Fall Fun and Fundraising!

Click to view this PDF

Director Kitelet October 2018

Dear GCS Families,

Well, fall is upon us with the many colorful and changing leaves, falling temperatures, and pumpkins galore.  This season certainly lends itself to so many wonderful curriculum opportunities for young children.  The school is  full of everything from estimating and weighing pumpkins, to counting spiders and learning about nocturnal animals.   It is such an exciting time of year, and we are getting a glimpse of all the festively decorated classrooms as we walk down the hallway.  We just love seeing the many fabulous pajamas that children are dressed in as they walk through the front door on our Halloween Pajama Days.

One of the most heartwarming events that we do each year is to collect healthy breakfast items for a local food bank, Loaves and Fishes.  While many of us here at GCS are so very fortunate, there are many others within our community that are not.   Having a good breakfast is something that many take for granted.  As children enjoy “trick-or-treating”, we are also working to develop awareness and empathy by helping our friends and neighbors.  Thank you for your guidance as we all embrace the goals of raising happy, healthy, and KIND young children.  Stay tuned for the grand total in pounds when we deliver the goods next week.

Fall Fix-Up

And speaking of falling leaves, we are grateful for the many helping hands that gathered here at GCS several weekends ago to help maintain and spruce up our school grounds.  With the support of several board members, parents, and staff, the school has a fresh layer of playground mulch, shrubs that are pruned, leaves that were raked, boards that were replaced on one of the climbers, and so much more!  Thank you also to those of you that helped to provide drinks and refreshments and to Emily Crouse and Dan Quinn for organizing this endeavor!!

Curriculum Day

A tremendous thank you to all of our GCS families for your patience and understanding with regard to our Staff Curriculum Development Days in the school calendar.  We know they can be a disturbance in your schedules, and we appreciate your dedication to this important aspect of GCS.  Last week’s Curriculum Day included A.L.I.C.E. safety training with Sergeant Rachael Mead and Officer Omar Connor.  We have an invaluable relationship with both Rachael and Omar, and we are incredibly grateful to them for their time and dedication to the safety of our school and community.

We also spent some time working on state licensing, leadership training, and NAEYC Accreditation.  National Accreditation is a voluntary process that denotes a high standard of excellence and requires early childhood centers to go through a rigorous self-study process that includes an extensive portfolio for each program.  While GCS has been accredited since 1993, we are required to submit an annual report and go through the self-study process anew every five years.   Stay tuned for more information.

Fall Phone Calls

I hope you all had the chance to touch in with your child’s teacher for a Fall Phone Call.  We value the connections that we make with families and know that good communication between home and school is the key to a great year.  Always know that we are all here to answer your questions and share in the development of your children.  Please don’t ever hesitate to call or reach out to us at any time.

Parking Lot

GCS is such a happening place to be; and that also means that sometimes the parking lot can get congested, and people are all moving at a fast pace.  Please be extra careful to take your time, be patient, and keep a watchful eye out for other cars, young children, and those adults that are helping to keep them safe.  As the winter approaches, this will be even more important as high snow piles and ice can make the parking lot a little more difficult to maneuver.

Easy GCS Fundraising Options

Don’t forget to use your Amazon Smile (https://smile.amazon.com/), buy your Scrip Gift Cards (www.ShopWithScrip.com), and get excited about the upcoming Groton Community Home Tour (www.grotoncommunityschool.org/home-tour).  We are still in need of a few helping hands on the day of the tour, November 17th.  Please let us know if you are available for a morning or afternoon shift.  It promises to be a fun day!

Thank you

Thank you to all of the hard workers that joined in “fixing up” our school grounds this month: Rory Andrews, Aron Bellorado, Jesse & Meagan Cotter, Pat & Emily Crouse, Aaron Green, Ed Hand, Matt Lynde, Terri Martin, Devan McConnell, Karl Noone, Jim Ramsay, Brandon Soto, Lisa Stafford, and Brendon Wilder.  And thank you to Mairead Orpen for taking two trips to the transfer station for us after the Fix-Up.  A special thank you to Peter Myette of Great Road Farm & Garden for lending us a wheelbarrow & tools for the day.

We’d also like to thank those who made food & beverage donations for both the Fall Fix-Up and our Staff Curriculum Day last week:  Jessica Barie, Kathy Bellorado, Tasha Clark, Kristine Fox, Amanda Gagnon, Dianna Glazier, Donna Haggerty, Leslie Howard, Danette Johnson, Elizabeth Ly, Shelby Morris, Tracy Noone, Mairead Orpen, Hannah Pugh, and Karen Wiczynski.  Thanks, too, to GCS Board members who provided food & beverages for the Annual General Meeting.

Thank you to all of the families who joined us at our Annual Peace Pole Rededication this month and to the Groton Firefighters & EMTs who visited all of the classrooms to teach the children about fire prevention & safety.  The children really enjoy their visit each year.

Many generous donations are made to GCS during the school year.  Thank you to the following families for their contributions this past month:  The Ciccone family for construction paper; Aaron Green for tuning a donated auto harp; the Guth family for the auto harp donation; the Halloran family for spare children’s shoes; the MacInnis, Morrison & Peters families for staff snacks; the Ramsay family for books, crayons, pencils & spare clothing; and the Walch family for Ziplock bags.

Thanks to Kristine Fox and to Cynthia Williams for decorating our front entrance this month.

Happy Fall!

Linda Kosinski, Director

 

Bid It Forward - Together We're Stronger

Online Auction and Chance Drawing Event

Learn more!