Relay Recess
Our school is participating in our 12th annual Relay Recess health awareness and fundraising event. Your child has an opportunity to participate in a wellness based school activity, as well as raise money in support of the American Cancer Society’s fight against cancer. Your child and our school have an opportunity to make a difference.
Through Relay Recess our school has chosen to walk around the school grounds to honor those affected by cancer. The fourth grade Student Council will help to spread awareness of healthy habits this month. The committee would like to remind everyone to wear sunscreen and hats on the day of our event, June 13th. Best hat prizes will be awarded!
We are asking each student to collect donations as part of their participation in Relay Recess. Each student has been provided a donation envelope and our Relay Recess fundraising program will run from now until June 5th. Please have checks made out to American Cancer Society, not GMS. Attached to each letter you will find a sun/moon and a luminary bag. A person who donates $5 can be given a sun/moon to write their name to show their support of the event. A person who donates $10 can be given a luminary bag to decorate to honor someone who has passed, or a survivor. Send the sun/moon and luminary bag back to school to be displayed at our event. If you are in need of another sun/moon or bag, let your child’s classroom teacher know and we will be sure to get you another. Please include your child’s name and their teacher’s name on the envelope when it is turned in.
GMS Tigers team is signed up for the larger community event and the fundraising goes toward our Relay Recess totals. Students can register online and send emails about their fundraiser to family and friends. This is also a way for you to avoid dealing with cash and checks.
Go to https://secure.acsevents.org/site/STR?pg=entry&fr_id=99425 . You will be routed to the Greater Manchester/Concord event page. Click on Join This Relay. Create an account or use the account from last year if you have fundraised online in the past. Then join team GMS Tigers.
Every student who raises money will be entered into a raffle for Relay Recess prizes! Top fundraisers at each grade level will also receive a prize.
Thank you for all of your support as we work together to teach your children how to be responsible citizens and play an active role in their community!
Please email Mrs. Quimby at squimby@litchfieldsd.org if you have any questions about the GMS Relay Recess.
Pre School Registration
Registration for the Preschool-aged program at GMS will begin on March 17th.
The Litchfield Early Childhood Education Program is an inclusive preschool that provides the opportunity for typically developing three and four year old children and children identified as having special needs to learn and play together. Our preschool program will vary slightly from year to year based on student and district needs.
Children who are not identified as having special needs may be enrolled in the two half-day program on a space-available tuition basis. Tuition for the 23-24 school year was $125.00 per month. Tuition rates for 24-25 have not yet been set, but will be announced shortly.
Kindergarten Pre-Registration
Go to the Litchfield District Web page and click the "Student Registration" icon in the middle of the page. There are a number of documents required as part of the process. The documents should be emailed to: jwilcox@litchfieldsd.org
If your child is currently enrolled in our 4yr old PK program, you do not need to re-register for Kindergarten. Please be sure to share this with any family that you know has a kindergartner for next year but may not already be connected to GMS.
Pre-Registration for the 24-25 Pre School program will begin March 17th.
News from the SAU/ Superintendent
News from the PTO
Monthly Newsletter - May
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!
**All of this information and more may be found on our Facebook Page: GMS PTO NH 2023-2024.**
News from the Community
Note from the Cutler Library
Summer Reading is happening at the Cutler Library! From June 25th – Aug 2nd. We have exciting FREE & FUN events for kids ages 0-12 including story times, and STEM & Arts! We are kicking off events on June 26th at 11 am with Steve Blunt and Marty Kelley Concert! And Wildlife Encounters returns July 23rd at 10:30 am with 7 new animals to meet. All of this will be happening in our new pavilion! Earn prizes and treats just for reading: ice cream, pizza and more! Plus there are weekly drawings like Cowabungas, Chunky’s Cinema and Xtreme Craze Inflatable Air Park!!!!
Registration is now open: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfjKaPqp8TF-O3unUqYS6orcxdlavHSCRShrm5IyEos2IfH1Q/viewform
Contact Alexis Britton, Children’s Librarian, at acml_childrenslibrarian@comcast.net about registration and more information. See the two-page brochure attached.
Summer Reading Brochure
Litchfield Cougars Try Outs
Registration to try out for the 2024/2025 Litchfield Cougars Travel Soccer Program is now open! To register, please use this link: https://system.gotsport.com/programs/4285V8994?reg_role=player or go to litchfieldyouthsoccer.com "Travel Soccer" => "Travel Soccer Registration".
