Tuesday, June 6 6:30pm- Middle School Concert Come and hear our 6th , for the 5th, 6th , 7th , and 8th grade band students as they put on a spectacular show. The concert will begin at 6:30 PM. Students should arrive at 6:00 PM in concert black and white.

Sunday, June 11 5:00pm - Gateway Night at the Westfield Starfires Baseball Games - Come to the game at Bullens Field in Westfield on June 11th to celebrate the end of the year at Gateway Night!! Tickets are $10. Use the QR code above to purchase your tickets in advance. Our band will be playing, our chorus will be singing, there will be lawn games between innings for the kids and our baseball and softball teams will be with the Starfires team during the National Anthem.

• Band parents, please use this link to let us know if your child will be coming and participating in this fun event. Their entrance fee is covered by a grant. Link: https://forms.gle/sk1WGrZfRDf12rcXA

June 15 - Last Day of PreSchool

June 16 - Eighth Grade Dance

June 21 - HALF DAY for students

June 22 - Last Day of School

• HALF DAY
• Report Cards Sent Home With Students - Chester/Littleville (GRMS/GRHS are mailed home)
• 8th Grade Transition Ceremony

Graduation was held on Friday night, June 2 on the Gateway soccer field. The storms held off and we had a wonderful ceremony with passionate speakers, beautiful music and an excited group of graduates and their loved ones!

Ayden Audet

Rachael Austin

Cecelia Balboni

Annemarie Benson

Charles Bond

Joshua Bovat

Liam Bowler

Natalie Brown

Tristan Burke

Cole Chapman

Shane Cooper

Olivia Dame

V Damon

Jordyn-Michelle DuBour

Sean Forgue

Aaron Gallagher

Azades Hamblin

Edward Harding

Tyler Hebert

Rylie Heeter

Zander Hicks

Nevaeh Judson

Olivia Kanner

Hailey Krassler

Gage Laurie

Erin Lewis

Dominic Lucia

Jacob MacLeod

Liam McKellick

Nancy Mueller

Sage Painter

Lucy Pitoniak

Noah Primack

Owen Przybyla

Audrey Saalfrank

Jayden Santiago-Lopez

Isaiah Solitario

Jacob Tester

Aakiyah Tsosie

Nicolas Vargas

Amelia Wallace

Summer camp is quickly approaching. We're so excited for camp this summer and have a great agenda of activities, experiences and field trips planned. Camp runs from Monday, July 10 - Thursday, August 10. Field trips are every Thursday and campers must bring a packed lunch from home on Thursdays. If you have any questions please contact Mrs. Melinda Slowey for questions regarding Wrap Around/Jr. Explorers (upcoming Kindergarten to 4th grade) at mslowey@grsd.org and Mrs. Martha Clark for questions regarding the Explorers Camp (upcoming grades 5th - 9th) at mclark@grsd.org. Please click below for our bus routes:

This summer, our students will continue working in paid internships in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) fields. Thanks to a grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education these paid internships are available until the end of August. We are hopeful that the grant will be available next year as well so that these opportunities can continue to be available for our students. Thank you to our summer employers! If you know of any employers that would be interested in having a high school intern that is paid by the grant please contact Martha Clark at mclark@grsd.org.

Thank you again to our summer (and prospective) employers:

Rockinghouse Ridge Farm and Apaiary, Huntington

Manufacturing Technology Group, Westfield

Westfield Starfires, Westfield

Hilltown Community Health Dental, Huntington

Hilltown Community Health, Huntington

Holyoke Medical Center, Holyoke

Chester Library, Chester

Russell Library, Chester

Skyline Services, Westfield

Center City Auto, Westfield

The end of the school year is quickly approaching and our Gateway Food Services Department would like to take the time to remind all families to please check their account balances. Any students who have negative balances on their lunch accounts, due to milk only or ala carte purchases, please send in payments by the morning of Tuesday, June 20th. We will be closing out all lunch accounts soon and would appreciate all balances paid in full.

If you have any questions or are unsure of your child’s balance, please call or email Tasha Hartley at 685-1005 or email: thartley@grsd.org

Payments may be made by cash, check, or online through your MySchoolBucks account. Call MySchoolBucks Support @(855)832-5226 for assistance to set up an account.

