Welcome to the GMSD Neighborhood
8.29.22
GMSD leads the state of TN in Early Literacy
Did you know that our Germantown students are outperforming other students across the state in early literacy?
Join us at our upcoming Germantown Board of Education Meeting as we celebrate the incredible success of our superstar Elementary School English Language Arts teachers and students.
- Our fifth grade ELA students were ranked in the top five, out of 149 districts
- Our fourth grade ELA students ranked number ONE in the state
- Our third grade ELA students ranked number ONE in the state
- Our second grade ELA students ranked number ONE in the state
While not tested by TCAP, our Kindergarten and first graders made significant gains on nationally normed assessments in their reading and literacy skills.
- Our Kindergarten ELA students moved from 64% proficiency to 91% proficiency in reading skills
- Our first grade ELA students moved from 78% to 92% proficiency in reading skills
We will be recognizing the teachers who had a hand in such outstanding results. Our recognition begins at 6pm on Tuesday, August 30 at our district office board & community room. We will celebrate not just the successes listed above but also highlights in growth. Come cheer on your favorite elementary reading teacher or watch us LIVE online and give them a shoutout via social media.
Jason Manuel,
Superintendent
Germantown Board of Education Business Meeting
All of our Germantown Board of Education Meetings are held in person in our GMSD Board/Community Room. Meetings are also live-streamed on our GMSD Youtube Channel.
The community can also follow meeting agendas here.
Tue, Aug 30, 2022, 06:00 PM
3350 Forest Hill Irene Road, Germantown, TN, USA
Artist-in-residence Kong Wee Pang visits with student artists who will be designing creative crosswalks for the City of Germantown.
Public art can contribute to the visual and textural character of a community, create a sense of place or foster a sense of spirit by celebrating history or cultural heritage. Public art seeks to inspire relationships and communication. Did you know that one of the City of Germantown's newest commissions is tasked with just that?
The Germantown Public Art Commission, in addition to creating art spaces, has also partnered with GMSD on an exciting new venture. GPAC's Public Art Manager Cat Pena and Houston High School Art Teacher Bobby Spillman are using GMSD's most talented young artists to design "creative crosswalks" proposals for the Commission.
Creative crosswalks use colors, textures, and patterns to enliven city streets as engaging and safe places for people. They can be designed to reflect the special character of a neighborhood, mark the gateway to a district, or otherwise create local identity and pride.
One of these gateways, says Pena, will include the new stoplight/crosswalk in front of Houston High School. "Who better to assist with that design than the students?" she said.
As the teacher of the students, Spillman saw an opportunity for a teachable moment. "As a working artist myself--I know there's a huge industry for public art," said Spillman. But, there is a learning curve to landing those more lucrative projects for an artist.
Thus, in the first phase of the partnership, GMSD and GPAC are bringing in local public art experts Kong Wee Pang and Anthony D Lee. Last week, Pang discussed her design process with advanced placement art students. Check out some of her public art works here.
Stay tuned in to your GMSD Neighborhoods as we follow students on their journey to the creative crosswalks.
Tennessee's TCAP Portal is open & offers families new insights into student achievement
GMSD wants to make sure that all families have taken time to access this valuable resource from the Tennessee Department of Education. The TCAP Family Portal is a free, online resource to help inform families of student’s strengths and areas for growth. This resource has valuable information including the following:
- TCAP scale scores and performance levels by subject
- Test history features which allow families to track progress over time
- Links to Parent Guides
- Next-step recommendations
This resource is an optional resource, and printed, individual, student reports are also now available. Schools will be sending home the paper student reports this week.
Families can access this resource by registering at familyreport.tnedu.gov. Families should use the student’s USID number (a student-specific, state Id number) to create or log in to an existing account. The student's USID number (7-digit state Id number plus two leading zeros) can be found in Skyward Family Access. To find your number, click here.
If you need assistance accessing the TCAP Family Portal, please call the Help Desk at 1-888-711-7724. If you have any additional questions, please reach out to the department at TNED.Assessment@tn.gov. We hope you find this new resource helpful.
Top Reels of the Week from #TeachGMSD
Let's Go Houston--The Athletic Recap of the Week
FOOTBALL
Opened the season with a win over Ridgeway 48-7.
We scored on our first two offensive plays and never looked back. Junior Damon Sisa led
us in rushing with 114yds and 1 touchdown while Sophomore quarterback Chandler Day threw 2 touchdowns.
VOLLEYBALL
They swept Munford in their first regular season match. Want to come cheer on these extraordinary students? Their first home match of the year is this Tuesday vs Cordova at 4:00pm.
SOCCER
The Mustangs won their home opener 4-0 over St. Agnges Academy this week. Leah Freeman scored twice, while Lucy Smith, Lyla Talley both added goals to the victory. Over the weekend they battled it out in a trip to Hendersonville.
GOLF
Sophie Christopher won the Medalist Honors Shooting 36 last week and is slated for incredible things. Catch the team next week in their match vs. St. Agnes this week.
(Student Created ) Video of the Week: Houston vs. Briarcrest Hype Video
Advanced film and video students, Brennan Williams and Jake Brower have been creating hype videos to explain each week's football game to student body members. Both are members of the Dual Enrollment Film/Video Production class as well as active participants in the Mustang Mob. A great combination! These student-produced videos are too good not to share.
