GRACE Food Pantry Food Drive

Thanks to your generous support, GRACE was able to provide 481 Thanksgiving meals and 347 Christmas meals to families in need last year. The estimated value of each food basket is $80.00.

The following items are in need to support our community families throughout the upcoming holiday seasons:

Canned Sweet Potatoes Cooking Oil

Canned Fruit Instant Stuffing

Instant Potatoes Instant/Canned Gravy (please no glass jars)

Cranberry Sauce Pancake Mix

Canned Chicken Broth Syrup

Canned Mushroom Soup (10.5 oz) Canned Pumpkin

Sugar (2 or 5 lb) French Fried Onions ( 6 oz)

Flour (2 or 4 lb) Corn (canned)

Green Beans (canned 2) Jello (1 box)

Items can be dropped off in the FRONT FOYER until Wednesday, November 18th. If you have any of these items to donate after November 18th, please drop them off at 837 E. Walnut Street, Grapevine, Texas 76051 on Mondays through Fridays between 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 20 - Making Magic Together Day

Join us on Friday wearing your Disney gear for our Making Magic Together theme! This can include shirts, hats, Mickey/Minnie ears or anything else Disney-inspired that you have!

Kindergarten & 5th Grade Parent Referrals For Gifted & Talented Services

The referral window for students in Kindergarten and 5th Grade who are interested in Gifted and Talented identification is open November 30, 2020, through December 11, 2020. Referrals are only for Kindergarten and 5th Grade students at this time. This referral window also applies to any current 5th Grade GT LEAD student who is interested in applying for the ASPIRE ACADEMY.

If you are interested in referring your child for testing, an informative presentation is available on the Advanced Academics page of the district website, at this site: http://bit.ly/2rtZzFv

If you have further questions, please contact the GT specialist at our campus: Tressa Maddux

Parents interested in referring their child for testing need to complete this form by December 11th, 2020 at this site: https://bit.ly/2NT0M0y

GT specialists will administer any necessary testing from January 7, 2021, through January 22, 2021. Parents will be notified regarding results as soon as the assessment process is completed.

Thank you for your cooperation and support of Grapevine-Colleyville ISD and its educational programs.

GES Teachers are Magical

During our month of gratitude, please take a moment to thank a teacher who has gone above and beyond for your family. You can recognize them on our GES Teachers are Magical form. We will link it each week in this Monday Message and then share out the great things our "cast members" are doing during our monthly faculty meetings and weekly staff newsletters.

Holiday Art contest

A note from Mrs. North:

Every year in GCISD the school board hosts a Holiday Art Card Contest. Dr. Ryan will pick a winner for the GCISD Holiday Card and I really want one of our students to win this year!

We will spend one art class day working on a card and then I will send them home with an entry form attached. Please encourage your students to bring it back to school signed and finished by Thursday, November 19th.

No School - Nov. 23-27

Reminder that school will be closed all next week for the Thanksgiving holiday. We hope you enjoy the time with your friends and family.

11/18 Parent Night - Anxiety in Children & How to Help

Has the pandemic created anxiety in your child? Are you noticing more anxiety in your children and those around you? Join us HERE on Webex for an informative evening on Wednesday, November 18th with a discussion on "Anxiety in Children and How to Help." The event will be recorded and posted here afterward.

Instructional Mode Changes - Nov. 15 - Dec. 4

Families have chosen in-person or remote learning for the 2020-2021 school year, and they do have the option to change their student's instructional model.

Switching from In-Person to Remote Learning

• Families are able to switch from in-person to remote learning at any point during the school year. In order to make this change, please contact our campus counselor, Mrs. Horn.

Switching from Remote to In-Person Learning

• Families that are wishing to change from remote to in-person learning may only do so at the end of a grading period. For families that wish to change at the end of the current grading period, beginning on November 15, you may login to Skyward Family Access and complete the changing instructional models form. The campus must receive the completed form before the end of day on December 4.

• Instructions on where to find the form and how to complete it can be found here. A schedule of when this change can be made can be made for other grading periods can found here.

In-person instruction for the third nine weeks begins on January 6, 2021.

If you have any questions regarding the timing of when parents may change the instructional model selected, or the associated process, please contact Mrs. Horn, angela.horn@gcisd.net.

