Picture Day - Thursday

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. 

Slime Coach Basil and Mrs. Hale

The long-awaited day to slime Coach Basil and Mrs. Hale is here! We have confirmed Thursday, Nov. 9th as the afternoon that students who raised $150+ in our Kids Heart Challenge will have the opportunity to slime Coach Basil or Mrs. Hale. Students who achieved this level of donations will be called down to the gym at 2:30pm on Thursday. Weather permitting, we will walk outside to the blacktop for the sliming. If it is raining, we plan to throw down some tarps and do it in the gym. 

We would love to have 2-4 parent volunteers for the event. If you have completed your Volunteer Background Check and would be available from 2:15pm-3:00pm to help set-up and clean-up, please email Mrs. Hale. 

Snack Donations Needed

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 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.

November Character Quality - GRATITUDE

This month, classroom Circle Ups, conversations, and guidance lessons will focus on GRATITUDE. Gratitude can be defined as choosing to notice and appreciate things in our life, things in others, and things in the world. Families can partner with the campus focus by viewing THIS Family Connection Newsletter and discussing some of the pieces at home with Star(s).

Candy Donations

Thank you to all the families who have donated their left over Halloween candy to us. If you are looking for somewhere to donate your extra candy, we love to have it for teachers throughout the year. We put it out throughout the year in our front office and PLC room for staff. 

GRACE Christmas Cottage

GES is hosting a donation drive for local families participating with GRACE at their annual Christmas Cottage program. Through the Christmas Cottage, each qualified family is given a hypothetical “budget” that allows parents to “purchase” donated toys, home goods and appliances in a private, store-like setting. This approach allows families to budget their resources and select unique presents while preserving the family’s dignity. Over 2,500 individuals and families are served at Christmas Cottage each holiday season.

Providing warmth and comfort this season not only allows families facing hardship to uphold cherished traditions, but it also empowers them to continue a legacy of giving and instill new traditions year after year.

If your family is able to donate an item or two, please see THIS WISH LIST to send new and unwrapped gifts to the GES foyer donation station. They also have an AMAZON WISH LIST to browse and/or purchase from.

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. 

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.