Dear GMMS Families,

I hope this email finds you and your family in good health and good spirits. The entire GMMS faculty and I truly miss your children. We are eager to reconnect with them. Monday we begin Distance Learning. Our teachers have been hard at work preparing meaningful lessons for students. Our goal is twofold: to help students maintain connections with school and focus on their education. Continuing with daily learning tasks provides students a sense of purpose, accomplishment and control over their environment. This has never been more important than right now.

This new way of learning will present opportunities as well as challenges. We ask for your patience as we continue to develop our own skills as educators. Starting March 23rd your child will be expected to access daily the Google Classrooms of each of his/her teachers. Teachers will be posting assignments each day by 8:00 AM. Due dates will be communicated to students by the teacher via the Classroom. This is a practice our students are currently using and they are quite familiar with it. What will be different is how teachers provide feedback for learning. Teachers will be doing this in a variety of ways that will evolve over time. In general, students can expect to have approximately 30 minutes of daily work for each class that will be following standards-aligned curriculum. Families have flexibility determining when that work occurs each day, but we do expect students to adhere to due dates. Tips for how to support your child include helping provide consistent structure, limiting additional screen time, building in fresh-air and exercise, and staying positive!

Teachers and case managers will continue to collaborate to provide appropriate modifications and accommodations for students with IEPs and 504 plans. Parents are encouraged to reach out to teachers with any questions or concerns. I will be posting a daily Morning Message on our website’s Live Feed. I will also continue sending my weekly message at the end of the week with school updates. Communication is key to making this a successful experience for all of us. Please keep in mind that per the direction of Governor Lamont, the school building itself is closed, and only essential personnel may access it. Please do not call the school, but use email instead. My virtual door is always open!

One more thing, I have posted this week’s winning photos on our website’s Live Feed. Congratulations to all! Next week the subject is Animals We Love. ( I recommend several of you resubmit the photos you sent in this week.) Deadline for all entries is midnight Thursday. Good luck!

Stay well and keep smiling.

Sue

If you have a GMMS Chromebook that needs repair, please email fulwiderh@granby.k12.ct.us to schedule an appointment to get a replacement device. Appointments will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:00 – 11:00 AM. To protect all involved and follow social distancing protocols, we ask that you remove the Chromebook from its case, and label the device with your child’s name. Only adults will be allowed in the building. When you arrive at GMMS, you will be buzzed into the vestibule where you can place your broken Chromebook on a cart and pick up a new one from a different cart. Your new Chromebook will have your child’s name on it and will have been registered to him/her. We will be sanitizing all exchanged Chromebooks. The district insurance rider will cover normal wear and tear, however please note that families will be responsible to pay for any device that is deliberately damaged.