GCA Weekly Update
8/12/2022
Hello Spartan Community,
Annual Update, Update - Important
If you have not completed your Annual Update in Infinite Campus - please get it done today.
Community - In our continuing discussions on community, I want to bring up the role of gratitude. We will focus on gratitude in November, but it is also a big part of community. I thought about this yesterday when we started talking about who is responsible for certain things that need to be done around GCA. Many times people outside of GCA ask me who is responsible for certain areas. At large comprehensive campuses, there is an administrator and assistant for each major area, and they take care of that area. Within our GCA community, our staff has strengths that we rely on, and they may not work in the specific areas. The thing I am grateful for in this community is the number of times we present that something needs to be taken care of and the number of people, regardless of what their role is, that say, “I can do that.” I realize I work with an amazing group of people in our office, classrooms, and numerous support areas. We had an amazing group of parents that came in to ensure that pictures went well, and because of them, pictures went well. I am grateful for the people around me that say I can do that. They are the people that make GCA great. My challenge to you this week is to look for those people in your communities that make a difference in your life and express gratitude for what they do for you. You will be strengthening those relationships and the communities around you.
August Action- Build More Communities
Find someone in one of your communities (class, legion, club, friend group) that you do not know and ask their name if you don’t know it. Ask them what is going well and what is a challenge right now. Use your community to celebrate what is going well and assist in easing the challenge. Look to increase your community (friend group) by bringing new members in where possible. Give more people a place to belong.
September 2, 2022 - College Colors Day
Start looking for a college shirt to wear to school on September 2nd because we are going to wear them with jeans on College Colors day. Also, if you don’t have school jeans that are free from holes, you may want to get a pair for this school year. I have given you two weekends to get ready, and I hope to see all students in their dream college shirts on Friday, September 2nd.
AP EXAM Registration and Payment - Deadline Nov. 1, 2022
All students taking AP Exams in May 2022 will now register with their teachers within their AP classes. Teachers will give students their exam code for that specific class. Students will indicate that they are registering for the exam by selecting “YES” within Myap.collegeboard.org. They will do this in class. Payment will complete their registration for the exam only if they have completed the step above.
Payment is due Nov 1, 2022. Late payments will not be accepted. Families can pay within Infinite Campus with the InTouch tab. If your family qualifies for Free and Reduced Lunch, please contact your counselor for more information on reduced AP Exam costs.
AP Registration and Payment information
Saturday Latin Tutoring
Mr. Merrill will be holding Saturday Latin Tutoring this Saturday, August 13, in his classroom (room 124) from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Bring $5 to stay as long as you want. Students should come prepared with either homework to work on, specific questions, or difficulties on which they need help.
Picture day was amazing!
Thank you for making picture day a success. Please share the following information with your parents. There are a number of different order stages your parents might fall into. This information will help many questions.
If you have not already ordered school pictures, there is still time.
The most efficient and cost-friendly way to order is to visit mydorian.com, search for your school, click the green Order button that corresponds with your school picture day and place your order. This option is available for up to four (4) days after picture day.
Once all of the images have been processed. Any student that has not ordered will receive an email with a unique access code and instructions to preview their image and place an order. All orders placed using the unique access code will be shipped directly to the student’s home.
Did you miss picture day or want to retake your picture?
Find your school’s retake day date and order information on mydorian.com by searching for your school. A student wishing to have their picture retaken should bring their original package back to school and return it to the photographer on retake picture day.
Digital downloads are delivered based on how you ordered.
If you ordered an image download online, you will receive an email with access to your image once it is ready. If you ordered with an envelope, you will receive your download instructions when packages are distributed at the school.
Missing ID’s
Please make sure all students bring their new ID card and lanyard to school. Outdated ID cards are no longer valid at GCA. If a current ID card is defaced, it will cost $5 to get a new one.
Parent Information about Fentanyl
I wanted to make you aware that there is a rise in prescription medication laced with fentanyl in our district. If you see prescription pills around your child that do not belong to them. Do not touch them with your bare hands. Put them in a plastic bag and take them to be analyzed. This is not meant to scare you but to inform you that fentanyl is around. For more information, click here.
GCA Music News
We are off to a great start making music in all band, orchestra, choir, and guitar classes! A few reminders and pieces of information for you as we start this school year:
1. If you have not yet read the Music Department Handbook and/or submitted the online form, please visit this link to complete those tasks.
2. Please be sure you have all concert dates in your family calendar and notify your music teacher if you have any conflicts ASAP.
3. Band and Orchestra instruments have been assigned, and signature forms have been sent home. Payment is now due for those rentals. If you have any questions about instruments, please reach out to Mrs. Joslin or Ms. Cheer
4. In the coming weeks, members of Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Strings, Chorale, Cantate, and Belles Chanteuse will be bringing home concert uniforms. These are on loan from our music department and must be properly taken care of. Please check all dresses and pants for length. Some will need to be hemmed in time for our first concerts.
5. Members of Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Strings, and Chorale: It's not too late to register for our trip to Hawaii next March! Please visit this folder for all information related to registering, payment schedule, and recently added information regarding tax credit payments. Please contact your child's music teacher if you have any questions or would like to discuss further details of this trip before making a decision.
Finally, Chorale has its annual retreat TOMORROW, 8 am-2 pm at GCA. Wear comfortable clothes, close-toed shoes, and come ready to learn and have a great time!
Donation Request
We need refrigerators. Several of our refrigerators are no longer chillin. If you have a gently used fridge that would like to chill at GCA, please let us know, and we will arrange to get it. Appreciate your help.
GCA Good Things
Congratulations to the 2022 Arizona State Seal of Biliteracy Recipients!
The Gilbert Classical Academy and Gilbert Public Schools are proud to congratulate the Class of 2022 recipients of the Arizona State Seal of Biliteracy. Students qualified for this achievement because of their superior scores on the AP World Languages Exams and AP English exam, ACT English Composite Scores or Dual Credit English class grades. Recipients receive a certificate of achievement and a seal to place on their diplomas. Erica Jiang earned this proficiency level in Chinese and English and Khushi Parikh achieved her seal in Spanish and English. Congratulations to the recipients and their language teachers for this accomplishment.
Counseling Corner
Pier O’Brien, pier.obrien@gilbertschools.net A-L
Kathy Diggs, kathy.diggs@gilbertschools.net M-Z
We are thrilled to announce our new GCA part-time Counselor, Kathleen Diggs. Kathleen’s alphabet will be M-Z (7th through 12th Grade). Kathleen will be with us Tuesdays and Thursdays and every other Friday.
Senior News!
Counseling will meet with the Senior Service Learning classes within the next two weeks to discuss the Senior Time-line for applying to college. Students can email the counselors to make appointments for questions at any time.
A Resource for most things High School and applying to College. Some things are slightly different for GCA as we do things differently from the rest of the district. One example is that GCA does not offer Dual Enrollment courses, IB (International Baccalaureate Program), or CTE (Career and Technical Education) courses. Check the site out when you have questions.
Mental Health Counselor
As always, if you are concerned about your child’s mental health or need family support, please don’t hesitate to contact me at nicoleta.alfaro@gilbertschools.net.
Expect Greater Things,
Dan Hood Ed.D.
Principal
Gilbert Classical Academy