No School - Oct. 14

There is no school on Monday! We hope you enjoy the long weekend with your family! See you Tuesday! 

Birthdays at School

Friendly reminder to please refrain from sending any food products to celebrate student birthdays. We cannot provide baked goods of any kind to students or classes on their birthdays. We also ask that you not have any candy or treats in birthday bags if you send for the whole class. You may choose to send pencils, small trinkets, or even donate a book to the classroom library.

If you would like to send birthday invitations to friends in class, this can only be done if the whole class is being invited or all the students of your child's gender. (i.e. inviting all the girls) Otherwise, we ask that birthday invitations be distributed outside of school. Teachers are generally willing to help send electronic invites with advanced notice when going to the whole class. 

Birthday Marquee 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 payment to GES by October 31st! You can send $20 cash or check to the front office with your child or drop it by the office to Mrs. Sharp. Please put cash in an envelope c/o Gina Sharp with your child's name. Messages will begin as early October 9, but payment must be received in advance to secure your message. 

Principal's Book Club

Our first Principal’s Book Club was a great success! We are excited for the next opportunity on Wednesday, October 23rd from 3:00-4:00pm! Please click HERE to sign-up by Monday, October 21st at 3pm. This month the focus is 1st and 2nd grade and our theme is dinosaurs. 

This initiative is designed to foster a love of reading and promote literacy skills that are crucial for young students' academic growth and lifelong success. At the heart of this club is the belief that strong literacy skills are the foundation for learning. Reading not only enhances vocabulary and comprehension but also stimulates imagination, critical thinking, and creativity. By engaging students in reading from a young age, we help them build these essential skills, which will benefit them throughout their educational journey.

The Principal’s Book Club is designed for students and guardians to enjoy together and will be hosted in our GES Learning Commons by Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Wahpekeche. During these gatherings, we will explore different pieces of literature together, discuss themes, and practice strategies for reading aloud with students. Parents and guardians will have the chance to learn effective ways to support their children’s reading at home, participate in fun reading activities, and even take home ideas for activities to try as a family. 

Each month, we will focus on specific grade levels and themes, tailoring the experience to meet the needs and interests of our students. (See graphic for dates, grade levels and our first theme!) Whether it's exploring adventure stories, learning about different cultures, or diving into classic fairy tales, there will be something for everyone.

Emergency Management Drills

Below is information regarding Standard Response Protocols. GCISD partners with the I Love U Guys Foundation and uses the Standard Response Protocols (SRP) to respond to any situation or emergency that takes place at school or in the district. 

• Each campus will conduct drills throughout the school year. These drills are based on the Standard Response Protocols of Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate, Shelter, and Hold. GCISD developed one additional protocol known as Clear the Classroom.

• Completion of the drills is mandatory for each campus during the first two weeks of school and then once per semester, so your students have experienced each of these already. Drills help us learn and know how to respond in the case of a real emergency at school. Our drills also help us to check certain equipment and responses. Our emergency management leaders on each campus will work with students and staff to complete our drills and document the results.

Your child's classroom has the SRP Poster displayed. We will be discussing these and practicing these drills throughout the school year. More information about Safety and Security in GCISD can be found at https://www.gcisd.net/page/security-emergency-mgmt. If you have any questions, GCISD Director of Emergency Management and School Security, Allen Smith, is very receptive to speaking with parents about our safety practices and may be reached at allen.smith@gcisd.net.

Check Your Skyward Emergency Contacts

Have you checked your Emergency Contacts for your child lately? Please ensure that you have the names and correct phone numbers of anyone authorized to pick up your child from school should an emergency occur. Thank you! 

October Character Quality - Responsibility

RESPONSIBILITY is the character trait focus for this month. Responsibility will be defined as taking action and understanding the impact of your choices. Teachers will also be nominating students based on showing the most responsibility or growing the most in responsibility for Star Student of the Month. Consider partnering with GES by reviewing the family connection newsletter HERE.

Helpful iReady Resources for Families

The following links have been shared in the previous Monday Messages and are for family use while supporting students in iReady from home: 

• Video on Understanding iReady and the Student Dashboard

• Fridge tips

• Family Guide

Skyward Gradebook Access for 3rd-5th Grade

Did you know you have access to a Skyward App to check your child's grades? We encourage families to check-in regularly and update notifications in Skyward so that if your child have missing assignments, you will be notified. Students in 3rd-5th grade have also been trained how to access their grades through Classlink so they can regularly check how they are performing. 

