Last week, while students were out on Monday, our staff members were busy learning during District Learning Day.

DLD brought about time for teachers to collaborate across grade levels, from school to school. Our PE teachers trained with bows and [school-safety] arrows, to prepare for a soon-to-be archery unit for students. Art teachers traveled to a neighboring school district to learn with experts from the River Arts Festival. Math teachers worked together to evaluate math instruction materials for the upcoming school year. Elementary teachers in lower grades worked with an outside instructor to enhance their knowledge and practice of target based grading.

There were many sessions throughout the day, including a session about Ready Graduate by Ethan Constant and a special ACT preparation session for high school teachers taught by guest educator and ACT representative, Wes Gentry. Teachers went over the test itself, focusing on improving student outcomes by tailoring teaching strategies to data connections and ACT standards. Later in the day, elementary teachers gathered to hear a session by Milken Educator Award winner, Alexa Guynes, who shared her expertise on the TCAP Writing Assessment after serving on the TN Department of Education writing committee.

Jason Manuel,

Superintendent

Join us for our Teacher of the Year, Principal of the Year and Supervisor of the Year Celebration on Tuesday, February 28th at our February Business Meeting.

Teachers of the Year: Valerie McKinney, Jon House, and Alicia Breen

Principal of the Year: ShaMira Davis

Supervisor of the Year: Karen Dodd

The Germantown Board of Education is also proud to continue its state-level recognitions of young artists. On Tuesday, join us to celebrate members of the TN Treble Choir, All-State Theater students, and those who earned a Gold Key from the nationally recognized Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Look below for who's being recognized!

All-State Treble Choir

McKay Boston

Victoria Britson

Ashlyn Campbell

Molly Lovan

Rainorah Pare'

Lara Yaligar

Campbell Conaway

Timothy McCarver

Sofia Ovando

Ellis Saffer

Jonah Timmons

Addelyn Simpson

Fletcher Horrell

Harper Tilson

Petula Kruzan

Madelyn Hughey

Audrey Cox

Lucy Brooks

Carter Kidd

Emily Chow

Rini Hinkle

Gold Key Winners in the Scholastic Art & Writing Competition

Grayson Auger

Eleanor Hsueh

Sydney Kong

Shirley Kong

Addie Smith

Renee Wang

Claire Yang

Harrison Shao

Aubree Jiang

Yifei Ren

Rachel Yan

All-State Musical Theater

Sarah Johnson

Megan Waugh

Congratulations to both Kairavi Garde', Logan Wu, and Trevor Hodgson for achieving A PERFECT SCORE on the ACT examination.

This week, we are also continuing to celebrate our CTE programs--with some photos from the Culinary Lab, a Health Sciences Led Health Fair, Blood Drive, and Career Guest Speakers Series at Houston High School. This week, our fine arts students were visited by industry heavyweights, The Memphis Metal Museum and Playhouse on the Square to learn some backstage crafts. In the culinary lab, they cooked up a pasta as they sharpened their kitchen skills. Local realtors came to speak to the career development classes to share their pathways to success. Our HOSA students had a busy week with a student led health fair and blood drive.

Meet Bella Bialowitz, a 7th grader who's on track to earn her pilot's license through the U.S. Civil Air Patrol by the age of 15. She is heavily involved in the program for aspiring U.S. Air Force members and is enrolled in GMSD through our online option, the Germantown Online Academy of Learning (GOAL). GOAL gives her the flexibility to pursue her 'goal' of becoming a pilot and her dream of joining the Air Force.

The Little Mermaid Jr.

Featuring students from Riverdale K-8 School

Thursday-Saturday, March 2, 3, 4 @ 7pm

*Matinee on Saturday March 4 @ 2pm

Chicago: The Teen Version

Featuring students from Houston High School

Monday, February 27 @ 7pm

Friday, March 3 @ 7-m

Saturday, March 4 @ 7pm

Have you downloaded our Houston Athletics App? GMSD is excited to announce that middle school feeder programs will be added to the app and website in Quarter Four.

