Pony Express
Conectando a GMS en un solo lugar
March 9th
GMS Families,
As we head into Spring Break, let me just remind you that the next newsletter you will see will be on March 23rd. Just because it was the week before Spring Break doesn't mean our students weren't taking care of business.
Our choir competed in their UIL competition this week and received an uncontested Sweepstakes!! Wow! That's a number one rating from ALL 6 judges. Congratulations to Mr. Joe Nidever and all our students that competed this week. We are so proud.
Did you know that GMS sent 43 History Day qualifiers to compete in regionals at UTA this past weekend? 13 of our Ponies are going to STATE!! Yes, that's right! They will be headed to the State competition on April 28th. We are so proud of our students and are hoping to send a few to Nationals! A special shout out goes out to teachers Chad Hannon, Renee Sloan, Amanda Guthrie, Tara Hohenberger, Mickie Dozier, and Janis Davis for helping our students prepare! Wait to you read about the awesome accomplishments of many more groups! It's exciting!
What will the Ponies accomplish next?! The possibilities are endless!!
As you know, there's always something great happening at GMS and it is THE middle school to attend! Please read through this newsletter so you don't miss out on anything. Here’s what you need to know for this week:
English: https://tinyurl.com/y8nfzpdh
Espanol:https://tinyurl.com/y7nkx32w
This session is geared towards students in eighth through twelfth-grade but all are invited to attend. Please Pre-Register here to attend https://goo.gl/forms/gBVSpmWguKt4j0f23
5. Mark Your Calendar for Special Olympics:
March 5, 2018 6 p.m. Triple Threat Shootout Grapevine High School. This is the annual basketball game between local law enforcement, fireman and the GCISD Special Olympians. In addition to the game, there will be a silent auction and concessions. Come join the fun and support Special Olympics.
March 28, 2018 9 a.m. Mustang Panther Relays Cross Timbers Middle School
The following students are who are qualified in the different areas:
Ariyan Abed Science 8
Tanushri Bhatt Calculator 8
Miles Masker Science 8
Walker St. John Science 8
Aneesh Mazumder Calculator, Math and Science 7
Surya Emandi Science 7
Nandini Senthilkumar Calculator 6
Varsha Valiveti Calculator 6
Alec Stour Science 6
Congratulations to these Ponies! Good luck at State!
Here are the results, 1st and 2nd place finishers advance to state.
Group Exhibits
3rd place
Keller Shamburger, Tate Scarborough, and Drew Nelson
Group Documentary
2nd place
Mateo Valencia, Tanner Howe, Jacob Barlett
Individual Documentary
3rd Place
Caden Thomas--Hardwell
Group Performances -GMS SWEPT THIS CATEGORY!
1st Place
Kara Cramer and McKayla Ashley
2nd place
Dylann Hudson, Mercer Schulte, Claire Newton, and Elizabeth Matlock
3rd Place
Ellorie Jones, Jaycee Martin, Kayla Lux, Ayden Cheek
Paper
1st Place
Claire Rodriguez
Individual Website
1st Place
Gabriel Ponce
3rd Place
Rebecca Pavlicin
Group Website
2nd place
Jenna Haefli and Ruth Thode
6th grade calculator:
Nandini Senthilkumar- 2nd place
7th grade calculator:
Aneesh Mazumder- 4th place
Team Awards:
Seventh grade Math-5th place
Eighth grade Math-3rd place
Sixth grade Calculator-3rd place
Seventh grade Calculator-4th place
We are FAMILY! This is OUR HOUSE! Great students come from GREAT FAMILIES!
#OurHouseGMS
Tuesday, March 20th - Exito Hispano, 6:30-8pm, GMS Lecture Hall
Thursday, March 22nd- GMS Track Meet at Carroll MS, 4-7pm
Select Treble
Being Silly
Dungeons and Dragons Club
Awesome Recognition
Sweepstakes Again!
A 3rd Sweepstakes
We have a NEW POLICY across campuses for students utilizing the Clinic:
1. If a student feels bad and needs to come to the clinic, they can get a pass from the teacher for the school nurse, Mrs. Jansen, to assess them.
