November 14, 2025

 

Griffin Memorial School News At GMS, We THRIVE

November 14, 2025 GMS Families,              This past Monday we had the privilege of honoring our Veterans at our Veterans Day assembly. This is one of our favorite events of the year and always enjoyable. As we had the day off on Tuesday, we remembered their service and sacrifice.            This Tuesday at 6:00 PM in the GMS Cafeteria, we will hold our second Community Forum in connection with the Capital Project for GMS. The topic of this meeting will specifically delve into the reconfiguration of grade levels among the three schools in the district. Some initial drawings will also be available for feedback. Your input and insight is greatly needed and we hope that you will come be part of the conversation and process.              To keep you informed about the Building Project we created a website to help keep you best informed of all information. It can be found HERE or by going to www.griffinmemorialschoolproject.com. We hope this provides the information you need to make the most informed decision when the time comes.  Be Well, Be Curious, and THRIVE, Dan Mitchell, Principal Maura Clinton-Jones, Assistant Principal Upcoming Dates November 18, 2025 Second Community Forum November 21, 2025 Griffy Store at Recesses November 26-28, 2025 No School- Thanksgiving Break December 9-11 PTO- Holiday Store GMS News Book Fair Thank you to everyone who supported the book fair by making purchases, volunteering your time or donating money for students whose families are struggling financially.  An extra thank you to the owner of the Bradley Tree Company who passed by our school sign advertising the book fair, and he wanted to make sure that any students who could not afford books had money to do so.  He donated over $400, which is greatly appreciated!  If anyone is interested in making a donation for the next book fair or knows of a business that might want to, here is the link: https://shop.scholastic.com/stf/fund?orgUCN=600072475  If you are still interested in making purchases to support GMS, the online book fair is still available through November 16th, which is accessible on the homepage. The book fair grossed over $11,000, of which we earn 25% in cash.  That money is used to purchase books and other materials for the library, prize books for the upcoming Read Across America challenge, and Bookflix, to name a few items. If you are interested in checking out Bookflix, the username is gms1 and the password is flix.  Enjoy! 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 PTO News Griffy Store The next Griffy Store of the year is right around the corner on Friday, 11/21. 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. Stay tuned! November 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 December PTO Meeting Please join us for our next meeting on Tuesday, December 9th at 6:30pm via Zoom. Please note that there will not be a meeting in November due to several scheduling conflicts. 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! Calling all 4th Grade Families It is time to start thinking about the 4th grade yearbook. Now is the time to start saving photos to send to us for the yearbook. As you think about photos, please note that all photo submissions should have fourth grade GMS students only. Stay tuned for more information and ways to send us your photos! **All of this information and more may be found on our Facebook Page: GMS PTO NH 2025-2026.** Community News Toys for Tots The Litchfield Police Department is proud to support Toys for Tots this holiday season! They are collecting new, unwrapped toys to help bring joy to children in need. Donation bins are located at GMS, LMS, CHS, and the Town Hall. Donations will be accepted through December 10th. Let’s come together as a community to make sure every child experiences the magic of the holidays! Community Blood Drive Mission: Find more blood donors! Join us to help save lives December 1st from 12:30pm to 5pm at Open Doors Church, hosted by GMS and the GMS PTO. Score a classic pair of Red Cross x PAC-MAN socks when you come to give blood Nov. 17-Dec. 7, while they last. Ready to begin? Book: https://rcblood.org/3IHwtdX Code: LitchfieldNH Christmas in Litchfield 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/