The Gayman Gazette
"What Will Your Beautiful Hands Do Today?"
November 14, 2016
Important Upcoming Dates
- November 15th - Kids Care Club @ 3:15 PM
- November 17th - Spotlight on Music - Grade 3 @ 9:00 AM; Grade 6 @ 10:00 AM
- November 17th & 18th - No Kindergarten - Parent/Teacher Conferences
- November 18th - Student Council Multiples Day
- November 21st & 22nd - Early Dismissal @ 11:55 AM; No Kindergarten - Parent/Teacher Conferences
- November 23rd - 25th - No School - Thanksgiving Break
- November 29th - Principal's Award Ceremony
- December 1st - Kids Care Club Work Party @ 3:30 PM
- December 5th-7th - Secret Shop
- December 8th - Secret Shop Family Night @ 3:30 - 7:00 PM
- December 8th - Churchville Nature Center coming to 2nd Grade
- December 9th - Family Fun Night Holiday Movie Night
- December 9th - Say Yay to Pajama Day for children at CHOP
- December 16th - Student Council Book Character Day
Kids Care Club For November
Please join the Kids Care Club and the awesome Mike from CrossFit Summa as he teaches the kids a bit about Crossfit and nutrition on Tuesday, November 15th from 3:15 - 4:30 PM. The kids will also be able to attempt an American Ninja Warrior-like course! Come join the fun while helping the Kids Care Club raise money for a special organization. All money raised will be donated to Poverty Resolutions (povertyresolutions.org).
Please sign up each child individually through the Sign Up Genius link below.
Thanksgiving Lunch On Thursday, November 17th
First Spirit Assembly
On Monday, October 31st, we had our first spirit assembly of the year. After recognizing our wonderful boomerang winners for September and October, we played some fun games. All of morning kindergarten participated in a candy corn throw with Mrs. Menard. Each first grade class participated in an "over/under" pumpkin game. In keeping with whole grade level spirit, 4th, 5th, and 6th graders held a chant off. A great time was had by all.
Our next assembly will be held on February 10th, featuring students in grades 2 and 3.
Thanks to the spirit committee!
Mr. Hudak, Mr. Grace, Mrs. Hughes, Mr. West, and Mrs. Volpe
Spotlight On Music
Mark your calendars for the first Spotlight On Music performances:
Grade 3 - Thursday, November 17th at 9:00 AM
Grade 6 - Thursday, November 17th at 10:00 AM
VETERANS' DAY ASSEMBLY
Gayman Elementary proudly celebrated Veterans Day in a big way! We showed our appreciation to 40 veterans, most of whom were the parents or grandparents of some of our students, at a wonderful assembly followed by a reception in the library. At the assembly, the students sang songs, recited poetry and listened to our guests talk about what being honored on Veterans Day meant to them. The White Table ceremony was performed as a way to help everyone remember and give thanks to all who served, but especially to those that paid the ultimate sacrifice. Throughout this coming week, the students will be writing postcards of thanks to even more veterans.
Kids Voting
Kids Voting was a huge hit with the students on Monday, November 7th. Thank you to all the teachers for their flexibility in helping us reach over 400 students by 1:30pm. A big thank you to Mr. Shaw for helping us with the new district iPad voting process.
Here are the final totals for Gayman:
Grades K-3: 58 (Trump) 95 (Clinton)
Grades 4-6: 66 (Trump) 122 (Clinton)
The results for the district are listed below:
Report Card Review Committee Update
Dear Gayman Parents,
With the first marking period ending today, are you ready for the look of this 2016-2017 school year report card? Letter grades based on a percentage range are back for 5th and 6th grades academic subjects. There is a dedicated space for all core subjects and a summary of grades throughout all 4 marking periods can be found at the top of the 2nd page. For all 1st-6th grades, Success Standards are simplified in language and quantity. We went from 19 standards down to 11. Before your child’s fall conference, be sure to check out Parent Portal -Campus Backpack to see these positive changes first hand.
Are these changes enough? The Report Card Review Committee has pushed forward with asking what other changes in the report card would be for the better. How many pages should the document be? Landscape or Portrait orientation? Stock template layout or Custom layout? What’s the language to use—academic jargon or clear understandable wording? Open ended comment boxes or Strengths/ Goals categories? Fewer standards listed under each subject? Should letter grades start before 5th/6th grade?? Print every marking period or only Final document at end of year?
One question being asked is whether to move to Trimesters? By dividing the school year into 3 equal sections of 61 days, it provides the allotted time from the start of school and the holiday breaks to accomplish a more accurate assessment of a student consistent throughout the school year. In keeping with 2 touch points for conferences -Fall and Spring, parent-student-teacher input opportunities would remain unchanged in the trimester structure. Many elementary schools in the area work on Trimester. What do you think of moving to Trimester reporting?
The committee work continues to be productive and positive with the sharing and discussion from all the parent-teacher-administrative representatives.
Respectfully submitted,
Alicia Mangiacapre- Report Card Review Committee-Gayman Elementary Parent Representative
732-319-0744
CB Cares Backpack Newsflash
In this month's CB Care's Educational Foundation Backpack Newsflash:
- Pumpkinfest 2016 - Recap and winners featuring CB West's National Art Honor Society students
- November's Boomerang Asset #26 Caring
- October's Boomerang Youth Recognition District Winners
and so much more!
To view the November's issue please click here.
FEAST...That Time Of The Year Again
FEAST will be furnishing meals for those in need at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.... And once again FEAST will have winter coats available starting at Thanksgiving.
FEAST has come a long way... It started making 100 meals and now averages 1500 meals per event... and growing. FEAST is now officially 501(c)3 certified.
YOUR Help is essential in assisting the processing of helping those in need... FEAST's Motto No One Goes Unfed.
For complete details click here.
Boomerang Awards
This year, Gayman will continue to accept nominations for the Boomerang Award, which is our way of honoring students who best demonstrate their own developmental assets. What are Developmental Assets? Students possessing a combination of “40 Assets” are typically most successful in school and in life. These assets have the power to influence choices young people make and help them become caring, responsible adults. For a complete listing of the 40 Developmental Assets visit: www. Search-institute.org.
November #26 - Caring. Young person cares about others. They place a high value on helping other people. He/she thinks about ways of helping others and is motivated to initiate kind and thoughtful acts. Boomerang nominations may be emailed to Suzanne Vass at svass@cbsd.org, or printed out and sent into the office.