Griffins Connect
Week of December 5th #ReImagine #WholeChild
Creativity Takes Courage Mural Project
Through a generous grant from Kiwanis Greenville Eastside, Mrs. Spitler and her students have been working to bring more color, creativity, and joy to our school campus! Famous writer, Oscar Wilde said, "Mere color can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways." Students recently completed a mural in the related arts hallway that used color to speak to our entire school community. The theme of the mural was "Creativity Takes Courage" and students drew images that inspire creativity and courage. Students tried to include all of the areas of art as well as other parts of life that require courage. Students of all ages (k4-8th grade) helped with the mural. Already, this mural has brought more joy, creativity, and inspiration to the hundreds of students who see it each day!
Next, Mrs. Spitler and students will be spreading color and joy to our crosswalks! Keep an eye out for the colorful and creative crosswalks that are taking shape in our car lines! 5th grade students designed the images that you will see! #WholeChild #ReImagine
What's Ahead...
December 6-10: 5K & 1st Grade Registration for 2022-2023 school year; info below
December 7: 6th Grade Winter Band Concert; 1:00pm on library patio
December 8: Virtual Junior Beta Convention (for participating students)
December 8: Virtual Program Students (1st & 2nd grade only) MAP Testing
December 8: 7th/8th Grade Winter Band Concert; 1:00pm on library patio
December 9: 7th Grade Activism Fair, 12:15-12:45pm; info below
December 9: Positive Parenting Session 2, 12:45-2:00pm; info below
Looking Ahead...
December 13-17: Elementary Jr. Beta's Holiday School Spirit Week
- Monday: Elf Yourself (Take an Elfie)
- Tuesday: Tacky Sweater
- Wednesday: Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
- Thursday: Holiday/School Spirit
- Friday: Polar Express Day/Wear Your PJs
December 17: Dismissal for Elem Students @ 11:45am; Middle @ 12:00pm
December 17: Start of Winter Break Reading Challenge, @ Dismissal
January 3: Students Return from Winter Break
Izumi Places First in Foreign Language Declamation Contest
5K & 1st Grade Registration for 2022-23
If your child is starting kindergarten or first grade next year, we need your help! It’s extremely important that you enroll your child between December 6-10 to ensure we know how many teachers we’ll need on the first day of school. If you register on those days, you will be entered to win a pair of Ice on Main tickets!
There are two ways to enroll. Visit the Parent section of the GCS website and set up a Backpack account. Open your account, click “Enroll A Student,” and follow the instructions. Backpack is an essential tool for parents to check their child’s grades, lunch balance, attendance, and receive notifications from the school and district.
If you do not have internet access, the Student Enrollment Form and Home Language Survey form are available at each school. Be sure to bring the required documents with you to complete the registration process.
Activism Fair December 9 from 12:15-12:45pm
As part of the 7th grade students’ year-long Activism Project, we are excited to present the 2021 Activism Fair on Thursday, December 9 from 12:15-12:45pm. Students will be showcasing their projects and selling products to raise money, or sharing information to increase awareness or to fundraise for their cause.
You are invited to come and see the amazing things the students are doing to promote their Activism project. You’ll be helping students as they gather data for their research, and you might even get some holiday shopping done!
The items will vary in cost. To make things easier for our students, we ask that you please bring cash only, and small bills or coins are preferable.
The Activism Fair will take place in the main hallway and in the Media Center. We request that all visitors wear a mask while attending the Fair.
A Very, Merry Nicholtown CommUNITY Carol
All are invited to join the Nicholtown Neighborhood Association on Friday, December 17th, beginning at 4pm to carol together through the neighborhood, or meet at the Phillis Wheatley Community Center or the Nicholtown Community Center for soul stirring selections from Bonnie Franks and the Nicholtown Community Choir!