GOAL students begin their virtual year with an in-person celebration
The Germantown Online Academy for Learning (GOAL) students and parents came together on Saturday, August 5th to kick off the school year. "We had a great time meeting new students and parents. We are excited about the new school year. Thank you GOALIES for an amazing turn out," shared Principal, Dr. Heather Fisher.
GOAL is GMSD's stand-alone virtual school. It combines rigorous, technology-delivered instructional experiences, instruction by a highly qualified, Tennessee-certified, professional teachers, and an experience that will enable students to customize their learning journey.
Students are be enrolled in 100% online learning. With a mix of synchronous and asynchronous classes opportunities. But, community is important--so they often gather IRL to enjoy fellowship and activities.
Meet this week's Blue Chip Teacher Feature, McKenzie Stafford. She attended GMSD schools K-12 and is coming back to work as a second grade teacher this year with some of her favorite teachers. Hear about how her experience led her to becoming a teacher, and how she was able to secure a job at Dogwood Elementary School. Welcome BACK to GMSD, Ms. Stafford!
Symbaloo Pages are sunsetting on school websites
We want parents to know that on September 1st, all GMSD Symbaloo pages will be discontinued as we work on our school-level websites and as we continue to audit our digital resources. If you aren't sure what Symbaloo is, then you have no cause for worry!
Prior to ClassLink, around 2015, school Instructional Technology Coaches began maintaining Symbaloo pages at each school to collect links to applications and commonly used websites. The program then displays the links in a dashboard. In a more modern context, ClassLink not only does this for schools and students--but it also provides them with SSO access--eradicating the need to remember several logins and passwords.
"These pages have become obsolete because our students and staff now use ClassLink to access their digital materials. We are always working to streamline places for students, parents, and staff to access apps and programs," said Blended Learning Supervisor Chris Cooper.
If you are a routine Symbaloo user, please bookmark any sites that aren't included in your ClassLink dashboard. ClassLink, the way that students access their digital resources will suffer no interruptions.
The GMSD Events Calendar
Did you know that GMSD has coordinated calendars across its schools over the summer? Each school has linked their Google Calendar to our website. You can toggle which schools' events you wish to see and even subscribe to specific calendars.
TIP: If you are viewing the calendar from a smart phone, scroll to the bottom to toggle between schools.
**Want an event added to a school calendar? Submit the request in an email to your principal. They manage their own calendars.
Nominate Your Favorite GMSD Community Members
There are several community awards available to our exceptional staff members–please consider submitting nominations for your favorite GMSD staff for the City’s Germantown Teacher of the Month, WREG’s Teacher of the Week, and for CityCurrent’s Annual Spark Education Awards. It’s special when teachers are recognized by these wonderful community partners, and they are all currently seeking your nominations.
Spark Awards
Nominate a Community Champion!
GMSD families are able to nominate a school, teachers, students and or leaders who are making a difference.
From their website:
It's time to cast your nominations for The SPARK Awards 2022! Please submit your nomination(s) to help us recognize and celebrate those who are making a difference here in the Mid-South. This is Year #9 for our WKNO televised awards show that airs both here in our local market and across the state on the PBS Tennessee Network, as well. Please nominate your company, nonprofit, school, child, teacher, principal/education leader, an adult, and/or someone who has dedicated many years of service to our great community.
There are 13 categories covering individuals (youth, college student, adult, teacher, education leader, and legacy award), nonprofits of various sizes, corporations of different sizes, and schools. It is a FREE, public nomination-driven honor, and nominations are open now through 5:00 PM CDT on Wednesday, August 31, 2022.
You can cast as many nominations as desired, as long as you complete a separate entry form for each one. No preference or weighting will be given to multiple nominations for the same individual or organization. The criteria for judging will be based on taking a leadership role in initiatives or efforts that better the Greater Memphis community, volunteerism, and impact.
Once the nomination phase is complete, all nominations will be given to The Midtown Memphis Rotary Club, which ultimately will select the winners in each category to be recognized during the special televised broadcast of The SPARK Awards later this year.
We greatly appreciate your help and support of The SPARK Awards! We’re looking forward to celebrating more upstanders and do-gooders in our community, and encouraging even more people and organizations to POWER the GOOD here in the Mid-South!
Cast your nomination(s) and learn more at www.TheSPARKawardsTV.com.
Youth Excellence Awards from the Germantown Education Commission
The Germantown Education Commission is seeking your help to recognize outstanding students from your school.
Each month, from August to April, the Commission chooses a nominee to receive the Youth Excellence Award. Seniors who attend a school in Germantown OR those who live in Germantown but attend a school outside of the city limits are eligible. Additional information is included in the attached nomination form.
Applications are scored by commission members and added to a pool to be considered for the award each month until they are selected or until the end of the school year. Monthly Youth Excellence Award winners are invited in April to apply for the Germantown Youth Excellence Scholarship.
If you have any questions about the contents of this newsletter--or wish to make a submission for our next newsletter, please email kathleen.crowder@gmsdk12.org or visit us at Let's Talk.