Pony Express
Connecting GMS In One Place
March 2nd
GMS Families,
It's finally March. Wow! We're heading into the final stretch. Spring Break is around the corner and here we go...
Did you know that Track season has started? Our GMS athletes had their first track meet this week. The school is buzzing with lots of energy as our choir and band students are gearing up for UIL competition, our Theater students are practicing for their big musical, and our cheerleaders are getting ready for tryouts. GMS will be hosting a gigantic Math competition on Saturday. Spring has definitely sprung (even if the weather isn't exactly cooperating).
Did you know that we held a school wide Design Challenge last Friday to celebrate Engineering Week? The students had a blast and even our band, choir, and yearbook student joined in! Check out the pics below.
Our "behavior" meetings have gone well with the 8th graders and the 7th graders are next week. 8th graders are taking the role of leaders and we appreciate it! Our work is not done but it's great to hear the voices of our students. We've got some of the best students in GCISD!!
As you know, there's always something great happening at GMS and it is THE middle school to attend! Please read through this newsletter so you don't miss out on anything. Here’s what you need to know for this week:
English: https://tinyurl.com/y8nfzpdh
Espanol:https://tinyurl.com/y7nkx32w
2. Grapevine-Colleyville ISD has adopted an electronic flyer distribution program called Peachjar. Beginning February 15, with the new system, flyers from community organizations will be distributed through a weekly email and accessible through the school websites. This is part of our ongoing effort to focus resources on education while reducing the environmental impact of our activities.
GCISD parents will receive a welcome email from Peachjar that includes a username and password. This is provided to give parents the opportunity to manage their account and flyer delivery preferences. To view a list of Frequently Asked Questions, click here and select the appropriate tab for PARENTS.
5. Mark Your Calendar for Special Olympics:
March 5, 2018 6 p.m. Triple Threat Shootout Grapevine High School. This is the annual basketball game between local law enforcement, fireman and the GCISD Special Olympians. In addition to the game, there will be a silent auction and concessions. Come join the fun and support Special Olympics.
March 28, 2018 9 a.m. Mustang Panther Relays Cross Timbers Middle School
We are FAMILY! This is OUR HOUSE! Great students come from GREAT FAMILIES!
#OurHouseGMS
Monday, March 5th - GMS Choir UIL Region 31 Concert & Sight Reading @ CHHS.
Tuesday, March 6th - GMS Choir UIL Region 31 Concert & Sight Reading @ CHHS and 8th grade Scoliosis Screening
Thursday, March 8th- GMS Choir Concert, 5:30-7pm at GMS, GMS Track Meet at CTMS, 4-7pm
Friday, March 2nd - GMS 6th grade Field trip to Ft. Worth Zoo, 8:45-1:45
Band and the Design Challenge
Challenging Fun!
Dungeons and Dragons
Collaborative Learning
Students Plan
Digging In!
Course request for Current 6th and 7th graders
7th grader week of Feb 12th
6th graders week of Feb 19th
Skyward is open for students to request classes until Feb 25th. Course sheets are due Feb 26th.
Applications for gifted and talented identification are being accepted until 2/26. Testing will take place on our campus in March. Qualified students will be eligible to enroll in GT courses beginning in 2018-19. Applications are available in the GMS Front Office.
Math Telescoping Information
See the link to telescoping information in Principal Koehler's section above.
Play It Safe:
Play It Safe is a multi-session curriculum about healthy relationships. It is presented by The Women’s Center.
Students at GMS will see the Play It Safe presentation on these dates:
6th grade-- March 22
Questions may be addressed to Mrs. Lemke at 817-251-5673. The opt out is here:
English--Play It Safe English
Spanish--Play It Safe Spanish
The GCISD Technology Department is offering a series of parent meetings about social media apps and internet safety. For information about topics and dates, please look here.
This is the year that GCISD participates in the bi-annual survey of drug trends in Texas. Texas A&M conducts this survey and the data is used to study adolescent drug trends and to guide the state’s drug prevention/intervention funding.
A random sampling of 7th and 8th graders will be surveyed in their Corral classes during the week before Spring Break. (6th graders will not be surveyed.) The survey results will be anonymous.
For more information about the survey, please read the attached letters, which also include opt-out instructions.
- Last week, 6th graders and their parents celebrated the final week of Cotillion at the Grande Finale! A huge thank you to all the parents who signed up to volunteer each week and to Stacey Comer for organizing cotillion from start to finish! Pictures from Ballroom Night have been uploaded. Pictures from the Grande Finale will be uploaded this week. https://gmscotillion2018.shutterfly.com
Thank you to ALL the volunteers that made this year's Cotillion successful!!
This is my first year to join the PTA and take an active role as the 6th Grade Coordinator. I absolutely loved coordinating the Cotillion, having said that I’m really happy I don’t have a dance next week to prepare for ;) It was a great way to meet other parents, see my son’s old friends and get to know his new friends!
