The Panther Post
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News & Updates from
Gum Springs Elementary
September 11-15, 2023
A Message from Administration
A couple of weeks ago, our PBIS team released our school expectations, or PAWS, for our students. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports is a research-based framework that has been proven to improve school climate, reduce problem behavior, and increase academic instructional time in schools. Our GSES PAWS expectations are:
Pride: Taking pride in all that you do and doing your best.
Attitude: Coming to school on time and ready to learn every day.
Work: Completing your assignments to the best of your ability.
Safety: Showing responsibility and respect for our school, community, and others (administration, teachers, staff, and students).
We have posted PAWS signs in each classroom as well as on our walls throughout the building. We actively teach our students our academic and behavioral expectations. We also want them to understand that these expectations should extend beyond our classrooms and hallways to places like the cafeteria, playground, and buses.
Please assist us in teaching these behavior expectations, especially as it concerns our buses. As a reminder, our buses do not have bus monitors. We expect our students to be respectful to our drivers and to be safe by staying in their seats and not using their technology as a distraction.
As I communicated earlier in the week, we conducted our first hard lockdown drill of the year. These drills are required by state law and are planned to help us prepare in case an event arises that might cause us to lock down our school due to an immediate threat.
During the drill, district staff and local fire and rescue officials walk the building to ensure the drill is being conducted effectively. Our students and staff performed amazingly! All of our students were quiet and followed their teachers’ instructions. I understand that these drills can be scary, especially for our smaller children, but they performed well, and I am so proud of them!
I want to thank everyone for working to be mindful about the changes to our morning drop offs, especially our desire to stop receiving cars in the back by 7:35. As long as your student(s) is/are in the building by 7:40, they will not be counted tardy. As I mentioned last week, we are trying to have our teachers in the building prior to 7:40 to begin instruction, which is why we have to have a cut off time for receiving cars in the back. I know not every day will be as smooth as we would like, but we are making progress and that would not be possible without your cooperation.
Lastly, I want to thank all of our community supporters for how much they have invested in our school. This past week, Choe’s Hap KiDo Martial Arts in Jefferson donated school supplies for many of our students and the Howard Center for Women’s Health donated a staff luncheon of Publix subs. Thank you for investing in our students and our staff!
It is a pleasure to serve our community. Stay tuned for more information concerning our school and our community!
Joshua Todd
Principal
News and Updates
The Literatti Book Fair begins this week! Our fall Book Fair will be open September 15th-22nd from 8:00 A.M.-2:00 P.M. A flyer came home with your child this week with information on how to set up an online gift card to make purchasing books at the fair easy! You can also click the links below to review the information. Please contact Media Specialist, Mrs. Gassman (monica.gassman@jcss.us) if you have questions.
Gift Card Information Letter (Parents, have the gift card sent to your email address, print it, and send it to school with your child.)
If you are available to work a 2-hour Book Fair shift as a volunteer, we'd love your help! Please sign up HERE.
Last year, GSES students did a SUPER job in our first year of participation in the Georgia Student Technology Competition, with several students even reaching the state level of competition! Now we are excited to begin preparations for the 2023-24 event. The annual Student Technology Competition is open to all 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students. Students can compete in 14 various categories by submitting an individual or partner project. The website linked below provides detailed information on each of the 14 categories with examples of some previously-completed projects. Please complete the interest form with your child if he or she is interested in submitting a project. The project can be something your child starts fresh this year or tweaks from a previous year. We will even be working on some projects in our classes at school. Projects will be due in November. Please contact Mrs. Gassman (monica.gassman@jcss.us) if you have any questions.
A variety of sweatshirts, quarter-zips, and caps with our GS logo have been added to the online PTO Store for your fall spiritwear needs. Click HERE to place orders.
Thanks to our wonderful PTO for all of the special projects and activities they plan and support for our school community. If you'd like to know more about their work or how you can help but were unable to attend last week's meeting, you can review their presentation HERE.
Send all the good luck vibes to our JCHS Panthers this Friday as they travel to North Forsyth. Students can wear their favorite jersey for this week's "Jersey-Out" spirit theme.
Complete THIS FORM to get added to our GSES volunteer mailing list. If you'd like to volunteer a day for our GS Copy Crew, click HERE. (We have an immediate Copy Crew need for Monday, September 11th if you are available to fill this slot.) We'd also love your help running our school Book Fair which begins this Friday. If you are available to work a 2-hour Book Fair shift, please sign up HERE.
This Week's
After-School Clubs
Tuesday: GS Gizmos (pick up at 4:30 P.M.)
Thursday: Science Olympiad Team (pick up at 4:00 P.M.)
Upcoming Events
September 15: JCHS Football at North Forsyth (Spirit Theme: Jersey-Out)
Septmber 15-22: Fall Book Fair
September 19: Girl Scout Sign-Ups, 6:30 P.M.
September 20: Picture Day
September 21: Jackson County School System Community Engagement Meeting, 6:00 P.M. (Please RSVP HERE)
September 26: GSES Spirit Night at WNB Factory
September 29: GSES Fun Run (More info coming next week!)
