Glacier Ridge Gazette
Glacier Ridge Elementary School | March 3, 2023
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Glacier Ridge Gazette
Principal’s Message
Family Conferences
We value school and home collaboration in order to support students. Research states that student success increases where there is communication and collaboration between teachers, parents/families, and students about their learning and progress. Family conferences are one of the ways that we do that. Therefore, we would like to get a little feedback about conferences.
First, let me give you a little background. Teachers spend extensive hours preparing for conferences. You may have noticed that they will often have a conference sheet of notes, a slide deck with information, or printed form for you. Preparing the information takes analysis of the data throughout the semester and then summarizing the important parts in order to communicate effectively and efficiently.
That brings me to my second point. We often hear that conferences should be longer. Fifteen minutes is a short amount of time and we recognize that. However, fifteen minutes multiplied by an average of 24 students per class is six hours of conference time for the teacher. That is on top of transition time between conferences and the hours spent preparing for the conferences. Our teachers are amazing and often go well beyond the allocated time in order to provide great service and information to families.
My last point is that we have a structure that we try to use to deliver information about students that is personalized, which is guided using three questions: 1) What do I know about your child; 2) What data did I use to gather that information; 3) What are my next instructional steps? We also sometimes offer student-led conferences in the spring.
Research states that ownership of your learning builds efficacy and increased student achievement. It is a great learning opportunity for students to reflect on their own learning, strengths, areas of growth, and next steps. Based on the time constraints, we can’t always offer a student-led conference and a traditional conference for every student. Therefore, we will often offer traditional conferences to families that specifically request one rather than scheduling with every family; thereby allowing time for student-led conferences.
WIth those things in mind, we have a VERY brief 3 question survey about conferences to help guide our planning for next year.
Complete the survey HERE
As you can see, we always want to get better at GRE. We can certainly do more, but more is not necessarily better. That leads to burnout. The enjoyment of our jobs is what makes teachers and staff great at what they do. However, we do want to have a growth mindset so that we continue to be learners as well. Thanks for coming to conferences, or supporting your child’s teacher, or completing the survey, or a combination of the three.
Have a great weekend,
Pete
Glacier Ridge Information
Read Across GRE with Kindness and Compassion!
“The more you READ, the more things you will KNOW. The more you LEARN, the more places you ‘ll go!”
~ Dr. Seuss
This week at GRE we had some amazing opportunities to be authors, read, write, create and learn about the connection of kindness and compassion for others through our Read Across GRE Week!
Spirit week is coming up: March 13 - 17
Monday, March 13 - Hat Day
Tuesday, March 14 - Mismatch
Wednesday, March 15 - Individual Spring Pictures- Dress Fancy Day
Thursday, March 16 - Class Picture Day-GRE Spirit Day
Friday, March 17 - St. Patrick’s Day Festive
Spring pictures are coming up: March 15 & 16
Individual pictures will be taken on March 15. There is no pre-order for spring individual pictures. Families will have the opportunity to purchase them after proofs come home.
Class pictures will be taken on March 16. Order forms for class pictures will be coming home on Monday.
Remember that it is spirit week that week. We coordinated our themes around picture days.
LAST CALL FOR YEARBOOKS!
Did you order a yearbook? It is not too late to order your 2022-2023 yearbook! Please visit the online sale site, book.hrimaging.com to order yours before March 7th! Not sure if you already ordered or not? If you have already ordered, a message will appear letting you know so you won’t duplicate. The price of the book is $17.00.
Note* If your child is recently enrolled, their name may not populate in the website. You can call HRImaging at 740.369.4215 to order.
Student Profile Form
This form is for families to provide information about their child for next year.
Please take the time to read this form carefully in its entirety. This is the time of the year when parents and teachers begin to think about what is ahead for our students in the 2023-2024 school year. Your child’s present grade level, the guidance counselor, support staff, and the principals will collaborate to generate next year’s classes. Please complete the student profile form if you would like to give input into your child’s learning needs. This form is optional.
WHAT TO INCLUDE: Include any pertinent information regarding your child’s learning needs and the characteristics of the kind of classroom environment that will support her/his success. You may also include any student relationships that may positively or negatively affect your child’s learning.
WHAT NOT TO INCLUDE: Please do not request a specific teacher. Due to the complexity of the classroom placement procedure, we will not honor a parent request for a specific teacher. Please do not ask current teachers to comment on the teachers in the next grade level.
