GES Extracurricular Clubs

Information is coming home today for GES Clubs! Kinder-5th grade students will have a flyer with a QR code in their folders on Monday, August 26th. Many clubs are geared towards our older students in 3rd-5th grade, but you will find all the information available in this detailed 24-25 Clubs document. Each club has their own sponsor and application. Please direct any questions to the sponsor for that club. All applications are due by Wednesday, September 4th. 

Some clubs are led by GES staff on a volunteer basis while others are led by our PTA volunteers. 

GES Guidelines for Success

We wanted to share with you our campus matrix and expectations. We have three main success guidelines or family values that we follow throughout all areas at GES. They are: to be helpful and kind, to be safe and to be respectful. We hope that you could take time to talk about these with your students and help ensure that together we are teaching our children the characteristics of being excellent citizens. Here is the matrix we use for all areas on our campus. Thank you for partnering with us!

Campus Dismissal

Friendly reminder that school dismissal is at 3:00pm. We have already expedited our car lines and are complete with students dismissal prior to 3:15pm. Students who are not picked up by the time car lines are empty will be brought to the front office. We begin calling parents first and then emergency contacts. Parents who arrive late will need to come to the main entrance and sign their child out with front office staff. 

If you are unable to make it to dismissal on time, please give the office a courtesy call. This will ensure your child does not worry if they know you are running late and have already reached out. Please ensure you have multiple emergency contacts who could pick up your child in the event of an emergency. 

September Lunch Sign-up

Beginning next week visitors may join us for lunch with their child if they are signed up in advance HERE. 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. 

Visit GCISD’s VATRE Information Page

GCISD has launched a webpage at www.GCISD.net/VATRE to provide the GCISD community with information about the upcoming voter-approved tax rate election (VATRE) that will be on the November 5 ballot. Voting dates and explanations about the VATRE, why the board has called the election, how it would impact GCISD’s tax rate, and how this election differs from the bond are available. This page will  include details of informational meetings as soon as plans are finalized. The district will also continue to share information through the district’s regular communication channels. Stay informed by visiting www.GCISD.net/VATRE.

Printing Free and Reduced Application Letter

Parents: Did you know that you can print the results letter for your free and reduced price meal application? Simply visit this link and enter the student’s ID and the last name. If you have questions about the free and reduced price meal application, please email child.nutrition@gcisd.net. 

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 to the front office 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.

Arrival and Dismissal

Morning Arrival

• Students are expected to be dropped off at the school no earlier than 7:20 a.m.  

• Parents may use the front OR the back driveway to drop students off in the morning. Only the Hall Johnson loop has adults and patrols to open car doors. 

• Parking is available in the main parking lot off Hughes Road before and after school. Please do not park in the circle drive off Hall Johnson Road to walk your child into school. This slows down the traffic in the car line. 

• Student drop off is not permitted in the parking lot at any time.

• Once in the school, students will walk directly to their classrooms and sit outside the classroom doors from 7:20 - 7:35 a.m. 

• GES staff will supervise students in the instructional hallways until 7:35 a.m. when classrooms open. We encourage students to have a book and spend this time reading. 

• Students must be in their seats in their classrooms at 7:40 a.m. or they will be counted as tardy.

• Students who wish to eat breakfast may purchase in the cafeteria from 7:20-7:30am. 

Afternoon Dismissal

• Dismissal begins at 3:00pm each day and we strive to have all students dismissed by 3:10pm. This will get faster as the years goes on. 

• All students will be escorted to their dismissal locations by a staff member. Please do not arrange to meet your child inside the school building.

• Students have designated pick up areas depending on their mode of transportation home:

  • KidzU and daycare bus riders will be escorted to the cafeteria. 

  • Walkers will meet their siblings, neighbors and/or walking parents and quickly proceed to the crosswalk nearest their homes. Walker Station areas should be cleared out within minutes of dismissal.

    • PreK-1st grade students and their older siblings walking home will be dismissed from the area outside the foyer doors near the cafeteria on the circle drive side of the building.

    • 2nd - 5th grade walkers will be dismissed to the Hughes parking lot side near the bike racks unless specific arrangements have been made with the teacher to dismiss to the other side. 

  • Car Riders

    • PreK - 1st grade students AND their older siblings will be escorted to circle drive off Hall Johnson Road for the car line. 

    • 2nd - 5th grade students WITHOUT younger siblings in PreK-1st will be escorted to the car line off Hughes Road where the large parking lot is located. 

    • Car riders will only be dismissed to parents/guardians with a valid 24-25 Pink Car Sign. Anyone without a car sign will be asked to park and show ID. 

We kindly ask that we have a regular pattern of dismissal established for your children and that is remain consistent throughout the year. We do understand that things come up and sometimes plans change. Requests for dismissal changes should be sent in advance whenever possible to your child's homeroom teacher. If there is an emergency and you need to change your child's regular dismissal plans on the day of, please call the front office at 817-251-5735. This will ensure your child's teacher receives the message prior to dismissal. 

Attendance Matters: Know the Law

Attendance matters! Absences from class may result in serious disruption of a student’s learning and educational experiences. Parents and students are encouraged to avoid unnecessary absences. Up to eight days per year (four per semester) may be excused by a parent note for missed attendance beyond medical, approved excused, and statutorily exemptions. Vacations taken during the school year will be coded as unexcused absences. Learn more about attendance by visiting our the attendance page on gcisd.net.

Trustees Lower Tax Rate, Call Voter-Approved Tax Ratification Election for November Ballot

At its August 12 Special Meeting, the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously to call a voter-approved tax ratification election (VATRE) that will be on the November 5 ballot. Trustees also approved the 2024 tax rate, and even with the three additional golden pennies from the passage of the VATRE, the total overall tax rate (Maintenance and Operations, plus Interest and Sinking) will be lowered by $0.0014. 

