GEIST GAZETTE
August 28, 2020
GEIST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Website: https://ges.hseschools.org/
Location: 14051 East 104th Street, Fishers, IN 46037
Phone: 317-915-4260
Twitter: @Geistgators
Letter from the Principal:
I have lots of safety and procedural information to share with you. I will try to streamline this as efficiently as possible.
- A class is considered a cohort group. We will attempt to minimize mixing cohort groups when possible. For example, below I speak about zones at recess to help minimize crossing of cohort groups. If you would take time to talk to your children about this, that would be very helpful.
- Currently the elementary school day for in person students (Red/Blue) during first semester will be 9:45 to 3:15.
- Currently the elementary school day for at home students (Red/Blue) and Virtual only students will be as follows:
* 9:00-9:40 Zoom Small Group
* Flipped lessons in Reading, Writing, Math and Related Arts
* 1:00-3:00 ( schedule to follow) Open Enrichment Zoom lessons provided by
Counselor, Librarian and Teacher Specialists
* 10 Min Wrap-up Zoom at the end of the day to be scheduled by the teacher
- BUSES: Please remember that the first week to two weeks of school the buses will run late as it takes time for us to perfect dismissal. Please be patient with us!
- We encourage you to start working with your children at home on wearing a mask. Students will be required to wear a mask at school unless they are eating or drinking or unless they are physically distanced at 6 feet outside. We will be providing a breakaway lanyard to help your child keep track of his/her mask as he/she will be wearing it on the bus, into the building, in class, to and from lunch, in the hallway, in the classroom, etc. We hope to be able to provide times where a class can go outside, fully physically distanced and have some mask-free time! Please make sure to send your child each day with his/her mask and lanyard as it will be worn home each day on the bus or through the car rider line!
- We have created zones at recess and in the cafeteria. At recess, the students will stay in their zone to play during recess time. Zones will change from day to day so students have the opportunity to play on new equipment! Zones in lunch will remain the same each day as students will eat with students from their class with assigned seating. We are required to do assigned seating to allow for contact tracing of our cohort groups.
- Students are allowed to bring a water bottle to school each day. Please watch this week’s announcements to learn more about our water bottle filling stations.
- Please talk with your children about handwashing. Good handwashing should occur as students enter the building, before they play with hands-on manipulatives in the classroom, and prior to breakfast and lunch. Hand sanitizing stations are also available throughout the building.
- We will continue to assess Health Department and Governor Holcomb‘s guidance. Because there are changes in Covid-19 pandemic it means our district document is fluid. As information changes at the State and with the CDC, that can cause changes to the district operation plan, which could cause changes to the way we function within the school building. We appreciate your flexibility and patience as we navigate this ever changing situation.
Thank you again for your continued support of the GES teachers and staff. We want to thank the parents who recently provided lunch through Bagel Boss for our faculty and staff! We are thankful for your kindness!
Please continue to reach out if you have questions and please give your children a hug for us!
We will see them very soon,
Mrs. Thomas, GES Principal
Click below to watch our Weekly Announcements from GES
HSE Schools District Calendar
School Dismissal Manager
Using the School Dismissal Manager App parents will select their student's primary method of transportation home (car rider, bus or YMCA). Should the student need to go home a different way one day, the parent would make an exception that is communicated to the school via SDM.
Car Riders will use an SDM feature called FastLane. All parents/guardians are assigned a FastLane number that will be used in our car rider line.
Details will be emailed directly to you soon. In the meantime, please visit SchooldDismissalManager.com to familiarize yourself with the program and see new features.
Snack Attack program
Geist Elementary is pleased to announce the return of the Snack Attack program for those students in need. This program, supported by the Fishers Youth Assistance Program, is designed to provide students a little extra nourishment for the weekend until they can receive a hot meal at school on Monday.
Here's how the program works. Your student will receive a small sack of food to be taken home over the weekend. The sack is filled with individually wrapped snacks such as granola bars, fruit cups, pop tarts, peanut butter/crackers, Goldfish crackers, etc. The type of snacks will vary each week. Please let us know if your child has a peanut allergy as he/she will receive a special bag of peanut-free snacks.
There is no cost to you or the school. If you are interested in having your student participate in FYAP's Snack Attack or have questions, please click here to sign up.
Sincerely,
Lisa Keller, Counselor
Cafeteria News! What's for lunch?
Hello from Geist Cafeteria! We are ready to serve your children lunch and can't wait to see them! The meal choices for them are excellent and include their favorite selections! All lunches will be packaged and everything will be disposed of when they are done eating. Classes will be seated together with distances practiced and children in assigned seats.
We will be working very hard to make sure it is as enjoyable an experience as it can be for them! Please be assured that purchasing lunch for your child will be safe and carefully prepared, as always. If you do choose to send a lunch from home, I would encourage that everything be disposable. Kids will be dumping trash quickly and extra containers, bags, silverware, etc. can become an extra worry.