Details are found in the flyer (CLICK HERE!). Please email aleciaebrewster@gmail.com or call 843-442-1555 if you'd like to sing, serve hot cocoa or share another gift with the community. #WholeCommunity
1st & 2nd Grade Holiday Performance
While last week's 70 degree weather may not have seemed wintry or seasonal, it was absolutely perfect for our 1st & 2nd grade Winter Outdoor Concert! Our students sounded great! If you'd like to hear a few selections of their performance, check out the video below. Additional videos of last week's performance can be found HERE, HERE, and HERE. 🙂
Thank you to Dr. Robertson and Mrs. Ledford for all their leadership and flexibility in making this year’s event happen! #ReImagine #WholeChild
MAP Testing for 1st & 2nd Grade GCS Virtual Students This Week
ACE Awards Accepting Nominations
If you would like to nominate a Greenville County 8th or 12th grader, please submit a nomination - CLICK HERE!
All nominations must be submitted by January 31, 2022. An ACE Awards Advisory Committee at each school will choose finalists from among those nominated. One male and one female will be chosen from each middle and high school in Greenville County. All ACE award recipients will be recognized at a live stream ACE Awards ceremony in the spring.
To Learn More visit: Coaches For Character Video
Author Nick Bruel to Visit Sterling School
New York Times bestselling children’s author Nick Bruel will be doing a virtual visit with 2nd-5th grades at Sterling School on Tuesday, January 11th, 2022, to discuss his Bad Kitty chapter book series, including the new book, Bad Kitty Gets a Phone.
If you would like to pre-order books (including a signed bookplate), please send in your payment with the form below (make checks payable to Sterling School) and return it to your child’s teacher by Wednesday, January 12th.
The Griffin Guard
Attention Dads, Daddys, Fathers, Papas, Grampas, Granddads, Uncles, and other male role models for our students: We need your help!
In January, our school will begin a new program called "The Griffin Guard" and we want you to be a part of it! The Griffin Guard will assist during our Friday morning front carline from 7:10-7:45am to help kids get out of cars and into school efficiently and safely.
Can you spare 35 minutes on an occasional Friday? You will make a positive impact on our students, help our carline run smoothly, and get to know other male role models at our school.
If you can help or are interested in learning more, please complete this google form and we will email you with additional details closer to our kickoff.
Sterling School's F.A.N.S. is Hiring!
DATE CHANGED! Positive Parenting Series: Seminar 2
DATE CHANGED! Please join Ms. Benvenuto and Dr. Tchouros in Seminar 2 of the Power of Positive Parenting Series! On Thursday, December 9th we will meet via zoom from 12:45-2 to discuss Raising Confident, Competent Children. Sign up HERE!
**you are encouraged to participate even if you were unable to attend the first session!
New Project is Up!
CLICK HERE to check out our school's classroom projects!
Supporting a DonorsChoose project is super easy...
1) Find a classroom project that inspires you and give as little as $1. We're a public charity, so your donation is tax-deductible.
2) When a project is fully funded, DonorsChoose will purchase all the requested items and ship them directly to the school.
3) When funded, every donor gets a thank-you letter from the teacher, photos from the classroom, and a report of how each dollar was spent.
Mrs. Helsel is Published in National Education Journal
3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Lisa Helsel recently published an article in The Reading Teacher, a professional journal of The International Literacy Association. The piece highlights the work of the students in her classroom during the 2019-2020 school year and includes the work of several Sterling students, who are now 5th graders. Responsive Teaching in the Writer's Workshop shares ways in which teachers can get to know their students individually as writers and help them grow into confident, self-directed authors. To view Mrs. Helsel's work, access the ILA HERE or a shared Google doc HERE! #ReImagine #WholeChild
Sterling School
Email: jpatterson@greenville.k12.sc.us
Website: www.greenville.k12.sc.us/sterling
Location: Sterling School, John McCarroll Way, Greenville, SC, United States
Phone: 864-355-4480
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theSterlingSchool
Twitter: @SterlingSchool