Rainy Day Dismissal

In preparation for this week, we wanted to share the plan for rainy day dismissal. If it is just drizzling and we can have students stand underneath the awnings and remain safe, we will proceed with normal dismissal. However, if it is raining hard or there is lightning in the area, we will do rainy day dismissal and keep our students inside. 

Walkers

All walkers will be dismissed to their usual walker locations even on rainy days, unless you’ve communicated other arrangements.  If you wish to pick up your walker in a car on rainy days, please call the front office to notify your child’s teacher prior to 2:30pm. We cannot guarantee that teachers will have a chance during the day to check their email or they may be absent for the day and not see the message at all. 

• ALL PreK-5th grade walkers and siblings will be dismissed from the foyer doors on the side of the building where they exit regularly each day. If the conditions are not safe for students to exit the building, then all dismissal will be halted until it is safe for students to exit. 

Car Riders

All car riders will be held inside the building on rainy days and proceed to their usual car loops as names are called.  *CAR SIGNS are a necessary part of our dismissal procedure.  Please hold them up until you get a signal from our staff member, as it is quite challenging to see clearly when it is raining. If you do not have a car sign, please roll your window down and clearly state the first and last name of the student you are retrieving to the staff member. Be prepared to show your license to an adult on duty for verification. 

• Pre-K-1st grade students and their older siblings will be held inside the K-2 hallway and exit through the picnic table area and proceed directly to their cars when their name is called.  

• All walk-up parents will be directed to the front foyer doors for dismissal.  NO students will be dismissed to adults who choose to walk up to the picnic table area as this is our car rider dismissal location on rainy days.  

• 2nd-5th grade students will be held in the gym and exit through the gym door directly to the back car loop when their name is called. 

If your child is a car rider, please DO NOT plan to walk and pick up your child on rainy days as this slows down the dismissal process. If you plan to park and walk up to get your child, you will need to call ahead of time and make arrangements for your child to be dismissed with the walkers. 

Bullying Awareness

As we begin wrapping up the National Bullying Prevention Month, here are a few important pieces we discuss with students regarding bullying, and when differentiating between unkind/unsafe behavior or peer conflict and acts of bullying:

Bullying occurs when a student or group of students engages in a single significant act or a pattern of acts directed at another student that exploits an imbalance of power and involves engaging in written or verbal expression, expression through electronic means, or physical conduct that occurs on school property, at a school-sponsored or school-related activity, or in a vehicle operated by the District and that: 

• Has or will physically harm a student, damage a student's property, or place a student in reasonable fear of harm to the student's person or of damage to the student's property; 

• Is sufficiently severe, persistent, and pervasive enough that the action or threat creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment for a student; 

• Materially and substantially disrupts the educational process or the orderly operation of a classroom or school; or 

• Infringes on the rights of the victim at school.

We also ensure to discuss cyberbullying as defined as:

Bullying that is done through the use of any electronic communication device, including through the use of a cellular or other type of telephone, a computer, a camera, electronic mail, instant messaging, text messaging, a social media application, and Internet website, or any other internet-based communication tool. It includes bullying that occurs on or is delivered to school property or to the site of a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off school property; bullying that occurs on a publicly or privately owned school bus or vehicle being used for transportation of students to or from school or a school-sponsored or school-related activity; and that occurs off school property or outside of a school-sponsored or school-related bullying activity if the cyberbullying: (1) Interferes with a student’s educational opportunities, or (2) Substantially disrupts the orderly operation of a classroom, school, or school-sponsored, or school-related activity.

It is always helpful for the adults in our homes, students, and staff to be speaking the same language when supporting the whole child. 

October Zootique Volunteers Needed

Our kinder, 2nd, and 5th graders enjoyed the Zootique on Friday, Oct. 20th! Our schedule for this Friday, Oct. 27th includes 1st, 3rd, and 4th grade! We need several more volunteers to make it successful! If you have a completed background check and are interested in volunteering your time and sharing in some financial literacy with students as they save and spend, you can sign up HERE. 

We also have continued to add to our Amazon wishlist and have some new seasonal items that we thought students might enjoy to add to the Zootique. If your family would like to make a donation, you can find the wishlist HERE. We have begun adding items for November and December to the wishlist! New this month, we will also have campus coupons that students can purchase for experiences such as eat lunch on the stage with a friend or lunch with the principal! 

Thank you so much for all the donations we have already had this year! Our GES families are the absolute best! 