2. If a student contacts a parent to pick them up, they can remain in the classroom until called down by attendance. This allows the nurse to assess other students that may need further services.
3. If the nurse assesses a student and does not feel they need to go home, the student will be sent back to class. If the student contacts the parent for pick up anyway, they will need to go back to class and wait until attendance calls them back down.
The district goal is to keep students in class as much as possible. Absences affect learning but illness is a reality of everyday life and we recognize that. If you have any other questions, please contact Nurse Connie Jansen.
In order to make the process of schedule pick-up SUPER easy, all upcoming 7th graders (current 6th graders) will need to provide proof of immunization.
On Thursday, April 19th, the Tarrant County Health Department will be at Grapevine Middle School to administer required immunizations to 6th grade students who return a signed parent permission form and $15. They will also be offering the HPV vaccine and while that is not a required immunization, it is highly recommended by the TCHD.
Parents do not need to be present and completed forms must be returned to Nurse Connie Jansen by Monday, April 16th. The permission forms will be sent home with students after Spring Break during 8th period class. Dr. Koehler will send an email when that form is sent home.
Course request for Current 6th and 7th graders
7th grader week of Feb 12th
6th graders week of Feb 19th
Skyward is open for students to request classes until Feb 25th. Course sheets are due Feb 26th.
Applications for gifted and talented identification are being accepted until 2/26. Testing will take place on our campus in March. Qualified students will be eligible to enroll in GT courses beginning in 2018-19. Applications are available in the GMS Front Office.
Math Telescoping Information
See the link to telescoping information in Principal Koehler's section above.
Play It Safe:
Play It Safe is a multi-session curriculum about healthy relationships. It is presented by The Women’s Center.
Students at GMS will see the Play It Safe presentation on these dates:
6th grade-- March 22
Questions may be addressed to Mrs. Lemke at 817-251-5673. The opt out is here:
English--Play It Safe English
Spanish--Play It Safe Spanish
The GCISD Technology Department is offering a series of parent meetings about social media apps and internet safety. For information about topics and dates, please look here.
This is the year that GCISD participates in the bi-annual survey of drug trends in Texas. Texas A&M conducts this survey and the data is used to study adolescent drug trends and to guide the state’s drug prevention/intervention funding.
A random sampling of 7th and 8th graders will be surveyed in their Corral classes during the week before Spring Break. (6th graders will not be surveyed.) The survey results will be anonymous.
For more information about the survey, please read the attached letters, which also include opt-out instructions.
- Last week, 6th graders and their parents celebrated the final week of Cotillion at the Grande Finale! A huge thank you to all the parents who signed up to volunteer each week and to Stacey Comer for organizing cotillion from start to finish! Pictures from Ballroom Night have been uploaded. Pictures from the Grande Finale will be uploaded this week. https://gmscotillion2018.shutterfly.com
Thank you to ALL the volunteers that made this year's Cotillion successful!!
This is my first year to join the PTA and take an active role as the 6th Grade Coordinator. I absolutely loved coordinating the Cotillion, having said that I’m really happy I don’t have a dance next week to prepare for ;) It was a great way to meet other parents, see my son’s old friends and get to know his new friends!
In April, the PTA membership for next school year, 18-19, will be available online: http://www.joinpta.org
The PTA will have many open positions for next year since a number of 8th grade parents are moving to high school. Currently, the PTA’s BIG GOAL is to raise money for a digital sign to replace the 1970’s sign near the football field. If you have a small business, work for a company interested in donating, or individually contribute, please contact Candy Worthan, PTA president, or Dr. Koehler.
candy.worthan@gmail.com
laura.koehler@gcisd.net
- Nominating Committee: Plans are underway for an outstanding 2018-19 school year at GMS PTA! The Nominating Committee is currently accepting nominations to fill the Executive Board for next year. Our 1st need is for volunteers to fill officer positions. Nominations for other positions will also be accepted. We are using a Google form to make it super easy to respond and find the position that best fits you! https://goo.gl/forms/4VXkSuR3OCPqNQZ62 For questions, please contact Jo Kruzel at jobclayton@yahoo.com. Thank you for your interest!
