October 3, 2025

 

Griffin Memorial School News At GMS, We THRIVE

October 3, 2025 GMS Families,           Welcome to October, a month full of events and activities. It will be a busy month and Pumpkinfest and Scarecrow Jamboree will be here in no time. We start the festivities off next week as we celebrate The Great Kindness Challenge. Please check out this graphic so you can participate in each day's theme.             On Tuesday evening we will be hosting a Community Forum at 6:00 PM in the Cafeteria, regarding the future of the Litchfield Schools. Our design team will be here and we invite you to join us. BRING THE KIDS, and have them join in the conversation as well.            There is so much to do and we are excited to get this new month underway... 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 Community Forum 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 Art Club Mrs. Starrett is taking applications for Art Club! Art Club will be held on Thursdays after school for 3rd and 4th graders. They will meet for 8 sessions October-December; a second 8 session Art club will run from January-March. Please complete the google form if your child is interested: https://forms.gle/k2JpdTVucXkURceA6  Counselors' Corner Be sure to check out this month's edition of our Counselors' Corner Newsletter to hear all of the news and information from Mrs. Hayes and Mrs. Perkins. Counselors’ Corner Book Fair Volunteers Needed If you are interested, please make sure that you have completed the volunteer training and paperwork beforehand, and sign up here. 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 - don’t miss out! October PTO Meeting Please join us for our next meeting on Tuesday, October 14th at 6:30pm IN PERSON at GMS (please note this has been moved from October 7th due to a scheduling conflict). 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! Griffy Store The next Griffy Store is right around the corner on Friday, October 17th. 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.  To keep the store running, we need VOLUNTEERS during recess times. Please consider volunteering for one of the slots. You can sign-up here! Pumpkin Festival The 8th Annual Pumpkin Festival is scheduled for Friday, October 24th from 6pm - 8pm. Stay tuned for more information and ways you can help make this event a success! October 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 “Kids and Adults” Clothing Thrift Sale The Kids and Adults Clothing sale will be held on October 4 th at the Litchfield Community Church Presbyterian located at 259 Charles Bancroft Highway. It will run from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the downstairs hall. All new and gently used clothing will start at $1.00 per item. As children out-grow their clothing, this is a good time to shop for those new sizes and the new Fall season. Come and see the collection of styles and sizes available. Ski Club 2026 Hello Litchfield Students/Parents! Ski Club 2026 is open and available for registration! We will be at Pat's again on Friday Nights starting in January 2026! This is open to all 1st -12th grade kids in all schools in Litchfield.  Dates for 2026 are January 9, 16, 23, 30, and Feb 6th.  Registration is open from now until 12/31/25. Rates for this year are: Lift Only - $205 Lift/Rental - $295 Lift/Lesson - $305 Lift/Lesson/Rental - $395 Prices will go up $30 per package  after 11/15 Times are 3pm - 8pm.  GMS Lessons at 5:30pm Mountain is open until 10, however students are on their own after 8pm. https://www.patspeak.com/plan-your-visit/lessons-rentals/learn-to-ski-ride-program/ Codes to sign up are: Griffin: GMS2026 LMS: LMS2026 Campbell: CHS2026 Coordinators for this year will be Melissa Feeley for GMS and Brian Stafford for LMS/CHS. Feel free to reach us below: Mkfeeley@gmail.com brian.s.stafford@gmail.com This is NOT a school sponsored event and there will be NO transportation. Carpooling is strongly recommended! 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/