GPS District Digest (v5, i15)
Stories, news, and updates from Greenwich Public Schools
Shout It Out Loud
Get your fill of the GPS District Digest now because in two weeks, we will all be in the middle of our Spring Recess. It seems like our Winter Recess was not that long ago. The Digest will return to your inbox in three weeks - April 25. That is plenty of time for our sources to pass along all good things GPS to the newsroom.
We are not going to lie - Issue No. 15 is loaded. Staff recognitions, student achievement, and so much more!
Two things before you move on! Make sure you stop by GHS' Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, April 24 at 5:00 PM for the annual Community Service Awards. Thursday, May 9 is the 2024 Distinguished Teachers Awards ceremony at Central Middle School, 4:30 PM sharp. These are must-see events.
Enjoy Issue No. 15 and thank you for your support.
GPS District Digest
Rest easy, Ike. We miss you already. You were a good boy.
'Cause I'm On Top Of The World
Western Middle School science teacher, Ms. Kim Matarese, received New England League of Middle Schools' 2023-2024 Master in the Middle Award recently at its annual conference in Springfield, MA because of her passion about middle level education, her ability to serve as an educational leader in the community, celebrating diversity, and demonstrating actions that promote social and racial justice and equity for all marginalized students. She was nominated by WMS' administration team.
"I have been a middle school educator for the past 19 years and could never imagine working with a different age group of students," Ms. Matarese said. "I am thankful to be surrounded by colleagues who are supportive of both students and each other. While I may be the recipient of the award, it really speaks to what Western Middle School is as a community."
NELMS' mission are to be leaders in promoting middle level best practices by providing collaborative learning experiences that support students’ intellectual, academic, social, and emotional growth and success and is comprised of 300 member schools and more than 15,000 individual members in six New England states and beyond.
And for all of you Wildcats out there: #Westsidebestside.
Let The Music Play
GPS students from Eastern, Central and Western Middle Schools representing the three ensembles recently traveled up to Wilton High School to participate in the Western Region Middle School Festival. They were selected based on their successful auditions in December. Sources close to the Digest tell us that it was a "competitive and selective process."
The festival's organizer, the Connecticut Music Educators Association, has been dedicated to providing programs and activities for professional educators, students and future music educators striving to enhance the quality of music education for all children. Its goals are to promote and recognize effective music teaching, promote quality learning opportunities for all Connecticut students, provide a unified voice on behalf of music educators in Connecticut, and to maintain a vital, effective, and efficient organization.
Sources have also told the Digest that their success would not have been achieved without their "incredible" music teachers Ms. Julia Brion, Mr. Michael Strange, and Mr. Martin Wirt.
Pictured below are the six Central MS band & jazz students, in alphabetical order, including Jack Clarke, Sophie Clarke, Carter Henske, Marion Lindsay, Briar Lissauer and Dylan Pond.
I Love Music, Just As Long As It's Groovy
The NAMM Foundation announced that Greenwich Public Schools was one of the recipients of its 2024 Best Communities for Music Education (BCME) Awards, a signature program now in its 25th year of recognizing and celebrating school districts and individual schools for their support and commitment to music education and their efforts to ensure access to music for all students as part of a well-rounded education. It is the 14th time GPS has been given this honor.
Founded in 2006, The NAMM Foundation represents the generosity and philanthropy of the music products industry. A supporting organization of NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants, the NAMM Foundation is funded through trade association activities and donations.
And Every Time I Step Up In The Building
The annual Alliance Trivia Challenge was a massive success. Recently, the Greenwich Alliance for Education descended upon Tamarack Country Club for an evening of trivia, dinner, and a silent auction.
Teams of 10 collaborated at their tables to answer six rounds of trivia questions. Event proceeds benefit Alliance programs and AVID Success Scholarships.
Congratulations to the winning teams:
- First place: Greenwich Education Association
- Second place: Team Four the Win!
- Best Team Name: Jurass-Kickers!
It's The Circle Of Life
Julian Curtiss School is the fourth elementary school to adopt the organics recycling program, which diverts banana peels, apple cores, and other food scraps from the waste stream to cut waste, save natural resources, and promote environmental stewardship. The students dramatically increased their diversion rate from 34% to 76% by separating their food waste from liquids, recycling and trash and donating any uneaten, unopened food to the share refrigerator.
