February 2nd
GMS families,
The ponies had a wonderful week! Congratulations to our GMS Playbill Theatre Company competed in the 2020 GCISD Middle School UIL One Act Play Festival on Wednesday. They amazed the crowd and judges and received a Superior rating!! We are so proud of them for representing GMS so well! We also had a student represent GMS in the Area Spelling Bee and did a wonderful job and our cheerleaders represented GMS proudly at the NCA Cheer National Championships. Check out pics of our impressive students below.
Don't forget, we will be have a general PTA meeting this Friday, Feb. 7th before the Fireside Chat that day. We will start at 8:15 that day! Come and join us for a quick general meeting and a chat about social-emotional support for students at GMS. Coffee and pastries will be served. The Fireside Chat will be led by Assistant Principal Tamara Morris.
REMINDER: On Monday, Feb. 3rd, we are kicking off a schoolwide fundraiser called The Color Battle. See more information in the campus section. It' a really fun fundraiser for our students that ends in them doing challenges while they toss up and run through different colored powder. It's a fun mess but it's reserved for students that participate in The Color Battle!
This week: Campus Color Battle Fundraiser Kicks off Monday, Feb. 3rd through PREPs! 8th graders: Panther Night at CHHS @ 6:00 in the Auditorium. 6th grade Cotillion week 4 is Friday, February 7th.
Thank you, parents, for your support!
GMS students attend the BEST middle school. We are THE place to be! Welcome to OUR HOUSE!
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Teacher and Para of the Month Congratulations to TOM, Mrs. Greta Parr (right) and POM, Mrs. Marisa Hill! We are so happy that you work at GMS and do great things for our students! | Spell It Out! Congratulations to Steven Mekaiel for doing a great job representing GMS at the AREA Spelling Bee! That is no small feat. Great job, Steven! | Read 180 Students in our Read 180 class earned a Chick-Fil-A lunch for finishing a segment and reaching tons of goals in this reading Blended Learning class! Awesome! |
Teacher and Para of the Month
Spell It Out!
Read 180
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Deep Learning These students are working on a digital design where each student created an element square for our periodic table. Their design will become the svg file for the CnC router. What does that mean? Look closely at those screens! | Mr. Waits Our STEM technology coach supports students with their digital designs. | Mrs. Nutt Mrs. Nutt's 7th graders are creating great work for their periodic table. She's always ready to help. |
Deep Learning
Mr. Waits
Mrs. Nutt
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Transportation Services Survey
Transportation Services wants to hear from our student bus riders! A student survey will be available through Classlink this week in order to gather feedback regarding their experience riding GCISD buses. If they are a bus rider, they can click on the bus icon in Classlink to complete the survey. This information will help the transportation team plan for the future and identify any trends. If your student is a bus rider, please encourage them to complete the online survey from their student device.
You're Invited
GES PTA invites you to a presentation by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an adults only PTA program on Thursday, February 13 at Grapevine Elementary from 6:30pm-8pm. This presentation is for parents, educators, and any professionals working with children discussing the apps and websites kids are using, how to identify warning signs of kids engaged in risky behaviors online, and how to discuss appropriate online behavior with kids. Topics include cyberbullying, sexting, sharing too much information online, online privacy, and abduction prevention. Please RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/internet-safety-for-parents-grapevine-pta-tickets-86943730037. Check out this Flyer
GCISD Holding Inaugural Career Expo
All middle and high school students are invited to GCISD’s inaugural Career Expo on February 5. Additionally, the District is looking for local professionals to participate.
Sign-Up Form for Professionals
GCISD will host its inaugural Career Expo on Wednesday, February 5, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Grapevine High School. All GCISD secondary students and families are invited to this event, and local professionals are asked to sign up and be a part of the event. The event is organized by GCISD DECA (a Career and Technical Student Organization) and GCISD CTE (Career and Technical Education) students.
Information for Students
Join fellow students and families for a night filled with many activities geared at preparing you for a successful career. Students will have the opportunity to speak with professionals from various industries about careers and educational pathways.
The expo will also include breakout sessions that explore entrepreneurship, employability skills human resource professionals value, and dressing for success presented by Men’s Warehouse.
Additionally, GCISD Career and Technical Education will host an open house for students and parents to learn about the programs offered to high school students at the Technology Education and Career Center (TECC).
Information for Professionals
GCISD DECA and GCISD CTE are seeking individuals and businesses to host informational tables to educate students about different career pathways and opportunities. To take part in this special event, please complete this short sign-up form.
Each presenter will be provided with a 6-foot table and two chairs and will be separated into career pathways to share information about careers, education required, certifications, job perks, interactive demos, summer job, and internship opportunities.
It’s not always easy for students to connect their daily core classes, electives, and extracurricular activities with possible jobs and career paths of the future. We believe that the more we expose our students to the many different trades, jobs, and careers that are available, the better informed they’ll be to set goals towards them.
We would like to ask professionals in our community to share their knowledge and expertise with all of our students!
GCISD Walk of Honor
The GCISD Walk of Honor seeks to identify and recognize individuals who have become an important part of the GCISD story. Anyone may complete a nomination form and submit the required documents to the Walk of Honor Selection Committee. Each fall, new honorees are honored at a recognition event, and a permanent display of all honorees is housed at Mustang Panther Stadium in the Walk of Honor area. Nominations for next year’s class of honorees are now being accepted. The deadline to submit a nomination for consideration is April 30, 2020. Please visit the Nominate page for details.
Course Selection Guide Website - Now LIVE
For the past several years, the Course Selection Guide (formerly known as the Program of Study) document has been the main source of updated, annual information about available secondary courses. This year for the first time it has been created as a website in hopes that this will be easier for students and parents to navigate and access. Click here to visit the website.
