GES families,

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. The deadline to request a change from remote to in-person is this Friday, October 2nd. Please ensure if you are wishing to change instructional mode at the end of the first nine weeks, you complete the form in Skyward using the directions linked below.

During the week of October 5th, campus administration and grade level teachers will work together to establish updated class lists and schedules. Parents can expect an update the week of Oct. 12th with any changes, as well as return to in person information.

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, 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 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.

All my best,

Nancy Hale

Progress Reports Post Wednesday

Student progress reports for the first six weeks will post this week to Skyward. In grades K-4, we utilize Standards Based Reports Cards and you will notice grades are entered as 3, 2, or 1. A 3 means the standard has been mastered, a 2 is approaching mastery, and a 1 means it has not been mastered. In fifth grade, students will receive traditional number and letter grades.

Friday Spirit Days

Friday, October 2nd is College Colors Day! Wear your favorite college shirt or the colors of your favorite team.

October Themed Dress-Up Days (besides Spirit Days)

Our district counseling department sponsors several dress-up days during the month of October. We invite you to participate with us whether you are in-person or remote.

Monday, October 5th - World Day of Bullying Prevention (WEAR BOOTS AND BLUE)

Wednesday, October 21st - Unity Day (WEAR ORANGE)

Monday, October 26th (Red Ribbon Week) - WEAR PAJAMAS

Tuesday, October 27th (Red Ribbon Week) - DRESS LIKE A FRIEND OR TWO

Wednesday, October 28th (Red Ribbon Week) - WEAR YOUR FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM SHIRT OR JERSEY

Thursday, October 29th (Red Ribbon Week) - WEAR YOUR CLOTHES BACKWARD

Friday, October 30th (Red Ribbon Week)- WEAR YOUR BOOK CHARACTER COSTUME

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.

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.

Webex Updates

As a District, we are always looking for additional ways to secure and reinforce our technology resources for the safety of our students and staff. Beginning Friday, September 25 at 4 p.m. Webex personal meeting rooms will have an additional level of security so they can only be accessed by GCISD students and staff.

Students that are in pre-kindergarten through third-grade will no longer be meeting in the teacher's personal meeting room but will instead access the Webex through a new link that will be posted in SeeSaw. This may require that students login to Webex and/or Classlink again one time with their GCISD credentials. You may also need to restart your device.

Students in fourth through twelfth-grade will still use their normal link to access their teacher's Webex room; however, there will be an additional step requiring that students login using their GCISD username and password. For instructions on how to enter your username and password to access the Webex, please click here.

If your student has any issues accessing a Webex next week with these new security measures, please contact the help desk at 817-251-5629 or submit a help ticket through Classlink.

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