Additional Details
GMC's "Re-opening Plan"
UPDATED 10/27/2020
Special Phone Blast 10.27.20
Good afternoon Blazer Family, this is James Dillard at GMC with a very important, special announcement. We would like to remind families that any student who is tested for COVID-19 needs to stay at home until they receive the results. We also need all families to know that any student who tests positive for COVID-19 MUST report those results to the school as soon as they are received and here is why: First, the safety of the other students and the safety of the faculty at GMC, as that is always a priority. In addition, the medical facility or doctor that performed the test WILL report those results to DHEC; during DHEC’s contact tracing, they will contact our school and if we have not reported the positive result to DHEC as we are required, they could possibly view our school as being non-compliant. As a public school, non-compliance would put us in a position to potentially be forced to online-only by DHEC. Obviously, this is not something that we want to happen. Therefore, from this point forward, any student who tests positive for COVID-19 and does not report these findings to GMC, will be moved to online-only by administration for an undetermined amount of time and could possibly be removed from the school altogether. All of our faculty and staff are working extremely hard to provide as much face-to-face instruction as possible and the cooperation of all stakeholders is just as important as what we are doing here in the building. Thank you in advance for your understanding and support.
UPDATED 10/23/2020
Please continue to be patient with our carline. For morning carline the best time, with the least amount of wait time, to drop off is between 7:30-7:45. We ask that you pull up all the way to the cones when dropping off your student. Temp Checks: Please remember to turn your heat off as you enter the campus- give yourself plenty of time before you get to your temperature check point. Cars that are cozy and warm may result in higher temperatures. Please keep students who are showing symptoms of illness at home. Afternoon carline- Please remember to have your students car number visible. Please keep the number visible until your student is safely in your car. We ask that you pull all the way up to the cones when picking up your student If your student has office hours please park in the teachers parking lot to wait for your student or arrive later. Please do not hold up the carline while your student is in office hours. As you pull out onto W. McElhany, that is a right turn only per GTC. Office hours and our Smart Center have started Office hours are from 2:55-3:55 Smart Center hours are from 2:55- 5:00 WIN Testing will be held Oct. 30th. This is seniors only. No Friday office hours or retesting on Oct 30 due to WIN testing Students should be in dress code anytime they are on campus; Parents and students should review the dress code on p. 6 of the student handbook; The only item New this year: Gray MUST be official GMC attire Due to the pandemic, both parent and student service hours have been awarded half of the required hours for the current school year to all grade levels. The potential to credit hours for the 2019-2020 school year will be evaluated in February. Thank you again for your continued support with wearing your mask, social distancing, and temperature checks. Once again, please be patient with us as we have increased our face to face instruction. Please encourage your child to follow instructions of teachers and administrators at lunch as this will cut down on the number of students required to quarantine in the event of a positive COVID case. Remember that potential quarantines, as per DHEC requirements, are the sacrifice of offering face-to-face instruction to all students 4 days a week. Please direct any questions or concerns to Mr.Dillard at jdillard@greermiddlecollege.org. Thank you.
UPDATED 10/15/2020
Beginning Monday, October 19th, GMC will move to Phase 2 where ALL 50/50 students will shift to attending school face-to-face four days a week, Monday through Thursday. Students who are currently Online-Only can continue as such OR they may choose to switch to face-of-face, four days a week instruction. Friday will continue to be an e-Learning day for all students. Please note that as we move into Phase 2, the 50/50 hybrid model will NO LONGER be an option for students.
IMPORTANT: We are excited to have our students returning to school four days a week; however, this is a time where we need to remind everyone that it will take cooperation from students and parents to be able to continue to keep the doors of GMC open for face-to-face instruction. We will continue our current precautionary measures (encouraging students to wash their hands regularly, stay home if they are feeling ill, etc.). Please note, however, as more students attend face-to-face, the opportunity to maintain six feet of social distance will not be possible in most classes. Due to this change, students will need to keep their masks ON in situations where social distancing is not possible. Our teachers have been reminded of the scheduled breathing breaks, so these may become more regular during the school day. Students will also be closer to their classmates at lunch, so please remind them to stay as spread out as possible and keep their hands to themselves during this time.
If these changes prompt any family to decide to shift their student to Online-Only, please contact Mr. Dillard at jdillard@greermiddlecollege.org no later than Monday, October 12th. This is ONLY if your student is currently face-to-face 2 days a week, and you would prefer to shift to Online-Only in place of returning to in-person, four day instruction at this time. Remember, after Monday, October 19th, the 50/50, 2 days a week model will NO LONGER be an option.
