The GATE Gazette
Friday, December 6 , 2019
This Week
It has been a fantastic week back from break! The teachers and I were thrilled to welcome back all of the students.
FOR STUDENTS IN GRADES 2-5:
Please look in your child's Friday Folder for their Trimester 1 report card. In the report card envelope you will find:
-Your child's Traditional Avondale district report card
-Parent letter explaining the GATE Report Card Narratives
-Your child's GATE Report Card Narrative
What's the difference between the report cards?
-The Traditional Avondale district report card is only standards based on your child's given grade level. For example, if your child is a 3rd grader you would only see 3rd grade standards. Obviously, in a gifted and talented school, this does not give you much information since your child is likely to be working on above grade level standards.
-The GATE Report Card Narrative is a document where you can get insight into what standards and concepts your child is actually working on.
FOR STUDENTS IN GRADE 6:
Please look in your child's Friday Folder for their Trimester 1 report card. In the report card envelope you will find:
-Your child's GATE/Avondale district report card. There is no additional narrative needed because we were able to combine grades 6-8 onto one report card. If your child has a 3, 2, or 1 in an area, this represents the level that they have been working on. Mr. Bigelow will be available for further clarification as needed.
You should keep the report cards, but please sign the front of the envelope next to "T1" and return only the envelope back to your child's teacher as soon as possible. Please contact your child's teacher if you have any questions regarding the differences between the two report cards or any other questions you may have. We will be happy to help!
Sincerely,
Kate Martin, Principal
Read our Student-Created "GATE Gazette, Jr."!
Bringing P2 Home
This week's P2 character trait was KINDNESS. Kindness is correlated with desirable developmental outcomes. It is related to other-oriented emotions, like empathy (the ability to experience the emotional state of another person) and sympathy (the tender emotion of concern for another’s difficulty). Psychologists have even traced kindness and generosity
as the keys to healthy, happy, and lasting marriages. On a group level, kindness is very important. In addition to empathy and sympathy, the character strength of kindness is indicative of an individual’s moral reasoning capacity and level of social responsibility. That means people who develop kindness possess a strong personal ethical responsibility to care for other people. And, their acts of kindness towards others lead to additional acts of kindness by those who have been helped.
Try this at home!
Watch the video with your child and discuss the questions below.
GATE Upcoming Events
- Dec. 7: Holiday Breakfast @ 8:30am-11am at Woodland (If you signed up)
- Dec. 9: Ukulele Recital (club) immediately following dismissal in Media Center
- Dec. 12: PTO Meeting 7pm @ Media Center
- Dec. 17: Drama Club Performance in Cafeteria after school
- Dec. 19: School-wide PJ day!
- Dec. 20: Classroom winter parties - time TBD by classroom teacher
- Dec. 23-Jan. 3: Winter Break
- Jan. 9: PTO Meeting 7pm @ Media Center
- Jan. 16: Early Dismissal @ 1:05pm
- Jan. 17: Blanket Making event sponsored by PTO - details to come
- Jan. 23: GATE Open House Showcase Event - details to come
- Jan. 27-31: NWEA MAP Winter Testing week
New Ukulele Club Opportunity!
Free Webinar Opportunity: Fostering Empathy in Young Learners
About the Presenter: Critically acclaimed and award-winning nonfiction and fiction author Christine Fonseca is dedicated to helping children and adults find their unique voice in the world. In nonfiction, she delves into the world of giftedness, resiliency, and temperament, offering children and adults a no-nonsense, how-to approach to facing the world without fear. Learn more here.
Empathy is a vital component of cooperation and is necessary in our increasingly diverse world. Learn how to foster this social-emotional skill in children and cultivate a more compassionate world. This webinar will be offered twice. Click the date you are interested in to register now.
Free Webinar Opportunity: Teaching Tenacity and Other Social-Emotional Skills
Presenters: Emily Mofield, Ed.D., and Megan Parker Peters, Ph.D., Authors
How can you help students develop resilience to persevere in the face of setbacks? This free webinar will provide the know-how and get you started with social-emotional learning.
This webinar will be offered twice. Click the date you are interested in to register now.
Register Now: January 30, 2020, 2:45 p.m. CT
Register Now: January 30, 2020, 3:45 p.m. CT
About Teaching Tenacity, Resilience, and a Drive for Excellence
Teaching Tenacity, Resilience, and a Drive for Excellence equips teachers to deliberately cultivate psychosocial skills, including self-awareness, problem solving to deal with setbacks, assertive interpersonal skills, and intellectual risk-taking. By teaching students to be aware of how their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors affect their pursuit of excellence, students can learn to tackle challenges and setbacks that they might experience as they reach to achieve. Lessons include engaging activities and curriculum connections, covering topics related to perfectionism, mindset, grit, stress, procrastination, social-emotional intelligence, and more.
