Dear GPS Parents and Families,

I hope you and your family had an enjoyable long weekend. We have a number of important updates and reminders for our families in this week’s newsletter so please read on for the most up-to-date information.

This continues to be a challenging time and we greatly appreciate your support and adherence to the various processes and mitigation measures we have in place on our campuses. For more information on these please visit, the Health Services section of our website. Together, we will continue to get through this, providing support for our students and for each other.

Sincerely,

Shane McCord, Ed. D.

Superintendent

Gilbert Public Schools

Connect - Create - Care

NOTE: Accessibility options for this newsletter are available at the top right of this page.

Christina Birch, a 2004 Gilbert High alum, talks about her transition from professional sports to a space career. | Read more

Mina Pavi takes on the National Novel Writing Month Challenge with the support of her teacher. | Read more

Our Junior High Schools are preparing to welcome future students to their campuses for school tours. | Read more

In light of the current high volume of COVID notifications, and the significant impact this is having on school personnel time, the following changes will be implemented to the process for notifying our families of general class and bus route exposure to COVID-19 as of tomorrow Thursday, January 20, 2022. The goal is to provide easy access for our parents and families to up-to-date information while supporting our schools to focus on educating and supporting our students.

General class exposure email notifications will no longer be sent out to families. Instead, families will be able to view information regarding potential exposure to positive COVID cases, by class and bus route, on the district website at their convenience.

Please note, that if your student is required to quarantine you will receive communication directly from your campus.

Each school has a ‘Notification Dashboard’ on the district website that will be updated daily identifying the same key information that is currently included in the letters.

Bus route notifications will also be posted on the website on a ‘Transportation Notification Dashboard’.

View the Notification Dashboards here

We want to remind our GPS students, families and staff that no-cost COVID-19 testing is available to the community at the GPS Global Academy drive-thru site located at 55 N Greenfield Road during the week, and a new Maricopa County testing site at Mesquite High on the weekends. Read more

We continue to work in partnership with our parents and guardians to keep our students healthy. We need you to complete the health assessment for your student(s) on a daily basis before you send them to school. There's no need to submit anything. Go over the questions on the assessment to determine whether or not to send your child to school. | Read more

Nutrition Services is looking for enthusiastic job seekers who want to work in a fun and fast-paced environment. The flexible hours make it easy to work while children and grandchildren are in school. Plus, there are no shifts on evenings, weekends, holidays, or school breaks. Training will be provided, and there are opportunities for advancement. If you would like to learn more about the job openings or be considered for an interview, attend the job fair happening Friday, January 21 from 9am to 11am at 140 S Gilbert Road in Building F in the Canyon and Cactus classrooms. Ready to apply? You are encouraged to fill out an online job application.

Registration is now open for the Gilbert Public Schools Run for Fun happening on Saturday, February 26, 2022 at Campo Verde High School. It is the fifth year for the 5K & 1 mile run/walk. Get 20% off registration with the code GPSRC. If you register by February 7, you can secure your event t-shirt. | Read more

As an Arizona taxpayer, you have the unique opportunity to redirect a portion of your state tax dollars to support public education. The credit allows you to contribute $200 per individual tax return or $400 per joint tax return to any school's extracurricular program. You can make your tax contribution now through April 2022. | Read more

On the Families Hub, you will find a range of resources to help you and your student(s) throughout the school year. You can also reach out directly to your student's school with any questions. | Read more

To contact your school and teacher(s), please visit your school website 'Contact Us' page for more details.