GES Grey Wolf Gazette
January 28, 2022
CONVAL STRATEGIC PLAN SURVEY
Superintendent Kimberly Rizzo Saunders and the School Board’s Strategic Planning Committee encourage community members to complete a survey to help the ConVal School District to develop a new strategic plan.
Strategic plans act as a roadmap for the District to follow during a five-year period, highlighting specific projects and goals for long-term sustainable growth. The most recent strategic plan was created in 2016 and lasted through June 2021.
The survey will gather input about long-term strategies and goals that are most important to community members. Data collected will help the District to shape a strategic plan that reflects community priorities.
The survey is open to all stakeholders – parents/guardians, students, staff, and residents of Conval’s nine sending communities.
“We ask everyone to take a few moments to complete this important survey,” Superintendent Rizzo Saunders said. “This input is vital in guiding the District to develop a strategic plan to serve our students that reflects the goals and visions of our community.”
The survey is open and will remain live through Tuesday, Feb. 1. To take the survey:
Parents/guardians of students, click here.
ConVal District staff members click here.
Students, click here.
Community members, click here.
A draft of the strategic plan is expected to be completed by June 2022. The plan will be reviewed by the School Board and implemented after approval.
More information about the strategic planning process can be found on the district’s website here.
NEWS FROM PRINCIPAL ROY
Happy Friday!
Dear Greenfield Families and Friends,
Are you ready for this weekend's Nor'Easter! I'm excited for a big snowstorm and some fresh snow for us to play in! Stay safe and enjoy the snow!
It appears that we are over the recent bump in positive COVID-19 cases here at GES. That said, it is still important for families to monitor children for ANY symptoms and to keep symptomatic children home until they can be tested. We are seeing positive cases with mild symptoms of scratchy throats and headaches. If your child presents with ANY of the following symptoms please keep them home and call the school and schedule a rapid test.
- Headache
- Muscle pain or aches
- Sore or scratchy throat
- Cough
- Congestion or runny nose
- Fever or chills
- Fatigue
- Nausea, diarrhea, vomiting
- Loss of smell or taste
The ConVal District updated its guidance on Monday 1/10/22. You can find updated guidance regarding isolation and quarantine after a positive exposure or test result below.
Effective immediately, we will be emailing families to notify you of any potential close contacts that occur in school instead of calling individual families. Please don't hesitate to call me or the school nurse if you have any questions after being notified of a potential close contact. Please monitor your child for symptoms after receiving notification. Students who may have been exposed at school may continue to come to school as long as they do not have any symptoms.
If your child has been fully vaccinated, please send a photo or copy of the vaccination card to our school nurse, Alaina Slocomb at aslocomb@conval.edu for our school records. Per the updated guidance, anyone who is fully vaccinated does not need to quarantine if a close household contact tests positive for COVID-19, as long as they are asymptomatic.
As part of our efforts to keep students and staff IN school as much as possible this year, we are able to perform rapid COVID tests for symptomatic students and staff. If your child develops symptoms at home, you now have the option to have your child tested at GES. Please keep them home and call our school nurse to schedule an appointment. If your child develops any symptoms while at school, we can test them here as well. We must have parent permission to perform a rapid test at school. If you have not already done so, please follow the directions below to sign your child up and provide consent to test.
To get started, please fill out the consent form with your permission to perform a COVID-19 test for your student at Greenfield Elementary School. This process should take no more than 5 minutes to complete using a computer or a smartphone.
1. First, click here https://testcenter.concentricbyginkgo.com/minor-consent/
2. Then, enter this access code: K06QO0
3. Finally, enter your child’s information, and you’re done!
Note: If you need to provide consent for more than one child at GES, please complete the process once for each child using the same code. If you have children in other district schools, please use the code sent from the principal where your child attends.
Only students with completed consent forms are able to participate in testing. Testing empowers us to make these informed decisions about in-person learning and allows students, teachers, and staff to come to school with peace of mind.
Per our Reopening Plan, any child who is symptomatic with new or unexplained symptoms should stay home until they are tested for Covid-19 and receive a negative result.
Winter Weather and Outdoor Play:
We do go outside for recess every day unless it is dangerously cold or raining. As long as the "real feel" temperature outside is above 10 degrees, we will be outside at recess! Please be sure to send in appropriate winter gear for your child. This includes, snow pants, boots, jacket, gloves and a hat. You are welcome to have your child keep their gear here at school if you have an extra set. While we do have some extra gear, we are running low on gloves and mittens. If you are cleaning out used gear and happen to have any extra gloves or mittens, we will happily take them to restock our supply of extras here at GES!