A final note concerning our Online-Only students: we have reviewed the requirements from the State Department of Education and Online-Only students can be expected to come to the school for assessments periodically. Per the SC Dept. of Education, "Districts must ensure that any virtual model includes at least an initial in-person contact with students. Intermittent face-to-face contact with students is also strongly encouraged." Read the full document here: https://ed.sc.gov/newsroom/school-district-memoranda-archive/district-reopening-plans/district-reopening-plans-memo/
A couple of reminders:
- GMC will offer the online-only option for the time period it is required to do so by the SDE.
- Mr. Dillard is your contact person for any changes from online-only to face-to-face or vise-versa.
We will continue to communicate with you over the coming weeks when and if changes arise. We appreciate everyone's diligence as we work to safely return our students to GMC classrooms.
Sincerely,
Greer Middle College Administration
UPDATED 10/06/2020
* Students must make arrangements with teachers ahead of time to attend office hours*
Mondays- Math & Social Studies
Tuesdays- Science & Electives
Wednesday- English
Thursday- Spanish/ CTE (computers)
"Friday" Office Hour Schedule:
* Students must make arrangements with teachers ahead of time to attend office hours*
9:20- 9:45 ONLINE BLAZER BLOCK- MANDATORY for EVERYONE!
9:50- 10:50 Math & Spanish
10:50- 11:50 Science & Electives
11:50-12:50 English
12:50- 1:50 Social Studies & CTE (computers)
The Smart Center: Monday- Thursday (3:00- 5:00)
The Smart Center is held in the Learning Commons from 3 - 5 pm. It is a quiet place students can stay and work on assignments/projects after school. Student are expected to work quietly and independently. A certified teacher will be available for some assistance if needed. The teacher is not a one-on-one tutor, however they can help with generic academic needs.
UPDATED 9/29/2020
GMC Family,
As we continue to move forward with Phase 1.5 of our re-entry plan, we would like to announce the timeline for moving to Phase 2. For each of the next two weeks, GMC will phase in the return of about 30 students per week to in-person, four day instruction. Families will be contacted based on need, and the school will reach out to you if your student is given that option.
In addition, beginning on Monday, October 5th, GMC will begin offering our traditional, in-person Office Hours Monday through Thursday after school. Space will be limited, so students should sign up in advance with their respective teachers. The schedule for after-school Office Hours can be found on page seventeen of the student handbook.
On Monday, October 12th, the Smart Center will be available for students after school from 3 pm to 5 pm, Monday through Thursday in the Learning Commons.
Finally, beginning Monday, October 19th, GMC will move to Phase 2 where ALL 50/50 students will shift to attending school face-to-face four days a week, Monday through Thursday. Students who are currently Online-Only can continue as such OR they may choose to switch to face-of-face, four days a week instruction. Friday will continue to be an e-Learning day for all students. Please note that as we move into Phase 2, the 50/50 hybrid model will NO LONGER be an option for students.
IMPORTANT: We are excited to have our students returning to school four days a week; however, this is a time where we need to remind everyone that it will take cooperation from students and parents to be able to continue to keep the doors of GMC open for face-to-face instruction. We will continue our current precautionary measures (encouraging students to wash their hands regularly, stay home if they are feeling ill, etc.). Please note, however, as more students attend face-to-face, the opportunity to maintain six feet of social distance will not be possible in most classes. Due to this change, students will need to keep their masks ON in situations where social distancing is not possible. Our teachers have been reminded of the scheduled breathing breaks, so these may become more regular during the school day. Students will also be closer to their classmates at lunch, so please remind them to stay as spread out as possible and keep their hands to themselves during this time.
If these changes prompt any family to decide to shift their student to Online-Only, please contact Mr. Dillard at jdillard@greermiddlecollege.org no later than Monday, October 12th. This is ONLY if your student is currently face-to-face 2 days a week, and you would prefer to shift to Online-Only in place of returning to in-person, four day instruction at this time. Remember, after Monday, October 19th, the 50/50, 2 days a week model will NO LONGER be an option.
A final note concerning our Online-Only students: we have reviewed the requirements from the State Department of Education and Online-Only students can be expected to come to the school for assessments periodically. Per the SC Dept. of Education, "Districts must ensure that any virtual model includes at least an initial in-person contact with students. Intermittent face-to-face contact with students is also strongly encouraged." Read the full document here: https://ed.sc.gov/newsroom/school-district-memoranda-archive/district-reopening-plans/district-reopening-plans-memo/
A couple of reminders:
- GMC will offer the online-only option for the time period it is required to do so by the SDE.
- Mr. Dillard is your contact person for any changes from online-only to face-to-face or vise-versa.