Decisions about your child’s classroom placement are made in collaboration with other colleagues and depend upon many social, emotional, and academic considerations. We believe this procedure will create balanced, educationally sound class groups that will ultimately benefit all of our students. The important information you provide will assist the team in determining the best classroom placement for your child. Please DO NOT discuss next year’s placement with your child’s current teacher. Please DO NOT request a specific teacher by name.
This form is due by Friday, March 31, 2023. We will NOT accept any forms after the deadline.
You can complete the form HERE.
Smartwatches & Cell Phones
Smart watches have become more popular over the recent years. They fall into the category of cell phones and communication devices in the student handbook. If your child wears a smart watch please review the handbook policies:
They should be in school mode, off, or in the backpack during school hours.
If they become a learning distraction for students, the school will have students store them in their backpack.
Students should not use them as a communication device during school. Students and parents should communicate through school staff if there is a need for children and parents to communicate. Bloomz, email, and phone are direct ways for parents to communicate.
If students are ill, they should visit the clinic rather than texting their parents.
Students must remove them during testing.
Parents should have a conversation with their children about these items if they wear a smartwatch.
Spring Flower Sale
The Spring Flower Sale is underway!! You should have received your seller’s unique link from fundraiseit.com on March 1 st . Sales will continue until March 17 th , but to encourage early sales, we will be raffling off some vintage GRE spirit wear! Any student who sells at least 2 items by Sunday, March 5 th will be entered in a drawing to receive one of the shirts pictured below. This is in addition to all of the fantastic prize raffles we have already announced.
If you have any questions about the flower sale, please contact Heather Anderson at heathermailhouston@yahoo.com.
Upcoming Author Visit
Glacier Ridge is excited to welcome Stacy McAnulty on Monday, March 6th for our 2023 visiting author. We are eager to meet her and learn about her nonfiction work! Thank you again to PTO for funding this amazing visit!
Sign Up and Volunteer Opportunities
Tiger Student Announcements
We have a new and exciting opportunity for 2nd thru 5th graders at Glacier Ridge this year! Would you like to start your day saying “Hello!” to everyone at Glacier Ridge in the morning? Then sign up to read the morning announcements! If you would like to find out more about this opportunity and sign up to be a Tiger Student Announcer then go to this link via SignUp Genius: GRES Tiger Student Announcements
Glacier Ridge Greeter Team
Glacier Ridge Elementary believes in creating a caring and comfortable environment for its community of learners. This begins as students enter the front doors of the school in the morning. Our student greeters help facilitate this goal!
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GRE EVENTS
Upcoming Events
Mar 7: 2nd Grade CogAt Testing
Mar 8: 2nd Grade Music Program @ 7:00 pm
Mar 12: Daylight savings
Mar 13 - 17: Spirit Week
Monday- Hat Day!
Tuesday- Mismatch!
Wednesday-Individual Spring Pictures- Dress Fancy Day
Thursday- Class Picture Day-GRE Spirit Day
Friday- St. Patrick’s Day Festive
Mar 14: 4th Grade CogAt Testing
Mar 15: Spring picture day
Mar 16: Class picture day
March 18-26th: Spring Break
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DISTRICT NEWS
District Updates
Summer Camps and Afterschool Programs
Looking for summer camps or after school programs? Check out Info Hub and Community Ed on our website. The Info Hub links to local organizations, such as DYA, Dublin Sailing Club and others. Check it out here. We also are posting all Community Ed after school programs on our Community Education page of the website.
Listen to Your Classmates at the State of the Community
The Coffman High School Pep Band and Jerome String Quartet will be performing at the City of Dublin’s State of the Community event, Thursday, March 9, 6-8 p.m. Bring the whole family to The Exchange at Bridge Park to hear about the successes and strengths of Dublin. Enjoy interactive stations and refreshments! Find out more.
St. Patrick’s Day Parade: Volunteer + Spread the Cheer!
Are you participating in the Greenest, Grandest parade next weekend? If you are, help share the fun and tag the City of Dublin in your photos on social media! It’s not too late to volunteer and join the experience! The City is accepting volunteer sign-ups through March 9. We’re looking for balloon handlers and costume characters!
Need more information? Visit our sites below.
Attendance
If your child will be absent from school, please email our attendance line at gres_attendance@dublinschools.net.
Glacier Ridge Elementary
Email: glacierridge_info@dublinschools.net
Website: https://www.dublinschools.net/Domain/18
Location: 7175 Glacier Ridge Boulevard, Dublin, OH, USA
Phone: 614.733.0012
Twitter: @greDCSD