January 24, 2025

 

Griffin Memorial School News At GMS, We THRIVE

January 24, 2025 GMS Families,          It may be hard to believe, but we are officially at the half way mark of the school year. We still have plenty of learning and growing to happen, but we are so pleased with the progress already being made. Quarter 2 Report Cards will be available next Friday. As a reminder they will be available on the Parent Portal, but families will also receive them by email. Earlier on the day, on Friday, you will receive an email that includes a code. Later in the day you will receive an email with the report card. The code sent will allow you to gain access. This is a great time to review the progress your child has made and set goals for the remainder of the year.         Less than 2 weeks away from our GMS WinterFest!  We are getting excited! Be sure to sign up HERE to let us know you are coming! If you have a delicious chili that you want to enter into our chili cook off, click the link below to register.  Prizes will be awarded to the 1st and 2nd place winners!  Chili Entry If you would like to help donate items for our WinterFest click the link below.   Donate Here Be Well, Be Curious, and THRIVE, Dan Mitchell, Principal Maura Clinton-Jones, Assistant Principal Upcoming Dates January 31, 2025 Quarter 2 Report Cards Available  January 31 & Feb 1, 2025 GMS Presents Beauty and the Beast at CHS February 6, 2025 GMS Winterfest 5:00 - 7:00 PM February 10-14, 2025 Great Kindness Challenge Week GMS News From the Nurse's Office Hello GMS Families! Brrrr, it’s cold! This arctic blast has been keeping a lot of us indoors, more than we would like, and with more time spent indoors, the greater the risk for getting sick. Here at GMS we have been seeing a lot of cold and flu like symptoms, along with lots of GI upset. We are frequently encouraging students to wash their hands, and we ask that you please monitor your children for any signs or symptoms listed below; -          Fever* -          Cough -          Upset stomach/cramping -          Nausea/vomiting/diarrhea* -          Lethargic/listless -          Chills/body aches -          Decrease or loss of appetite If your student has any of the starred above, please keep them home for 24 hours and until their symptoms have significantly improved. If they are experiencing any of the other above listed symptoms, or are otherwise complaining that they are feeling unwell, please consider keeping them home.  If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to the nurse via phone or email. 603-424-5931 ext. 1108 or aromanello@litchfieldsd.org Counselors' Corner Please click below for the January/ February Edition of Counselor's Corner from our School Counselors Mrs. Hayes and Mrs. Perkins Counselors’ Corner News from the PTO Volunteer Opportunities - Coordinators Needed! Kids N’ Canvas Coordinator  Have you thought about getting involved in the PTO, do you like to plan events, want to start small and work your way up to a larger event or role? In this role you will organize an after school painting program for students. Boys Night Out Coordinator(s) In this role you will lead a planning committee as well as generate ideas, coordinate and plan the event, and act as the point person should people have questions.  4th Grade Yearbook Designer In this role you will work in conjunction with the yearbook coordinators to coordinate, organize, and meet deadlines, organize, manage, and obtain the submissions for baby ads, "about me" entries, and all other photo submissions. Once photos and information are collected, the yearbook designer will work on the layout and design of the yearbook (templates will be provided). Having some experience with design programs, especially Canva, is strongly recommended. All of these positions will have a point of contact from the Executive Board who will be available as a resource and for guidance. If interested, please reach out to Trixy Gardner or Erica Ruggles at ptonhgms@gmail.com.  February PTO Meeting Please join us for our next meeting on Tuesday, February 11th at 6:30pm via Zoom. We hope you will join us as we hear updates from Mr. Mitchell and Mrs. Clinton-Jones as well as updates about the PTO events and happenings. We hope to “see” you there! Griffy Store The next Griffy Store is scheduled for Friday, 2/27. The store will open outside during recess with a variety of items for the students to shop for 2 items (e.g.  educational tools, classroom supplies, and more). Inventory forms will be sent home with students next week. 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 Newsletters - January 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.  Calling all 4th Grade Families! It is time to start thinking about the 4th grade yearbook. We are starting to collect photos for fall activities from past years and the current year. Please click on the flyer for more information.  Yearbook Advertisements Each year the GMS PTO is proud to present each of our graduating fourth graders with a yearbook that captures memories from their last elementary school year at no cost to families. If you are interested in partnering with us for the upcoming publication, please fill out the sponsorship form. Please contact the yearbook coordinators at GMSyearbook2025@gmail.com with any questions. Thank you for your consideration and support! **All of this information and more may be found on our Facebook Page: GMS PTO NH 2024-2025.** News from the Community Repeated News/ Long Term Info to Know 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 now use a more efficient student absence reporting system called SafeArrival.  This  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. SafeArrival Sign Up SafeArrival FAQs SafeArrival Report an Absence Back to School Paperwork Back to School forms are available and need to be completed on the portal. These forms MUST be filled out EVERY YEAR Here is a link to the PowerSchool Parent Portal  Here is a link  to the Portal Quick Reference Guide Chromebook insurance can now be paid through Titan (same for lunch) or by check (Please add student name and "CB Fee" on check memo so that it is applied to proper student) Gr 1-4 Chromebook usage fee is $5 Gr 5-12 Chromebook insurance fee is $20 and free/reduced is $10 From Nurse Alexa ·         Please do not send your child to school if they are experiencing o    a fever (>100.4°)They must be fever free for 24 hours without fever reducing medications o   Vomiting or diarrhea within the past 24 hours o   Continuous coughing not relieved by cough medicine o   Are overall not feeling well (headache, stomach ache, fatigue, etc.) ·         Practice hand washing ·         Practice covering a cough and sneeze ·         Drink lots of fluids ·         Get plenty of rest Linked below is a resource for helping prevent the spread of respiratory viruses. As always, you can reach out to the school nurse with any questions or concerns. https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/prevention/precautions-when-sick.html 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.  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-E): 2:45 Yellow Group (Last Names F-N) 2:52 Blue Group (Last Names O-Z) 3:00 Buses: 3:10 targeted departure  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/