- World Wear Project: Time for Spring Cleaning to begin! Please donate your gently used shoes, clothing, purses, belts, wallets, hats, caps, backpacks, hard toys, stuffed animals, & pots/pans into the World Wear Project bin, located in the circle drive near the gym entrance. For every pound collected, we receive $0.12. Help do your part to Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle!
Graduating 2018 Seniors are invited to apply for PTA Scholarships
To stay connected with all the latest PTA news be sure to like our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/grapevinemiddleschoolpta/
Cotillion Fun!
Ballroom Dancing
Shared Experience
College Recruitment Fair--Hosted by AVID 7 and 8
Please join us at our Mock College Recruitment fair on Thursday, March 29th from 2:00pm-2:30pm! AVID 7th and 8th graders will be representing a college and will try to “recruit” as many new students as possible! We would love to see you there.
6th Grade Field Trip
AVID 6th graders will be visiting the UTA campus on Tuesday, March 26th. We will need at least 5 parent chaperones, so please save the date! Forms and more information have been sent home, but can be printed here. Please email Mrs. Shepherd if your are willing to chaperone at trelawny.shepherd@gcisd.net and complete a background check by clicking here. Forms were due Friday, March 9th, but can be returned Monday, March 19th
Join AVID Next year!
Know someone who would be perfect for the AVID class? AVID Applications are live! GMS is looking for incoming 6th, 7th and 8th graders to join the AVID elective class. CHHS and GHS are also taking applications for incoming freshman. You can apply by following this link. .Applications are due March 23rd.
Save the date!
AVID will be helping with Rachel’s Challenge, both with race activities and then hosting a booth at the rally after. The event will be April 21st from 7am-11am. Save the date! We will have a signup closer to the event.
What’s happening in AVID?
Check out our Facebook page for class updates, pictures and more!
Community Service
See pictures below from the 8th grade STEM field trip to San Marcos!
Schedule:
March 19th-23rd- ABACB
BAND:
ART:
Our District art show is March 19 - April 2nd. The Reception is on Thursday, March 22nd from 6-7pm at the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau (636 S Main Street, Grapevine). We hope to see you there!!!
CHOIR:
Congratulations to a new accomplishment for our GMS Choir!
On Monday, our NV Treble girls earned a the highest possible rating of a Sweepstakes. On Tuesday, Varsity Treble girls and Varsity Tenor/Bass boys also earned the highest possible ratings of a Sweepstakes!
This is a new campus record for GMS! There has never been a year when all 7th and 8th graders earned a Sweepstakes for a grand total of 3!
Applications are now being accepted for all current 7th and 8th grade students for membership in the National Junior Honor Society of GMS.
The National Junior Honor Society is the nation's premier organization established to recognize outstanding middle level students. More than just an honor roll, NJHS serves to honor those students who have demonstrated excellence in the ares of scholarship, leadership, service, citizenship and character. These characteristics have been associated with membership in the organization since its beginning in 1929.
Today, it is estimated that more than one million students participate in the official Honor Society activities. NHS and NJHS chapters are found in all 50 states. Chapter membership not only recognizes students for their accomplishments, but challenges them to develop further through active involvement in school activities and community service.
Applications may be picked up in the front office, or in Mrs. Sloan's or Mrs. Kirby's rooms.The due date for completion of all paperwork is Monday, March 26, 2018. We encourage you to apply for this highly honored and recognized organization.
The induction ceremony into this prestigious group is scheduled for the evening of April 18, 2018 here at GMS
Here's a link to the application: https://tinyurl.com/ycezof4x
The Pony Pride Dance Team is preparing for tryouts. An information meeting will take place on March 19th. Anyone interested should email Mrs. Mercer!
Save the date!
StuCo will be helping with Rachel’s Challenge, both with race activities and then hosting a booth at the rally after. The event will be April 21st from 7am-11am. Save the date! We will have a signup closer to the event.