Thank you!!

Huntington Fire Chief Ellinger came in May to talk to the Littleville preschool classes about fire safety. He discussed the importance of fire drills, crawling under smoke and practicing this at home as well as at school.
A special treat for the preschoolers was that Chief Ellinger brought several firefighters as well as their fire truck. Students learned about the firefighter uniforms, their equipment and how their equipment is used for their protection. Students were able to ask questions and then got to go on the fire truck! A big thank you to the Huntington Fire Department.

Gateway High School Students had an absolute blast at this years Prom. The Under the Lights Prom was held at the Delany House in Holyoke and this enchanting night proved to be wonderful for all.

Chester recently harvested the huge bounty of vegetables and plants that students grew in their hydroponic garden. This was a fantastic project with loads of learning and lots of veggies and plants going home with students.

As part of our second grade English/Language Arts curriculum, there is a unit that includes the study of the Civil War. Along with reading many different stories and informational texts about the civil war, we had, Dale Small, a local history buff from Huntington share his expertise and collection of Civil War memorabilia/artifacts with the students. He came dressed in the Yankee uniform trimmed in yellow as would a Union cavalry soldier. The second grades were able to view an authentic flag that was flown on the Onondaga Warship and they noticed it only had 36 stars from that time. That led to lots of discussion and learning. It was a great opportunity for not only our students but for Mr. Small as well. Thankfully, Mr. Small had a great sense of humor as the students asked him if he knew Abraham Lincoln and Harriet Tubman. 🙂

The Northampton Survival Center is pleased to announce their annual Kids’ Summer Food Program beginning in June. As a school system within one of the Northampton Survival Center's 18 service communities students in Middlefield and Huntington (the two of our communities in their service community) may be eligible to receive free groceries throughout the summer through this program. Please see the attached flyer for more information.

The attached letter includes talking points for parents to use when talking to their teens about dating:

Please see our Annual Report by clicking on the link below:

Congratulations to Thomas Hyjek, GRSD class of 2018! Western New England University held its College of Business, Senior Awards Ceremony on May 2nd. Thomas received the Outstanding Student in Accounting and Finance Award. This award recognizes a graduating senior selected by the faculty for excellence in the study of Accounting and Finance.

** If you know of any Gateway High School graduates that we can feature in this new column, please contact Mrs. Clark at mclark@grsd.org and have that alumni agree to being in our column.

Massachusetts Attorney General Joy Campbell recently sent a letter to all Superintendents in Massachusetts regarding important information regarding youth summer jobs. Attached is a letter from her to parents along with a Child Labor Fact Sheet.

https://www.collaborative.org/event/youth-mental-health-blended/

Our School Committee approved a revised 2023-24 School calendar. Click below to download and view the approved calendar for next school year.

From the Director of School Health Services for DPH:

The federal and state public health emergencies will end on May 11. What this means for school health offices:

• Isolation and quarantine guidance for COVID-19 will not change and will be in

accordance with previously issued state "Guidance for Children and Staff in Child Care,

K-12, Out-of-School Time and Recreational Camp/Program Settings."

• Facemasks will no longer be routinely required in school health offices.

• Facemasks in licensed school-based health centers are subject to Centers for Medicare

and Medicaid Services regulation, which is based on the Centers for Disease Control’s

"Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Healthcare Personnel

During the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic" guidance.

• School health staff should continue to use appropriate PPE for management of known or

suspected cases of COVID-19, including where healthcare personnel perform testing.

Click here for great deals on your Gator wear: https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/massachusetts/huntington/gateway-high-school

Please see the attached Field Trip Fact Sheet to answer any questions that you have about medications, etc. on field trips.

