1st Nine Weeks Attendance Awards

Students who had no more than 1 excused absence and 1 tardy for the 1st nine weeks of school will receive a Perfect Attendance Award this week. They will receive a certificate from Texas Roadhouse for a free kids meals and a token to use in the toy machine. Congratulations to all our students and thank you families for keeping school attendance a top priority! 

Save the Date - Picture Day

Yearbook picture day is coming up on Nov. 9th! Families will receive proofs of student photos via email from Glamour Craft Photography following picture day. Make-up day for any absent students or those who wish to have their picture retaken will be on Thursday, Dec. 7th. 

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!

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.