Jaguar News
Volume 1, Issue 20 - January 19, 2018
This year we are trying to be more systematic with our routines and procedures at Gentry, while at the same time providing more freedom to students. We want to prepare them for high school while we keep a safe and orderly environment. Part of those freedoms has been allowing students to use their cellphones during lunch time. This has increased the level of communication between students and families, and reduced the number of phone calls to the office. We appreciate the reduced load, as it allows us to take care of our daily business. However, many students use their cellphones in the hallways (or classroom), when it is not allowed.
We are asking you to partner with us reminding your student what are the expectations at Gentry. Students can only have their cellphones at school during lunch time. If the issue with the phones continues to be a distraction we might have to change our policy, which might result in confiscating phones or not allowing phones at school altogether.
Thank you for your constant support!
Summer School Announcement
Secondary Summer School enrollment begins Tuesday, February 6.
- The online enrollment option opens at 9:00 a.m. Parents must have a Home Access account to use the online option found at www.cpsk12.org/ssenroll.
- Paper copies of the registration guide and enrollment form materials will be available in the school counseling office for those who choose not to use the online enrollment option.
- We strongly encourage you to review the registration guide prior to selecting courses to make sure you are aware of grade restrictions, pre-requisites and course requirements.
Media Center Minute
- Students will be taking the Pre-MAP test during the next two weeks. There is a listening section where they will need headphones or earbuds. Please remind your student to bring those everyday so they will have them on the day that they need them.
- All students should check their IOS on their iPad and make sure it is updated to version 11.2.2. We are seeing a lot of random issues that can be fixed by completing this update.
RBHS Course Fair Night
RBHS will be holding its Course Fair Night this coming Monday, January 22nd from 5:30-7:30 pm at Rock Bridge High School. This is an opportunity for 8th grade students and their parents to gain valuable information on both core and elective course offerings for next year. RBHS will also present information on CACC courses, the A+ Program, AVID and online classes. Each presentation will be repeated every 20 minutes so families can come and go as their schedule allows. Bruin gear will also be on hand for families to purchase. Hope to see you there!
National Geographic Bee
Congratulations to the Top Ten Finalists in Gentry’s portion of the National Geographic Bee.
Abigail Bridgeman
Kristin Clayton
Braden Wilmeth
Pedro Kfuri
Eli Off
Rachel Bailey
Gram Coaliler
Rohan Rao
Kate Endersby
Shadid Shakawat
Nearly all of Gentry’s 875+ students participated in the first round of competition, from which forty-six students were declared “classroom winners”. They were invited to compete in the semifinals of the competition, a difficult, 50 question, short answer, written test. Our top ten finalist were the students with the highest scores on that test.
Our finalists will now compete in the finals on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 2:45 in our Media Center. Feel free to join us and cheer them on. Our winner will take a written test to qualify for the State GeoBee. The state champ then travels to Washington DC to the National Geographic headquarters to compete in National Bee in May and for a chance to win a $50,000 Scholarship! We’d love one of our Top Ten Finalists to be that scholarship recipient! Good luck to them all.
Spinal Screening
A spinal screening will be offered to 4th, 5th and 6th grade girls, 7th and 8th grade boys and 7th grade girls and 9th grade boys who are new to Columbia Public Schools or who previously had an abnormal spinal screening.
See attachment for more info!
Spelling Bee
Our 2018 Spelling Bee will take place on Thursday, January 25th at 2:35pm in the media center. Those students who have already pre-qualified as finalists from their classroom spelling bees have been busy studying the national spelling list and will be competing to become the winner of the 2018 GMS Spelling Bee. Parents and students are welcome to come watch the competition. If we have a snow day, we will hold our make-up competition on January 30th.
Sport Physicals
Sports medicine physicians from the Columbia Orthopaedic Group along with athletic trainers from Peak Sport and Spine will once again be offering $20 sport physicals. This event will take place on February 10th from 8:00-11:00 am at the Columbia Orthopaedic Group located at 1 South Keene Street, Columbia Missouri 65201. No appointments are necessary and all sport physicals will be good for the 2018/19 school year.
Vote for Gentry Teachers!
Please, join me congratulating these outstanding educators!
PTSA Notes
- Rock Bridge High School will be holding an open house for all incoming freshman students/parents this upcoming Monday, 1/22 from 5:30-7:30pm in the RBHS commons area. There will be representatives from all core classes and elective courses present to answer any scheduling questions you may have. If you are new to this process, this will be an excellent opportunity to have your questions answered.
- PTSA is working with several individuals from our district to start having special guests/presentation at our upcoming meetings. Please check back at these notes in the following weeks to see what we have planned for February and March meetings.
- PTSA is also working with our administration to help raise money to put a much needed sound system in gym. This is a large expense and we will be asking for help. This sound system will allow our athletic department and our band program to bring a much more exciting atmosphere to their events as well as enhance our overall school community. We hope that we can all pull together to make this happen for GMS this year. More info coming soon...
- We had our first 8th grade activities meeting yesterday. We have several new ideas for our end of the year fun. If you are interested in assisting with the planning and execution of these events we invite you to join us for our next planning meeting on Wednesday, 1/31 at 6pm in the media center. We are looking for volunteers to help put all of the fun details together to ensure that our 8th grade students have a great time. If you are unable to attend but would still like to help, please email Mandy Llewellyn at mandyllew@aol.com so we can keep you in on the conversations.
- Our next PTSA meeting will be on Tuesday, February 6th at 6pm in the media center. We will be voting on a few financial expenditures and would love input from our members. We hope everyone can attend.
Winter Athletic Recognition Night - Reminder
We will be hosting our Winter Athletic Recognition Night on January 24th at 6:30 pm in the cafetorium. This is a time for the coaches of our Winter sports to recognize both the accomplishments of their team as a whole and of individual athletes on the team. Parents of athletes are welcome to attend and enjoy this nice wrap-up and conclusion to our Winter athletic season. Hope to see you there!
Student Teachers
Joseph Chalupny - Mr. Barhorts
Dayla Gruenloh - Mrs. Sirois
Katelyn Higginbotham - Mrs. Powell
Laura Schieber - Mrs. Carso
Jesse Singleton - Ms. Thuy
Kaylee Vitt - Mrs. Jackson
Katie Tillotson - Mrs. Jackson
Random Acts of Kindness
Dates to Remember
January 15 - No School
January 16 - 8th grade visit to Rock Bridge HS
January 18 - PTSA meeting - 8th grade end of the year activities @ 12:00pm
January 23 - Geography Bee
January 23 - Band Instrument try out night
January 23 - February 7 - Pre-MAP testing
January 24 - Winter Athletic Recognition Night
January 25 - Spelling Bee
January 30 - Spelling Bee make-up date
February 5 - No school
February 6 - PTSA meeting at 6:00 pm
February 6 - 7 & 8 Grade Parent Track & Field info meeting
February 9 - IPR's sent home
For practices and games check Gentry website!
Dr. Fairouz Bishara
Email: fbishara@cpsk12.org
Website: https://www.cpsk12.org/Domain/17
Phone: (573) 214-3240
Twitter: @FairouzBishara