Happenings @ the Hill
Volume 1 Issue 20 (Week of March 4 - 8)
Administrative Updates
Recently, we have been discovering some academic dishonesty as well as classroom disturbances involving smart watches. If your student has one of these devices at school, s/he will be asked by his/her teacher to remove the smart watch when classroom assessments are given. The student(s) are being asked to place these devices in their backpacks until the assessments are collected. Regarding students who choose to use these devices during class for non-instructional purposes, the teachers have been directed to treat this as they would cell phone violations. Information regarding how our district handles cell phone violations is found in our student agenda. We are also asking our parents/guardians to help us ensure that our students follow reasonable dress code requirements regarding blue jeans with holes/tears. Please do not allow your student to wear items like these to school that have holes/tears more than 4 inches above the knee where skin is exposed. You may find information regarding our district dress code in your student's agenda. These updates were shared with our students at our House Assembly February 25th. Our student handbook may be found online on our GHMS webpage for your review. Thank you for your assistance and continued support!
Kindest Regards,
Christine V. McNeil, Principal
Digital Citizenship Information (emailed earlier this week to our families)
During FLEX This Week (8:15-8:45am)
- Monday - Literacy FLEX Day
- Tuesday - FLEX
- Wednesday - Literacy FLEX day
- Thursday - FLEX
- Friday - Pay It Forward Friday (Literacy/STEAM FLEX day) *see more information below
Quick List - On Campus This Week
Tuesday - StuCo / UpStanders / 1:1 PD Training for Certified Staff
Wednesday - Tornado/Fire Drill Practice / Department Meetings / Academic Challenge Meet
Thursday - Another Great Day to Be a Bulldog!
Friday - Another Great Day to Be a Bulldog!
What are we doing on our Pay It Forward Fridays? And, why? (Literacy + STEAM)
Bulldogs for Change...Our School Wide Pay It Forward Projects
At GHMS we value literacy, and through literacy, we are building a culture of independent thinkers! In order to understand our passion for literacy you have to understand how we define it. Literacy is more than just reading and writing. Literacy has grown to include the ability to use and analyze words, numbers, images, computers, and other essential components of life to understand, communicate, problem-solve, and increase knowledge in order to participate fully in our community and global society. By supporting our students’ literacy skills we are also helping them become educated, life-long learners.
One way we all support this big idea of literacy, as well as the components of STEAM, is by having students communicate and collaborate in all subject areas. Students also read and write across the curriculum. Another way we work on our literacy skills as a school is on Mondays and Fridays during our FLEX time. We started the year by reading Pay It Forward as a whole school. Once we finished our One School/One Book, we continued to have time to read optional articles combined with critical thinking activities and discussions on Mondays and sustained silent reading time on Fridays. By improving literacy skills, students will continue to excel in other content areas as well.
To continue to support the skills needed to grow as learners, we have been working on text-dependent analysis (TDA) on Mondays using school wide articles. On Fridays, students have been working on their “Pay It Forward” projects by researching and analyzing issues they see in their community, state, and world in order to propose an action plan for change. Students will continue to work in small groups or independently on Fridays in order to complete a plan that includes inquiry, research, elements of STEAM, and reflection. Students are not held accountable for the completion of their action plan and will only be assessed on the process of writing the proposal. Most components of the proposal can be done with the help of group members, while two sections, connections and reflection, will be done independently during Fridays’ FLEX time. Students will eventually present their proposals to their homerooms with the possibility of also presenting to their grade level teachers, which gives them another opportunity to collaborate and practice their communication skills. #FM21STEAM
Fifteen groups will have an opportunity to be showcased at our STEAM inspired by LITERACY Night, “Bulldogs for Change”, on April 30th. We welcome our families to come out and see what our students have been working on and how they have incorporated those skills that we all take part in teaching them!
You will have a chance to vote for the best proposal, and then the Bulldogs will help that group with their plan for change! We will also have the author of A Good Night for Mr. Coleman and The Hundred Story Home, Kathy Izard, here at GHMS to sell and sign copies of both of her books that tell inspirational, true stories of social change right here in the Charlotte area. We hope to also have representatives from other groups who make a difference like the Humane Society and the York County Library. Be on the lookout for more information on Bulldogs for Change, our STEAM inspired by LITERACY Night!
Tega Cay Police Department Thanks GHMS for Participating in the Polar Plunge for Special Olympics
6th Graders Change to Q4 Related Arts Classes On March 26 (Excluding Band)
Congratulations to our "You Be the Chemist" challenge representatives! We wish you success at Queen's University Sports Complex, Saturday, March 9th!
Nathan T.
Sophia R.
Jackson S.
Lukas P.
Brown M.
May 8 is the Final Yearbook Purchase Deadline.
This is our school-specific link to your online Jostens yearbook offer.
http://jostensyearbooks.com/?REF=A01085939
This link prevents the purchaser from having to enter school name or city/state when going to www.JostensYearbooks.com.
*If you are uncertain as to whether or not you have purchased a yearbook, please contact Leslie Shrum @ shruml@fortmillschools.org or refer back to sites above.
Save the Date (s) - ALL Bulldogs
March 19th - Bulldog Bash (Home Soccer Game - Hang out after school at our Stadium $2.00 admission to the game, and bring cash for concessions! - Pizza, Candy, Drinks!)*flyer below
March 22nd - Incentive Day
March 25th - Q3 Ends - 135th Day of School
March 29th - Teacher Work Day* (*weather makeup, if needed)
April 3rd - Report Cards Go Home
April 15th - 19th - Spring Break
Save the Date(s) for 8th Graders
April 26th - 8th Dance (7:00-10:00pm)
June 3rd - Recognition Practice Day
June 5th - Recognition Ceremony @ 9:00am (Half day of school.)
Need Access To Your Student's Grades, Attendance, Lunch Balance, and Other Info?
Use Parent Portal - access the link below to learn how to use this tool.
Please note that we are not sending home written progress reports this year.
If you are having any issues with Parent Portal, please notify Dawn Fite @ fited@fortmillschools.org.
Nurse's Update
The health and well-being of all students is of utmost importance. School nurses will request that you pick up your child if his/her medical condition is unstable, or if he/she is not capable of participating in the daily school activities. This decision is based upon an assessment conducted by the school nurse. In addition, the school must also follow the DHEC School Exclusion List for specific medical conditions to be in compliance with SC State Health guidelines.
End of Year Assessment Schedule
2/15-3/15 Student Engagement Survey
4/2-4/12 SC Ready/PASS Online Tools Tutorials5/13-6/5 SC Ready/PASS Testing
- 7th Grade 5/13-5/17
- 8th Grade 5/20-5/24
- 6th Grade 5/28-5/31
5/28-5/30 End of Course Exams for English 1 and Algebra 1
Thank you to the following corporate sponsors for your continued support!
Need More Information About Athletics?
Jackson Orthodontics - LEADER OF THE PACK SPONSOR!
Thank you Dr. Jackson for continuing to support our district athletic programs! You are our Leader of the Pack Sponsor by donating an additional $3,500 above your $5,000 donation to our district wide 5k!
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!
Christine V. McNeil, Principal
Website: http://ghms.fortmillschools.org/
Location: 1025 Dave Gibson Boulevard, Tega Cay 29708
Phone: 803-548-8300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GHMS1998/
Twitter: @GHMSBulldogs