homeroom competed together to become the 2025-2026 Christmas Trivia champion! Tomorrow, we will finish another four rounds during homeroom and announce the winner! Monday, our Student Council sponsored our annual “Happy Birthday, Jesus” party. After singing, “Happy Birthday” to Jesus, our students played board games and card games together. It was a great time of building community!
Christmas Dress Up Days
Our students have had fun this week with special dress up days for Christmas.
Christmas Choir Concert
Our middle school choir has been working hard on preparing for their Christmas concert TONIGHT at 6:00 in the PAC. Some selections for our middle school choir include “Christmas Time is Here,” “Jolly Ole St. Nick,” “This Christmas,” and “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”. A $5 donation is suggested to help support our fine arts program. Come out tonight to support Ms. Brooke Harwell and our middle school choir students!
Exam Snacks Needed!
We are still in need of donations of snack items for the middle school for next week. The cafeteria will be closed, but we would like to provide a snack for all of the students as a brain break between exams. Please send pre-packaged items to the middle school office. Thank you in advance for your help!
Looking Ahead:
December 11 - Middle and High School Choir Concert
Next week will be semester exams for upper school students. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will also be half day dismissal days, and students will be dismissed from school at 11:30 all three days. The schedule for upper school exams can be found in the graphic included above.
Upper School report cards will not be published until we return to school in January, following the Christmas Break.
Recently, upper school students participated in the AMC Math competition. Founded in 1950, the AMC is the preeminent math competition for students in grades K-12. Today, over 300,000 students in 50 states and over 30 countries take the AMC to bolster their confidence and passion for math. The AMC program is more than just a competition; it is a national effort to strengthen the mathematical capabilities of our next generation of innovators. By challenging students with engaging problems, the AMC sets the state for lifelong mathematical exploration, discovery, and achievement. The program begins at the middle school level of competition with AMC 8, and extends through high school with the AMC 10 and 12. The students with the top scores are invited to take a series of invitational exams culminating with the USA Mathematical Olympiad and the International Mathematical Olympiad. The following students competed in the AMC representing Tipton-Rosemark Academy:
AMC 12:
Madeline Akerson
Austin Alexander
Oliver Barratt
Payton Biggs
Hayden Bishop
Haven Blasingame
Hollis Blasingame
Belen Castro-Hair
Kristian Donahoo
Buck Ford
Nix Fullen
Aniston Glass
Charlie Glenn
Landon Hatchel
Jayden Hoy
Joshua Johnson
Miley Jones
Jay Morris
Jack Paganoni
Brennan Patel
Mira Patel
Cort Peterson
Zadie Reburn
Caroline Roland
Delia Sigler
Sequoia Slayman
Riley Taylor
Grace Tyler
Xavier White
AMC 10:
Rebecca Brown
Caleb Butler
Levi Carroll
Angelo Khattar
Edward Lague
Zoe Meredith
Reese Park
James Smith
Adam Walker
Congratulations to the following students, who placed in the top 3 for their respective categories:
AMC 12:
3rd Place: Jayden Hoy
2nd Place: Jack Paganoni
1st Place: Aniston Glass
AMC10:
3rd Place: Angelo Khattar, Edward Lague, and Adam Walker
2nd Place: Rebecca Brown, and Zoe Meredith
1st Place: Caleb Butler
At TRA, Senior Project is a unique graduation requirement that challenges students to put their faith and learning into action. Working in assigned groups, seniors identify a need within the school or surrounding community, design a project plan to address that need, and serve a minimum of 30 hours together in the process. The experience culminates in a formal presentation to a faculty panel, where students reflect on both the successes and challenges they encountered along the way. Each week, we look forward to highlighting one of our senior project groups, recognizing their creativity, their dedication, and the servant hearts they bring to making a difference. This week our senior project highlights two groups. The first group worked on campus and dubbed themselves Rose Media. These students produced and distributed short video clips highlighting current events around campus. The Rose Media group was made up of Joshua Johnson, Jonathon Salzman, Graeme Sealy, Lathan Walls, and Demetric Words.
The next senior project group also worked on campus completing several maintenance and improvement projects. Some examples include the landscaping around the campus memorial and the ramp located on the visitor bleachers at the football field. This senior project group was made up of Knox Holmes, Owen Van Meter, Vito Ofiara, and Sebastian Walker. These two great teams of students contributed their time and talents to directly impact the children and families of TRA and in the surrounding community. Great job, seniors!
Each of the senior project groups have now successfully presented their culminating projects and the reflection of their respective impacts, as of Tuesday earlier this week. We are proud of these students and the way they represented themselves, their families and our school around campus and beyond in the Memphis, Shelby County, and Tipton County communities!
Upcoming Dates to Remember:
📚Semester 1 Exams: December 15 - 17, 2025
💲Annual Charity Dress Down Day for $2: January 16, 2025
🏀Basketball Homecoming for Upper School vs. Royal Hurricane: January 17, 2025
🏆Oscar Night: January 24, 2025
Looking Ahead - Second Quarter
December 13 - High School Snowflake Dance
December 15 - 17 - Upper School Exams
January 5 - Inservice Day for Faculty & Staff
January 6 - First Day of Spring Semester - 1st Day Back for Students
January 6 - Young Alumni Panel
January 14 - Class/Group Pictures
January 16 - Annual Charity Dress Down Day
January 17 - Upper School Basketball Homecoming vs. Royal Hurricane
January 19 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday - NO SCHOOL
Our middle school selects one student per month who exemplifies TRA’s 4 pillars of Faith, Academics, Character, and Service. Nominations are made by our faculty, and students who are selected receive a certificate and a special Chick-Fil-A lunch. Our student of the month for October is 6th grader, Nora Jane Lockhart. Congratulations!
