We will continually update these throughout the year.

September 26, 2019: Open House (6-8pm)

October 14, 2019: No School (Columbus Day)

October 15, 2019: No School (District Professional Development Day)

October 15, 2019: Travel Information Night. 6pm

TBD: Open Mic Night

November 1 & 2, 2019: Fall Theater; You Can't Take It With You

November 14, 2019: Parent / Teacher Conferences (Day 1/2)

November 15 -19, 2019: Give Kids the World Service Trip (Orlando, FL)

November 21, 2019: Parent / Teacher Conferences (Day 2/2)

November 28, 2019: Happy Thanksgiving (10am Annual Football Game at Tyngsborough)

December 2, 2019: Winter Sports Begin.

December 21, 2019 - January 5, 2020: Winter Vacation

January 20, 2020: No School (MLK Day)

January 24, 2020: End Quarter 2 / Semester 1

February 15 - 23, 2020: February Vacation

March 12, 2020: Spring Open House (6:00 - 7:30)

April 3, 2020: End Quarter 3

April 18 - 26, 2020: April Vacation

May 15, 2020: Junior Senior Prom (early release day)

May 29, 2020: Graduation (6pm)

June 12, 2020: Scheduled last day of school

Each year groups associated with the High School (boosters, community groups) set up tables during our open house in the fall in order to make all parents aware of the opportunities to participate or benefits that these groups provide. If you would like to reserve a table at this year's Open House, please email me to let me know. Thanks.

mwoodlock@gdrsd.org

SENIOR PORTRAIT DEADLINE

Reminder to the SENIORS of the Class of 2020 and their PARENTS: SENIOR PORTRAITS are due on OCTOBER 25. If you haven’t scheduled your photo session, do so as soon as possible.

Here is our information sheet containing PORTRAIT PHOTO SPECIFICATIONS to give to your photographer as well as SENIOR TRIBUTE AD design and purchasing information for PARENTS and FRIENDS of SENIORS.

Our official school photographer is MARK LAWRENCE PHOTOGRAPHERS. They offer affordable portrait rates for GD seniors.

FALL TEAM PHOTOS AND ORDER FORMS

Our Mark Lawrence school rep, Lisa Dipalma, is working with our new Athletic Department to set the TEAM PHOTO date for our fall teams. ANY PARENT WISHING TO PURCHASE A SPORTS PHOTO PACKAGE for their child should open this link to open and print a pdf order form.

PARENT PHOTOGRAPHERS OF JV TEAMS

Although Mark Lawrence Photographers take team photos and action photos of varsity teams for us, we only contract with them to take the team photos for our JV teams. IF YOU ARE A PARENT WHO TAKES ACTION PHOTOS of your child's JV games, please share your best action photos with us. One of our goals this year is to get more complete coverage of our JV teams, and your photos would help us do that. You can email your photos as attachments to hsyearbook@gdrsd.org or drag them into this shared folder: JV Teams Parent Photo Submissions. Thank you in advance for sharing!

It is not too late to sign up for travel opportunities this school year but time is running out.

We still have limited spots available for the following trips....

Peru (Language Immersion)... To register or get more information visit https://www.eftours.com/tour-website/2139392MX or

see Ms. Penchansky

South Africa (Science, Culture, & History)... https://www.eftours.com/tour-website/2149969EE or see Mr. Reid or Ms. McHugh

France / Italy (Art Focus)... See Ms. Kostich if interested... https://rsvp.eftours.com/xs4dcny

Panama (Science and Technology)... - To register or get more information visit https://www.eftours.com/tour-website/2137917MH or

see Mr. Rocheleau or Ms. Salemme

Europe; Summer 2020 (with Homestay experience)... To register or get more information visit https://www.explorica.com/My-Account/My-Tours/TourCenter.aspx

or see Mr. Arena.

Please join us at our annual Travel Information Night which will take place on Tuesday, October 15th at 6pm. We have a number of opportunities for students currently in grades 8-11. We will have a variety of travel experiences available for our students.

Congratulations to our own, Hannah Dean who was invited to participate in the Miracle League Baseball Tournament held this past weekend at Springfield College. Hannah was so excited to share her amazing experience from the weekend. When I asked her what the best part of the experience was she said that it was meeting new friends from all over the country. Hannah always serves as a great ambassador for our school. Congratulations on your Medal, Hannah!

As I am sure you are all aware, we marked the 18th anniversary of 9/11/2001 this week. I inadvertently sparked some controversy when I did not ask for a moment of silence on 9/11, this past Wednesday. I heard that there were several community members who found this very insensitive and "un-American". I apologize to anyone who was offended. It is difficult to judge how long something like this should continue. I have asked the opinions of many colleagues in education and received all types of different opinions on whether we should still be observing a moment of silence. I have determined that it all depends on the feelings of the community. I had conversations with my children on Wednesday as I am sure many of you did as well. For me, this was enough but since some wanted this tragedy to be formally recognized in school, we held a moment of silence on Friday morning.

As a former history teacher who created a class on 9/11 following this event in order to make sure that students understood the gravity, impact and historical relevance of it, I find it a positive thing that many in our school community are unwilling to let the date pass without solemnly reminding ourselves of how troubling and terrifying that day was for those of us that were going about our daily lives when it happened.

I have a reminder of this day behind my desk and will never forget the impact it had on my life and how the world changed on that day. I hope that this explanation clears up any concerns that some had with the decisions that were made regarding this issue.

Our NHS Coordinator, Ms. Salemme has informed me that invitations to apply to NHS were sent to all eligible students. Any Junior or Senior with an unweighted GPA of 90 or higher is eligible to apply.

Application forms can be accessed under the student tab on the website under forms.

http://gdrsd.org/gdrhs/