Dear parents, we ask that you read through our 2023 Elementary Student Handbook and confirm your understanding of our policies and guidelines by signing the Google Form on the last page of the handbook. Please read the handbook and complete the form digitally before the start of school on Monday, August 28th.

Dear Families,

Welcome to our GEMS American Academy school community! As the principal, I am excited to have you and your children join us. Our school culture is centered around kindness, respect, and inclusivity. We believe that every child deserves a safe and nurturing environment where they can grow academically, socially, and emotionally.

We strongly encourage parent involvement in all aspects of our school community. Your participation helps create a sense of belonging for your child as well as strengthens the partnership between home and school. Communication is also key to a successful educational experience. Please know that we are committed to keeping you informed about what is happening at our school through regular newsletters, emails, social media updates, and parent-teacher conferences.

Our curriculum follows the American standards with an emphasis on developing critical thinking skills while fostering creativity. We also value a growth mindset which means we encourage students to embrace challenges as opportunities for learning rather than fearing failure or mistakes.

We understand that each student has unique needs therefore we provide layers of support including academic interventions, counseling services, special education programs among others aimed at ensuring success for all learners.

Once again welcome aboard! We look forward to partnering with you in this exciting journey of learning!

Sincerely,

Leia Kraeuter

Elementary Principal

Following is recommended:

• Refillable water bottle

• Hat

• Sunscreen

• Snack

• Lunch

• Lunch box

ALL ITEMS MUST BE LABELLED! 

SCHOOL BAGS:

If you would still like a small book bag for your child, we advise bags with measurements no greater than 9.5 inches (width) and 10.5 inches height, to fit inside our cubby space. Students may still need to bring bags for swim kits and there will be common areas to store these.

Please note that large backpacks and rolling/wheeled backpacks are not recommended, as some of the classrooms are on 1st floor and students will need to take stairs.

LUNCH

• Grade 1-5 students now can have classroom delivery from school cafeteria. Please refer to Cafeteria page for more details.

• Students can also bring lunch from home.

• Student can fill up their reusable water bottles in the drinking water fountains around school.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES

All school supplies, books, pencils and pens in the elementary are provided by the school. Students may be required to bring their own headphones. Students may bring their own pencil case, tablet, if they choose to. Students will be provided with a school e-mail, online storage, as well as a host of other online subscriptions that are in place to support their learning.

Students will attend library once each week for lesson time and book exchange. Last year, each student received a reusable library bag for their library books. Students will be expected to use their library bag regularly to care for books.

 On the first day of school, 

• If your child is a returning student, please send your child with the library bag they used last year.  (If your child has lost their bag, please notify the classroom teacher. We will follow up with next steps for replacement.)  

• If your child is a new student to GAA, he/she will be issued a new bag in the first week of school.

 We are looking forward to welcoming students back into the PYP Library this year! 

Mrs. Jennifer Thompson (PreK – Grade 1 Teacher-Librarian)

Mrs. Kristine Kirby  (Grades 2-5 Teacher-Librarian)

For parent communication

Parent teacher communication in the Elementary (KG - grade 5) is via Seesaw, which is a student e-portfolio. Elementary parents can also expect to receive direct emails from teachers, and an elementary weekly newsletter. 

For classroom and home learning

At GAA we have a wide range of technology platforms and applications that we use to support the needs of our students and their families. 

• Seesaw (K-5) is our digital portfolio that allows students and teachers to share a snapshot of the learning that is taking place at school.  Activities can also be created and shared with the students to work on when they are at home. Here is the link to website, dedicated to explaining to parents what Seesaw is: https://web.seesaw.me/families 

• Google Classroom (4-5) is a blended learning platform that is used across the school but in elementary it is more commonly used by the upper elementary students.  It helps to streamline the sharing of information, activities and documentation between the students and their teachers. 

• Learning A-Z Raz-Plus (K-5), Lexia (K-5) and Achieve3000 (4-5) are literacy platforms that provide our students with support for their reading, comprehension and literacy skills.

• BrainPOP (2-5) and BrainPOP Jr (K-2) are educational websites that provide many animated movies to help students develop their understanding of many different topics in all different subject areas (Math, English, Science, Social Studies, Technology, etc).

We also have a host of other website subscriptions and applications that are used by various classes and teachers to support the learning both in and out of the classroom, some of those include Zearn, Epic, Zorbits, Starfall, Nearpod, Generation Genius, CritterCoin, Padlet, Teach Your Monster, among many others. 

ClassLink

In order to allow both students and parents easily access all of these amazing resources and accounts without needing to remember all of the login information, we use ClassLink (K-5) which is a platform that is used to securely store all login information and create a simple single sign on access – this means that you do not need to remember all of the login information – usernames, passwords, etc for each site or resource, you will simply need to sign in to your ClassLink Launchpad and access everything through there. 

In education, the term standards-based refers to systems of instruction, assessment, grading, and academic reporting that are based on students demonstrating understanding or mastery of the knowledge and skills they are expected to learn as they progress through their education. These knowledge and skills are known as standards - concise, written descriptions of what students are expected to know and be able to do at a specific stage of their education. In schools that use standards-based approaches the standards determine the goals of a lesson or course. Teachers then determine how and what to teach students so they achieve the learning expectations described in the standards. At GAA, curriculum standards are defined for each course and specifically indicate what the student is expected to learn and demonstrate on assessments.

Throughout each course, the completed assessments help the teacher provide feedback and learning targets as well as track progress toward proficiency of each curriculum standard. When assessments target multiple curriculum standards, a proficiency level is determined for each one. Our proficiency levels are:

• Mastery

• Proficient

• Developing

• Emerging.

Please see below presentation to help you understand Standard Based Grading: