Geist Gazette
August 27, 2021
GEIST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Website: https://ges.hseschools.org/
Location: 14051 East 104th Street, Fishers, IN 46037
Phone: 317-915-4260
Twitter: @Geistgators
Book Fees will be Posted in September
Interested in paying online? Click here for efunds instructions.
Note from the Principal,
Safety week was a great success and your students did wonderful on the drills. We are thankful to the FPD and FFD for coming out to say hello to our students on our final day!
Our students have been super excited about the new batch of fish that arrived last Wednesday! The fish tank sits in the middle of the building, in the "X", and they enjoy seeing all the different families of fish!
Finally, our students have been hard at work in ART creating their flowers! We have a beautiful display that has been created in the hallway across from the library. See the picture above for details.
Thank you again for your support of your child's teacher and your neighborhood school! Please take time to review all the information in the newsletter. There is important information regarding our major fundraiser called the Gator Gallop! The students love the Gator Gallop and the proceeds go to support our staff and students.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful children with us each day,
Christi Thomas,
Principal of GES
FFD and FPD visiting during Safety Week
Making our flowers
NEW FISH!
Parent Information for Social Emotional Learing
Dear GES Families,
We want your child to be successful in school and that means supporting and encouraging their whole development. While excelling in academic classes is important, children also need skills to take on learning challenges, make good decisions, manage strong emotions, and get along with others.
Beginning the week of Sept. 13th, we will begin Second Step Elementary, a researched-based social-emotional learning program designed to improve children’s social-emotional skills. Second Step skills and concepts are designed to help children both in and out of school. Four units will cover the following:
Growth Mindset & Goal Setting: Children learn how to pay attention and manage distractions, develop a growth mindset, and apply goal-setting strategies to their social and academic lives.
Emotion Management: Children learn how to identify and label emotions and use emotion-management strategies-including stress management for older students, to calm feelings down.
Empathy and Kindness: Children learn how to recognize kindness and act kindly, have empathy for others and take others’ perspectives, and recognize kind acts and empathy as important elements of building and maintaining relationships.
Problem-Solving: Children learn how to identify and state a problem, recognize if a problem is an accident, and use the STEP problem-solving process:
- S: Say the problem
- T: Think of Solutions
- E: Explore the outcomes
- P: Pick a solution
We are also implementing Mind Up Curriculum, brain science for emotional regulation, mindfulness for tasks and emotional support and Common Sense Media curriculum to support Digital Citizenship to guide safe and secure use of online technology.
You will receive bi-weekly communication from us to help reinforce Second Step, Mind Up and Common Sense Media language, skills, and goals at home. If you have any questions about our social emotional learning curriculum, please don’t hesitate to contact me, Lisa Keller, School Counselor, Christi Thomas, Principal, or Lynn Laffey, Assistant Principal. Thank you for your support as we work to build a safe and supportive school community.
Sincerely,
Lisa Keller, School Counselor
Christi Thomas, Principal
Lynn Laffey, Assistant Principal
Room Parents Wanted! PTO Welcomes You...
The GES PTO is a great supporter of our school, staff and students.
Please read the attached PDF to read about all that they do and don't forget to
click the links at the bottom of the page to sign up for Room Parent and Volunteer
positions.
Room Parent SignUp: https://signup.com/go/nfkErtD
If you have a talent or interest in getting involved with the PTO, please let us know through our Volunteer SignUp https://signup.com/go/ikDVFKn or email us at GESPTOPRES@gmail.com.
Announcing the GES Little Library!!
Thanks to Trevor Lacey, a previous Geist student, we now have our own Little Library. Trevor built and installed the library as his Boy Scout Eagle Project. Stop by the library anytime but especially evenings, weekends, and vacation days to choose from an assortment of books. Add a book or two that you no longer need in your home library. Larger quantities of books for donation may be dropped off at the school library.
Gator Gallop - GES Fundraiser
Fundraising for the October 1st Gator Gallop Fun Run is under way! You should've received a parent packet from your child's teacher last week--please be sure you're registering your child on the Gator Gallop Web site and sharing your child's fundraising page with friends and family!
Please follow these easy steps to set up your child’s account!
- Go to https://geist.myfunrun.com/
- Click on “Register to Run”
- Simply fill out the info for your child, and a page will be created for them! *If you have more than one child attending Geist Elementary, please create separate logins and pages for each student so that we can track their fundraising goals individually.
- Share your child’s personal fundraising webpage address with family and friends via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and more by clicking on of the “Share” icons at the top right of your child’s personal fundraising page.
- All donations made online will be e-mailed a receipt for tax purposes. Also, once your page is created, you can go to the bottom right corner, and you will find an area called “Student Resources” where you can download flyers, pledge sheets, thank you letters and more!
We have some exciting new incentives for fundraising this year! Be sure to check it out on the Gator Gallop Web site, along with more detailed information! (Ellen, please insert this hyperlink so it's clickable: https://geist.myfunrun.com/)
For your child to be eligible for incentives, all donations must be submitted by Monday, September 27, 2021, at 5:00pm!
Snack Attack!!
Here's how the program works. Your student will pick up a small sack of food to be taken home over the weekend. The sack is filled with individually wrapped snacks such as granola bars fruit cups, pop tarts, peanut butter/crackers, Goldfish crackers, etc. The type of snacks will vary each week. Please let us know if your child has a peanut allergy as he/she will receive a special bag of peanut-free snacks.
There is no cost to you. If you are interested in having your student participate in FYAP''s Snack Attack please click here. Questions may be directed to Lisa Keller at lkeller@hse.k12.in.us or 317-915-4260.
Reminder - Students may not ride a different bus with a friend
We are aware that you are able to enter a different bus as an option in School Dismissal Manager, but we can not honor those requests. Students will be redirected to their regular bus. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
New Apps for Safe Visitor Badges and School Dismissal Manager
Safe Visitor App Installation Instructions
Mudsock Youth Athletics Updates
Recreational Basketball: Play with us this winter! Registration is open for boys and girls interested in skill development and building a love for the game. Beginning September 1st, a $10 late fee will be added to every registration and waitlists may form for some divisions. Open to kindergarteners through 8thgrade. Information and registration can be found here. *High school intramural basketball information will be released in November.
HSE/Fishers Girls Travel Basketball: Find tryout information for travel basketball for girls in 3rd – 8th grade here. Athletes must be registered to attend at www.myathletics.com.
HSE/Fishers Boys Travel Basketball: Find tryout information, including parent meetings, for travel basketball for boys in 3rd – 6th grade here. Athletes must be registered to attend at www.myathletics.com.
Everyone Plays. Registration scholarship opportunities are available for families on free or reduced lunch within the district. Families can apply for one per season per child and must apply and be accepted during our open registration period. For winter sports these dates are 8/1 – 8/31. Email info@myathletics.com for more information.
HSE Schools Community Insider
Check out opportunities and activities on the HSE Community Insider on the HSE Schools webpage. You can find it here: hseschools.org/happenings/community-insider