East Middle School Newsletter
February 2021
Important Dates Ahead
February 8..................Board of Education Meeting - 7:00 p.m.
February 10/11..........Count Day
February 12 & 15.......No School - President's Weekend
February 22................Board of Education Meeting - 7:00 p.m.
March 2-4...................Virtual Spring P/T Conferences
The Principal's Message
Dear Parents:
It is so wonderful to have our students back in the building and in the classrooms! We have had a smooth transition to face to face learning due to the joint efforts of staff, students our families. Students are following the safety guidelines of wearing their masks and practicing social distance. Our goal is to be able to increase the number of face to face school days as soon as it is safe to do so. Thank you for encouraging your student to do their part in keeping our school as safe as possible.
We appreciate your cooperation and patience while we make some adjustments to the before school drop off and dismissal pick up procedures. Please refer to the drop off and pick up schedule below.
As the new semester begins we look forward to the second half of the school year. I know the best is yet to come! As always, thank you for your support in your child’s educational journey.
Sincerely,
Jodi Kruse,
Arrival/Dismissal
- The building will not open for students until 7:50 am. Students being dropped off in personal vehicles should wait until this time. This is in place to minimize the time for congregating and maintain social distance. For the same reason, all students must be out of the building by 12:50 p.m.
- Parent pickup 6th grade: 12:25 pm
- Parent pickup 7th grade: 12:30 pm
- Parent pickup 8th grade: 12:35 pm.
- Please do not arrive more than 5 minutes prior to your student's assigned time so that the buses have enough room to enter the parking lot.
We appreciate your understanding of the procedures we have put in place to keep our students safe!
We Celebrate
Spring Parent/Teacher Conferences - March 2nd, 3rd, 4th
Picture Re-Takes
Counselor's Corner
February 2021
It is great to see your children back at school! If your child is expressing some anxiety about attending school in person, please encourage them to attend “Mindfulness Monday” with Mrs. LaFleur every Monday from 12:30-12:45. Each week we are trying a different mindfulness activity. They may be able to find mindfulness practice that will help them work through their nerves now and in the future. If you have any questions about “Mindfulness Mondays” please contact Mrs. LaFleur at (810)591-3582 or nlafleur@gbcs.org.
Parents of 8th graders…the counselors are working with students on their Educational Development Plans (EDPs) in their language arts classes. Currently, they are working on their writing pieces which include writing a short and long-term goal. If you are curious about EDPs please ask your child to log in to Career Cruising to show you the progress they’ve made this year.
Parent Reminders
We are off an excellent start to our in-person learning and we are excited to continue! This is just a friendly reminder on the following procedures:
- Masks must be worn at all times in the building unless eating or drinking. The mask must cover both the nose and mouth.
- Breakfast and Lunch are available for all students free of charge
- If your student arrives late, you are asked to not bring them into the building. You may call our attendance desk at 591-3598 and inform the secretary that your student is coming in late.
- If your student needs to leave early, a parent/emergency contact needs to come into the office, provide a photo i.d., sign the student out, and then wait for the student in their vehicle. Students will not be called down to leave until a parent/emergency contact arrives.
Please contact Mr. Sokoloski if you have questions about ordering a yearbook! msokolos@gbcs.org
Athletics News
ATHLETICS WINTER II SPORTS UPDATE:
The basketball teams will begin tryouts in the upcoming weeks.
Basketball practices will begin on February 22nd, with games starting on March 3rd.
Pom tryouts will also be scheduled in the upcoming weeks.
Please, watch your Jupiter messages & the East MS Athletic website for sign-up information.
Cheer tryouts will be February 16th & 17th. Students interested in trying out for cheer should sign up on or before Wednesday, February 10th by 3:00 p.m.
COVID Communications
Our goal is to remain transparent and communicate to our families as COVID cases and exposures occur.
What you can expect from your school:
Positive or Probable Case
- Close Contact Notification – if your student was within 6ft for an accumulated 15 minutes of a positive case you will receive a phone call and email with quarantine instructions
- Classroom Notification – even if your student is not in close contact with the positive case, you will receive a letter for a positive/probable case in the classroom
- If the positive case was not in attendance during the infectious period (2 days before symptoms started through 10 days after symptoms started) – classroom specific notification will not be sent, but the case will be added to the case counts for the building
- Building Cases: GBCS Case counts updated daily on our website including previous day positive cases and cumulative data by building