September 19, 2025

 

Griffin Memorial School News At GMS, We THRIVE

September 19, 2025 GMS Families,              It was so great seeing so many families at our Open Houses this past week. This level of involvement and commitment speaks to the quality of our community and our families. These partnerships create a culture of collaboration that leads to success for the school year. We are so appreciative to all of you for spending time with us these nights and look forward to the great things this year has to bring.            On October 7 at 6:00 we will be hosting a Community Forum to discuss the future of the Litchfield schools, specifically GMS with our Architect and Engineering firm, Harriman. We hope that you are able to join in this vital and important conversation. Please spread the word to your neighbors and friends, particularly those without direct connections to the school. More information can be found in the flyer below: Community Forum            Mrs. Girzone, the PE teacher is looking for old baby sneakers.  If you have any that you are willing to part with, she would gladly take them off your hands! Be Well, Be Curious, and THRIVE, Dan Mitchell, Principal Maura Clinton-Jones, Assistant Principal Upcoming Dates October 6- 10, 2025 GMS Great Kindness Challenge Week October 7, 2025 GMS Community Forum with Architect and Engineering Firm 6:00 PM at GMS October 13, 2025 No School- Columbus Day October 14, 2025 PTO Meeting- In- Person 6:30 GMS Cafeteria GMS News Summer Reading Challenge Parents, did you know that if your child read over the summer, or you read to them, they can enter their name for a chance to win a gift certificate to the GMS Book Fair? K-1 parents, for each book that was read, please write your child’s name, classroom teacher, grade, and the title and author of the book on an index card. The cards will be entered into a drawing for a gift certificate to the GMS Book Fair. Grades 2-4 parents, for each book that was read, please have your child write their name, classroom teacher, grade, and the title and author of the book on an index card. The cards will be entered into a drawing for a gift certificate to the GMS Book Fair. We are very fortunate that the PTO funds this program every year! Get those cards in by September 26th. Library News If you didn't receive a QR code that leads to the library website at Open House, here is the link.  You can access the library catalog as well as password protected websites, such as BookFlix, Starfall, World Book, PebbleGo, and Gale in Context: Elementary.  Here is the document that has the username and passwords: GMS Library Website Log-In Information Your child can access it with their Litchfield School District account or you can request access to it when you try to open the document.   I hope that you find this helpful! Respectfully, Melina Prevel-Turmel PTO News Griffy Gear We are excited that Griffy Gear is back this year! NEW items include a FULL ZIP HOODIE and SWEATPANTS. There are several other items in a variety of sizes and colors for both children and adults! Online orders can be placed until October 7th. Pumpkin Festival Planning Meeting The 8th Annual Pumpkin Festival is scheduled for Friday, October 24th from 6pm - 8pm. Join us for our next planning meeting on Wednesday, September 24th at 7pm 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 on Friday, 9/26. 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 prior to the store opening, so stay tuned. To keep the store running, we need VOLUNTEERS during recess times. Please consider volunteering for one of the slots. You can sign up here! October PTO Meeting Please join us for our next meeting on Tuesday, October 14th at 6:30pm IN PERSON at GMS. We have two planned in-person meetings this school year, and this is the first one. 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! Looking forward to seeing you there! September Newsletter 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 **All of this information and more may be found on our Facebook Page: GMS PTO NH 2025-2026.** Community News Travel Basketball Try-Outs (Grades 3–8) Litchfield Travel Basketball will be holding tryouts for boys and girls in grades 3–8 the week of October 5th. Players must be registered by October 4th in order to participate.  Player Registration: https://lrbl.sportngin.com/register/form/184485487. If you have any questions, please reach out to Derek Gardner by phone at 603-858-0255 or email at lrbl.travelcoord@gmail.com Rec basketball information will be announced soon, so stay tuned Repeated News/ Long Term Info to Know 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. From Food Services Please see the attached links in regards to our food services. They explain the meal prices for this year as well as qualification and application information for the free and reduced meal program. 2025 NH Public Release Food Services Letter Free and Reduced Instructions (English) Free and Reduced Application (English) Free and Reduced Application (Spanish) News from Tech The parent portal in now open on Powerschool. Please see below in the News from Tech section, for instructions about completing your annual verification. As a reminder, these must be completed EVERY YEAR. MUST UPDATE AND CONFIRM POWERSCHOOL INFORMATION ANNUALLY.Please click the links below for updated information regarding powerschool and Chromebook information. A reminder that all parents PowerSchool Portal Information for Parents Back-to-School and Chromebook Insurance 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, cut through the parking lot,  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      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 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  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/