October 6, 2023

 

Griffin Memorial School News At GMS, We THRIVE

October 6, 2023 GMS Families,                  Columbus Day Weekend marks the first small break in our school year. It also marks the transition from the beginning of school period and into the heart of the school year. The students have been working hard, learning routines, and settling in to the new classes. Now the pace will pick up, the growth will increase, and new discoveries will be made each day. This weekend also begins the time of the year we affectionally refer to as "The Blur". It's Columbus Day now, but in no time it will be Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and by the time we get to the Holidays you think "How did we get here so fast and where did the time go." It is a fun time filled with activities and special events ,but we hope everyone has a moment to take a breath and notice all that wonderful things that are happening while " The Blur" does its thing....             As mentioned last week, we are beginning to collect information for our Wall of Heroes which goes up every November. This wall honors our service members, past and current. If you have someone you would like to add to the wall please complete THIS FORM. If you added someone last year, there is no need to resubmit a form, they are already, and will always be, on the wall. Last year we had close to 100 Heroes on the Wall, let's see how many more we can add.           To help you organize and plan for this year, we have created a list of all of our intended Spirit Days. We will remind you as they get closer, but in order to prevent the scramble that sometimes comes with these days, we hope to give you as much time as possible to prepare. The days can be found HERE. These flyers are also available on our Facebook and Instagram pages for your reference.           We hope the long weekend gives you time to rest and renew. May it be filled with all that you need for the next successful stretch of the school year.                  Be Well, Be Curious, and THRIVE, Dan Mitchell, Principal Maura Clinton-Jones, Assistant Principal Upcoming Dates October  9, 2023 No School- Columbus Day October 11, 2023 Teddy Bear To School Day October  27, 2023 Scarecrow Jamboree and Pumpkin Fest GMS News Upcoming Bus Evacuations Please note that we are having bus evacuations next Tues. and Weds., Oct. 10 & 11, in the morning. News from the SAU/ Superintendent Upcoming ALiCE Drills: To keep students and staff safe at Litchfield Schools, we regularly practice how to respond in the event of an active threat. As part of our back to school preparation, we completed table-top discussions that centered on our ALiCE protocols. In October, we will once again partner with Litchfield Fire and Police to conduct age-appropriate live drills in each of our schools. Please talk with your student this weekend about the importance of taking these drills seriously. Remember that ALiCE stands for: A = Alert (inform everyone about the situation so they can decide the best action to take) L = Lockdown (secure the space to prevent an intruder from gaining access) i = Inform (make sure everyone knows when the situation changes) C = Counter (be prepared to confront a threat that comes into your space) E = Evacuate (If safe, be ready to leave your space and move away from the building) While it is sad that we have to practice for these situations, recent events make it clear that being prepared is important to protect students and staff from bad actors.  Questions or concerns about school responses should be directed to the principal of the related school.  General questions or concerns may be directed to me for follow-up.  All feedback will be shared with our emergency management team. Please make note of our Daily Health Screener as you evaluate whether or not your child should attend school on any given day. News from the PTO Griffy Gear -- just 3 days left to order! We are excited that Griffy Gear is back this year with a NEW design and two new items - a crew neck sweatshirt and a trucker hat! There are a variety of sizes and colors for both children and adults! Online orders can be placed until October 9th.  