Friday, April 25, 2025

April 25, 2025

 





Griffin Memorial School News

At GMS, We THRIVE

April 25, 2025

GMS Families,  

         Well we have all made it to April Vacation. Everyone has been working so hard and the progress and growth has been phenomenal. It is a well earned vacation indeed. When we return, we enter the home stretch that will seem both long and incredibly quick. It is filled with special events, activities, field trips, and much more. We are confident and ready to end the year on the best foot. 

           In the Spring season we see a large increase in the use of the fields around GMS. Often times these events coincide with our dismissal or after school program. We are asking everyone for an increase in patience, safety, and awareness so that everyone may be safe. Even if school is not in session or ended for the day we want to make sure that GMS is always a safe space and we thank everyone for their effort and cooperation in creating this with us. 

          As we prepare for Field Trip season we know that many parents would like to be considered for chaperoning. In order to chaperone, parents must be volunteer trained and then reverified each year. Please make sure your paperwork is up to date for consideration. We had low turn out for the previous trainings so we will be offering a few more:

May 8 & 15 7:30 AM (in person)

May 6 & 13 7:00 PM (Remote)

If you would like to attend one of these trainings please let Mr. Mitchell or Mrs. Clinton-Jones know. Remember that all of the reading must be done and the forms must be completed before the training. A link to the directions on where to find the online reading and forms that have to be filled out can be found below.

Volunteer Orientation Directions

        Have an amazing, safe, and restful vacation. See you all in May!   

Be Well, Be Curious, and THRIVE,

Dan Mitchell, Principal

Maura Clinton-Jones, Assistant Principal

Upcoming Dates

April 28- May 2, 2025Spring Vacation

May 6,8,13, & 15

Volunteer Trainings



May 8, 2025GMS Chorus Concert 6:30 PM at CHS

 Please also see a list of all upcoming activities for the end of the school year below:

End of Year Activities List

GMS News

Field Day Donations

Well it's that time of year again....we are busy planning our GMS Field Day 2025!!  It's hard to believe we are already at this point!  I am attaching an amazon wish list of items that we were hoping to have donated.  These items are used for all our kiddos and the art projects that they do on that day!

Amazon Wishlist

sidewalk chalk from Target  (10)

Thank you in advance for your support!!!

News from the PTO

Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week
This year Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week is scheduled for May 5th - 9th (the week immediately following school vacation). The PTO has a fun week planned and flyers will be sent home soon. If you’re interested in donating an item to help make the week a success, please click here. We are also accepting raffle prizes as well as homemade local items for our “farmers market day”.  If you’d prefer not to shop, we are also accepting Venmo donations and those may be sent directly to @sarah-vasil-1. Please contact Sarah Vasil at sarah_willis01338@yahoo.com with any questions.

Sweetheart Dance
The Sweetheart Dance is scheduled for May 9th from 6pm-8pm in the GMS gymnasium.  Leave a little sparkle wherever you go! Shine bright, Be Kind, Stay Curious!  If you would like to contribute to help make the night a success, we would greatly appreciate your contributions. Sign up here. We will be adding volunteer sign-ups as we get closer to the date! Our next planning meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025, 12:30pm-1:30pm  over google meets. If you are unable to make the meeting but would like to help, please reach out to Katie LaBrie bardsleykatie@gmail.com and/or to Erika Charbonneau at erikacharb@gmail.com. To contribute to the We look forward to another successful dance!  

Monthly Newsletters - April

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. 

May PTO Meeting

Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 13th 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. At this meeting we will also be voting for all board positions for the 2025-2026 school year. If you’re interested in a board position, please fill out this interest form. If you are interested in a coordinator role, please fill out this interest form. If you have any questions, please reach out to Erica Ruggles and/or Trixy Gardner at ptonhgms@gmail.com.  We hope to see you there!

Calling all 4th Grade Families!

Photo Submissions

Last call for yearbook photos. We are currently requesting SPRING photos. Deadline for ALL submissions is May 1st so get your photos in now! 

As a reminder, all of the yearbook information is posted on the class page: Class of 2033, Litchfield NH. 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

Litchfield Flag Football

The Litchfield Flag Football League will be holding upcoming clinics. More info can be found HERE

Repeated News/ Long Term Info to Know

Kindergarten Pre-Registration is Open.

           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 25-26 Preschool program will begin March 17th.

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:

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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

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/


                                                                                                






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