Fall Reflections

Keeping Our Community Safe

It is with heavy hearts that we share our sadness over the news of the recent tragedy in Oregon. As educators who dedicate our days to nurturing and protecting young children, events like these deeply affect us. Our thoughts are with the community, and especially with the children, families, educators, and everyone connected to the school who have been impacted.

Tragedies like this are painful reminders of how important it is for children to feel safe and secure in the places where they learn and grow. At GCS, the safety and security of our children, families, and staff are always a priority. We have established emergency shelter-in-place and evacuation plans, which we review and practice regularly as a staff and, in developmentally appropriate ways, with the children.

During our most recent Curriculum Day earlier this month, we welcomed Black Ops Tactical Consulting for a professional development session focused on preparedness, situational awareness, and how to think and respond should a concerning situation ever arise. We also recently welcomed our School Resource Officer, Rob Wayne, and Officer Peter for a school tour and “quick pop in the classroom” visit. They toured the school, greeted the children, handed out stickers, and reviewed our safety procedures with us.

While we hope we will never need to put these plans into action, we believe that being prepared, remaining aware, and continually strengthening our practices are essential responsibilities we share at GCS. We are committed to doing everything we can to provide a safe, nurturing environment where children can continue to explore, learn, and simply be children.

A Friendly but Important Reminder About Building Access

Our front door remains locked throughout the school day. Anyone needing to enter must use their authorized access code or be buzzed in by a GCS staff member who can verify the person’s entry, either in person or through our camera system. Every person entering the building must use their own authorized access code or be admitted by a GCS staff member. These simple but important steps help us maintain a secure environment for everyone.

Thank you for your attention to these procedures and for helping us keep our GCS community safe.

Many Hands Make Light Work!

Many hands truly do make light work! We are so grateful to everyone who shared refreshments, time, energy, and muscle on a crisp fall Saturday to help tackle so many projects on our playground. From hauling mulch and staining benches, to gardening and repairing playground climbing equipment, your hard work made a tremendous difference.

Thank you for giving so generously of yourselves to help keep our outdoor spaces safe, welcoming, and ready for our children to enjoy. It is always more fun when good work gets done in good company, and we are so fortunate to have such a wonderful community of helping hands!

A special thank-you to Jesi Clinton for organizing and leading this productive event. Additional thank yous to Wayne Johnson and Jack Carlson for rebuilding the “plank” on our climber last weekend. We truly appreciate everyone who came together to make our playground an even better place for our children!

Thanks to our volunteers: Ken Breeman, Scott Brokaw, Kim Burgess, Christine Chaput, Ken Chung, Ryan & Jesi Clinton, Jeremy Cohen, Mike & Felicia DeSalvo, Matt DiNofrio, Chris Dobens, Greg Doyle, Nick Giangregorio, Kristina Hepburn, Kevin Kane, Jason Lambert, Kelsey McPherson, John Parker, Deb Penney, Brian Prindiville, Danielle Recco, Bethany Reis, Lisa Stafford, and Sara Susco. And thank you to the Lampros family for donating Dunkin Donuts & coffee for our volunteers.

Storytime with Inga

A special thank-you to Inga Nuccio, a cherished former GCS teacher, who generously shares her time and talents with us each month through Storytime with Inga. These engaging experiences blend exploration, movement, and hands-on fun to support children’s learning and discovery.

This month, Inga brought the topic of weather to life through a literacy experience that invited children to explore weather using their senses and bodies. Through hands-on activities and movement, the children had opportunities to experience and better understand different weather elements in an engaging, memorable way.

How lucky we are that Inga continues to share her talents, creativity, and passion for teaching young children with our GCS community!

Just Around the Corner

Our Groton Community Home Tour is coming soon on November 21^st!  Please take a peek at our Home Tour page on our newly redesigned GCS website for details about the Tour, to purchase tickets, and to view Sponsors, Artisans and Vendors and Advertisers.  Thank you to the Board of Directors for organizing this event – it is going to be a great day!  We are still in need of Volunteers, who can still enjoy the tour with a half-day ticket.