It’s October! One more week to go until Fall Break and we are inching closer to one of my favorite GMSD annual events, Haunted Houston at HMS. Get your tickets now.

October is also National Principal Appreciation Month. Mr. Taylor, Ms. Woody, Mr. Percoski, Dr. Fisher, Ms. Davis, Mr. Bond, and Ms. Brasfield–we want to thank you for everything you do to support our students. GMSD is impressed with the way our principals go above and beyond. This Tuesday, Houston Middle parents have the opportunity to engage in open dialogue with Ms. Davis in a new quarterly series called Desserts with Davis. I’d also like to thank our parents for being engaged and for continuing to participate in opportunities that help guide district decisions and initiatives. GMSD is proud of the work that we have done together.

Jason Manuel,

Superintendent

On Wednesday, September 28, the school board met for its September Business Meeting. They viewed the Houston High School Master Plan, celebrated our Top Scholars, and we discussed all of the ways that GMSD is helping to support Student Readiness through school counselors, social workers, school psychologists, and classroom teachers.

Looking for a specific item from the meeting? Click below to watch the following segments:

Top Scholar Recognition

Fleming Architects Provide Updates HHS Master Plans

Superintendent's Report: Student Readiness/Whole Child Progress

Regular Business Meeting

In other important news, they have tabled the discussion on the school calendar until October. The Board would like the community to know that the dates for Fall and Spring Break, however, have been decided. For the 2022-2023 school year, Fall Break will take place October 9-13 and Spring Break will take place March 11-15.

The Riverdale Raiders have been busy too. This week, they launched their own internal school news— Raider TV and hosted a lively pep rally. Check out those moves by Dr. P!

While we are on the topic of Germantown Municipal Television, we encourage all stakeholders to view the live capture of Leadership Germantown Alumni Association's School Board Candidate Forum. Our GMTV station will be covering all local races through the month of October in special candidate interviews conducted by Houston High School journalists. Our high school government students will also be conducting live exit polls for broadcast on election day. You can watch GMTV on Youtube, Comcast Channel 17 or U-Verse Channel 99.

Comcast has recently announced that GMTV will be airing in other areas across the country! This is exciting news for our students. They are also looking for NEW television shows. Are you or someone you know interested in applying for your very own public access television show? To contact our station manager or to inquire about public access programming placement, please email Robert.Manuel@gmsdk12.org.

Let’s hear it for the Dogwood Dolphins who managed to raise almost $60,000 during their annual Boosterthon Fundraiser. That’s incredible. One of the projects they are raising money for is a stage renovation.

The school celebrated their success and also hosted a movie night featuring Encanto.

At Farmington Elementary School, students and families enjoyed their annual Fall Falcon Fest. Students and families participated in a silent auction and participated in fun, fall activities. A special thank you to the staff members who participated in the ever-popular dunk tank and "Silly String Your Teacher" booths.

Over the weekend, Forest Hill PTO members hosted an adults-only fundraiser with live music and adult bounce house. The sold-out event raised money for the school.

Each Fall, students take to the stage to try their hand at direction and stage management. This year, Houston Mustang Theatre was proud to produce eight separate one-act plays. Congratulations to student directors Megan Waugh, Lydia Smith, Callie Sparkman, Nina Mahinrorabi, Hannah Moore, Isabella Marshall, Halena Edwards, and Elaina Nichols.

Each individual piece gave an opportunity to spotlight several young thespians. Standout performances included Alan Du's deadpan depiction of Bill in the classic one-act, Sure Thing and the entirely believable characters played by Carter Yeargen and Sarah Johnson in Please Have a Seat and Someone Will Be With You Shortly. Growing Up added an unexpected surprise with an outstanding ensemble musical revue. This writer was also impressed by the directorial chops of Nina Mahintorabi who was able to deliver a lot of meticulous staging, laughs and action with Nothing.

Considering this to be an appetizer for what's to come for the Mustang Theatre this year, audience members will want to get tickets for their upcoming performances of Much Ado About Nothing November 11-14 and Chicago February 24-27. With such a large pool of talent displayed in the one-acts, those shows are sure to be incredible.

Read the Daily Memphian article about HHS student Damon Sisa.

Read the Daily Memphian article about HHS student Zoe Marsh.

Our Staff Profile this week also took us to Farmington to learn more about School Counselor Jonathan Pritchett. This month, GMSD will be highlighting the extraordinary work of our school counselors, social workers, and school psychologists.