Winter Benchmark Testing:
All students in grades K-4 will participate in winter benchmark testing in Math and Reading between January 31 and February 18. Students will be assessed using a variety of tests, including Aimsweb, NWEA-Measures of Academic Progress and PNOA (Primary Number and Operations Assessment). Teachers use the data to identify gaps in learning and develop lessons and interventions to support students. Results from the assessments will be shared with families no later than the end of the second trimester in March.
It is important that you check and update your children's after school pick up plans in Pick Up Patrol each day, especially if they have plans that may change on a daily basis. We will follow the plans that are entered in Pick Up Patrol. It's your responsibility to make sure the plans are correct. Thank you for your help!
In case you missed the news, morning snack/breakfast and lunch are free for all ConVal students this year, however if your child gets only milk at either meal there is a charge of $0.50. Please be sure to add money to your child's lunch account to cover the cost of milk if needed.
You can find the latest elementary menus here:
https://conval.linqnutrition.com/Menus.aspx
The Grey Wolf Gazette is now available on our website under the "What's Happening" button. You will be able to find previous editions by clicking on the View All News button. No more scrolling through your email to find the newsletter.
Have a wonderful weekend!
~Colleen
UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES-PLEASE CHECK AND ADD TO YOUR CALENDAR!
1/31-2/4/22: Special: Library with Mrs. Mack
1/24-2/18/22: Winter Benchmark Testing K-4 (Math and Reading)
2/7-2/18/22: Special: PE/Health with Mrs. Parker! Don't forget your sneakers!
2/21/22: Winter Carnival! Stay tuned for details!
2/21-2/25/22: February Vacation
CONVAL DISTRICT NEWS
GES has a facebook page! You can find the link here:
https://www.facebook.com/Greenfield-Elementary-School-532738607668635
The ConVal School District has news blog to serve as a hub for the latest updates, information and news about the district’s schools, students, faculty, events and accomplishments.
The blog, ConValNews.com is integrated into the schools and District’s Facebook and Twitter accounts and will automatically broadcast news blog content onto these platforms, connecting directly with the district community.
With a clean, user-friendly and mobile responsive layout, the news blog allows for easy navigation throughout. It can be accessed on computers, cell phones and tablets. Community members can subscribe and be notified by email when new posts are published.
Parents/guardians, students, staff, and community members should still utilize the district’s main website, Convalsd.net, to access the District-wide calendar of events, contact information, school committee meeting notices and minutes, important documents and notices and to view general information about the district and its schools.
What's Happening in Kindergarten?
We started studying arctic animals this week, and our focus was on walruses, polar bears, arctic foxes, and arctic hares. We are also starting writing groups, and the students will get pulled in a small group a couple of times weekly to focus on handwriting and forming our letters correctly with a correct pencil grasp.
A few weeks ago we had a STEM project where we challenged the students to build a den with toothpicks and marshmallows. Their den had to be big enough to fit all of the animals from the story "The Mitten" by Jan Brett.
The kindergarteners are hard at work building their reading brains! We have learned the uppercase shape, lowercase shape, and sound of each letter in the alphabet. We love to practice our letter sound skills with sand trays and shaving cream! Now we are putting those sounds together to read and spell words! We practice identifying, producing, taking apart, and putting together sounds each day. Our favorite way to practice reading words is with the pirate game. After we read the word we have to decide if it's a real word or a nonsense word. If we get it right, we get to dance with the pirate. But, if we are wrong he walks the plank!
Community Events
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Souhegan Valley Boys & Girls Club! Find out more about Before & After School Care at GES!
News from the Souhegan Valley Boys and Girls Club!
Looking for Before or After School care for your children? Check out the Boys & Girls Club! They have different options to meet the needs of all our families-come one day a week or all 5! They also have a punch card for occasional use! The Club is up and running and accepting registrations for before and after school care at GES. The program will once again serve Greenfield, Francestown and Hancock students. Before school care is available from 6:00am-8:20am and After School care is available from 3:20pm until 6:00pm. Registration information can be found on the Club’s website www.svbgc.org If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Alyssa Nykanen at anykanen@svbgc.org or Catherine Kendall at ckendall@svgbc.org.
Connect with us!
Email: croy@conval.edu
Website: https://ges.convalsd.net/
Location: 860 Forest Road, Greenfield, NH 03047, USA
Phone: 603-547-3334
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Greenfield-Elementary-School-532738607668635
Twitter: @ges_royc