GES Families,

We are so excited to see how much our students have already raised for our Fun Run! Thank you to everyone for helping us spread the word! Our Groovy Fun Run event is coming up on Thursday, March 13th! Our goal is to raise $35,000! Funds raised will be used by the campus and PTA to support professional development for teachers, the student activity fund, staff appreciation, and PTA programs. 

Register on Fund Hub

Register or re-Login to your parent dashboard and complete your child’s student webpage at getmovinfundhub.com. School Identifier: 5f21c90c385d7. All checks and online donations are due by Wednesday night at 11:59pm.

What to Wear and Bring Thursday

Students should wear their navy blue PTA shirts that they were given in October and tennis shoes for running! Students may wear hats or sunglasses if they would like. We also ask students bring their water bottle with them for the run. Right now the forecast shows partly cloudy and a high of 86 degrees so it should be great weather to be outside! 

Families Welcome Thursday & Fast Passes

Families are invited to attend Fun Run during your student's specials time on March 13th. Times for each grade level can found to the right. Please plan to arrive early as all guests must sign-in with a valid ID and receive a Visitor Badge. You may check-in Tuesday night during Open House to get a Fast Pass for Thursday or swing by campus anytime on Wednesday to check-in and take your badge with you. 

Volunteers Needed

We are also looking for event volunteers. You can sign up here to help: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4FA5AF2EA4F4C70-55128891-funrun#/

Incentives

The first round of student incentives were passed out on Friday based on donations collected through Thursday, March 6th. All donations are DUE by midnight (12AM) on Thursday, March 13th to count towards class rewards and student incentives. Winners will be announced on Thursday, March 13 at 2:45pm before students head home for Spring Break! 

NEW INCENTIVE

We are announcing a new Fun Run incentive!  The top 10 student fundraisers will get to attend a Donut Party with me as a huge thank you for all their efforts! Keep raising those funds! We appreciate your support of our biggest fundraiser of the year. Find all Fun Run details on our website at www.gespta.org/funrun 

Thank you for your participation in helping us reach out $35,000 goal and continuing to fund amazing programs for our students and staff at GES! 

All my best,

Mrs. Hale

Open House - March 11

We are excited to welcome our students and families to school on Tuesday, March 11 for our annual Open House from 6-7pm. This is a come and go event where students have the opportunity to share with their families about their growth this school year. They will share their goals, student data, and special artifacts that demonstrate their learning. 

Our students are always SO excited for this evening and we hope you're able to make it, even if it's for a brief time. Traditionally it has always been the Thursday before spring break, but it had to be moved to Tuesday this year due to having Friday, March 14 off school. 

Following Open House, our PTA will be hosting a Spirit Night at Chicken N Pickle from 6-9pm. A portion of all the proceeds raised on March 11 from 6-9pm will benefit our GES PTA! We hope you will stop by for a bite to eat and to enjoy visiting with other GES families. 

Fast Passes for Fun Run

During our Open House event, families will have the opportunity to print a Fast Pass to save for Thursday's Fun Run if you plan to attend and cheer on your child! Students will be running during each specials period on Thursday, March 13th for our PTA Groovy Fun Run Fundraiser! 

Tutoring for Students

We get lots of requests this time of year from families regarding tutoring. If your child is struggling and you feel they need more support after the school day, we would highly recommend that they use iReady for additional practice and support. All families can sit down with their child after school and guide them through completing an iReady lesson in reading, math, or both. These lessons are tailored to their individual needs and you will begin to see their growth as they fill in gaps and practice their skills. 

Our campus expectation continues to be that each student meets a minimum of 30 minutes per week and passes 2 lessons in both reading and math. If your child is not completing these minutes in class, it would greatly benefit them to complete the minutes at home. 

Puberty Education for 4th Grade Girls and 5th Graders

Puberty Education sessions are this week! Families must Opt IN or Opt OUT of this opportunity. Nurse Lindsey has been following up with families if you had not made a selection in Skyward by sending home a paper permission slip. 

• GES 4th and 5th grade girls will hear this presentation on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. 

• GES 5th grade boys will hear this presentation on Thursday, March 13, 2025. 

If you have concerns or need more information, please contact Nurse Lindsey. 

Spring Photos are Ready!

To view your child's school photos, click on the email or text you received from Angela Wengrenovich Photography. You will enter your info and be taken directly to your child's gallery. This email only went to the primary parent in Skyward. You can forward to anyone you would like to view the photos.

If you didn't receive an email or can't find it, please visit this link - https://www.angelawengrenovichphotography.com/ges/ - to find more info on accessing your photos.

This is a new system this year. In order to purchase all your digital files, you'll need to add each photo to your cart. There is a max price on all the digital files per child of $60, so if you order 3 or more, you should add all to your cart to get them all for that price. Next year, there should be a "buy all" button!

All orders are due by Monday, March 31 at 11:59pm.

If you have any questions, please let me know at awengrenphoto@gmail.com

Book Battle Week 3

Our week 2 winner of the Book Battle was The Scariest Kitten in the World by Kate Messner!! The vote count was 321-102. We will announce this to our students Monday morning on KGES.