Meeting
Our next meeting will be Tuesday, March 27th during Corral
Boys Track and Field Results
March 2nd
The Ponies ran in their second meet of the year last night and did an outstanding job of competing while being shorthanded. The 7th Grade Boys finished 3rd with 127 points. The 8th Grade Boys finished third as well with 133 Points.
7th Grade Results:
1st place finishers
Victor De La Cruz- Long Jump-17”
Tyler Meers- 400m Run 1:04
Chris Price- 110m Hurdles-19.5 and 300m Hurdles-49.78
2nd Place finishers
Ryan Wolter- 100M Dash-12.8 and Triple Jump 33” 3’
3rd Place finishers-
Keller Shamberger-Shot Put-27”0
400M Relay- Tyler Meers, Victor De La Cruz, Drew Nelson, Elijah Canafax- 4:32
Gabe Aldaco- 1600m Run-5:53
8th Grade Results:
1st Place Finishers-
Leon Covington-Triple Jump-41’0
Leo Covington- Long Jump 17” 7 1/2
4x100m Relay-Leon Covington, Brody Day, Saivaihn S, Leo Covington-49.5
4x200m Relay-Leon Covington, Brody Day, Leo Covington, Saiviahn Shockley- 1:44.00
2nd Place Finishers
Leo Covington-Shot Put-38” 4’
Brody Day-Long Jump 17” 3.5’
Adriene White- 110m Hurdles-18.10
Walker St.John-400m Dash-1:00.09
Saivaihn Shockley-24.99
3rd Place Finishers
Josue Granados-2400m run- 8:11.09
Leo Covington-100m Dash-12.09
4x400m Relay-Walker S, Leon C, Elijah M, Adriene W- 4:27.00
Michael Allen-400m-1:01
Girls Track and Field Results
March 8th
The Ponies had another successful track meet at CTMS for the Pony Up Track and Field Invitation last night. All the athletes did an outstanding job of competing and left it all out on the track. Each competitor has worked extremely hard at practice and the hard work really paid off. The 7th Grade Girls came out strong and finished 4th with 109 points. The 8th Grade Girls came out strong as well and finished with 111 points also coming in 4th.
7th Grade Results:
1st place finishers
Samantha Jackson Discus-75’8”
2nd Place finishers-
Scarlett Reed- 400M Dash-1:09.8
Savannah Burgin- Discus-65’0”
McKayla Ashley- Pole Vault-6’0”
Jade Juline- Pole Vault-6’0”
3rd Place Finishers
Serenia Granados-1600M Run-6:34.0
Jaycee Martin- 2400M Run-9:48.19
Lexi Crome- Discus- 58’8”
Samantha Jackson – Shotput-28’1”
April Augustus – Triple Jump – 27’7”
4x200M Relay: Jaeda Vitalli
April Augustus
Lily Olmos
DeNae Vasques-Dickson
4x400M Relay: Scarlett Reed
Serenia Granados
Marina Barrera
Jaycee Martin
8th Grade Results:
1st Place Finishers-
Danny Navarro – 1600M Run- 6:01.0
Danny Navarro – 2400M Run – 9:29.0
Caelyn Gunn – Discus – 77’8”
Caelyn Gunn – High Jump – 4’8”
2nd Place Finishers
Jackie Molina – 2400M Run – 9:32.0
3rd Place Finishers
Jackie Molina – 1600M Run – 6:11.0
Kaylee Lewis – Discus – 53’6”
Nadia Morris – Shotput – 28’8”
Dual Language is so appreciative for the entire GMS campus coming together and helping raise money for our school. The Color Battle was a huge success! See pictures above! Thank you again on behalf of Dual Language!
*Any time at VISTA
*2 or more times in ISS
*UIL academically eligible
*No more than 2 "N"s or "U"s on their citizenship grade for the 3rd 9 weeks
Remember, it they're not taking care of business in their classes, they are NOT attending this field trip privilege.
Grapevine Middle School
Email: laura.koehler@gcisd.net
Website: http://www.gcisd-k12.org/gms
Location: 301 Pony Parkway, Grapevine, TX, United States
Phone: 817-251-5660
Facebook: facebook.com/GrapevineMiddleSchool
Twitter: @GrapevineMiddle