The Panther Post
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News & Updates from
Gum Springs Elementary
March 18-22, 2024
News and Updates
THIS FRIDAY IS THE LAST DAY TO ORDER COPIES OF THIS YEAR'S YEARBOOK! 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 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. Don't miss out on this great keepsake!
We are excited to celebrate our student artists at the annual JCSS Art Show "Jackson Creates" this week. Community members are welcome to view the public display of our amazing student artists! The elementary reception takes place this Thursday at Empower College at Career Center from 6:00 to 7:00 P.M.
We're joining forces with The Mighty Mabel Foundation to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day on Thursday, March 21. Students are encouraged to wear their favorite silly or mismatched socks on Thursday to show their support. See information below for more details.
Our Jackson County Special Olympics athletes will be competing in their spring competition in April, and shirts are now on sale for anyone who would like to show their support. Click HERE to order this year's shirt through April 1st.
Our staff members worked hard to turn our school into a Reading Wonderland for this year's Read Across America celebration! We're letting the community choose the winners of our decoration contest, so we need your help! Check out our Facebook post and give your favorite design a vote by giving the picture a "like." Voting ends at 8:00 P.M. on Thursday, March 21st.
If you're looking for some family fun this week, the WJMS Jr. Panther Players are performing Seussical Kids at JCHS this Thursday and Friday. It's sure to be a great show for all ages! See flier below for details.
Kindergarten Registration for the 2024-25 school year is NOW OPEN. If you have a student who is not currently enrolled in a Pre-K program inside the Jackson County School System, please visit www.jacksonschoolsga.org/register to enroll your student in Kindergarten for the 2024-25 school year. Families with Pre-K students who currently attend a JCSS elementary school are not required to enroll their student in Kindergarten. (See graphic below for documents you will need for registration.) Please help us spread the word by sending this message to anyone you know who has a rising kindergarten student in the Jackson County School System.
March and April Family Lunch Guest Sign-Ups are now available. 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). This will be our last lunch sign-up for this school year.
If your business would like to advertise on our new full-color LED sign located at the school's front entrance, please complete THIS FORM. All money raised through advertisements will be used to support GSES students and staff.
Want to make your child feel extra-special on his/her birthday?! You can purchase a Birthday Shout-Out on our new LED entrance sign for $5. Simply complete THIS FORM at least one week prior to your child's birthday, make your payment on School Pay, and submit a picture of your child. Details are included on the form link. If you have additional questions, please contact Mrs. Freyre at hannah.freyre@jcss.us.
This Week's
After-School Clubs
Monday: Science Olympiad Team (pick up at 4:00 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: Annie Rehearsal--all students (pick up at 4:00 P.M.)
Thursday: Annie Crew (pick up at 4:00 P.M.)
Upcoming Events
March 18: Half of 4th Grade on Field Trip
March 18-29: Parent Conferences
March 19: Dental Bus at GSES
March 19-21: 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade MAP Testing
March 21: Wear your SILLY SOCKS for World Down Syndrome Day!
March 21: JCSS District Art Show; Elementary Reception at 6:00 P.M.
March 22: Yearbook Pre-Order Deadline
March 25-27: 5th Grade Jekyll Overnight Field Trip
April 1-5: Spring Break: No School for Students or Staff
SCHOOL SPOTLIGHTS
We recently celebrated School Custodial and Maintenance Appreciation Day. We have a WONDERFUL custodial and maintenance team at GSES and are SO THANKFUL for all they do! We want to give a shout-out to our team for having the highest rating of all JCSS schools on their most recent inspection. Thank you for keeping us safe and healthy!
Last week was Board of Education Appreciation Week. The Jackson County School System would like to recognize the five dedicated members who serve on our Board of Education. Under the leadership of these individuals, the JCSS Board of Education earned the GSBA Exemplary Board distinction this past fall, the first time in the system's history. We appreciate the many ways the JCSS BOE supports our school and community.
Shining Bright: Yellow Takes the Spotlight!