In April, the PTA membership for next school year, 18-19, will be available online: http://www.joinpta.org
The PTA will have many open positions for next year since a number of 8th grade parents are moving to high school. Currently, the PTA’s BIG GOAL is to raise money for a digital sign to replace the 1970’s sign near the football field. If you have a small business, work for a company interested in donating, or individually contribute, please contact Candy Worthan, PTA president, or Dr. Koehler.
candy.worthan@gmail.com
laura.koehler@gcisd.net
- Destination Imagination: Congratulations to our GMS 8th grade DI Team on their 4th place finish at the Regional Tournament on Feb. 24! This year the team chose the Engineering Challenge called Drop Zone. Part of their challenge was to design, build and test a freestanding structure that can withstand impacts from dropped weights. Team members are Solenne Halman, Emma Vertachnik, Jacob Wirick, and Tucker Worthan. Team manager is Stacy Wirick.
- Nominating Committee: Plans are underway for an outstanding 2018-19 school year at GMS PTA! The Nominating Committee is currently accepting nominations to fill the Executive Board for next year. Our 1st need is for volunteers to fill officer positions. Nominations for other positions will also be accepted. We are using a Google form to make it super easy to respond and find the position that best fits you! https://goo.gl/forms/4VXkSuR3OCPqNQZ62 For questions, please contact Jo Kruzel at jobclayton@yahoo.com. Thank you for your interest!
- World Wear Project: Time for Spring Cleaning to begin! Please donate your gently used shoes, clothing, purses, belts, wallets, hats, caps, backpacks, hard toys, stuffed animals, & pots/pans into the World Wear Project bin, located in the circle drive near the gym entrance. For every pound collected, we receive $0.12. Help do your part to Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle!
Graduating 2018 Seniors are invited to apply for PTA Scholarships
To stay connected with all the latest PTA news be sure to like our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/grapevinemiddleschoolpta/
Cotillion Fun!
Group Fun!
Shared Experience
College Recruitment Fair--Hosted by AVID 7 and 8
Please join us at our Mock College Recruitment fair on Thursday, March 29th from 2:00pm-2:30pm! AVID 7th and 8th graders will be representing a college and will try to “recruit” as many new students as possible! We would love to see you there.
6th Grade Field Trip
AVID 6th graders will be visiting the UTA campus on Tuesday, March 26th. We will need at least 5 parent chaperones, so please save the date! Forms and more information have been sent home, but can be printed here. Please email Mrs. Shepherd if your are willing to chaperone at trelawny.shepherd@gcisd.net and complete a background check by clicking here
Join AVID Next year!
Know someone who would be perfect for the AVID class? AVID Applications are live! GMS is looking for incoming 6th, 7th and 8th graders to join the AVID elective class. CHHS and GHS are also taking applications for incoming freshman. You can apply by following this link
AVID Tutors
GMS is in need of volunteer AVID tutors. What does this mean? An AVID tutor supports students during their AVID class period to help them succeed in coursework in which they have struggles. There is a method to the type of tutoring they receive so becoming an AVID tutor comes with a 6 hour training. AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. The program helps students develop study and organizational skills that will help them as they challenge themselves through rigorous coursework.
If you are interested, here are the criteria:
-Commit to 11 weeks of AVID tutoring during 3rd period on Tuesdays and Thursdays (9:50-10:36)
-Agree to be go to training (we'd tailor the training to the time all participants agree to)
-There is flexibility if you could only do one of the days instead of both.
-We are looking for 2 tutors.
If you think you'd might be interested, please contact Trelawny Shepherd at trelawny.shepherd@gcisd.net
Save the date!
AVID will be helping with Rachel’s Challenge, both with race activities and then hosting a booth at the rally after. The event will be April 21st from 7am-11am. Save the date! We will have a signup closer to the event.
What’s happening in AVID?
Check out our Facebook page for class updates, pictures and more!
Community Service
We survived February!! Thank you so much for all of your support for our kids through this busy month. You deserve a week off! :-) Please take time to rest, relax and enjoy your family over spring break. When we come back, we will be gearing up for STAAR in all grade levels. We got this!
6th grade- Sixth graders are continuing to work on their integrated PBL based on the novel Fuzzy Mud. They will be writing scripts and filming next week.
7th grade- We have completed our Movement in the City project. Students will be bringing these home before spring break.
8th grade- As we approach our trip at the end of this week, don’t forget that meds are due to the nurse by 3:30 on Monday. Please make sure they are labeled correctly.
Schedule:
March- 5-9th- CCCCC
March 12th-17th- Spring Break
March 19th-23rd- ABACB
The Pony Pride Dance Team is preparing for tryouts. An information meeting will take place on March 19th. Anyone interested should email Mrs. Mercer!