October PTO meeting Please join us for our next meeting on Tuesday, October 10th at 6:30pm via Zoom. A link will be provided on the PTO FB page (GMS PTO NH 2023-2024). We look forward to seeing you! Pumpkin Festival Planning Meeting The 6th annual Pumpkin Festival is scheduled for Friday, October 27th from 6pm - 8pm. Join us for the next planning meeting on Wednesday, October 11th at 7:30pm via Zoom. We'd love your help as we plan a fun night for the GMS community! Griffy Store The first Griffy Store of the year is right around the corner and will be Friday, 10/13. Inventory forms will be sent home with students, but can also be found here. To keep the store running we need VOLUNTEERS during recess times. Please consider volunteering for one of the slots. You can sign-up here! Monthly Newsletter - October Be sure to read our monthly newsletters where we will highlight important dates and upcoming events, and we'll introduce you to our Executive Board and Coordinators. Attention all GMS Volunteers For the 2022-2023 the GMS community volunteered over 2300 hours!! We'd like to keep track of volunteer hours again this year. We are currently using a Google form to track. Please be sure to enter any time you may have spent volunteering this school year. Some examples include baking for the back to school breakfast bash, volunteering in the library, planning/coordinating an event, shopping for items to donate, etc. Thank you to our volunteers for all that you do! PTO October Newsletter News from the Community Black Bear Happenings in New Hampshire Aaron Cutler Memorial Library is presenting the “Black Bear” program in partnership with the NH Humanities. This is part of the NH 2023 Big Read. The program will be run by the NH Fish and Wildlife Stewards. Date: Wednesday, October 25, 2023 Time: 6:30 p.m. Come and lean about the history of black bears, their habitat, ways to avoid conflict with them, and other information. The program is sponsored with the Litchfield Conservation Commission and the Litchfield Community Church Presbyterian. Registration is required. Please contact the Library or go on their website. Repeated News/ Long Term Info to Know School and District Text Messaging  You can take advantage of our Text Messaging Service. Our school utilizes the SchoolMessenger system to deliver text messages, straight to your mobile phone with important information about events, school closings, safety alerts and more. You can participate in this free service* just by sending a text message of “Y” or “Yes” to our school’s short code number, 67587. You can also opt out of these messages at any time by simply replying to one of our messages with “Stop”. SchoolMessenger is compliant with the Student Privacy PledgeTM, so you can rest assured that your information is safe and will never be given or sold to anyone. End 68 Hours of Hunger and the Litchfield School District 2023-2024 The End 68 Hours of Hunger Program 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.  Each week, bags containing food will be provided to students at school.  Students will bring the bag home on the bus or by whatever mode of transportation they have at the end of the day.  If you prefer, parents may pick up the bag at school.  If you’d like to sign up for the program or need additional information, please contact Taryn Staples, School Social Worker, at tstaples@litchfieldsd.org.  Hannaford Helps Do you shop at Hannaford? If you do then please help Hannaford support GMS by just doing your regular grocery shopping!! Shopping In-Store  SHOP – Look for shelf tags on over 1,500 participating products. CHECK OUT – Collect your School Dollars from an associate at checkout. DEPOSIT – Drop your School Dollars in the Hannaford Helps Schools collection tower in-store. Hannaford To Go  SHOP – Look for the apple icon on over 1,500 products online. CHECK OUT – Receive your School Dollars with your receipt. DEPOSIT – Drop your School Dollars in the Hannaford Helps Schools collection tower in-store, or send them to school with your child. Morning Drop Off Procedures During the morning drop off, both buses and cars will utilize the big loop. As vehicles pull in please pull as far forward until all cars have stopped. Then you can let your child out of the car. Please then wait until the cars in front of you move before pulling forward. Please DO NOT pass a stopped car or stop at the front door if there is space in front to pull forward. We also ask that you avoid parking in the parking lot and walking your child to the door, this adds pedestrian traffic to car traffic. Our attempt is to make this a safe and fluid process. We understand that some back ups do occur, but this procedure ensures safety of all and limits the length of any delay. Pick Up Procedures Those utilizing parent pick up are asked to fill in the large loop at the designated time. Please have the colored pick up slips that were sent home, as these act as verification for our staff. If you arrive early for your designated time, you will be directed to a waiting line in the parking lot until your group time. Pink Group (Last Names A-G): 2:45 Yellow Group (Last Names H-O) 2:52 Blue Group (Last Names P-Z) 3:00 Buses: 3:10 targeted departure  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. 229 Charles Bancroft Hwy. Litchfield, NH 03052 (603) 424-5931 Past Editions of the GMS School News can be found at: https://griffinnhnews.blogspot.com/