Dear Parents and Guardians,

We would like to provide you with important information regarding our dismissal procedures. Your cooperation in following these times is essential to ensuring a safe, orderly, and respectful process for all students.

Monday – Thursday Dismissals

• Car Riders: 2:45 PM

• Bus Riders (Kindergarten): 2:50 PM

• Bus Riders (Grades 1–5): 2:55 PM

Friday Dismissals

• Bus Riders (Kindergarten): 11:50 AM

• Bus Riders (Grades 1–5): 11:55 AM

• Car Riders: 12:00 PM

ASAs have started- please be reminded that pick-up is at 4:15pm.  

Important Reminders:

• For the safety and focus of our students, we will not open doors for parents until the designated car rider dismissal time.

• We ask that parents refrain from arriving early, as doing so causes classroom interruptions and halts valuable instructional time.

• Students who are not picked up on time will wait in the cafeteria until collected.

We urge all families to respect these schedules so that dismissal runs smoothly and classroom learning is not disrupted. Your support is greatly appreciated as we work together to maintain a safe and productive school environment.

Birthday Celebrations in Elementary (PreK-Grade 5)

As we shared at Back to School Nights, our GAA birthdays will look different this year. Please see the flyer above to understand more. We will hold our October Community Birthday Celebration on October 24th. 

Any celebration supplies that are sent to school outside of this time will be sent back home. 

Thank you for helping us to minimize distractions during learning times. 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Elementary Leadership Team (Mr. John and Ms. Lauren)

Dear GAA Families,

I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the parents who joined us for Back to School Night. The evening was a wonderful success, and it was inspiring to see so many families engaging with our teachers and exploring classrooms together.

We have truly appreciated the thoughtful feedback many of you have shared following the event. Your reflections and suggestions are being passed along to teachers and staff, and they are helping us strengthen the home - school connection that is so vital to your child’s success.

Back to School Night was a powerful reminder of what makes GAA such a special community - our partnership with families. Together, we are building a learning environment where every child is supported, challenged, and celebrated.

Thank you once again for your time, your trust, and your ongoing support. We look forward to many more opportunities this year to connect and celebrate learning together.

Warm regards,

John Ashenden

Elementary Principal

We’ve had an exciting first month of school! In reading, we began the UFLI phonics program, learning to read and build words with the letters s, a, m, and t. In science and writing, we explored the needs of plants and animals. We even planted our own seeds, observed them closely as they began to grow, and wrote about what we noticed. Along the way, we’ve been practicing how to show respect in our classroom, building new friendships, and - most importantly - having lots of fun learning together!

All Students Prek to Grade 1: Our little chefs mixed up kindness! 🥣💛 Students worked together to make Friendship Trail Mix, taking turns measuring, pouring, and stirring. The special recipe wasn’t just pretzels, Cheerios, and raisins… it was teamwork, sharing, and friendship sprinkled in every scoop!

Plants We Can Eat! 🌱 (All Students Prek-Grade 1

Our young scientists explored how different plants grow—some under the ground like carrots, some on top like spinach, some on trees like peaches, and even on vines like squash! The students loved discovering that the food on their plates comes from so many different places in nature. 🍑🥕✨

This week in our STEM lab, Grade 3 students have been using Scratch Junior to create animated simulations showing how animals use behavioral adaptations to survive. 

From herding together for protection to working as a team to find food, they brought these survival strategies to life through creativity and coding. 

Students also took part in a hands-on STEM challenge where they worked in pairs to ‘move a fish’ - with one partner’s eyes closed and the other giving directions - building teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills

• October 3 - GAA Parent Association Board Meeting

• October 6-10 - MAP Testing for Grades 2-5

• October 6-10 - Book Fair

• October 13-17 - Mid-term Break (no school in session)

• October 13-17 - ESM Mid-term break camp for ages 3.5-12

• October 29-31 - Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences (no classes in session)