December 5, 2025

 

Griffin Memorial School News At GMS, We THRIVE

December 5, 2025 GMS Families,              We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Break. We are back with a short but busy stretch of the school year. This week even saw our first remote learning day. Thank you to everyone as we navigated the glitches and bumps that come along with the first weather day of the season. Overall, it was a rather successful day. Between that day and today's temperatures there is no denying that Winter is indeed upon us. As a reminder, if the temperature is above 20 degrees we will have outdoor recess. In order for the students to play in the snow, please send them in with full snow gear that includes a jacket, boots, gloves, and hat. Any student that does not have snow gear will be restricted to the blacktop area for recess. Thank you for your understanding.          As we continue the work towards addressing the building needs of GMS, we will hold a third Community Forum on Monday December 15 at 6:00 in the Campbell High School Auditorium. At this forum we will present final options for consideration as well as cost and price considerations. Please consider joining us and having your voice be part of the conversation.         Now for a little fun, you should mention to your kids that today was the 67th Day of school and see what happens..... You're welcome! Be Well, Be Curious, and THRIVE, Dan Mitchell, Principal Maura Clinton-Jones, Assistant Principal Upcoming Dates December 9-11 PTO- Holiday Store December 15, 2025 Community Forum #3 6:00 PM @ CHS December 19, 2025 Holiday Spirit/ Ugly Sweater Day December 22, 2025- January 2, 2026 Holiday Break GMS News 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 Holiday Store We are thrilled to announce that the GMS PTO Holiday Store will be open next week on December 9th & 10th! December 11th will be reserved as an inclement weather day, a make-up day for students, or an additional shopping day for those who would like to shop again. The holiday store gives our K-4 students the chance to experience the joy of holiday shopping for their loved ones. We are in need of volunteers to help the students pick out their perfect gift. Inventory forms have started making their way home, and a copy can be found here. Be sure to check the PTO Facebook page over the weekend for a holiday store guide with photos of the items! December PTO Meeting Please join us for our next meeting on Tuesday, December 9th 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 look forward to seeing you there! Holiday Cheer Meal The PTO is hosting a lunch for GMS staff on Thursday, December 18th. If you are interested in donating an item, contributing via Venmo, or helping to set up, please click here to sign up. Please contact Sarah Vasil at sarah_willis01338@yahoo.com with any questions. December 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 CALLING ALL 4th GRADE FAMILIES - YEARBOOK UPDATE Photo collection - PAST years It’s time to start sending in those photos for the yearbook! At this time, we are collecting photos from PAST years. Please note that all photo submissions should have current 4th grade GMS students only. We’d love to include your treasured snapshots! Here's how to submit photos: If you have a Google email account, please use the Google Form  If you do not have a Google email account, please email photos directly to gmsyearbook2026@gmail.com Please do not submit photos from Facebook as they do not transfer well. Please also note that we will try our best to include as many submitted photos as possible, but reserve the right to select images based on space, image quality, and subject matter. We also strive to ensure that each student is represented equally. Help us make this year’s yearbook full of amazing memories! Yearbook Sponsorships Each year, the GMS PTO is proud to present our graduating 4th graders with a yearbook that captures their special memories from their time at GMS. If you’re a business owner and are interested in partnering with us for the upcoming publication, please fill out the sponsorship form.  Please contact the yearbook coordinators at gmsyearbook2026@gmailcom 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 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! Breakfast with Santa 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/