Turkey Shoot Out Champions
Congratulations to our 7/8th grade boys basketball team for winning the Turkey Shoot Out Classic Tournament! Our team includes 8th graders: Ethan Black, Elliot Barratt, Garner Gaines, Cole Langley, Brock McMahan, Levi O’Connor, Charlie Paganoni, Trax Payne, Mikael Sinis, Kam Teach, Peyton Wehrer, Jeb Lovelace (manager), & Carter Kutz (manager). Our 7th graders: Kayden Mays, Barrett Rowland, and Owen Wehrer.Our boys have had a great start to their season! We are proud of their work on and off the court. Special thanks to our coaches Carington Maclin, Howard Gray, and head coach Drew Anderson.
A Christmas Carol
Five of our 8th grade students were chosen as cast members for the high school production of A Christmas Carol. The play was outstanding! We are proud of the way they use their God-given talents to shine on (and off) stage! Cast members included from left to right: Liam Jacks, Teagan Holcomb, Ella Meredith, Annabella House, and Annalynn Rumbaugh.
Presentations
Our middle school teachers at TRA recognize that learning isn’t only measured by scores on tests. They also recognize the importance of having students present their learning to the class, especially in middle school. There are many benefits to presenting and public speaking including building confidence by overcoming fear and anxiety of speaking in public, improving communication skills, developing logical thinking, and fostering leadership. Each quarter our middle school teachers are intentional about providing our students with at least one opportunity to present their learning.
8th Grade History
Our 8th grade students presented their American History trading cards this week. The cards featured an important figure from the Revolutionary War time period and were identified as either a Patriot or Loyalist. Students drew a picture of their figure and shared important information about them on the back along with a picture of a significant event in their life.
6th Grade History
Our 6th grade students created Egyptian pyramids as an alternative assessment and wrote paragraphs about how ancient pyramids were constructed. Students used their creativity in choosing materials in which to construct their pyramids. The projects displayed a range of materials including wood, sand, and even rice crispies and graham crackers! Two pyramids even opened up displaying treasures that would have been kept there and another displayed the mummification process of the pharaohs who were buried inside.
7th Grade Science
Our 7th grade students have been studying genes, and they have recently researched genetic mutation disorders. Students were able to choose a disorder they found interesting and presented to the class their learning. Disorders ranged from color blindness to down syndrome.
Choir Concert
Please come support our amazing middle school choir under the direction of Ms. Brooke Harwell.
We Need Your Help with Exam Snacks Parents, we would like to be able to provide snacks for all of our students on exam days. Our students benefit from having a break between their exams, but our cafeteria will be closed because of the ½ day schedule. Please send pre-packaged snacks to the middle school office next week. We appreciate any and all donations!
Exam Schedule
Looking Ahead
December 9 - Winter Sports Pictures (basketball)
December 11 - All School Christmas Chapel & Middle and High School Choir Concert
December 15-17 - Half Day Exams (11:30 a.m. dismissal)
Congratulations to our elementary Treble Honor Choir participants this year. This is a HUGE accomplishment!
Skylar Barber
Isla Flockhart
Jordan Johnson
Addalyn Pennington
Charley Phelps
Aubrey WIlliams
Our fifth graders recently spent time showcasing the animal presentations they created. Each student selected an animal, conducted research, answered guided questions, wrote a summary, and then built a slideshow to share what they learned. For many, this was their first time using Keynote, and they loved experimenting with features like photos, videos, and slide transitions. They did an excellent job presenting confidently and respectfully—and impressed us just as much with the challenging questions they asked as audience members. It was a wonderful week of learning and creativity!
Please remember the following.
The ONLY sweatshirts (grades K-5) approved for daily wear are the crewneck or quarter zip with the TR on the top left chest. All other TRA sweatshirts may be worn on FRIDAY ONLY for spirit wear.
Shoes- All shoes must be predominatelyred, blue, white, gray, brown or black.
We enjoyed chapel this week and loved having our Hallelujah choir and our handchimes choir perform Christmas songs for us. We also enjoyed having two of our TRA Seniors, Caroline Turner and Allie Brenner, read The First Christmas Night to us. We loved having them share this Christmas book that tells the events of Jesus’ birth on that first Christmas night. We hope our students will always remember the true reason we celebrate Christmas which is the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Our Christmas program is next Tuesday, December 9, at Millington First Baptist Church. It begins at 6:00 p.m. Please review these important details.
Students arrive at the Millington FBC sanctuary at 5:00 p.m. Doors to the sanctuary will open at 5:45 p.m. for seating.
Students wear Christmas dress attire for the program.
PTO will have Grandma’s Bakery set up in the fellowship hall of the church before and after the program.
Mark your calendars:
Monday - Wednesday, (December 15- 17) HALF DAYS- Lower school will begin dismissal at 11:15 a.m. on these half days. There is no TREC.
Wednesday, December 17- NO late start and Lower school Christmas parties at 10:00 a.m.