Save the date!
StuCo will be helping with Rachel’s Challenge, both with race activities and then hosting a booth at the rally after. The event will be April 21st from 7am-11am. Save the date! We will have a signup closer to the event.
Meeting
Our next meeting will be Wednesday, March 7th, during corral in Mrs. Shepherd’s room, C106
Boys Track and Field Results
March 1st
The Ponies ran in their first meet of the year last night and did an outstanding job of competing. Two weeks of rain and practicing inside were not enough to keep the ponies from training and performing well. The 7th Grade Boys started strong and in their first meet finished with 124 points. Good enough for a 2nd place finish. The 8th Grade Boys started strong as well and never looked back. They finished with 189 points. That was god for a 1st place finish.
7th Grade Results:
1st place finishers
Victor De La Cruz- Long Jump-16’ 3 ¼”
2nd Place finishers
Ryan Wolter- 100M Dash-13.91
Chris Price-110m Hurdles-20.29, Triple Jump- 32’ 8 ¼ “
Gabe Aldaco-1600m Run-5:44
Zane McHorse- Shot Put-28’0”
3rd Place finishers-
Tyler Meers- 400m Dash-1:04.65
Keller Shamberger-Shot Put-27’5”
400M Relay- Tyler Meers, Victor De La Cruz, Josh Lowe, Elijah Canafax- 4:33
8th Grade Results:
1st Place Finishers-
Leon Covington-Triple Jump-41’ 6.5”(GMS School Record), Long Jump- 17’10.5”
Blake Burgess- Pole Vault 9’0”
Josue Granados- 1600m-5:20.02
Leo Covington- 100m Dash-12.76
Saiviahn Shockley-200m Dash 25.7
4x100m Relay-Leon Covington, Dylan Hohenberger, William Leon, Leo Covington-48.24
4x200m Relay-Leon Covington, Dylan Hohenberger, William Leon, Saiviahn Shockley- 1:41.67
2nd Place Finishers
Gabe Ponce- 400m Dash-59.35
William Leon-100m Dash-12.81
Brian Guerva-1600m run-5:22.77
Leo Covington-Shot Put-35’0”
4x400m Relay-Gabe Ponce, Juan Jasso, Roman Holguin, Michael Allen- 4:09.24
3rd Place Finishers
Josue Granados-2400m run- 8:11.09
Girls Track and Field Results
March 1st
The Ponies ran in their first meet of the year last and did an outstanding job of competing. Two weeks of rain and practicing inside were not enough to keep the ponies for training and performing well. The 7th Grade Girls started strong and in their first meet finished 4th out of five teams with 63 points. The 8th Grade Girls started strong as well and never looked back. They finished with 159.5 points. That was good for a 2nd place finish and 10 points behind the first place finisher.
7th Grade Results:
1st place finishers
Lexi Crome Discus-53.7
2nd Place finishers-
Samantha Jackson Discus-52.8
8th Grade Results:
1st Place Finishers-
Maddie Clague-Long Jump- 14’1, Triple Jump 32’8
Lila Nicodemus 1600 meter run- 5.57
Lila Nicodemus 2400 meter run- 9.15
Maddie Clague- Triple Jump- 32’8
2nd Place Finishers
Maddie Clague- 100 Meter Dash-13.92
Danny Navarro- 1600 meter run- 6.07
Danny Navarro- 2400 meter run- 9.33
Caelyn Gunn- Discus- 60’3
Claire Newton- Long Jump- 13’5
4x400 Meter Relay- Jacki Molina, Danny Navarro, Mya Teegardin, Ella Williams. 4.50
3rd Place Finishers
Danny Navarro- Triple Jump- 29’
Jackie Molina- 1600 meter run- 6.10
Jackie Molina- 2400 meter run- 9.38
Dual Language is so appreciative for the entire GMS campus coming together and helping raise money for our school. The Color Battle was a huge success! See pictures above! Thank you again on behalf of Dual Language!
6th grade:
Alec Stout - Science
Nandini Senthilkumar- Calculator
7th grade:
Aneesh Mazumder - Calculator
Surya Emandi- Science
8th grade:
Miles Masker - Science
*Any time at VISTA
*2 or more times in ISS
*UIL academically eligible
*No more than 2 "N"s or "U"s on their citizenship grade for the 3rd 9 weeks
Remember, it they're not taking care of business in their classes, they are NOT attending this field trip privilege.
Grapevine Middle School
Email: laura.koehler@gcisd.net
Website: http://www.gcisd-k12.org/gms
Location: 301 Pony Parkway, Grapevine, TX, United States
Phone: 817-251-5660
Facebook: facebook.com/GrapevineMiddleSchool
Twitter: @GrapevineMiddle