GCISD officials will schedule informational meetings about the VATRE to share details and answer questions. As soon as those meetings are finalized, information will be shared through the district’s regular communication channels. In the meantime, residents are encouraged to visit www.GCISD.net/VATRE for more information.

Summer Reading Challenge

Part of our GES Mission Statement involves students setting goals. Our students have worked very hard to improve their reading by setting individual goals and then working to achieve them over the past several years. In an effort to keep the momentum going into the summer, we encouraged students to maintain their current end of year reading level as a summer reading challenge in May. 

We cannot wait to start checking in with our students as they begin a new year to see how did on their summer challenge! Any students who maintained their reading level from the end of last year into August of this year will get to pick a book from our book machine!

iReady

The i-Ready diagnostic assessment for reading and mathematics will be completed by your student in the next two weeks. Your child’s teacher will provide more information with the  specific days on which this will take place. This diagnostic replaces the resources the District previously used for universal screening at the beginning, middle and end of the school year. 

What is i-Ready?

i-Ready is an online program that will help us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth, personalize their learning, and monitor their progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows us to meet your child where they are and provides us with data to inform instruction.

The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions based on student responses. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning.

i-Ready Instruction provides students with lessons based on their individual strengths and areas for growth. These lessons are interactive and provide strategic support to keep your child engaged as they learn.

We encourage you to watch this video to better understand i-Ready. We will continue to share information with you regarding student progress results and how you can also be a valued partner in your student’s learning. 

New GCISD App and Rooms

Thank you for your patience as we roll out our new tool with the GCISD App, Rooms. Rooms is the new two-way communication tool, replacing Remind, that teachers can use to make announcements. Similarly to the former tool, Remind, teachers will be able to use this or email as their primary communication tool. 

Like with any new app, we realize there are some areas for improvement and some questions to answer. Below are a few frequently asked questions and answers:

1. I am a parent. How do I log into Rooms? 

   1. Navigate to the Rooms App or web browser. Then, click the phone/phone icon on the login screen. Enter the phone number that you have listed as your primary number in Skyward. 

2. I am a student. How do I log into Rooms? 

   1. Please click “sign in with Google” and use your student GCISD credentials. 

3. I never received an invite email or text. What should I do? 

   1. We will be sending out another round of invites today and into tomorrow, August 13. This should give access to any guardians that have not been able to login yet. If you still have not received anything by Tuesday afternoon, please fill out this form so we can help.  

4. Does Rooms send text notifications? 

   1. No, but if you turn on your mobile app notifications in settings, you will be notified anytime you receive a message. 

Thank you again for your patience as we launch this new feature within our district mobile app. We are continuing to work alongside our vendor to work through any additional challenges our families have experienced. If you have encountered any issues not addressed in this email, please fill out this form and we will look into it and communicate back with you as soon as possible.

School Menus Online 

Welcome back! Nutrition Services is excited about the upcoming school year. School Menus, the district charge policy, menu item pricing and more can be found on the department's school menus web page. 

More information, including menu item nutritional information and allergens, may be viewed through the Nutrition Services web page or by downloading the MealViewer app available for download through the Apple Store or Google Play. 

Procedure for Students with Unpaid Meal Charges

Parents/Guardians shall monitor their student’s school meal account to ensure that they always have a positive balance. In the event that a student does not have a positive balance, the student may charge up to five meals to their account. Only reimbursable meals may be charged. A la carte items may not be charged. Communication about a negative meal balance will be sent to parents/guardians via email/text. Students who have exceeded the 5 charged meal limit, will be offed an alternative meal that will be charged to the student’s account.

If you have questions about the Nutrition Services program, please call ext. 5615 or email julie.telesca@gcisd.net. 

Meal Prices

• Pre-k-8 Breakfast - $1.65

• High School Breakfast - $1.85

• Reduced Breakfast - $0.00 (this school year only)

• Adult/Guest Breakfast - $3.25

• Elem. Lunch - $2.90

• Middle Lunch - $3.10

• High School Lunch - $3.45

• Reduced Lunch - $0.40

• Adult/Guest Lunch - $4.50

Adults and guests may not charge.

Free and Reduced Lunch Applications 

Starting on July 10, 2024, free and reduced-price meal applications were made available to fill out for the 2024-2025 school year. Families are encouraged to complete the Application for Free and Reduced-Price School Meals available online at www.schoollunchapp.com. A paper copy may be downloaded from the website or requested at any campus or Nutrition Services office.

 The application will determine a child’s eligibility for free and reduced-price meals and may assist in the determination of eligibility for other state or federal benefits. Only one application needs to be completed per household. Schools will notify the household of the child’s eligibility. The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) administers school nutrition programs in Texas and offers an eligibility calculator at www.SquareMeals.org/ProgramEligibility.  

Decisions regarding payment for school meals are made at the national-government level, not by the school nutrition team or TDA. The dedicated staff in Nutrition Services is looking forward to serving healthy, balanced meals to students in the new school year.  If you have any questions, please call 817-251-5617 or email child.nutrition@gcisd.net. 

Texas legislation has approved a 2024-25 biennium budget, which includes $3.3 million per year to cover the cost of school breakfasts for students eligible for reduced price meals. Students that are approved for reduced-priced meals may eat breakfast at no cost this school year. Lunch price is $0.40.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider. 

Lunch Visitors

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. 

The Sign-up Genius for lunches will begin the week of September 3rd. A link will be available soon here in the Monday Message. 

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!  

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!