SCHOOL SPOTLIGHTS
3rd Grade Earns State Recognition
We're celebrating our 2022-23 3rd grade students and teachers as GSES received some exciting news from the Georgia Department of Education last week. Later this month, our teachers will have the honor of meeting State School Superintendent Richard Woods as he presents our 3rd grade team with a state "Literacy Leaders" banner because of their outstanding growth on last year's Reading Georgia Milestones Assessment. Our hard-working 3rd graders and teachers showed 15.4% growth in reading in just one school year! Congratulations, Panthers!
Staff Shout-Out: Mrs. Sheridan
A team of special visitors, including JCSS Superintendent Dr. Phillip Brown, made a special surprise visit to GSES on Tuesday, September 5th. They were here to congratulate Mrs. Kasey Sheridan on being one of 3 FINALISTS for JCSS District Teacher of the Year! We already knew how amazing she is, but now the secret’s out! We are so proud of you, Mrs. Sheridan!
Mindset Winners
During the first weeks of school, we have explored the "Everything is Possible" mindset. Students have learned to dream big, embrace creativity, think positively, and "act and adjust" when things may not be going like we want them to. We are honored to spotlight one staff member and one student who represents this Mindset. Congratulations to GSES Gifted and PBIS Coordinator Mrs. Haley Meier and 2nd grader Ryder Rechin. Here's what their nominees had to say about these great Panthers:
"Ryder recently broke his leg, and despite having this setback that has required him to be in a wheelchair, he has continued to maintain such a positive attitude! He is still doing all the things that 2nd graders do and hasn't let this change slow his pace at all. Ryder even decorated his wheelchair for our "America-Out" high school spirit contest last week. We love how he has taken a positive approach to a challenging situation!"
"Mrs. Meier has taken on the role of leading our PBIS initiatives this year and has done a wonderful job! She has increased student and staff buy-in, even while learning the process at the same time. Mrs. Meier ALWAYS goes above and beyond to support around the school. She has an incredibly positive impact on our school culture."
Community Helpers Parade
After spending time studying the Labor Day holiday and what the day represents, Kindergarten students participated in their own celebration of the workers in our community. By showcasing a variety of occupations, students learned that it takes many different people and different jobs to keep our community a safe and happy place. (Visit our GSES Facebook page to see lots more pictures!)
Reading Detectives
Students in Mrs. Childs' 5th grade class have been learning how to use text evidence to answer comprehension questions. Using their highlighters, they showed where the text answered or helped them infer the answer to each question. Students have enjoyed learning about constructive and destructive forces using their new skill.
Puppy Adoption
Mrs. Clark and Mrs. Peterson's multi-age class is enjoying reading the chapter book Superfudge. Students recently had to use their writing skills to complete a Puppy Adoption Application. Their assignment is to read to their puppy each night and have parents sign their reading log. Students were so excited to pick out their special puppy from a wide variety of donated pets! Thanks to everyone who supported their class adoption project.
Life as a Water Drop
Mrs. Ellis’ 4th graders went on a journey through the water cycle this week! They talked about how water gets to and from water sources, animals, soil, glaciers, and more. Some drops of water even stayed in the ocean during the whole simulation, just like many water drops might do in real life. What a fun way to learn about the water cycle!
Adventures in Art
Mrs. Clark and Mrs. Peterson's class enjoyed looking for and feeling various textures around their classroom during their art specials rotation with Mrs. Hannifin. They crawled, walked, and slightly climbed up to reach all the textures they could! Students then used giant crayons to rub the textures onto paper creating monoprints of everything they found.
Readers Shining Bright
Mrs. Gordy's first graders love to read! They especially enjoy Flashlight Reading, where they get the chance to search for and spotlight the phonics skills they are learning.
National Read-A-Book Day Celebration
September is Literacy Month in the state of Georgia, as proclaimed by Governor Brian Kemp. On September 6th, our Panthers enjoyed celebrating National Read-A-Book Day doing what we love best!
Purple Claw Prize Winners
Purple Claw members were the first students this year to celebrate their monthly team win from the end of last school year. We are looking forward to naming our first official "Claw of the Month" at the end of September! Congratulations Purple Claw!
Spreading Positivi-TEE!
Here are a few of the Positivi-TEEs we captured last Tuesday. We love all the good vibes are students and staff share each Postivi-TEE Tuesday! Join us this week!
PANTHER SUPPORTERS
We are excited to welcome a new Partner in Education to our GSES team this week: Choe's HapKiDo Martial Arts. Thank you for supporting our school!
Thanks to Choe's HapKiDo Martial Arts in Jefferson for donating needed school supplies. You can learn more about their services at https://www.jeffersonmartialarts.com/. We appreciate you!
Thank you to The Howard Center for Women's Health for providing lunch for our staff on Wednesday. We enjoyed having Megan and Rochelle join us to share about their services. Ms. Hendley was the lucky winner in their raffle for a Michael Kors purse. Thanks for supporting our school!
Thank you to the following local businesses for becoming GSES PTO
sponsors this year!
Want to know more about how you can support our school too? Click below for details.
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