Friday, February 5, 2021

February 5, 2021

 


Griffin Memorial School News
February 5, 2021
Dear GMS Families,                                                                                          
       This week brought our second remote day and we were pleased to see  how well it went in terms of coordination and participation. Thank you all for your understanding and assistance with this. In preparation for this day we sent out a form to request a Chromebook. Going forward we will assume that if you needed one then, you will need one on Snow Days in the future. This will hopefully streamline the process and not force you to request one every time, we will just send a Chromebook home. For each impending weather day, we will still send out a request form, but that will only be for if things have changed and you now need one but haven't requested one in the past. Looking at the forecast, we may get a chance to test this out sooner rather than later...
       Report Cards are being sent home today for the second quarter. Please see below for important information and a primer of the new report card. 

Be Well and Be Curious,
Dan Mitchell, Principal
Maura Clinton- Jones, Assistant Principal


Upcoming Dates
February 6, 2021Litchfield Deliberative Session - 10:00 AM (School Warrants 1:00)
February 15 -February 19Read Across America Week

March17,2021  12:00- 2:00

Litchfield Child Find

GMS News

Weekly COVID Numbers

Currently we have Three positive case associated with the school community.  We continue to monitor the situation and will communicate out when necessary. 

Read Across America Week

Read Across America Week is coming starting the week of Monday, February 15th.  Papers were sent home with your child.  If you need further information, please see the link below or the GMS website.

Parent-Letter 2021 single page.docx

Read Across America Reading Choice Board 2021

A Note from Mrs. Seabrook

The children are having tons of fun playing at recess, either in or out of the snow. As a result, their masks are getting quite wet and often need replacing after recess. 

If possible could each student have an extra mask in their backpack to provide a replacement if necessary after recess?

I do have paper masks here, but children are always more comfortable in their own masks.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Report Cards

Report cards are being sent home next today. These will also be available on the Parent Portal and starting next year paper copies will not be sent home, so now may be the time to familiarize yourself with the Parent Portal. When viewing on the parent portal, there are a few steps you will need to take in order to view the report card correctly displaying competency scores as opposed to traditional grades (which we don't use).

Using computer for Portal

  1. On left, click on Quick Links > Current Grades and Attendance
  2. Click on Standards Grades tab
  3. Click on black triangle next to class name-- you will then see the grades for each standard -- the Work Study Practices show as 1, 2, 3, or 4

Using app for Portal:

  1. Click on the name of the class
  2. Click on Standards tab
  3. Parent will then see the grades for each standard -- the Work Study Practices show as 1, 2, 3, or 4  

To print out your own copy:

  1. On left, click on Quick Links
  2. Click on Portal Login Page
  3. Click on Student reports
  4. Click on appropriate report card

To familiarize you with the new report card, we have created THIS PRIMER. This primer is based on a third grade report card. The other grades will still look similar though the competencies will be a bit different at each grade. If you have any questions or need any assistance with understanding this new report card, please reach out to Mr. Mitchell.




News from the SAU/ Superintendent


News from the PTO

Next GMS PTO Meeting is on Tuesday, February 9 at 6:30pm.  Here is the zoom info for you so you can put it on your calendars:

Topic: GMS PTO Meeting

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81977238731?pwd=NTkyMklQajF3S1V5d2NSdUFnZ3lqUT09

Meeting ID: 819 7723 8731

Passcode: 295581


News from the Community
No News At This Time


Repeated News and Announcements

Child Find

Litchfield School District will be hosting our annual "Child Find Program"  Wednesday  March 17, 2021 from 12:00 PM- 2:00 PM. This program is open to all Litchfield residents regardless of enrollment at GMS.

If your child is between the ages of 2 1/2 to 5 years 11 months, and you have concerns about their development, vision, hearing, coordination or speech, please reach out to Courtney Beach  to schedule an appointment by calling 603-424-5931 x 1120 or emailing cbeach@litchfieldsd.org.

From the Learning Commons

I am excited to announce that the Litchfield School District now has the SORA app available to all students.  This is a library of ebooks and audiobooks that can be borrowed from any computer, tablet or Smartphone.

I have included a couple of videos to get you started.

SORA overview

Parent Information

If you search using Litchfield's zip code (03052), you can add two collections to the Litchfield School District one:  NH State Library and NH Schools Shared Digital Collection. 

Please help your children to be able to take advantage of these book borrowing opportunities.  They could find the SORA app in their Google apps as well and will need to log on using their Litchfield School District Google account.  If you have any questions, please let me know by contacting me at mprevelturmel@litchfieldsd.org.

Enjoy!

Melina Prevel-Turmel

A Message for Families

This past year has certainly presented many challenges that may be difficult for adults and this can be even more true for children. Although we may work hard to insulate our children from troubling events happening in our world, they are perceptive and can be impacted by things they do not fully understand. The National Association of School Psychologists offers the following tips on Helping Your Child Cope with Challenging Events.

If you would like any additional support for your family, the following resources are available:

If you or a family member is showing any of the Warning Signs of Suicide, please get help as soon as possible by calling the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or Crisis Text Line (Text 741741).

Absence Reporting Email

The GMS office now has a dedicated email address to use to report your child tardy or absent:  GMSabsences@litchfieldsd.org. You can also find it on the Griffin Memorial School homepage, on the top, left side under “ABSENCES”.

When you send an email please include the following information:

                *Child’s first and last name

                *Teacher

                *Reason for absence

If you would prefer to leave a voicemail message when your child is absent or tardy you are still welcome to call 424-5931 and then hit “6” when you hear the automated message. Please remember to include the above information in the voice message.

Please note that when you email or leave a voice message saying that your child “will be out” then the absence is recorded as unexcused. Please tell us the reason for the absence so it is documented correctly.

Don't forget to join the GMS SEL classroom with Mrs. Hayes and Ms. Poli.  Click the link  to join  https://classroom.google.com/c/MTQyODg4MjYzNDIy?cjc=333dr33

Music Google Classroom

We ask all students to please go on and accept the invitation for the Music Google Classroom. All students must do this regardless if you have had music already, are currently having music, or haven't yet had your music block. Once all students are enrolled in the Classroom, we will then be able to synchronize with the publishers online platform. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

End 68 Hours of Hunger

Litchfield Schools are pleased to inform you about a free, confidential food program which provides students with meals from Friday after school until they return on Monday morning. The program is sponsored by “End 68 Hours of Hunger,” a local, private food program whose mission is to help families feed their children over the weekends. If meeting the weekend nutritional needs of your child is challenging at this time, we would like to help meet that need. All food is non-perishable as well as easy to prepare and we do our best to accommodate food allergies when necessary. Guaranteeing your child’s confidential participation in the program is also a top priority. For additional information or to sign up, please contact Jennifer Hayes, GMS School Counselor, at 424-5931 x1106 or jhayes@litchfieldsd.org.

Powerschool Parent Portal

This summer we switched our Student Information System to Powerschool. As part of Powerschool, you are able to access the Parent Portal in the Unified Classroom feature of this system. Please follow the link below to set up you parent portal account. Please contact the main office if you have an issues creating an account.

For Parents - Directions for Parent Access





229 Charles Bancroft Hwy. Litchfield, NH 03052
(603) 424-5931
Past Editions of the GMS School News can be found athttps://griffinnhnews.blogspot.com/
              




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