Congratulations to our students who placed at the TSSAA State Wrestling Championships. Houston High students Colby Baltz (4th Place) and Dean Carrion (6th Place) earned top ten spots in the state.

Sophie Goold - Senior at Houston High School, Girls Varsity Lacrosse

Sophie Goold is a dedicated student athlete, and she has been playing lacrosse competitively since the 7th grade. She is one of the team captains, and her steady and calm demeanor encourages her teammates both on and off the field.

Ahmed Daoud - Eighth Grader at Houston Middle School, Basketball

Ahmed Daoud began playing basketball in the second grade, and his goal is to make it to the NBA. He is a great team player and a very driven athlete, and he is most dangerous behind the three point line.

Dogwood's popular Envision Expo will be expanding to ALL elementary schools this spring. Mark your calendars for this expo of student research projects. Gifted students pick topics, research, and then present them to community members.

The Falcons are bringing back some of the classics to Farmington. This week, they hosted a classic egg drop lesson (see video above).

And, Farmington Elementary did it! They raised the full $60,000 for their Gather Around the Table Campaign. They celebrated with a visit by the Ninja Gym on Friday and have some more tricks up their sleeve to celebrate reaching their spring fundraising goal!

The Forest Hill Elementary PTO hosted a well attended mother-son event, Boots and Bling. Check out some adorable Instagram reels here. "It was a boot scootin’ good time for our Forest Hill mothers and sons tonight! Hot dogs, dancing, bounce houses, and fun with Fox friends," shared FHES PTO President Joni Hester (pictured with her two 'dudes' above).

Riverdale hosted a month-long celebration of Black History. Celebrations included well-done art installations, dress-up days (bringing it back to the 90's in the photos above), and a Motown-themed choir concert.

The groups came together to collaborate on diagnosis and placement in exceptional education programs in GMSD. The sessions were organized by Germantown Municipal School District School Psychologists. Thanks to all those who participated.

What is Snapshots?

Hear from teachers, administrators, and other surprise guests at each of our six schools. Discover what makes working at Germantown Municipal School District special as you enjoy a tour, engaging activities, and casual conversation.

Houston High- Tues. March 7th from 3:30-5:30

Forest Hill Elem- Thurs. March 9th from 5:00-6:30

Houston Middle- Tues. March 21st from 3:30-5:30

Dogwood Elem- Thurs. March 23rd from 5:00-6:30

Farmington Elem- Tues. March 28th from 4:30-6:30

Riverdale Elem- Thurs. March 30th from 4:30-6:30

The February Teacher of the Month recipient was honored by the Education Commission at last week's meeting of the City of Germantown Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

The February Teacher of the Month was awarded to Ms. McKenzie Stafford, a third grade math teacher at Dogwood Elementary School. Ms. Stafford is an enthusiastic educator with a caring heart. She refers to her students as "Stafford's Seagulls" and works hard to create a welcoming and warm environment for them.

Ms. Stafford is passionate about her job and helping students learn what they need to know to succeed. "Her energy in the classroom is contagious!" writes one nominating parent. "The kids actually have fun and look forward to being greeted each day by Ms. Stafford with a big smile, hug, encouraging word and excitement. My daughter now says that math is her favorite subject."

Ms. Stafford begins every class with a class pledge that reminds students that making mistakes means they are learning. A peer nominator writes "She does like to make learning fun, but she is also very serious about her job to teach academics. Her math class is challenging and makes connections throughout lessons. She is reaching students at all levels."

Another nominating parent writes "Our daughter has a severe speech delay that makes it hard for her to be understood by her teachers and peers. Thanks to Ms. Stafford's efforts, our daughter is able to fully participate in the classroom and be accepted by everyone."

In addition to teaching, Ms. Stafford, a new teacher, is eager to learn from other veteran teachers. In her free time, she attends school sporting events and performances to cheer on her students. She also volunteers at the Ronald McDonald House to cook and clean for the families there.

Dustin Smith with Smith's Plumbing Services stepped up to make sure that the our Unicorn Sparkle Cheerleaders all had tickets to an upcoming Memphis Grizzlies game in March. As an added bonus, our mixed ability cheer squad will be performing at halftime!!