GCISD is Hiring!

GCISD is taking applications for substitute teachers! We love having our parents sub in our classrooms! Join our team - apply today at http://gcisd.net/substitute! #WeAreGCISD

Calling All Former HMS Choir Members

If your family had a child in the HMS choir in the past, you are invited to participate in their virtual choir performing "Peace, Peace". If your child is interested in participating please email: hmschoiralumni@gmail.com. They will send you information on how to submit and record your part and join this virtual experience.

COVID-19 Email Communication Update

As we move into November, GCISD will be making a slight adjustment to the process in which families are notified of a test-confirmed positive COVID-19 case on their campus. Beginning this week, families will receive one email notification identifying all positive cases for that day on their student’s campus, as opposed to multiple emails if there are multiple cases. Families will only receive this email if there was a positive case on your student’s campus that day.

NOTE: This does not change procedures for close contact communication. If your child is determined to be a close contact of a test-confirmed positive case, you will be directly notified by your campus.

COVID-19 Reminders

Thank you for your support and understanding as we work to keep all of our students safe and healthy in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can be assured that our GCISD nurses are working closely with the Tarrant County Public Health Department to monitor the COVID-19 cases in our community and minimize exposures within the district. We request your help in these efforts by asking that you inform your campus nurse anytime someone in your household is having symptoms of illness that are not normal for them. Your campus nurse can share recommendations about COVID-19 testing and safety practices to prevent the spread of illness. And she will work with you on making a plan for students to return to campus after illness.

COVID-19 causes symptoms that are similar to many common illnesses, and people are infectious before they even have symptoms. So, in the case that someone in your household is displaying symptoms of illness, we ask that all of your children, as potential Close Contacts, stay home until a diagnosis is confirmed. Remember, a Close Contact is a person who is within six feet of you for 15 minutes or more, as would be common within your home. If someone in your house is ill, then everyone has likely been exposed to the virus. Again, your campus nurse is ready to discuss with you about the specifics of your family situation and make the proper recommendations.

Junior Chefs

Calling all junior chefs, Chef Jason wants to see your holiday dish that you will make this Thanksgiving! Check out the Chef Chat Video on mashed potatoes for your Thanksgiving meal.

Mashed Potatoes Video

Technology Assistance

GCISD Technology Resources is committed to serving students and staff, especially during the District's remote learning instruction. Please keep in mind these very helpful resources:

ClassLink - GCISD's single sign-on portal for students and staff. ClassLink allows users to sign in once and have access to all of their accounts at the click of a button.

Help Desk - Students and staff can submit help requests to GCISD's Help Desk at any time. If you need your student's password reset, or are having trouble accessing ClassLink, please call 817-251-5629 during our extended help desk hours. For all other issues with student devices, please fill out a help ticket at help.gcisdstudents.net.

Outdoor WiFi Access - As a reminder, wireless network access is available outside of many GCISD campuses for use by students, parents and staff. Click here for locations, maps and instructions on how to connect.

Volunteers are significantly limited at this time, but there may be opportunities later in the year. Go ahead and apply now so you're ready when the time comes.

In order to volunteer at GES, or around GCISD, all volunteers must:

1. read the Volunteer Handbook (this replaces the previous face to face volunteer trainings held on campus)

2. watch the appropriate video included in the handbook

3. electronically sign the verification Google form for each campus you plan to volunteer

4. complete the volunteer background check. A link is included in the handbook.

The following link takes you to the online Volunteer Handbook and background check: https://www.gcisd.net/cms/one.aspx?pageId=195550

When you are ready to volunteer at GES, feel free to call the front office at 817-251-5735 to verify that both of the required steps have been recorded as completed. We appreciate your support as you complete these steps and volunteer to work with our GES students.

Parents and loved ones are not able to come up for lunch at this time. We are currently limiting visitors in our building.

Lunch Times

• PreK: 10:15 - 10:45

• Kindergarten: 10:45 - 11:15

• 1st Grade: 11:15 - 11:45

• 2nd Grade: 11:45 - 12:15

• 3rd Grade: 12:15- 12:45

• 4th Grade: 12:45 - 1:15

• 5th Grade: 1:15 - 1:45