We will continue to communicate with you over the coming weeks when and if changes arise. We appreciate everyone's diligence as we work to safely return our students to GMC classrooms.
Sincerely,
Greer Middle College Administration
UPDATED INFORMATION 9/4/2020
Updated Re Entry Plan:
Our re-entry plan for this school year has gone as smoothly as could be expected! In our original plans, we said we are re-evaluating every 2 weeks, so we wanted to give everyone a 2-week update. Based on all of the information we are receiving with respect to the Corona virus and how we are just beginning to settle into our current delivery of instruction, we plan to make NO changes to the current plan of school operations for at least another 2 weeks. We appreciate everyone's continued cooperation and support.
-GMC Administration
UPDATED Information: 8/17/2020
MASK
Updated Information: 8/10/2020
Daily GMC Schedule:
GMC 50/50 3-Lunch Bell Schedule 2020-2021
Monday/Wednesday (A)
Tuesday/Thursday (B)
Fridays Rotate (A/B)
8:00 – 9:30 1st Period
9:35 – 11:10 2nd Period
11:15 – 11:40 (First Lunch)
11:45 – 1:15 3rd Period
(SPLIT LUNCH) 11:55-12:20
11:15 – 12:45 3rd Period
12:50 – 1:15 (Second Lunch)
1:20 – 2:50 4th Period
2:55 – 3:55 Online Office Hours (if applicable)
- Monday- Math/Social Studies
- Tuesday-Science
- Wednesday- English
- Thursday- Computer/Spanish
Friday Bell Schedule
8:00 am - 9:10 am PD/In service
9:20 am – 9:45 ONLINE Blazer Block
9:50 am - 1:50 pm *Office Hours
9:50-10:50 *Math/Spanish
10:50-11:50 *Science/Electives
11:50-12:50 *English
12:50-1:50 *Social Studies/CTE
1:50-2:50 Retesting (with teacher)
2:55 – Faculty and Staff (if needed)
*Office Hours may be Face-to-Face while also synchronously streamed. There will be a limit of 12 students allowed in each teacher’s classroom during office hours. The students would need to sign up. Students would get priority based on medical condition not allowing F2F M-Th (if applicable), IEP, 504, current grade (lowest), in that order.
Car Riders Information:
CAR LINE NUMBERS
If you will be picking up your child in the Car Line Dismissal, your student will be given their car line number on the first day of school. Please hang it from your rearview mirror so that staff can see the number. Make sure your child knows the number. We will be releasing students by this number (NOT by last name)
Letter from the Nurse:
All,
In order to decrease the number of individuals entering the building, all medical documents for the Health Room are posted on- line(http://www.greermiddlecollege.org/about/health-room/health-room-forms-and-documents/) and will need to be filled out by the parent and , IF NEEDED, primary MD. Students must bring the completed forms to the nurse's office with their medication. *****This EXCLUDES controlled substances which will require a parent or guardian to bring medication in person with the original prescription label on medication.
Also, we will be screening students daily prior to exit from their cars in car-line. If a student's temperature is greater than 100.1, the student will not be allowed to enter the building.
We will continue to adhere to SCDHEC guidelines for exclusions.
Please keep your child home for a fever of 100.1 degrees or higher by mouth or 100 degrees or higher if taken under the arm. Fever without a known cause may require COVID-19 testing or completion of COVID-19 exclusion. The school will specify when your child can return based on the situation. https://www.scdhec.gov/health/child-teen-health/school-exclusion.
Thank you so much for your patience and assistance in this area as we bridge uncharted waters together. Our goal is to keep everyone as safe as possible.
Kim Hall,RN,BSN
864-469-7571
****End of new info as of 8/10/20****
START DATE FOR GMC STUDENTS
The new first day for students (all grade levels) last name beginning:
A-K is Thursday, August 20th.
The new first day for students (all grade levels) last name beginning:
L-Z is *Friday, August 21st.
*Friday, August 21st will NOT be a virtual day- for students who chose Face-to-Face
Virtual Fridays will start the week of August 24th.
Thursday, August 20th/ Friday, August 21st Bell Schedule
1A: 8:00-8:30
2A: 8:40-9:10
3A: 9:15-9:45
4A: 9:50- 10:20
1B: 10:25-10:55
2B: 11:00-11:30
3B: 11:35-12:05
4B: 12:10-12:40
*No lunch will be served*
*Students with opens will report to the breezeway*
*Students scheduled for college classes will report to the patio*
Info:
- Freshmen (students only) Orientation on Aug. 20th (A-K) and Aug. 21st (L-Z)
- Parent Orientation meeting on Aug. 20th 6 p.m. via Google Meets- link to be sent via parent email.
