Gearity PDS
12.15.23 Family Message
Greetings Gearity Families
Kalahari Update: Thank you for your patience if you purchased tickets for Kalahari. The tickets arrived today and are ready for pick up. As a reminder, we will not give the tickets to our students given their value - a parent must sign for the tickets in the main office.
Fun Events Planned for our Winter Break Sendoff: I have included the Spirit Week Flyer below so you can help your student(s) participate in next week's fun activities. We will have our yearly STEM Carnival on Tuesday and Wednesday where the students will learn about the science behind fun games they play them. Friday afternoon we will have K-1, 2-3, and 4-5 Dances in the gym to celebrate the start of Winter Break - students are earning their dance by meeting our PAWS expectation of Showing Respect on a daily basis.
Last week of Quarter 2 when we return from Winter Break: We will return to classes on January 8th which is the last week of the 2nd marking period. Please make sure your students have completed all work as teachers will be putting in grades at that time. We hope to have report cards available by the 19th of January in Infinite Campus. Mrs. Smith will mail report cards home along with Acadience (reading) and MAP (reading, math and science) Family reports so you can see how your students performed on their mid-year assessments. You can schedule a teacher conference to review results at any time.
Attendance Matters: Winter starts officially on December 21st and with the cold weather we often see a decline in attendance. We need your students in school every day so we can continue to help them build their academic skills. Please make every effort to get them here, even on the cold days, because the school is nice and warm and we have nutritious meals waiting for them. Our attendance rate dropped a half a percent in the past two weeks due to illness, vacations and doctors appointments. All of these absences count towards their chronic absenteeism rate. We don't want sick children coming to school, but please make every effort to schedule doctor's appointments outside school hours and plan vacations for school holidays whenever possible.
No School on January 15th and 16th: Our school district observes Martin Luther King's holiday on January 15th so classes will not be in session. The following day is a records and professional development day for teachers as they work on 2nd quarter grades. School will not be in session on Tuesday, January 16th.
Students will miss out on going to the Natural History Museum if the Infinite Campus Annual Update is not complete! Gearity still has just over 100 students who need to have their Annual Update completed. We are planning to take all students to the Natural History Museum in February to learn about the total solar eclipse that will occur in April. We will not be able to take students unless the annual update is completed. Call the office at 371-6515 if you need help!
Find the instructions to complete the Annual Update here. You will need to have an Infinite Campus account to complete your Annual Update; if you do not have an Infinite Campus account, click here to request one. If you have issues logging into Infinite Campus or completing the Annual Update, please contact the Data Department at icportal@chuh.org.
Have a great weekend,
Patrick McNichols
Principal
News from the Nurse
Nurse Ice is sharing two helpful graphics this week. The first compares the symptoms of four common childhood illnesses. We hope that this will help you identify what is affecting your student if they are not feeling well. The second graphic will assist with planning what types of clothing will best meet your student's needs for recess given the variable temperatures we have been recently seeing. Students are outside if the real feel temperature is above 28 degrees so what they wear in the car to come to school may not be enough for recess time.
District Plan for Communications with Persons with Disabilities
The District has adopted a plan for communications with persons with disabilities, which is available at the following link: Communication Plan. The plan establishes procedures to ensure that the District's communications with persons with disabilities, including applicants, participants, members of the public, and companions with disabilities, are as effective as its communications with others.
Upcoming Events
December 18th - Spirit Week Starts
December 19th & 20th STEM Carnival
December 22nd - grade level dances
December 22nd - Winter Break starts after school ends
January 8th - Return to School from Winter Break
January 11th - School Market
January 12th - 2nd quarter ends
January 15th - MLK Day (No School)
January 16th - Professional Development Day (No Students)
January 19th - Grades will be available in Infinite Campus
January 26th - PAWS Assembly
January 26th - Family Dance 6:00 - 7:30
January 29th - Teacher Data Day (No Students)