St. Patrick's Day may have green on your mind, but at GSES it was all YELLOW this week! Yellow Claw claimed the title of February Claw of the Month, and we loved celebrating their success this week with the Yellow Claw Hallway Parade. Joining Gus as the Grand Marshal was our very own JCSS Superintendent Dr. Phillip Brown. (He and the members of the Jackson County Board of Education earned honorary Claw Status at a BOE meeting several months ago, so Dr. Brown was excited to find out his claw was this month's winner!) Yellow Claw earned 1,093 PAWS tickets this month, earning them top honors last month (after falling in 2nd place by just ONE TICKET in January). This month our Panthers in all color claws collectively earned 5,792 PAWS tickets for showing Pride in our school, having positive Attitudes, being hard Workers, and keeping our school Safe. Great job, Panthers, and congratulations Yellow Claw! (Click HERE to view the parade.)
Panther Artists Promote Reading in Bookmark Contest
We had over 500 entries submitted in this year's Read Across America Week bookmark design contest. Congratulations to the following winners whose work really impressed the judges! We loved seeing how students shared their favorite stories through the many creative designs. Copies of our winners' bookmarks will be available in the GSES Media Center. Great job, Panthers!
Join our "Bee Kind" celebration for World Down Syndrome Day on Thursday, March 21st
We're joining forces with The Mighty Mabel Foundation to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day on Thursday, March 21. Students are encouraged to wear their favorite silly or mismatched socks on Thursday to show their support.
3rd grader Mattox Jeffers is organizing the event for our school in honor of his sister Mabel who would have been a kindergartener at GSES this year. Mattox has created a video that will air on our morning news tomorrow to explain to students that we celebrate World Down Syndrome on 3-21 because Down Syndrome is caused when the 21st chromosome creates 3 copies, instead of the usual 2. He reminds students that people with Down Syndrome enjoy many of the same things other people enjoy too and shares a few special memories of his little sister.
On World Down Syndrome Day, people around the world wear silly or mismatched socks because chromosomes look a lot like socks! Mattox would like to invite other students to join him and wear their silly socks too, to show that they believe ALL PEOPLE are special and deserve being celebrated. (Look for his video on our social media accounts later this week.) To learn more about the Mighty Mabel Foundation and how to support their mission of being kind and spreading joy the community in Mabel’s memory, please visit www.mightymabel.com.
Growing Readers
Mrs. Salom and Mrs. Thomas' students have been working hard to grow as readers. They have been practicing Reader's Theater scripts to build their reading fluency, and last week their students enjoyed performing for one another to show what they have learned. Mrs. Salom's students performed a script to help younger students learn about the seven continents, and Mrs. Thomas' students performed their version of the classic folktale Stone Soup. They did a GREAT job!
Going Green
Friday was a busy and exciting day at GSES. (It is unbelievable how many leprechauns sneak into an elementary school this time of year!) There were green footprints and other clues scattered all over the building, and many classes put their STEM skills to the test to design and build traps in hopes of catching the sneaky little creatures. Unfortunately, we didn't catch a single one! We did get to enjoy some gold and other treats, though, so all-in-all it was a really fun day of learning. Our little leprechauns enjoyed scavenger hunts, graphing Lucky Charms marshmallow frequencies, writing creative stories about mischievous leprechauns and lots of other St. Patrick's Day fun. We count ourselves LUCKY to get teach awesome learners like these! Happy St. Patrick's Day!
3rd Grade Explorers
3rd graders recently enjoyed a field trip to Elachee Nature Center to learn more about habitats. They explored the four main components that make up a habitat and learned more about Georgia's main habitats. They especially had fun exploring Elachee's trails for an up-close view of Georgia's Piedmont forests. They also enjoyed meeting some of Georgia's famous animal inhabitants up close and identifying features these animals, as well as plants, have that allow them to live and thrive in different regions of Georgia. Students even explored how pollution and human interactions can affect plants and animals. Thanks to Elachee for providing such a great learning experience for our 3rd graders!
PANTHER SUPPORTERS
The second Thursday of every month from 4:00 P.M. until supplies last, Free Chapel Braselton is hosting a Mobile Food Pantry. This will be an opportunity for families in need to receive FREE groceries. There is no sign up; all you must do is show up and receive your groceries. We appreciate their community support.
Register Now for Jackson County 4-H Summer Camp
Jackson County 4-H Summer Camp Registration is now open! Camp options are available for students from 4th-12th grades. This summer, 4th, 5th, and 6th graders will be camping July 1-5 at Fortson 4-H Center. The $425 fee includes transportation, lodging, meals, T-shirt, camp activities, and lots of great memories! Click HERE to see the how much fun Camp Fortson is, then click HERE to register!
Summer Opportunities for Creative Students
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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