Geist Gazette
September 11, 2015
Geist Elementary School
Website: http://www.hse.k12.in.us/ges/home.aspx
Location: 14051 E. 104th Street, Fishers, IN 46040
Phone: 317-915-4260
Twitter: @Geistgators
Upcoming Dates
Monday, Sept. 14
Spanish Lessons
Tuesday, Sept. 15
Chaucie's Place Parent Meeting (at Fall Creek Elementary)
Wednesday, Sept. 16
Choir Practice
PTO Fall Festival Committee Meeting
Thursday, Sept. 17
Spanish Lessons
Friday, Sept. 18
Chess Club
Monday, Sept. 21
Spanish Lessons
Tuesday, Sept. 22
Chaucie's Place Visit with Grades K, 2 & 4
Movie Night - Grades 3 & 4
Destination Imagination (DI) Call-Out Meeting for 3rd & 4th Grade Geist Parents and Kids
Wednesday, Sept. 23
Choir Practice
PTO Room Parent Introduction
Thursday, Sept. 24
Movie Night - Grades K-1-2
Spanish Lessons
Friday, Sept. 25
Chess Club
Lunch Menu
Sep 21-25 - Week 1
Click the links to see the lunch and breakfast menus. Visit the HSE Food Services page for prices and nutritional information.
Specials Rotation
Sep 21-25 - Week 1
Book Fees
All book rental amounts have been applied and should be showing in Skyward under "Fee Management." Personal checks (separate checks for each child) should be made payable to GES and can be sent to school with your child. Please put it in an envelope labeled "Book Rental" with your child's name, grade, teacher and the book rental amount. MasterCard and Visa payments can be made through the eFunds on-line payment system. If you go to our GES website, you will see a link for eFunds under "Quick Links." Payments should be posted in Skyward within 10 business days. All book rental fees are due by Tuesday, September 15th. If you have any questions, please contact Amy Mudd at 915-4260.
Friends of the Library
Thank you and congratulations to the most recent Friends of the Library members. Books have been donated by (Aug.) Luke W. and (Sept.) Rileigh P., Chelsea F., Gavin C., Jack K., Kendall F., Taylor M., Isaac S., Dylan F., Halle M., Ella K., Charlie D., Clair R., Samantha S., Morgan F., Carson O. and Benjamin S.
You are invited to join the FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY CLUB and donate a book to the Geist Elementary Library in tribute to your child and his or her accomplishments and milestones.
PTO Forum with Dr. Bourff - NEW DATE
Tuesday, September 29 from 6:30-7:30
Childcare provided (The class with the most parent participation gets a prize! Please come!)
HSE Superintendent Dr. Allen Bourff is our guest speaker. Dr. Bourff plans to share his observations over the past eight plus months. His observations have translated into three distinct suggestions for a referendum. Dr. Bourff would like for the staff/community to tell him if he has an accurate account OR are there other needs to be considered.
Online School Directory
The online school directory is now available to all families in Skyward. This year the directory is based on an opt-in model. Families must choose to show their contact information in order to be visible in the directory.
To opt-in, click on "My Account" in the upper right corner of your Family Access account. From there, check the boxes for the information you wish to make visible under the School Directory section and then Save. Families can make changes to this section anytime throughout the school year.
Calling All Parents and Third & Fourth Grade Students - Destination Imagination
Chaucie's Place
Geist Elementary is partnering this year with Chaucie’s Place, a child advocacy organization in Hamilton County, to bring Smart Steps: A Body Safety Program for Children to our Kindergarten, 2nd and 4th grade students on Tuesday September 22nd. Smart Steps is a child sexual abuse prevention and education program that empowers your child to say “NO!” to any unwanted touches that make them uncomfortable from anyone. It is important that you come to see the presentation that will be given to your student on the 22nd.
We invite you to attend a Chaucie’s Place Parent Night to learn more about the Smart Steps program. Fall Creek Elementary will be hosting on September 15th from 6:00pm – 7:00pm. This meeting is open to all parents and/or guardians of Kindergarten, 2nd and 4th grade students. Please be advised that Parent Night is not open to children. To learn more about Chaucie’s Place visit: www.chauciesplace.org.
Anti-Bullying Efforts
Hello Parents,
On Thursday August 20th I met with each grade level at GES to discuss bullying and how to stand up to it. I wanted to inform you as parents as to what our school is doing to keep bullying out of GES.
