What an amazingly fun day it was today. We were absolutely blown away by the creativity shown with all of the scarecrows that were part of our Scarecrow Jamboree. A special thank you to Mrs. Desjadon for coordinating this event and for our sponsors: Chunky's, Rocco's. Lix, Goodale's. Professors, Romano's, Bittersweet Bakery, and the PTO. We couldn't have done it without you. After the displays and voting we finally were able to announce our winners and they were:
INDIVIDUAL: 5th Place. Aedan McCann; 4th Place: Cameron Watkins; 3rd Place: Ashlynn Ireland; 2nd Place: Charlotte Michalak; 1st Place: Kayla Audet
GROUP: 5th Place: Cash Costello & Cooper Osborne; 4th Place: Sam Fowler & Sam Spires; 3rd Place: Kendal Geiger & Kensington Zuhoski; 2nd Place: Lorelei Leary & Kiley McCormack; 1st Place: Olive Helbling & Avery Higgins.
Congratulations to all who participated
We hope to see many of you tonight at the PTO Pumpkin Fest and then again on Tuesday evening for our first Reimaging GMS Community Forum. Your thoughts, ideas, and input are needed as we begin this important work.
Your child should have come home with a book fair flyer and letter attached today. Remember the Book Fair starts soon. More info can be found below.
New COVID-19 Resource - To help ensure clear and consistent communication, our three school nurses, Ms. Vail-Naylor (GMS), Ms. Chambers (LMS) and Ms. Boucher (CHS), have created a new web resource for students, families and staff. This resource contains up to date information about preventing the spread of COVID-19 in our school community. It also offers guidance on testing including a list of current testing centers. This resource is linked on the district website, and the website of each school.
Reimaging Griffin Memorial School - We hope to see a great turn-out for our "Reimaging Griffin Memorial School" event on Tuesday, November 2nd at the Griffin Memorial School Gym starting at 6:30 pm. All members of the Litchfield Community are invited to discuss the future of our community’s elementary school - This will be interactive and engaging: We will share goals, listen to ideas, hear concerns, and answer questions.
News from the PTO
PUMPKIN FESTIVAL TONIGHT at 6-8pm!
SPIRIT WEAR IS HERE!!! There is a variety of sizes and colors for youth and adults! Online Order can be placed between October 29 - November 14th! See flyer attached.
http://stores.inksoft.com/griffinapparel
Coming Soon! Ticket Sales for A Night at Chunky's to see the Polar Express will go live at 6pm on Wednesday, November 3rd, 2021. Limited tickets. Join us for dinner and our own private showing of the Polar Express on December 1, 2021 at Chunky’s in Manchester. The fun starts at 6:15pm (doors open at 5:15pm). Pajamas are encouraged! The cost will be $8 per person plus the cost of food and drink. Your ticket includes a golden ticket and hot chocolate for children! Tickets must be paid in full to be reserved.
Spirit Wear Flyer
News from the Community
No News at This Time
Repeated News/ Long Term Info to Know
From the Lunch Room
"Beginning Nov 1st, food services will be transitioning back to the 'normal serving line' cafeteria set up that was in place pre-covid. This will mainly impact the classes that currently eat in the cafeteria. Your student will select the meal they ordered in the morning (hot lunch or yogurt meal) and will select their milk, and fruit/vegetable in a normal cafeteria serving style. They will then need to be "rung out" at the register, meaning they will need to learn their lunch PIN number. The PIN number will be sent home by Friday to those classes that currently eat in the cafeteria. The other classes should have their PIN numbers by early next week at the latest. When we eventually go back to everyone eating lunch in the cafeteria, this should (hopefully) help the process go a little more smoothly. We are asking you to please help your child learn their PIN at home. If you have any further questions, please contact Lauren Crowley, Food Service Director at lcrowley@Litchfieldsd.org or 603-546-0300 x3112
From the Library
The book fair is coming! Mark your calendars! The students will be coming during the day on one of the following dates: Nov. 4-10. Your child's teacher will let you know when.
Also, please see the home page for a book fair flyer and online shopping. THE BOOK FAIR NEEDS VOLUNTEERS IN ORDER TO RUN! If you are able to help, please sign up on the following link:
GMS book fair home page
The Litchfield School District launched the First View Bus Tracker Parent App at the beginning of September 2021. Unfortunately, driver shortages delayed the uploading of certain information into the bus tracker system that allows the buses to be tracked along the routes. As of 9/24/2021, we are working with First View to address this issue and hope to have the parent app working accurately soon. First View has received parent user feedback and they are working to determine and correct any issues. Additionally, First View has added a new feature to their app. First View recommends updating the Parent App on your phones to ensure you have the most up to date version.
Thank you for your patience while we navigate through this issue. Please check back periodically for updated information.
App Use Instructions
To access the bus tracker app, download the First View app, go through a short registration and you will be able to access information on your child's bus, such as live tracking, predictive stop times, and more. Please read the guides provided and follow the registration guide that contains the code for your child's or children's school (found on page 2), which you will need to submit during the registration process.
To access the information, please click on the links provided:
First View Parent Letter
Registration Guide
FAQs
End 68 Hours of Hunger
End 68 Hours of Hunger and 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 to school on Monday morning. 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 and easy to prepare. If your child has any food allergies, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate this need. Nut products are included for those who are not allergic, but children are informed that they are not to open the bags until a parent can review the contents. The bags are delivered to schools and students will take the bags home with them on the bus or at parent pick-up. If you would like to pick up the bags yourself, arrangements can be made for pick up at the front office.
If you are interested in joining the program or learning more, please contact Elin Pelland, School Social Worker, at 424-2133 x 2215 or at epelland@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
Bus Routes
Bus Routes for the upcoming year can be found here: Bus Routes
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 “2” 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.
