April 28, 2023
Dear GCS Families,
It is so wonderful to be back greeting all of the smiling faces after a week of our school spring vacation. Whether it was a busy trip away doing something exciting, a visit with friends and family, or some quiet time at home, it is always so nice to have a change of in what is often a hectic schedule of parenting. I hope you all found some opportunities for fun and rest at the same time.
Spring is in the Air
This is such an exciting and busy time of year – we celebrate all the new life that spring brings to us and all the tremendous growth in your children. Birds are back home here in the north and visible in so many of our classroom windows, the Kindergarten Classroom has 12 fertilized eggs in an incubator that they are carefully watching and caring for (we will keep you posted over the 21-day time frame), and children are showing off so many of their developmental gains and skills. We are loving that we can spend more time outside on the playground with all of this warmer weather. No snow gear is such a gift and time saver and frees up extra minutes to be outside with friends, enjoying the many opportunities for outside play. We are so grateful for a generous $2,500 grant awarded by the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts! Our Building and Grounds Board Members Jessica Barie
(Daniel is in Blue T/TH) and Laura Hankin (Colby is in Yellow MWF) worked (along with fine tuning from our Assistant Director, Lisa) to apply for an environmental conservation grant. The “Dig Deeper” project will involve composting, water conservation and gardening activities for our playscape and greenhouse, along with new natural and sensory elements on the playground. Please help us to put them together and secure their new home along with
other playground tasks on Saturday, May 6th from 9 AM – 3 PM. Even an hour or two of many hands makes light work for all. Sign up here to volunteer your time for our annual Spring Spruce-Up.
Class Photos
Class photos are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday of next week. Thank you to Vipada Tirella (Ayla is in our MWF Yellow Room), for volunteering her time and photography talent. While we were hoping for an outside venue, it looks like we may be taking them inside possibly due to predicted rain. Once photos are ready, they will be displayed outside your child’s classroom for ordering. Those children in our Kindergarten Program will also have individual
photographs taken. See your individual teachers for specific days in 5-day programs.
Gift Ideas
With this time of year comes special celebrations such as graduations, weddings, Mother’s and Father’s Day… please see the display in the lobby for paper copy or register at RaiseRight with our GCS enrollment Code (contact us), which allows you to order gift cards (at no extra cost) and have them delivered right to you.
End-of-Year Happenings
We are preparing for our summer camp fun, putting the finishing touches on End-of-Year Portfolios that will be shared with you, and doing final assessments for children’s year-end written Observation Reports that will be shared with you at the end of next month.
Leave a Legacy
And finally, don’t forget about our “Leave a Legacy” Brick Campaign. We are constructing a walkway along the front of the school and hoping to fill it with special engraved bricks honoring past and present children as well as community members. See our GCS Brick Campaign for more infor-mation and the order form.
Congratulations!
Congratulations to our own Greg Keras (GCS Alum & son of Assistant Teacher, Noreen Keras) and Karla King (Kaia is in the Aqua Room) for their amazing accomplishment of running in the Boston Marathon once again… they make us proud!!
Thank You!
A special thank you to the Groton/Pepperell Rotary Club for their very generous donation of $1,000 to our Scholarship Fund. We are so grateful for this amazing community support. We were excited to have former parent Steve Janes (son Michael is now a Junior at UMASS Amherst) and Groton Inn Manager, Trisha Tompkins, visit with us and personally deliver the donation.
GCS Staff would like to thank the our Room Parent Representative, Beth Christoforo, for organizing two delicious luncheons provided for Staff by the following Room Parents during the Week of the Young Child: Jodi Amichetti, Niamh Annand, Laura Babin, Lorraine Bellessa, Christine Boisvert, Beth Christoforo, Jillian Doyle, Heather Gerteisen, Krista Giangregorio, Sasha Harris, Josephine Kramer, Amanda Maillet, Kim Montilli, Megan Petka, John
Pettee, Rachel Potvin, Erin Rauker, Chelsea Reyes, Christina Sutherland, Selina Wilder, and Jill Wilson. We would also like to thank the “Stock the Fridge” volunteers for snacks donated in March & April: David Bushery, Jillian Doyle, Heather Gerteisen, Krista Giangregorio, Lindsay Guaraldi, Neal Hagermoser, Karla King, Katie Maroney, Brian Simakauskas, Juliana Simms, and Melissa Sulprizio.
Thank you to Jessica Crowley for K-Cups, to the Harris family for a donation of spare snow clothing, the Guaraldi family for spare sneakers, Claire Macy for a children’s poster, the Rochefort family for their donation of children’s books, and the Smith family for donuts for the Staff.
Until next time,
Linda Kosinski, GCS Director
Dates to Remember
- Saturday, May 6th, Spring Spruce-Up, 9 AM – 3 PM
- Monday, May 8th, Board Meeting – 7:30 PM
- Monday, May 29th, Memorial Day, No School
- Friday, June 2nd, GCS Family Picnic, 5:30 – 7:30 PM