• Gateway Regional School District is looking for substitute teachers and nurses

• Gateway's Special Education Summer Camp is hiring for:
• Special Education Teachers: $50/hour (Sped and/or Early Childhood certified
• preferred)
• Special Education Paras: $25/hour
• Summer Camp Nurse
• Contact Kurt Garivaltis at 413-685-1019 if you are interested or for more information

• The Town of Huntington is seeking a full-time Highway Superintendent. Applicants must possess a Massachusetts Class B CDL with Air Brake Endorsement and 2B or higher & 4G Hoisting Engineer’s licenses. Application and complete job description are available online at https://huntingtonma.us/alerts.html#jobs or by emailing admin@huntingtonma.us. Position is open until filled. Town of Huntington is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
  

The Appalachian Mountain Club Western MA Chapter, The Russell Public Library & The Hilltown Family Center Event:

New Storywalk for the book, We Are Water Protectors.

Upcoming Russell Library Events:

Saturday, June 17 - Summer Reading Kick Off Celebration- Families with students in grades K-5 please join us for the kick-off to our summer reading program, "Habitiat, Have It at Your Library". The schedule is as follows:

• Face Painting and a Bubble Tub from 10:00- 11:00

• Family Drumming with guest artist Ellen Clegg 11:00- 12:00

• Hands on Reptiles with Tom Tyning 12:00-1:00

• Snacks and fun included!

• Runs for 7 weeks (June 27th- August 15) at the library

• Kids earn Bonus Bucks for their weekly participation and for every book they take out during the summer.
  

• Tuesday afternoons K- 5th graders come from 3:00pm-4:00pm to join in the fun.
• Wednesday Afternoons Tweens and Teens come from 3pm-4pm to craft, play games and socialize with your friends.
• Tweens, Teens and Adults can also earn Bonus Bucks for every book they take out during the summer.
• Bonus Bucks are raffle tickets used for your choice fabulous prizes given out at the end of the summer!
• Tuesday Mornings starting at 10:30 all Preschoolers are invited to join us for an interactive morning of storytime in our “Merry Munchkins in the Summer” program
• Register at the Summer Reading Kick Off June 17th or Register by email rpldirector@townofrussell.us, call 413-862-6221 and leave a message, or come in and sign up at the library.

All of June: Do you love Steele, Baldacci, Evans and Patterson? It's spring, and we're weeding. Bag a Book, through the month of June. Come in and find a favorite book or books from those we've weeded out. Many of our titles are in large print for easy reading. Take them home and enjoy!

Upcoming Blandford Library Events:

Please see the flyer below for summer events at the Blandford library!

Past Gator Bites

May 19: https://www.smore.com/wp5ab

May 12: https://www.smore.com/8jaw6

May 5: https://www.smore.com/f20zg

April 28: https://www.smore.com/v4efu

April 14: https://www.smore.com/1dxhb

April 6: https://www.smore.com/e63ps

March 20: https://www.smore.com/92xwb

March 2: https://www.smore.com/fwybx

February 10: https://www.smore.com/3n2tj

February 3: https://www.smore.com/ubjsq

January 9: https://www.smore.com/mu6h0

December 19: https://www.smore.com/hm943

December 7: https://www.smore.com/5yn3t

November 29: https://www.smore.com/4zs6ax

November 14: https://www.smore.com/u49t2

November 7: https://www.smore.com/mb78u

October 26: https://www.smore.com/gmqb5

October 19: https://www.smore.com/w2fk5

October 10: https://www.smore.com/m9uke

October 3: https://www.smore.com/pnds3

September 23: https://www.smore.com/q0x4c

September 16: https://www.smore.com/bkwp3

September 9: https://www.smore.com/uyc4m

September 1: https://www.smore.com/vu28z

August 25: https://www.smore.com/k2jehc

Please reach out to us if you have questions or concerns!

Chester Elementary School:
Principal Vanna Maffuccio vmaffuccio@grsd.org

Littleville Elementary School:

Interim Principal Mark Folta mailto:mfolta@grsd.org

Middle School/High School:
Principal Jason Finnie jfinnie@grsd.org

Assistant Principal Will Sullivan wsullivan@grsd.org

Athletic Director Matt Bonenfant mbonenfant@grsd.org

Superintendent Kristen Smidy, ksmidy@grsd.org

Website: grsd.org
Location: 12 Littleville Road, Huntington, MA, USA
Phone: 413-685-1100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GatewayRegionalMA?mibextid=LQQJ4d