First, I wanted to call your attention to a few parts of our new statewide anti-bullying policy. The new definition of bullying by the state Indiana defines bullying as unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance (physical strength, popularity, access to embarrassing information, etc.) The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time.
To make this easier for the students to understand I defined bullying as:
1. Repeated
2. Intent to harm
3. Imbalance of power
It is also important to know the new state law now protects victims of bullying both at school and outside of school. It is very important that Geist Elementary take every step to ensure the safety of our students. Bullying can occur in person or online and often involves hurtful words and peer pressure than it does physical violence. If you have any concerns about your child or any questions regarding bullying please don’t hesitate to contact me.
In addition to talking about what bullying is, I also talked with the students on how they could solve small problems on their own. Our new focus at Geist Elementary will be to use 3 steps when encountering a problem:
1. Stop- Ask the person to stop what they are doing in a firm voice using your stop signal
2. Walk- If the situation doesn’t change after asking them to stop, walk away
3. Talk- If the problem persists, talk to a trusted adult.
It is so important to teach our children to advocate for themselves and I have been very impressed with how well our students are using the Stop Walk Talk. Here is a link to a video I showed to all GES students demonstrating STOP-WALK-TALK in a fun way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUx0pxI97lg
Thanks for all you do as parents!
John Reynolds, GES Counselor
GES Poster Contest
Guidelines for Posters-
· School Motto Sign– Must include “Do the right thing and treat people right”
· GES Sign– Must include G– Great Choices, E– Effort, S–Safety
· Voice Level Signs– Must include:
1. Bathroom– Voice Level 1
2. Hallway– Voice Level 0
3. Café– In Line Voice Level 0
At seat Voice Level 2
· Rule Signs- Use the signs above as your reference. Be creative and have fun!
All designs due to Mr. Reynolds by 9-25-15.
Geist Running Club
Geist Running Club
What: Running Club ----- Starting Sept. 25
Who: Any 3rd or 4th Grade student at Geist Elementary
(Fine print – If you did running club last year you can also attend and if you are in 2nd grade and have a brother or sister in 3rd or 4th grade doing running club you may attend also)
(Depending on the numbers from above students, I may be able to add any 2nd grade student)
Why: Our goal is to train for upcoming races such as The Liger Mile, The Geist 5k, The Durbin Classic, or just to learn some of the basics about running. In addition, this will allow us to start training earlier for 4th grade track season.
When: Friday mornings (come as often as you can)
Where: Gym
Time: 7:55 (please do not drop off before 7:50)
If you have any questions please call or email Mr. Sutherlin.
rsutherlin@hse.k12.in.us 317-915-4260 (ext. 1690)
Please sign and return the attached form if your child is interested.
NWEA Questions?
Parents, if you have questions about the NWEA tests your students are taking, please check out these NWEA resources:
MAP MPG link K-1: https://www.smore.com/uqhh
Grades 2-4: https://www.smore.com/k6tn
3rd and 4th grade Crafting with Clay
During the first semester, Ms. Green will be offering a Crafting with Clay experience open to 3rd and 4th grade GES students. Each group session will include 2 classes, one for creating a clay piece and the second for painting. Several 2-day sessions will be offered. (A 1st/2nd grade session will be held in the spring. Look for information in January.)
The student must be able to attend both days of the session (make-ups cannot be offered)
Cost is $5 which covers both days of the 2-day session
Cash or checks made payable to GES PTO
More details on sending payment will be in the Skylert
A student may only be signed up ONCE to allow more students to participate
The session will meet right after school in the art room. A parent/guardian is responsible for picking up their student at 4:30 on their session days
A Sign-Up Genius will become live on Sept. 17 to sign up for all session dates. Each 2-day session will have 25 available spots. The live link will be sent out via Skylert on Thursday, Sept. 17
Students will have a choice of one clay project: bird, fish, or butterfly. Pictures/examples will be available outside the art room. Projects will go home on the 2nd day.
The dates will be: (remember, the student must be able to attend both dates)
Sept 24/Oct. 1
Oct. 6/Oct. 13
Oct. 26/Nov. 2
Nov. 11/Nov. 18
If you have questions, please contact Ms. Green, GES art teacher, egreen@hse.k12.in.us