A daily average of 27 pounds of food scraps were diverted from incineration to instead create energy and compost at Quantum Biopower, an anaerobic digester. Through the Zero Waste Schools program, the students are projected to eliminate almost 10,000 pounds of trash during the school year.
Some of the educational highlights in the cafeteria included instructional videos, a compost challenge competition between grade levels, the Ready, Set, Sort! video game, and a worm bin encounter to see composting in action. The students will celebrate their success with a delivery of compost for the school's gardens, bringing the process full circle.
But Tonight, Tonight, It's On Tonight
Did you miss the 37th annual Greenwich High School Jazz Festival in late March? In case you did, Associate Director of Bands Mr. Jason Polise and photographer, special to the Digest, Ms. Plummer, shared some great photos.
Maybe we will see you all at the 38th annual.
I Have My Books & My Poetry To Protect Me
Congratulations to the 23 Greenwich High School students and one Eastern Middle School student that amassed a total of 64 recognitions at the 2024 Hudson-to-Housatonic Scholastic Writing Awards. Awards included 11 Gold Keys, 19 Silver Keys, and 34 Honorable Mentions.
A panel of professional novelists, editors, teachers, poets, librarians, journalists, and other literary professionals selected these works from 2,708 works submitted this year
To recognize their outstanding work, this year's Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention recipients have been invited to the 2024 Awards Ceremony for the Hudson-to-Housatonic Region of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards on Sunday, April 6 at Manhattanville University's Reid Castle in Harrison, NY.
Our honorees included seventh-grader Rajsi Choudhary; freshmen Isabella Alexandrou, Khushi Choudhary, Cole Ewen, Rhea Fan, Greta Garcia, Xiwen Gong, Sarah Mao, Aitana Rodriguez, Angelina Song, Andrew Wasco, Kate Wick, and Sasha Yeterian; sophomores Alexa Loera, Belle Nichols, Olivia Popp, and Annabelle Wu; juniors YeonWoo Kook, Ashley Malkin, Ellie Nikami, Shreya Prabhu, Naomi Rosell, and Natasha Samant; and senior Ziyi Yan.
For a full list of honorees, head to the Writopia Lab website.
I Was Just Guessing At Numbers & Figures
Riverside School is gearing up for its annual STEM Fair on Tuesday, April 9. An Open House will be held for Riverside School families and invited guests in the gymnasium from 6:00-7:30 PM, and class visitations to the STEM Fair will take place on the following school day.
Originally conceived as a traditional science fair, Riverside broadened the scope of the event to include Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
As described by Interim Principal Gordon Beinstein, the STEM Fair has effectively become “a dynamic community celebration of science, technology, engineering, and math. The majority of students participate in this voluntary activity that showcases the ingenuity and curiosity of our young learners. The event reflects the school’s commitment to fostering a culture of innovation and critical thinking and equipping our learners with the skills necessary for 21st century learning.”
One project underway that has captured the imagination of the Riverside community involves a weather tracking balloon constructed and launched by a pair of second graders, currently registering atmospheric data in Canada!
For additional details please contact Riverside School’s Press Contact, Amina Graham at amina.abrahams@gmail.com.
GPS X-Cellent Adventures 📱
We love sharing good news with our 2,142 closest friends on the GPS X (Twitter) account, @GPSDistrict. Can we get to 3k by the end of the school year?
Follow us, but only do it if you are family, student, staff, or community member that wants to see all of the good things happening around the District. No negativity from us!
At the Digest, we love to show you some of our favorite posts from around the GPS social media world, including from some new accounts on Instagram.
Do you have a favorite social media account? Let us know!
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- Karen & Linda: And you may ask yourself, "Well, how did I get here?" Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down.
Email: communications@greenwich.k12.ct.us
Location: 290 Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich, CT, USA
Phone: (203) 625-7415
It is the Mission of the Greenwich Public Schools to:
- • Educate all students to the highest levels of academic achievement;
- • Enable them to reach and expand their potential; and
- • Prepare them to become productive, responsible, ethical, creative and compassionate members of society.