GES families,

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 Nurse Lindsey anytime someone in your household is having symptoms of illness that are not normal for them. This applies for students in BOTH in person and remote learning options. Our 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, Nurse Lindsey is ready to discuss with you about the specifics of your family situation and make the proper recommendations.

Thank you for helping us keep all of our students safe!

All my best,

Nancy Hale

Open the Magic - Sept. 25

Open the Magic is September 25th. It's a day to promote literacy & foster a love of reading through picture books! What's your favorite picture book that you love to read? Open the Magic Day is all about promoting literacy and sharing that picture books are for everyone. Because it's also Fun Friday, our theme will include, "Bring your favorite picture book to school."

The GES admin team will also provide and share a Flipgrid with links to each of us reading our favorite picture book to students. This will be shared in SeeSaw to students along with announcements on Friday morning.

In addition, our first school Reading Drill will be on Sept. 25th in honor of Open the Magic Day. Every grade level will go outside during a specific time of day for 15 minutes of DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time. This is just another way we're promoting literacy across campus. We encourage our remote learners to participate, as well! Here are the approximate times for each grade level reading drill:

PreK - 12:05 - 12:20pm (Rottman) ; 12:30 - 12:45pm (Finch)

Kinder - 9:15 - 9:30am

1st grade - 9:00 - 9:15am

2nd grade - 8:00 - 8:15am

3rd grade - 11:00 - 11:15am

4th grade - 12:00 - 12:15pm

5th grade - 2:00 - 2:15pm

Library Books for Remote Learners

We are ready to check out library books for our remote learners! Parents, please watch this video from Mrs. Wahpekeche on how to help your child check out library books, and prepare to pick the books up as soon as they're ready in our secure vestibule. Please come to the Hughes Parking lot and ring the doorbell between 7:30-3:30pm and a member of the office staff will let you in to retrieve your child's books from the cart.

Snack Donations

For some of our families, providing a nutritious snack each day to assist their GES star’s performance throughout the day does not happen consistently because of food insecurities. If you are able, please donate individually packaged Goldfish or pretzels in order to help us provide that snack for students who arrive at school without it because of the insecurities. If you would like to order on Amazon, and send donations directly to campus, you can find a link HERE. This would not pertain to students that simply forgot a snack that day. If your Star forgets his/her snack often, sending multiple days worth of snacks might help. For questions, please feel free to contact Angela Horn at angela.horn@gcisd.net or 817-251-5740. Thank you for your continued generosity and thoughtfulness.

GES Teachers are Magical

If you feel a staff member has gone above and beyond to make a difference for you or your child, please take a moment to 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.

Marquee Birthday Messages

Want a new way to say "Happy Birthday" to your child on their special day? You can sign up to have your child's "Happy Birthday" message placed on the GES digital marquee from 6:30am - 8:30pm on their big day! Complete this digital form AND then send $20 payment to GES by September 25th! You can send cash or check to the front office with your child, drop it by the front office, or mail to Grapevine Elementary c/o Gina Sharp at 1801 Hall Johnson Drive. Messages will begin as early September 14, but payment must be received in advance.

Changing Instructional Model - UPDATED!

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 September 20, 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 October 2.

• 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.

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.

Attendance UPDATE!

Please be aware that as we move through this unique school year with in-person and remote learners, the way in which our teachers take attendance in Skyward has become much more complex. Therefore, to make better use of instructional time, teachers now have the flexibility to formally enter attendance into Skyward up to a full day after the attendance period.

With that said, it is important for parents to know that if you access Skyward to view your student’s attendance, it is possible the system may show them as being absent for the current day, even if they were present in class or online. Additionally, it is possible that remote learning students may still display as absent up until the following day.

As always, we appreciate your patience and understanding.

FREE School Meals Through December

USDA has issued a nationwide waiver, allowing Grapevine-Colleyville ISD to offer meals FREE at no charge through December 2020 at all elementary and middle school campuses and meal bundles at curbside locations.

Beginning on September 22, 2020 Grapevine-Colleyville ISD will begin 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 will allow any student in elementary or middle school to receive a free breakfast and lunch meal in the school cafeteria, with the option to purchase a-la-carte items. Additionally, the District will offer meal bundles at no cost available for curbside pick-up that will contain meals for the entire week, including the weekend.

Curbside meals may be picked up on Wednesdays at Grapevine Elementary, Cross Timbers Middle or Grapevine Middle from 4-6 p.m. The meal bundles will include seven breakfast, seven lunches and a choice of chocolate or white ½ pint milk (14 milks will be provided). Heating instructions will be included so that families can prepare the meals at their convenience.

GCISD’s high schools do not participate in the federally funded program and therefore meals will be charged as normal in those cafeterias; however, high school students are able to pick up a meal bundle from one of the curbside locations.

For more information on how the federal program operates please visit www.squaremeals.org or www.fns.usda.gov.

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