Red Ribbon Week Oct. 30 - Nov. 3

Red Ribbon Week and Book Fair are coming up soon! We have pushed our week and activities to align with Halloween. Some campuses will be celebrating this week as it aligns to the National Calendar for Red Ribbon Week that is Oct. 23-Oct. 31. You can find both the dress-up calendar for the week and the Book Fair Dashboard below! 

October is Dyslexia Awareness Month

Did you know:

• Among some of the famous men who have dyslexia:  Dav Pilkey (author of DogMan and Captain Underpants), Tom Holland (actor, Spiderman), Walt Disney, George Washington, Tom Cruise (actor), Steve Jobs (one of the founders of Apple), Steven Spielberg (director, Jurassic Park), Sir Richard Branson (entrepreneur of Virgin and advocate for dyslexia) and Pablo Picasso.  

• Some of the famous women who have dyslexia:  Salma Hayek (actress), Jennifer Aniston (actress), Keira Knightley (actress, Pirates of the Caribbean), Jewel (singer, winner of Masked Singer Season 6), Gwen Stefani (singer, judge on the Voice), Dr. Carol Greider (molecular biologist and Nobel Peace Prize winner), and Jessica Watson (youngest woman to ever sail across the world ALONE).

Myth vs Fact:

Myth #7: Dyslexia is more frequent among boys than girls.

Fact: The prevalence of dyslexia is similar among boys and girls but boys are frequently identified as having dyslexia, while girls often remain unidentified because they develop successful coping strategies (e.g. they tend to be quieter, they choose to sit at the back of the room, they tend to be less disruptive or even try to become invisible). 

Myth #8: Dyslexia can be outgrown

Fact: Children do not grow out of dyslexia. It is a lifetime condition; however early and effective intervention can minimize its negative effects. 

November Lunch Sign-up

If you would like to come visit your child during lunch and eat with them in our cafeteria or on our front patio picnic tables, please reserve a time on our November Sign-up Genius HERE. You will always find the current month sign-up at the very bottom of this Monday Message for easy access. 

No School - Nov. 6 & 7

Just a quick reminder to plan ahead for Nov. 6 and 7. Students are off school that day while teachers are in professional development. 

Parents Can Manage Meal Payments Online Via MySchoolBucks App

GCISD’s Nutrition Services is pleased to announce that parents can now download the MySchoolBucks app to make online prepayments on their child’s school meal account and view transactions. There is a $2.75 processing fee for each transaction. 

After downloading the app from the App Store or Google Play on their mobile device, parents will need the following to establish an account:

• Visa, Mastercard or Discover credit cards

• Child’s six- or seven-digit student ID number

Transactions made prior to 10 a.m. will be posted to the meal account the same day. Prepayments made after 10 a.m. will be posted the next school day. 

Although the online option is available, parents will still continue to have the option to pay at their child’s school using cash or via check. There is no processing fee for payments at school.

If you need assistance with the meal account, please call GCISD Nutrition Services at 817-251-5617 or send an email to child.nutrition@gcisd.net. 

This institution is an equal opportunity provider. 

Free and Reduced-Priced Meal Applications Are Still Accepted

Every dollar counts and if you qualify for free and reduced meals for your child, there is still time to complete an application. Applications are available at www.schoollunchapp.com and can be completed at any time during the school year. The sooner the application is completed and if you qualify, the sooner your child can begin to receive meals at the free or reduced price. 

Book Fair Volunteers Needed

If you have completed your background check and would like to volunteer at our campus Book Fair the week of Oct. 30-Nov. 3, we would love the extra hands! Click here to join us!

Thank You from KHC

We want to give a huge THANK YOU to our families and students for an amazing Kids Heart Challenge campaign! Our campus raised over $25,000 to help the American Heart Association. We hit all of our goals including having 200 students sign-up online! Coach Basil gave out countless heart hero gifts and we have numerous students complete Finn's Challenge to learn Hands Only CPR! We also have more than 60 students who have qualified to slime Coach Basil and Mrs. Hale! Congratulations to our GES stars on making an impact in our own community! We appreciate all the support. 

Smartwatches

Reminder: Cell phones are expected to be turned off during the school day for all elementary students. Smart watches have the same functionality and capabilities as a cell phone and students must follow the same expectations. We appreciate your support in reminding your students. 

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. 

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. 

You can sign-up for lunch from October 2-31 HERE. 

You can sign-up for lunch from Nov. 1-30 HERE. 

Volunteering

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.