Please be watching for the menu to come. We will be offering two hot options as well as a turkey roll-up, and a vegetable, fruit and white milk.
Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns. We want this experience to be fun and enjoyable, what school lunch is all about!
Hillary Hawkins
Geist Cafeteria Manager
Mrs. Keller, School Counselor
Dear GES Families:
As we begin this unprecedented year at Geist Elementary, we are here to assist you and your child(ren) with mental health and social-emotional needs.
I am your school counselor, Mrs. Keller. My roles include support for social-emotional well-being, student and family support and social-emotional education for our Gators. I work with our team of administrators, Mrs. Thomas, Principal and Mrs. Laffey, Assistant Principal to create a safe and supportive school setting for all.
I have two children, Chase, 26 and Alexis, 25 and both are HSE High School graduates! We are truly an HSE family! My husband is a professor at Butler University--GO Dawgs!
HSE-schools also has a partnership with Community Behavioral Health to support families with mental health needs for our GES students and families. Our newest addition to our team is Cala Ochs, CBH-therapist.
If interested in mental health counseling for your child(ren), please reach out to me and we will discuss the referral process. Please know that CBH-services are paid via family health insurance coverage.
Mrs. Ochs has an office-space at Geist and is able to meet with our students here at school as well. Please click here to see Mrs. Ochs' introduction to our GES team and families. We welcome her!
Warmly,
Mrs. Keller, M.S.
School Counselor, Geist Elementary
2019-2020 GES Yearbooks for Sale
Show Us Your Virtual Learning
Geist 5K School Challenge Virtual Program
Starting August 29 through October 9 you will train and work towards completion of the Geist 5k School Challenge Virtual Program. This year you can choose Your Race, Your Distance, Your Way for only $20 per participant! For the 6 week duration you will log in 60 minutes total for 5k training, 120 total minutes for 10k training or 240 total minutes for half marathon training. Once you complete and submit your log (attached) to your school you will be awarded a Geist Half Marathon race shirt and a medal for the distance you registered and completed.
The more participants your school brings, the better! We want to know which school will bring it and get our community moving! The Geist Half Marathon has the largest school program in the state and our belief is that healthy bodies contribute to healthy minds, and healthy minds result in improved student outcomes and stronger communities. Please get your friends and family to register. The school with the most participants will receive $500 from the Geist 5K School Challenge plus bragging rights!
Ready to get training? Here's what you need to do:
1. Register for your race distance at: Geist 5K Fitness Challenge 2020 . Use the access code: student
2. Get a training log card from your school's running mentor or print the attached training log card.
3. Get moving and run or walk for time! Fill out your card every day, once a week, one time only, etc. It's your way! You need to complete 60 minutes for the 5k, 120 minutes for the 10k and 240 minutes for the half marathon over the duration of 6 weeks. Time must be completed by October 9, 2020.
4. Submit your completed card back to your school's running mentor/coach for verification.
Once completed you will receive your shirt and medal.
This virtual program is a great way to get moving with your family and support your school! Wear your Geist gear from previous races or represent your school and tag us at #geistschoolchallenge to be featured on our social media pages. We can't wait to see you out there!
Need Tech Help?
BROWSER TIPS:
As we continue to navigate the ever changing world of technology and app updates, we recommend the following (rather than Safari and the Canvas App) We recommend Chrome to be used with Canvas to allow for all the features of Canvas to work properly from on the student end.
ZOOM TIPS:
- Set alarms on iPads to assist with Zoom schedules
- Use headphones with microphones (noise cancelation are very helpful in childcare areas)
- Make sure you Child's first and Last Name are noted when on ZOOM.
- Open the Zoom application
- Click Join a Meeting
- Edit the display name
- Then put in the following meeting ID 1234567890
- Click Join Meeting
- You will be told the meeting is not an active meeting but it does save your name.
- Refer to this video for instructions to change name: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6vBLqP-OCU
APPS TIP:
Required apps are in the Mosyle Manager App. Make sure you have placed those apps on the iPad. All required apps should be there. It is only CHROME you might need to search for in the Mosyle Manager App.
Please see the letter linked below for a list of recommended Apps.
INDIVIDUAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE:
We wanted to let you know there is now a Virtual Learning Technical Assistance Quick Link on the GES school websites – It is the first link listed. It gives our specific building tech email and explains the process to request assistance including a 10-minute appointment with the tech.
If you click on the picture above it will take you to our Canvas- Counseling and School Resource page.
Mental Health Resources, School Safety
HSE Schools Community Insider
Check out extracurricular opportunities and activities happening at Geist Elementary and around the community! The HSE Community Insider is on updated frequently and is located on the HSE Schools webpage. You can find it here: hseschools.org/happenings/community-insider.