The Panther Post
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News & Updates from
Gum Springs Elementary
February 5-9, 2024
News and Updates
Congratulations to our January Claw of the Month winners--BLUE CLAW! Look for the blue flag flying in front of the school to celebrate this great group of Panthers. This month, our students earned 8,682 PAWS tickets for positive behavior, with Blue Claw claiming 1,559 of those. (There was only a difference of ONE TICKET between our first and second place gorups this month, so it was a good reminder to all of us that every act of positivity makes a difference!) We are proud to recognize our Panthers doing a great job showing PRIDE, having a positive ATTIUDE, being hard WORKERS, and helping keep our school SAFE!
We're excited to host our next All Pro Dad event from 6:00 to 7:00 P.M. on Tuesday, February 20th. Sign up HERE if you'd like to attend. The event is open to students and their fathers or male mentors. Chick-Fil-A boxed meals can also be purchased for $10 on the registration form. If you purchase meals, don't forget to make your payment via School Pay.
This week kicked off our annual Kid's Heart Challenge, a fundraiser to support to the American Heart Association, teach our students about the importance of exercise and heart health, and raise money for our GSES P.E. program. To learn more, you can view the video students watched to kick off the event HERE. Sign your child up to a Heart Hero fundraiser at https://heart.org/Schools.
We have an opening for a Copy Crew volunteer this Friday, 02/09. If you are available to fill this need, please sign up HERE.
Join us in sending good luck vibes to two of our GSES competition teams who are headed to big events this weekend. Our GS Gizmos FIRST LEGO League Robotics Team is headed to the State competition, after taking first place at the recent Super-Regionals tournament, and our Science Olympiad team tackles their first competition of the season at the JCSS District Science Olympiad tournament. We wish you the best of luck and know you'll make us Panther Proud!
Families are requested to give feedback about our school on the annual Georgia Health Survey. Survey results help us find out how families feel about our school climate and community. We'd love to hear from you! This short survey can be completed in 10-15 minutes. Click HERE to get started.
Pre-Kindergarten lottery registration for the 2024-25 school year is open. Families can register for the lottery through Friday, February 16. Please note this application does not guarantee admission into a Pre-K program inside the Jackson County School System but is rather an application into the lottery. JCSS will hold a lottery drawing in March and families will be notified following the drawing. To register for the lottery, click HERE. Please help us spread the word to families in our JCSS community who have rising Pre-K students.
The Family Lunch Guest Sign-Up is live for Feburary dates. Click the button below if you'd like to reserve a time to join us. Please read the specific guidelines at the top of the form carefully before signing up (and be sure to click SUBMIT).
Current 5th grade families, be sure to mark your calendars to attend 6th Grade Orientation Night at West Jackson Middle School or Legacy Knoll Middle School. These nights will include important information to help you and your child prepare for their middle school transition. See information below. Rising 6th graders interested in being part of the cheer program should also complete the cheer interest survey. See graphic below for details.
Don't forget to order your child's yearbook by March 22nd. Click HERE to order online and enter school passcode 101485563232668. (If you can't remember if you already ordered this year, check your email for a receipt from publisher Treering.) With your purchase, you get to create two free custom pages, printed only in your child's yearbook, including pictures of your child this year and answers to personal memory questions. As a reminder, yearbook sales are PRE-SALE ONLY. Extra copies will NOT be available when books are delivered. See flyer below for more details.
This Week's
After-School Clubs
Tuesday: GS Gizmos (team pick up at 4:00 P.M.; Coders pick-up at 5:00 P.M.)
Thursday: Science Olympiad Team (pick up at 4:00 P.M.)
Thursday: Stock Market Club (pick up at 4:00 P.M.)
Thursday: Chorus Rehearsal--only speaking parts, all orphans, and Crew-no New Yorkers, no servants, no ushers (pick up at 4:00 P.M.)
Upcoming Events
February 10: GS Gizmos State Robotics competition
February 10: Science Olympiad Team District competition
February 16: Deadline to register for Pre-K lottery for 2024-25 school year
February 16 & 19: No School for Students
February 20: All Pro Dad; 6:00-7:00 P.M.
SCHOOL SPOTLIGHTS
Counselor Appreciation Week
GSES is lucky to have two of the best counselors around! This week, we are honored to recognize the important role Mrs. Andy Sun and Ms. Kelsey Hughes play in our school family. They are best champions for our students and staff and truly are the heartbeat of GSES. Join us this week in letting Mrs. Sun and Ms. Hughes how much we love them! Thanks for all you do for us, Mrs. Sun and Ms. Hughes!
Panther Playoffs
This week, we enjoyed our Quarterly Panther Playoffs celebration. Students who consistently showed PAWS expectations throughout the quarter were rewarded with "Specials Choice," selecting which Specials class they wanted to attend for the day. They enjoyed activities and competitions, like Minute-to-Win-It games, Just Dance Disco party, special art projects, Claw challenges, and favorite math games with their favorite specials teachers. Even Gus showed up to celebrate with our students! We are proud to see our students working hard to be responsible and make good choices.
Let's GLOW!
We had a packed house for this week's Glow-in-the-Dark Bingo Family Night. Thanks to Gum Springs Elementary School PTO for hosting a great night of family fun.
Leaderboard Legend
Our last Fun Run Leaderboard Legend finally got to cash in his prize this week as he chose to take over the job of GSES ASL teacher. Mr. Isaac Mitas spent his day with Mrs. Landers and Mrs. Severt in the Advanced Strategies Lab (ASL) Specials class teaching all things math all day long! Students loved having him as their teacher. Read more about Mr. Mitas' day on our GSES Facebook page.
Baking up Fractions
Mrs. Beecher's 1st grade enjoyed a fraction activity this week called "Baking Up Fractions." Students became bakers who had to decorate cookies and decide whether to partition their cookies into halves or fourths. They had to work carefully to make sure they created equal parts, of course! Students loved sharing their cookies with their classmates.
Bringing Learning to Life
2nd grade had a great time on their recent field trip to the Aurora Theater. 2nd graders have been digging into character analysis in reading this quarter, using folktales and fables as analytical texts. They enjoyed seeing a live action performance of "The Three Little Pigs," which will be one of the anchor texts in their upcoming lessons exploring character perspective. We love how field trips help bring our learning in the classroom to life!
Winter Wonderland
Thanks to our 5th grade teachers and PTO for hosting the 5th grade Winter Wonderland dance last week. Our student had a fun time celebrating with their friends. (Look for lots more photos coming to social media soon!)
PANTHER SUPPORTERS
You may have noticed some work going on at the GSES entrance. We are excited about the progress on our new LED sign, coming soon! Thank you to North Georgia LED and the Jackson County School System for working hard in conjunction with our GSES PTO to make this project happen. This project was made possible thanks to our community supporters and your Fun Run donations. We are excited about the possibilities to come with this new update to GSES!
Thanks to Gum Springs Elementary School PTO for treating our staff to a Surprise Snack Cart delivery this week, filled with many of our favorite things. We appreciated the thoughtful surprise!
Join Heroes Elementary School for the first-ever Dress Like A Hero Fun Run & 5K on Saturday, March 16. The run will begin at 8 A.M. and will be held at Legacy Knoll Middle School and Jackson County High School. Pre-register before the end of February to ensure you get a commemorative shirt! Click HERE to register.
Want to know more about how you can support our school? Click below for details. Feel free to contact Mrs. Hannah Freyre at hannah.freyre@jcss.us with questions.
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