Dear GM Families:
This is the time of year when we pause to reflect on what we are thankful for in life. As Dr. Stasiak and I look back on our school year so far, we are truly thankful for the parent and community support we have had this year and wanted to take this opportunity to express our thanks to all of you.
As many of you are aware, both our school instructional budget and class sizes have been greatly affected by the tough economy. As you might guess, it is a difficult task to make the instructional money stretch throughout the year. We are truly thankful that we have the support of GM Families like yours who have helped to raise additional instructional funds through our recent QSP Fundraiser, joining our GME Foundation and supporting school events like the PTA Fall Festival. We do have some upcoming opportunities to support our school like the Foundation Pancake Breakfast (Dec. 4th) and Greyhound Gala (Feb. 5th) as well. We also are grateful on a daily basis for our volunteers who help run copies, work with classroom centers, shelve books in the media center, help with Walk Fit or greet at our front desk. If you’d like to get involved with volunteering feel free to contact me and we’ll find a place for you!
We also want to let you know how much we appreciate the ways you support the learning of our children at home by monitoring homework, reading with your child and practicing math facts. Your child’s teacher may have mentioned additional ways to support learning at home during your recent conference, but by far the two most important ways to help your child be a successful elementary student are to encourage reading and practice math facts. Simply using a set of flashcards is fine or encouraging your child (1st-5th) to use our First in Math subscription is also an easy way to help your child increase their success in math. If your child has already mastered the facts, First in Math will also provide an extra challenge to increase problem solving ability. Please also consider utilizing the CRCT practice website to practice the test format as we get closer to April. This information and login was sent home to all 3rd-5th graders last week. If you have any questions about this don’t hesitate to call or email us for more information.
Finally, I did want to mention that we will begin our Spring School Extended Day tutoring in January for our 3rd-5th graders who need extra assistance in the area of math or reading. Our budget is allowing for one session this year and we decided that January – March would work best for our students. Notices will be sent home to parents about tutoring in December.
We look forward to seeing many of you at our Grandparent and Special Friends Luncheon later this month. Happy Thanksgiving!
Paula Huffman, Principal