After you download the app, you can add click to "add an account" and type in Grapevine Elementary, then click School Management. You will then need your Family Access login ID and password that you use to sign-in to Skyward. This is the username and password you used for registration. (If you need to reset your password, please contact Candice Patton in the front office to generate a link for you to reset.) You can name your account, for example "Nancy's Skyward" or "Hale family Skyward." Once you login, if you have multiple students whose accounts are linked, you will be able to locate them all with a dropdown menu at the top. 

Students in PreK-2nd grade who have Standards Based Report Cards will not see regular grades in Skyward. Parents should refer to the Progress Reports and Reports Cards that come out quarterly. 

Save the Date - Veteran's Day Performance 

Our 3rd grade students will be performing a Veteran's Day Program this year. We hope our 3rd grade families will save the date and join us for the evening performance! Students and staff will all get to see the performance on Monday morning, Nov. 11th at 8am. 

Before You Head to the Polls: Learn About GCISD’s Tax Rate History

The Voter-Approved Tax Ratification Election (VATRE) on the November 5 ballot will ask Grapevine-Colleyville ISD voters to consider ratifying the overall tax rate of $0.9233, generating nearly $6 million in funding for school district operations.

Did you know that GCISD’s overall tax rate is 47.3 cents less than it was in 2018, which equates to $90 million of taxpayer relief? This is the lowest overall tax rate in GCISD in more than 25 years. 

Since 2018, the GCISD Board of Trustees has lowered the Interest & Sinking tax rate from $0.3567 to $0.1864. The Maintenance & Operations tax rate has also decreased due to statewide compression from $1.04 to $0.7369. With the passage of the VATRE, the new overall tax rate would be $0.9233, resulting in a $0.0014 lower overall tax rate from 2023.

Learn more about why a VATRE is on the ballot, how it would impact GCISD’s tax rate and what it will fund at www.GCISD.net/VATRE. 

Breakfast in Cafeteria

Friendly reminder that breakfast is served each morning from 7:20-7:35am for students that would like to purchase it. If you are needing your child to eat breakfast when they arrive, please drop them off at 7:20am to give them ample time to eat and get to class on time. At 7:35am the doors close and students aren't able to access breakfast as our cafeteria staff is cleaning up and beginning to prepare for lunch service. If you are running late, please ensure your children eat at home. 

Lunch Visitors

Visitors may join us for lunch with their child if they are signed up in advance HERE. Available October dates are Tuesday, Oct 1 - Monday, Oct. 28. (Oct. 29-Nov. 1 will be on the Book Fair Lunch with a Loved One sign-up.) Please be sure to share our Sign-up link with your family members who wish to come eat with your child. Also, it is critical that anyone coming to lunch with your child, if not accompanying the guardian, is on your child's emergency contact list. 

Lunch guests will sign-in through our secure vestibule with a valid ID, stop by the front office to check-in and receive a visitor badge, and then meet their GES star at the entrance to the cafeteria. Families will have the option to sit outside in the picnic table area for lunch or in our cafeteria at an empty table near the windows. Parents are welcome to bring in outside food when having their lunch with their child. We ask that you please be courteous to the rest of the community and limit lunch visits with your child to no more than one per month so that all families have the opportunity to visit. We appreciate your cooperation. 

Each family needs only 1 slot reserved. For example, Mom, Dad, and sister may all come eat lunch with Nancy. Only Mom needs to be registered as 1 visitor to reserve 1 picnic table together. When it asks for quantity of visitors, please select just 1. Lunch visitors may only eat with their child or student. You may not invite friends to sit with you when coming for lunch. 

Volunteer Background Check

We LOVE our volunteers at GES! This year we are encouraging all families who plan to come to campus and interact with students to go ahead and complete the background check. Volunteers must complete this EACH YEAR beginning in August! It can take 1-2 weeks for your background check to clear. If you plan to be a guest reader, volunteer at a class party, chaperone a field trip, volunteer with PTA, open car doors with our Dad's Club, etc. you will need a completed Background Check!  kjkhkuh

The following link takes you to the online Volunteer Handbook and background check: https://www.gcisd.net/o/gcisd/page/volunteer-background-check 

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.

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.

Follow us on Facebook

If you are on Facebook, we would love for you to follow our Grapevine Elementary Facebook page if you're not already. We post activities and campus life in addition to helpful reminders. We would love for you to follow our story!