LEAPing into Wellness
Join us for a Safety, Health and Wellness Conference geared towards students of all ages and families on February 29. Please view the flyer for more information.
Parent Tech Academy
February's Parent Tech Academy theme will be Hour of Code: Parent Edition. Visit www.gcisd.net/parenttech for more information.
The "Color Battle" fundraiser is a 2-week hassle-free fundraiser that uses the donation website: www.anython.com and the services of the Anython support team. The fundraiser kicks off on Monday, February 3rd and runs through Friday, February 14th!
Student will ask for donations from family and friends to raise money that will be used for campus improvements for students, field trips, and for our digital sign. Students will be able to participate in the "Color Battle" on February 28th if they raise $30 or more! The more they raise, the more prizes and color packets they receive.
This is a HUGE fundraiser for GMS! Let's see if the ponies can meet our goal of $7000!
We would love to share your kind words of our staff on Valentine's Day! Click on the link below and submit praise for a GMS staff member or teacher. We will take all the kind words and create a card for them for Valentine's. The deadline to submit will be Feb. 12th! Here is the link:
The next Fireside Chat will be on February 7th at 8:30am in the Lecture Hall. This will be about the social-emotional support we implement for all of our students. We will begin with a quick PTA General Meeting and move quickly into our chat! Please join us!
Feb 4th- 7th grade Course Selection. Your student will bring home a Blue Course Selection form. Parents make sure to work on this form with your student and sign at the bottom. This form is due to the front office by Feb 28th.
Feb 11th- 6th grade Course Selection. Your student will bring home a Green Course Selection form. Parents make sure to work on this form with your student and sign at the bottom. This form is due to the front office by Feb 28th
GT Identification Process- Window Closes Friday, February 28th
Referral/nomination forms for Gifted & Talented identification will be accepted by middle school counselors Feb.4-28. Testing will take place on campus in March. Letters will be mailed home and postmarked no later than April 15. Qualified students will be eligible to enroll in GT courses beginning in 2020-2021. Referral forms will be available in the GMS Front Office beginning February 4th.
Math Telescoping Exams (Elementary and Middle School)
Testing opportunities for telescoping in math for the 2020-2021 school year are available in the spring and summer for GCISD students who are completing Grades K - 7.
The Math Telescoping Information Packet will be available on the district website under the For Parents and Students Directory by selecting the link for Acceleration Exams, Math Telescoping, Grades K - 7.
Parents will find information about the requirements to qualify for Math Telescoping and instructions about the TWO STEP Online Registration Process. There will be links to print the Information Packet, begin the TWO STEP Online Registration Process to register for the spring exams, view the TEKS on the TEA website, and download Study Guides for the exams purchased from UT-Austin.
The online registration form will go live on February 14th for the April 18th test administration.
The online registration form will go live on May 4th for the June 17th test administration.
The exam dates and registration deadlines for each exam date are listed below:
Spring Exam Date: Saturday, April 18, 2020 at 9:00 am | Colleyville Middle School
Online Registration Opens – Spring Exam Date: February 14, 2020
Online Registration Deadline – Spring Exam Date: March 2, 2020
The online registration form will not be available on March 3, 2020
Exam Fee Payment Deadline – Spring Exam Date: March 3, 2020
Summer Exam Date: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 at 9:00 am | Colleyville Middle School
Online Registration Opens – Summer Exam Date: May 4, 2020
Online Registration Closes – Summer Exam Date: May 18, 2020
The online registration form will not be available on May 19, 2020
Exam Fee Payment Deadline – Summer Exam Date: May 19, 2020
Math Course Selection Guidance
As students are going through the course selection, please refer to the math sequence website for information. Math Sequence Website
Upcoming dates for current 8th graders
February 3rd - Panther Showcase at CHHS, from 6-8:30pm. Please go to the Auditorium.
Play It Safe! ® Program
Play it Safe lessons, taught in partnership with The Women’s Center of Tarrant County, encourage and teach students how to recognize, report and reduce the risk of abusive and/or dangerous situations.
For 6th graders: 3/17/20 Survivors (sexual and physical abuse)
For 7th graders: 3/24/20 Abuse of Power (imbalance of power, sexual abuse).
Contact Mrs. Lemke with questions: Jennifer.Lemke@gcisd.net or (817) 251-5673.
6th Grade Cotillion 2020: The first and second Cotillions were amazing! Thank you to Linda Rios and Dawn Snyder for everything you are doing to make Cotillion fabulous! The final one is coming this Friday!
Feb 7th - Night in Paris - formal dress
Why not do your regular shopping through the school store or AmazonSmile where a percentage of every order goes back to our school?
Here is how:
1. Go to www.schoolstore.net and sign up using our school ID: 192366.
2. Once there, you can purchase magazine subscriptions, DVDs, cookbooks, and more. We earn up to 50% of their purchases.
3. Using the SchoolStore portal, you can also shop online with over 400 major merchants like Walmart, Kohl’s, Best Buy, Disney, and more. We earn a percentage of their purchases as well.
AmazonSmile is another way to give back to GMS without lifting a finger. Simply select PTA Texas Congress 4406 Grapevine Middle School on AmazonSmile.com and a percentage of every order Amazon order goes straight to our school’s PTA.
Box Tops: We are still collecting box top to benefit GMS! Don’t forget to put them in the mailbox outside the front office.
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Box Tops are GOING DIGITAL! No more clipping these little boogers off of cardboard boxes. Simply download the app, scan each receipt, and set the app to support GMS. Easy Peasy!
Last year we raised over $400 with Box Tops so thank you for your support!!
Click this link to sign up:
Every GMS PTA membership is $10.
You can join online at www.joinpta.org, sign up through Venmo-search for GMS-PTA, or return the membership form to the GMS front office.
Grapevine Middle School