Early Dismissal Friday, Dec. 18

Friday is an early release day for elementary campuses. Please make arrangements to pick-up your student at 11:45am.

Lunch slips will be sent home TODAY with your child. Please complete and return by Wednesday if your child needs to order a cafeteria lunch for Friday. Students who pre-order will have the opportunity to pick up a bagged lunch after the sing-along and eat during the class party if needed.

Class Parties and Sing-along

We are planning to still celebrate our class parties and sing-along this Friday, Dec. 18th. The campus sing-along will begin at 10am and be broadcast in each classroom. Remote teachers will be sending out Webex links to their remote students to participate.

Our class parties will begin around 10:30am or immediately following the sing-along. Thank you to our PTA grade level coordinators and all our families for donating to the party bags.

Remote learners can pick-up their party bags from 7:30am-3:15pm Tuesday-Friday at the main entrance (off Hughes parking lot side). Boxes will be labeled with the appropriate grade level. We encourage you to stop by so your child will have the same opportunity to participate in the party as their in-person peers.

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.

NO School - Dec. 21 - Jan. 5

We hope that you all enjoy the holidays with your families! Students return to campus on Wednesday, January, 6th for the 3rd nine weeks.

Yearbook Photos

If your child took a yearbook photo this year, you should have received an email from Glamourcraft School Photography with directions on how to view and order your child's photo. Retake photo emails were sent out Monday, Dec. 14th. The Glamourcraft database only allows for one parent email, so it is only the first parent listed in Skyward. If you did NOT receive that email, click HERE for directions on how to access your child's photo. You will simply need the school code from the directions and your child's student ID number to access their pictures.

Art Club

Grapevine Elementary would like to invite you to join the 2021 virtual art club! It is a wonderful after-school (online) program where students learn the joy of artistic self-expression, visual arts development, materials management, and visual language skills.

Art club will be in the form of a seesaw classroom that you will receive an invitation to after registration (see link below). I have included a large choice board loaded with activities and videos that students can complete whenever they would like to do more artwork! I will also be attempting to include an online asynchronous watercolor and printmaking 'workshop'*.

ARTIST RESPONSIBILITIES:

I choose to complete activities of the art club at home and I understand that given the independent nature of the art club, I will be expected to follow club sponsor and parent directions. Material safety and proper usage will be my responsibility.

I choose to be committed to the art club.

I choose to give my very best artistic effort during the art club meetings.

I choose to maintain a classroom conduct grade no lower than S in order to remain in the art club.

*A materials list will be included so that you can order any supplies that you do not have.

Please complete this FORM if your child would like to participate in our virtual art club so they can receive an invitation in Seesaw from Mrs. North.

I am here and ready to help! At any time this year, whether learning remotely or in-person, please click the I want to talk with Mrs. Horn form to request a visit. This form is also be included in grade level newsletters and Seesaws, and stays housed in my email signature, on the GES Counseling district website, and as many locations as possible.

Winter Break Curbside Meals

Grapevine-Colleyville ISD has already been providing free meals to students as part of the Seamless Summer Option (SSO) program. Sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA), this program allows any student 18 and younger to receive free meals during holiday breaks.

Nutrition Services is pleased to provide curbside meal bundles during the winter break for all students in the district. Curbside meals are free to all children in the community 18 years and younger. Curbside Meals may be picked up on Wednesday, December 23 and 30 at Grapevine Elementary, Cross Timbers Middle or Grapevine Middle from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The meal bundles will include seven breakfasts, seven lunches and 1 gallon of milk per child. Heating instructions will be included so that families can prepare the meals at their convenience.

In addition, parents are encouraged to continue filling out the free and reduced application online at www.schoollunchapp.com. The benefits from being approved for free or reduced-price meals, may include discounts for transportation, standardized tests, college application fees and technology fees to name a few. If you have any questions, please email child.nutrition@gcisd.net or call 817-251-5617.

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