The Panther Post
Embedded Files
News & Updates from
Gum Springs Elementary
August 14-18, 2023
A Note from GSES Administration
The beginning of each school year always comes with change, and changes always present challenges. Perhaps the most noticeable change for GSES has been the re-routing of morning traffic. I want to thank all of you for your patience and your feedback. I am happy to report that since the first day of school, we have gotten much more safe and more efficient with how we manage our morning car rider and golf cart lines. On the first day of school, the last car door was opened at 8:02. Last Friday, seven days into the school year, we opened the last car door at 7:43! We have gotten better and more efficient and I appreciate your patience. I know it is still not perfect, but we are working on it.
One of the adjustments we made was to begin opening car doors at 6:50AM, which is 10-15 minutes earlier than normal. This has helped us steadily decrease the volume that seems to grow throughout the morning drop off. Traffic flows smoothly and almost non-stop from 6:50-7:20AM. The highest volume level has been from 7:20-7:40AM. Please note that from 6:50 to 7:05AM, we are running a much smaller group of staff and usually only have one lane open. Even after 7:05, because we are servicing more vehicles at a time, we cannot get to every single door. While we certainly try, just know that we may not open the door for your kiddos each morning. We currently utilize 14-15 staff members in the back for morning car riders. While we want to be efficient, we also want to be safe. I want to assure you that every staff member than can be outside to assist with golf cart riders, car riders, and buses is currently assigned to one of those three areas.
Thank you again for your patience and understanding as we adjust to the changes. It has gotten much better, and my goal is to continuously improve as we move throughout the year. I know that not every day will be smooth, espeically in bad weather, but we are doing our best and it has gotten better over time.
Instruction begins at 7:40. Ultimately, our goal is to clear out the cars in the back by 7:35 to give our students and staff time to get to their classrooms to begin the instructional day.
News and Updates
You should have received a message from our district this week through Infinite Campus about having access to school Canvas pages. Canvas is a learning management system where teachers share class information and assignments with students. Our district has added the "observer" role status for parents in Kdg-5th grade this year, which in the past, has been in place for 6th-12 grades. Since this is new for our teachers, you will notice that some of our pages are still currently under construction, but as the year progresses parents of 3rd-5th graders will begin to see assignments and classroom information shared with your students too. Pages for all students Kdg-5th grade also have a Parent Resource page that will be very helpful to our GS families. Think about the Parent Resource page like a class website; on this page you will be able to see the weekly class newsletter, daily schedule, breakfast and lunch menus, announcements, grade level learning standards, etc. We are excited for families to have this information in an easily-accessible location that is common for all classes, no matter the grade or school.
The JCSS STEAM StoryBus will be at GSES this week! Students in 1st and 2nd grades, as well as our Summer Reading Challenge participants will have the opportunity to visit it this week for engaging literacy-based science lessons. The bus will be on a rotation this year at our elementary schools, so other grades will have a chance to explore it on future visits too. We are excited about this new addition to our school system's instructional resources.
Do you have a Gum Springs Elementary student in 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade who is interested in competing in the 2024 Science Olympiad Competition? If so, please read and complete this form by Tuesday, August 22nd. In order to participate, your student must be available for tryouts after school on Thursday, August 24th until 4:30 P.M. and be able to stay after school until 4:00 P.M. on designated Thursdays through March, if they make the team. The regional competition will be held Saturday, March 23, 2024. Please contact Kasey Sheridan at ksheridan@jcss.us or Shelly Black at sblack@jcss.us if you have any questions.
Our students begin taking the MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) online assessment this week. We take this national norm-referenced test three times per year to track students' progress and use the results to help plan instruction. 3rd-5th graders will be testing on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week; 2nd graders will test on Friday, next Monday, and next Tuesday; and Kindergarten and 1st graders will test on Friday and next Monday. If your family is new to GSES, it is important to know that MAP is a short, low-stress assessment. The only preparation needed is to make sure your child is at school on time each day.
Upcoming Events
August 18: Panther Spirit Day! (JCHS Home Game )
August 21-31: Kdg. Color Days (Look for details in next week's edition!)
August 22: Deadline to sign up for Science Olympiad Tryouts
August 24: Science Olympiad Tryouts after school until 4:30
August 24: Cub Scout Sign-ups, 6:30 P.M.
September 1: Staff Work Day; No School for Students
September 4: Labor Day; No School for Students or Staff
September 7: First PTO Meeting; 6:30 P.M. in the GSES Cafeteria
We've extended our Hashtag contest deadline to Tuesday 8/15 so that more people can participate. Share your creative ideas with us HERE!
Students are invited to join our staff in this fun tradition every week. Help us spread smiles around GSES!
SCHOOL SPOTLIGHTS
3rd Grade Data-Diggers
3rd graders have been digging into data analysis standards in math this week. Imagine how excited students in Mrs. Brunen and Mrs. Mitas' class were to incorporate a Water Bottle Flip Challenge into their lesson on Friday?! Each student had to record the number of successful flips they were able to make from 10 attempts, collect data from 15 other classmates, turn that data into a dot plot to share the results, then create two questions that could be answered using their own dot plot. That's a lot of thinking and a lot of FUN!
A Colorful Week in Art!
Mrs. Chandler’s Kindergarten class (with big help from Mrs. Pruitt and Mrs. Carney) jumped right into learning about primary and secondary colors this week in Mrs. Hannifin's Art class. They used markers to “tie-dye” baby wipes so they can create a class quilt soon. Students left Art with beautiful, colorful fingers to last the whole day.
Pre-K Explorers
Check out what a fun first week our new Pre-K students had at GSES!
Mrs. Lyle's Pre-K Pals set a goal to fill their class marble jar in just one week, and they reached their goal on Friday! Students earn marbles for the class jar by making good choices. As a reward, their class had a marble party and enjoyed a Rice Krispie treat as a special snack. Way to go Pre-K Pals!
Ready to Read:
Literacy Spotlight
Mrs. Cofer's 2nd graders couldn't wait to get their hands on some great books this week! They especially enjoyed some Fun Friday Flashlight buddy reading.
We are excited to welcome a great new team of teachers to our Gum Springs family this year. They are a hard-working and passionate group of educators, and we are honored they chose our school as their new home! Scroll below to meet our new teachers.
PANTHER SUPPORTERS
Thank you to the following businesses for their sponsorships to support our school through Gum Springs PTO for the 2023-24 school year. Want to know more about how you can support our school too? Click below for details.
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