Here is a link to the Week 3. Students are always welcome to listen and catch up to the books if they miss their library day and they can stop in to vote! 

Spring Break - March 14-21

We hope you enjoy a wonderful Spring Break with your family! As a reminder, we have off this Friday, March 14 and all next week. We will see you back on Monday, March 24. 

RaaWee - Absence Calendars to be Sent This Week

Beginning on March 10 and continuing monthly, families will receive an Absence Calendar. The purpose of these calendars is to update families on your child’s school attendance for the year. The report will include an attendance score, total number of absences, calendar of dates, and the type of absence recorded as well as a detailed absence breakdown. If your child is scoring in the red or orange, the campus has likely already been in contact regarding attendance. We will continue to reach out to discuss ways we can support your child as needed. 

Families Invited to Attend Walk a Mile with GCISD April 15

Walk a Mile with GCISD 2025 will be an exciting event for all in GCISD and throughout our community. Staff, families and community members are invited to join us from 6-7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 15, at Mustang Panther Stadium. This free event is to spend time together as a GCISD family, meeting new people and spending time with friends while walking the track in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. GCISD community leaders as well as first responders and Baylor Scott & White will also be there. An online store will open Monday, March 10-Wednesday, March 26, for event t-shirts. Look for details to be announced on GCISD’s social media in the coming weeks and be sure to mark this event on your calendar.

Save the Dates: Success Ceremony & End of Year Parties

We hope you will save these dates for the end of year Success Ceremonies and Celebrations! The end of the school year is quickly approaching and we can't wait to celebrate with our students. 

Guinea Pig Wish List

Our guinea pigs that we adopted last year during our One School One Book reading of Wedgie and Gizmo are still enjoying life in the GES Learning Commons! Our students love to visit them and read to them and guinea pigs especially love to eat! If you would like to donate to their care, here is an Amazon Wish List of some of their favorites. They also love fresh veggies if your child would like to bring them a small handful. We only ask that they touch base with Mrs. Wahpekeche before feeding them so she can ensure a balanced diet. 

We have a new district system that is tracking student attendance and generating letters to families. While we have always had notices that generate through Skyward and notify families, several families have recently received warning letters regarding absences so we wanted to give a quick reminder of the 2 state laws governing student attendance: 

The Attendance For Class Credit (Texas Education Code Section §25.092) rule states that a student in any grade level from kindergarten through grade 12 may not be given credit or a final grade for a class unless the student is in attendance for at least 90 percent of the days the class is offered. If your student reaches 17 absences, we are required to hold a meeting to determine possible retention. 

• *Please note that even if these absences are excused from illness or doctor’s appointments, they still count as absences toward the Attendance for Credit law. 

• Attendance for Credit (AFC) This law addresses both excused and unexcused absences as well as tardiness occurring after 7:40 a.m. and early dismissals. Section 25.092 of the Texas Education Code conditions credit for a class on a student's attendance for at least 90 percent of the days a class is offered. Attendance for Credit continues throughout the school year, includes excused as well as unexcused absences, and a total of 17 absences for the year would be less than 90% attendance. 

• Failure to Attend (FTA) This law addresses unexcused absences and tardiness occurring after 7:40 a.m. and early dismissals. The Texas Education Code mandates that a child who is required to attend school do so each school day for the entire school year, per Section 25.085, Compulsory School Attendance from the Texas Education Agency.  When a child fails to attend for 10 or more days or parts of days (includes being tardy after 7:40 a.m. and early dismissals) within a six-month period in the same school year, or on three or more days or parts of days within a four-week period then the parent is deemed as "contributing to non-attendance" (Sec. 25.093) and an offense under this section may be prosecuted in a justice court. The state mandates that it is the parent's duty to monitor the student's school attendance and require the student to attend school. The school is required to keep attendance and report daily to the state. We want to ensure that you are aware of this law because, should your child reach 10 unexcused absences, truancy prevention measures would automatically generate.

Documentation Note Threshold: Up to 8 days per year (4 per semester) may be excused by a parent note for missed attendance beyond true medical and statutorily exemptions.

Within three (3) days of returning to school, a student absent for more than four (4) consecutive days because of a personal illness must bring a statement from a doctor or health clinic verifying the illness or condition that caused the absence. Otherwise, the absence may be considered unexcused and in violation of compulsory attendance laws.

Should you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Menard, our assistant principal, who oversees attendance. 

Snack Donations

We are completely out of snacks in the front office for students who may have food insecurities. Individual teachers may have snacks in their classrooms for students that have forgotten on occasion, but 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, Cheez-its, or pretzels in order to help us provide that snack for students that arrive at school without it because of the insecurities. 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.

Substitute Nurses

Grapevine-Colleyville ISD is always in need of substitute nurses to help at our campuses as needed. If you have a valid RN license and are interested in assisting, please apply for our Substitute Nurse position at https://grapevinecolleyville.schoolspring.com/.

Thank you for your support!

Mathematics Telescoping Testing

Please see the Mathematics Telescoping flyer for information regarding telescoping testing for the Spring and Summer of 2025. Additional information is also available on the mathematics telescoping website.