- Parents, check your spam folder for emails, if you have not received any emails please contact Ms. Clark: dclark@greermiddlecollege.org
- Parents, please visit our website and sign up for Blazer News (as discussed in your intake meeting) in order to receive email communications weekly from the school.
- Grades 10-12: 1st day (A-K) Thursday, August 20. (L-Z) Friday, August 21.
- Students and Parents- please check your emails. If you have not received any emails, please contact at Ms. Clark dclark@greermiddlecollege.org
- Parents, please visit our website and sign up for Blazer News in order to receive email communications weekly from the school.
- If you have questions about your college classes, email your guidance counselor-
- 10th grade Ms. Looper at wlooper@greermiddlecollege.org
- 11th & 12th grade Ms. McCammon at vmccammon@greermiddlecollege.org
- Senior Project questions- contact Ms. Earle, cearle@greermiddlecollege.org
- Senior Internship questions- contact Mrs. Bailey, kbailey@greermiddlecollege.org
- Senior Apprenticeship questions- contact Ms. Sawicki, lsawicki@greermiddlecollege.org
Information for All:
*******************************************************************************************
All student schedules will be mailed out the week of August 3rd.
- The only schedule changes made prior to August 24 will be for those with clerical errors. For example, a missing core class or a previous credit earned class.
- No elective class schedule changes will be made.
All students and parents: please join our google classrooms to receive updated information from your school counselors with important dates, forms, etc .
Class Codes:
Class of 2021: ar27a56
Class of 2022: wwqargq
Class of 2023: up4jrxe
Class of 2024: ga4742g
Dress Code: Students are required to be in dress while attending classes Face-to-Face.
- Click the link to our GMC student handbook for dress code: http://www.greermiddlecollege.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GMC-2020-2021-Student-Handbook.pdf
Fever of 100.1 or higher:
- If a student’s temperature screening results in a fever of 100.1 or higher, he/she will not be allowed to attend GMC face-to-face.
- DHEC requirements for the student to return to school are: a note from the student’s doctor stating the fever is NOT COVID-19 related AND 24 hours fever free with no fever-reducing medicine OR a negative COVID19 test, OR 3 days fever-free with no fever reducing medications.
Attendance:
- Students will NOT be penalized due to a necessary quarantine with a doctors note/parent note/directive from the school.
- Students will be expected to join online learning and complete all assignments to the best of their ability.
- If students have a NEW need for assistance with wi-fi and or devices due to quarantine, please contact the school.
Arrivals to GMC:
Parent drop-off line: - students are to remain in their car in the car line. A GMC staff member will come to the car and take temperatures.
Upperclassmen Student Parking lot:- Students will come to the new gym entrance to have their temperature checked before entering the building.
Carpools:
- GMC will not facilitate and/or coordinate any carpools due to the lack of control over social distancing in a vehicle
- If students chose to carpool and any one person from that carpool arrives at school with a temperature of 100.4 or higher, the entire carpool will have to leave campus. The individual with the temperature of 100.1 or higher has to be fever-free and present no other systems of Covid-19 for 24 hours before returning to school.
Lunch at GMC:
- Changes are coming to our lunch options. Keep checking Blazer News and our website for updates from PIP.
Service Hours:
- Students, please continue to work on service hours in the safest way possible. GMC administration will revisit service hour requirements, as we understand the difficulties of completing certain activities within the community.
Athletics:
- All students on-line or hybrid will be allowed to participate in GMC sports. GMC will follow all SCHL guideline.
Technology needs:
- Chromebooks are fine, PC/laptops are the suggested device for computer classes, GTC classes, and or college classes.
Alphabet split groups:
We will try to work with hardships to change groups (A-K) or (L-Z) as long as loads are balanced. Email Mr. Dillard at jdillard@greermiddlecollege.org
- PARENTS, please complete the survey to let GMC know your students plan for attending GMC for the start of the 20-21 school year.
- all students have the options of:
- our Face-to-Face 50/50 split (A-K) Mon. & Tues (L-Z) Wed. & Thurs or
- On-line only Mon-Thurs, live streamed classes
- Both options are fluid and can change as students needs are considered.
******** PARENT SURVEY LINK Below: **********
We plan to continuously communicate with you throughout this process. Thank you in advance and GO BLAZERS!!
Fred Crawford, Principal
James Dillard, Associate Principal
Jessica McCraw, Assistant Principal
David Gantt, Operation Director
Email: info@greermiddlecollege.org
Website: http://www.greermiddlecollege.org/
Phone: (864) 469-7571
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greermiddlecollege/