Tryouts will be two nights - players should attend both nights of evaluations, however players are required to attend at least one to be considered for a roster spot.
Location: Litchfield Park at Sawmill Brook
Check-In: Please arrive 15 minutes early for your scheduled session and Check-in under the pavilion.
What to wear/bring:
- All players must wear soccer cleats and shin pads.
- Bring age appropriate size ball: Size 4 ball (2013 - 2018); Size 5 ball (2012 - 2010)
Requests:
- Please understand soccer divisions are based on birth year NOT school grade. We get a lot of requests for children to play with a specific group because they are in the same grade.
Tryout Days/Times:
- Monday June 10th and Wednesday June 12th
- Birth years 2010 through 2018
- Girls tryout will be 5:00 – 6:15
- Boys tryout will be 6:30 – 7:45
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Zach Duprey (zduprey@comcast.net).
CHS Buy a Brick Fundraiser
Please click the following link for information about the Buy a Brick Fundraiser being run by the CHS Boosters
Buy a Brick Fundraiser
Clark University Reading Skills Series
Clark University is running an online reading skills clinic. Flyers went home with every student this week, but you can also follow the link below to learn more about this program.
Clark University Summer Reading Skills Program
Repeated News/ Long Term Info to Know
From the Health Office
Though we are through the darkest days of winter and warmer weather is drawing near, we are still experiencing the throes of cold weather virus’s and “bugs”. Many of your students, and many of the staff, have been experiencing various cold, flu and GI illnesses that seems to be sticking around. Our COVID policy has been updated to reflect the most up-to-date CDC guidelines, however our school policy regarding fever, vomiting and diarrhea remain unchanged. We understand the frustration and inconvenience of illnesses, however, we ask that you take your student’s complaints seriously and consider keeping them home until they are feeling better and/or the following criteria are met.
As of March 1st, 2024 CDC released updated recommendations for how people can protect themselves and their communities from respiratory viruses, including COVID-19. The new guidance brings a unified approach to addressing risks from all respiratory viral illnesses including COVID-19, flu, and RSV. The updated guidance recommends that when you are sick stay home and away from others return to normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, symptoms are improving overall, and if a fever (greater than 100.4 o F) was present, it has been gone without use of a fever-reducing medication. In addition, if your child has nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea unrelated to respiratory symptoms, please keep your child home and away from others until symptoms are gone for 24 hours.
Please do not hesitate to call or email with any questions or concerns.
Be well & stay healthy,
Alexa Romanello, BSN-RN
aromanello@litchfieldsd.org
(603) 424-5931 ext. 1108
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.
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.
Absence Reporting
At Litchfield School District, one of our greatest priorities is ensuring that all our students arrive safely at school each and every day.
To enhance our existing absence-checking procedure, we are introducing a new, more efficient student absence reporting system called SafeArrival. This new system will reduce the time it takes to verify student attendance, make it easy for you to report your child’s absence and easy for staff to respond to unexplained student absences.
With SafeArrival, you are asked to report your child’s absence in advance using any of these 3 convenient methods:
Using your mobile device, download and install the SchoolMessenger app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store (or from the links at https://go.schoolmessenger.com). The first time you use the app, select Sign Up to create your account. Select Attendance then Report an Absence.
Use the SafeArrival website, https://go.schoolmessenger.com. The first time you use the website, select Sign Up to create your account. Select Attendance then Report an Absence.
Call the toll-free number 1-833-516-0370 to report an absence using the automated phone system.
These options are available 24 hours/day, 7 days a week. Future absences can be reported at any time.
In addition, we will use the SchoolMessenger Communicate automated notification system to contact parents whose child is absent when the absence was not reported in advance. The automated notification system will attempt to contact parents at multiple contact points until a reason is submitted for the absence. If our system is unable to reach the designated contacts, office staff will follow up.
If you report your child’s absence in advance using the SafeArrival toll-free number, website or mobile app, you will NOT receive these notifications.
Starting March 4, when we return from Vacation, please report absences in advance using SafeArrival instead of sending notes or calling/emailing the school.
Starting March 4, staff will begin using the SafeArrival notifications to let you know if your student is absent (when you haven’t reported the absence in advance).
Thank you for your patience and cooperation as we implement this new system.
***Please Note that Sign Up may not be available until early next week***
SafeArrival Sign Up
SafeArrival FAQs
SafeArrival Report an Absence
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
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