About the Presenters
Emily Mofield, Ed.D., is an assistant professor in the College of Education at Lipscomb University. Her background includes 15 years experience teaching gifted students and leading gifted services. Megan Parker Peters, Ph.D., is an associate professor and the Director of Teacher Education and Assessment at Lipscomb University. She is also a psychologist, specializing in the needs of gifted and twice-exceptional learners.
School Security Changes
This is yet another measure that the district is taking to ensure the safety of students and staff. Thank you!
Middle School Girls Volleyball Tryouts
Other Reminders
Volunteer Requirements
I wanted to clarify some things about volunteers in Avondale and what regulations we have to follow. There are two different levels of volunteers:
Level TWO Volunteers:
-Just submit the volunteer form and driver's license copy.
-Examples of activities they can do once cleared: field trip chaperone, classroom helper, copy parent, can volunteer for lunch/recess but must be monitored by GATE or SafeEd staff, etc.
-Parents need this when they will be doing activities that still involve a GATE staff member or SafeEd guard monitoring the room/area.
-These volunteers are never alone with a child.
Level ONE Volunteers:
-Must go to HR to get a fingerprinting sheet, get the fingerprinting done, and pay for it themselves.
-Examples of activities they can do once cleared: hold small group activities without a GATE staff member or SafeEd guard in the same room, overnight field trips, book room volunteer on their own, can volunteer for lunch/recess and monitor on their own, etc.
-These volunteers can be alone with a child.
Field Trips: Prior to signing up to be a field trip chaperone, submit your volunteer form and ID.
Special Events: No volunteer status needed, but you do need to sign in and get a name tag. In January we will have a new system for any visitor which will involve everyone bringing their ID called Raptor. More info to come on this from the district soon.
I have linked the level 2 volunteer form below. You can submit the form and a copy of your ID to Brenda in the front office. It typically takes about a week to process. Thank you for your diligence with this!
Secure Doors: During the school day, parents may not let other parents into the building, even if you know them. Only GATE staff members or SafeEd staff may do this.
Lunch/Recess Help Needed
Parents and volunteers - even ONE day a week or every other week HELPS a TON! Please consider signing up to help monitor students between 11:50-12:46.
Please sign up here:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080a49aca62da0f58-lunchrecess
Please note that due to volunteer requirements and restrictions, you MUST have submitted a volunteer form and your photo ID to be processed before signing up. See additional instructions at the link above.
If you think you **might** be interested in our actual lunch/recess supervisor position, know that you can do it PART-TIME as well and share the job with someone else! Please email me if you think you might be interested in this option! We need 2 Lunchroom/Recess Supervisors. Hours are 11:30am-1:00pm Monday-Friday.
Please email me if interested.
PTO News
Staff Contact Information
If you need to notify the school of an:
ABSENCE
ABSENCE EXCUSE
EARLY DISMISSAL
OTHER IMPORTANT INFO FOR YOUR CHILD
Please call/email Brenda in the front office AND email your child's teacher:
GATE OFFICE CONTACT:
248-537-6400 (voicemail is now set up) or email brenda.trager@avondaleschools.org
You do not need to notify Ms. Martin of absences or early dismissals; please follow directions above.
Classroom Teachers
4th/5th: Ms. Michelle Gierman
michelle.gierman@avondaleschools.org
4th/5th: Ms. Erica Burmann
erica.burmann@avondaleschools.org
2nd/3rd: Ms. Amanda Merrill
amanda.merrill@avondaleschools.org
Long-Term Sub for Ms. Merrill - Ms. Leanore Ray
2nd/3rd: Ms. Kimberly McDermid
kimberly.mcdermid@avondaleschools.org
3rd/4th: Ms. Rachel Breeden
rachel.breeden@avondaleschools.org
6th: Mr. Mike Bigelow
michael.bigelow@avondaleschools.org
Special Area Staff
STEAM Lab: Ms. Heidi Heil
heidi.heil@avondaleschools.org
Physical Education: Ms. Adrianna Pfeffer
adrianna.pfeffer@avondaleschools.org
Art: Ms. Elizabeth Lowe
elizabeth.lowe@avondaleschools.org
Support Staff
Learning Resource Room: Ms. Jennifer Spencer
jennifer.spencer@avondaleschools.org
Speech Therapist: Ms. Kristen Genslak
kristen.genslak@avondaleschools.org
Social Work: Ms. Anne Ossewaarde
Contact Info
Our secretary, Brenda Trager, will be answering your calls.
Please call this number to report absences or when you have school related questions.
brenda.trager@avondaleschools.org
8:00-9:15am & 2:15-2:53pm - Enter at GATE entrance. All other times, enter main office.
Our address is 1435 West Auburn Rd. Rochester Hills, MI 48309
Our website: https://sites.google.com/a/avondaleschools.org/gate-1/
Contact Information
Email: kate.martin@avondaleschools.org
Website: https://sites.google.com/a/avondaleschools.org/gate-1/
Location: 1435 West Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, MI, USA
Phone: (248) 537-6400
Twitter: @KateMartinGATE