Dear GCS Families:
Holiday Greetings to all! The signs of the December celebrations are certainly prevalent all around us… homes and the school are full of shimmering lights, holiday music, special projects and gift making, decorated trees, and presents piling up in vacant corners of the house. No wonder our young children are excited and maybe even a bit restless. With the holiday season in full swing, we recognize that with all this joy, also comes some tired and emotional adults. The heaviness of events this past week may have also brought about some uncertainty and sadness. Give yourselves grace; and may you find small opportunities for joy, rest, and special moments with your children during this time. Their curiosity, laughter, and sense of magic can bring light and smiles to all of us.
Holiday Sing-a-Long
GCS will have some fun together on Monday, December 22nd at 11:15AM. We will all gather as a school in our beautiful Community Room for music, singing, and fun. We have plenty of room for young, old and siblings too, so please join us if you are able. Even if your child is not in a Monday morning program, please feel free to stop by.
GCS Auction
Many special thanks to our Board of Directors, Room Parents, Teachers, friends, past families, and all of you, for supporting our virtual auction last month. What fun and what a success, raising almost 16K dollars for GCS’s non-profit budget. It was a time of creativity, collaboration, and maybe even a few moments of friendly competition… all coming together for such a worthy cause.
Community Room Open House
We would like to express our gratitude to GCS community members for coming together recently to celebrate during our Community Room Open House. It is a huge milestone to approach the finish line for this remaining aspect of our Forward Motion expansion and renovation project, and open up exciting possibilities for classroom and school-wide gatherings, and day-to-day use as a large motor activity space. It was so wonderful to welcome good friends and families!
It was especially emotional to dedicate our stage in Memory of Wendy Frank, a dear friend of GCS. We knew Wendy as a GCS parent, fellow educator, and talented children’s performer and musician. We are so honored that Wendy suggested donations to our school upon her passing, which then helped to create our children’s stage. Join us remembering Wendy, as we celebrate this new space to foster a sense of community together.
Registration 2026-2027
While it seems like we are just settling in for this school year, it is actually time to begin thinking about next fall. Registration for the 2025-26 School year will be upon us quickly. We are beginning the process of preparing information that will be sent out to families in late January. Be on the lookout for details in the coming month ahead, and feel free to contact us with questions.
Curriculum Day
During this busy month, we had our December Curriculum Day for all staff. It was such a fabulous day to be together as a team to learn the inner workings of our new GCS Library System that will be up and running in the new year. We were also able to participate in classroom team time, work on children’s portfolios, and had the opportunity to dive deeper into our year-long theme, “Story Seeds: Planting a Love for Literacy”. Dustin Halterman, EdD, a friend and professor from Fitchburg state, led us in a wonderful, hands-on training: “Early Literacy – Creating an Environment for Learning”. We were also joined by retired GCS Teacher Inga Nuccio, who shared a reading of Rain and the Reading Horse. We thank you for supporting us during these days, as they make us all better educators for your children, and we appreciate that they are a sacrifice on your end.
Congratulations!
Congratulations to the Sala-Smith family on the birth of their son, Adrian (brother, Arthur, is in the Kindergarten Class).
Thank you!
A special thank you to John Amaral and Fred Schultz for the donation of appliances for our new Community Room.
Thank you very much to the Kindergarten Room Parents for providing “Fun Friday” snacks in October, to the AM Pre-K Room Parents for marvelous muffins in November, and to the MWF AM Blue Room Parents for a beautiful fruit platter and cookies for the Staff in December.
We would also like to thank the “Stock-the-Staff-Room” volunteers for November: Sarah Cleary, Jillian Doyle, Danielle Jafee, Gloria Johnson, Morgan Quirbach, Adriana Sanchez-Correa, Brittany Stelling & Erica Tamlyn. “Stock -the-Staff-Room” volunteers for December: Sarah Cleary, Jaime Doucette, Danielle Jaffee, Gloria Johnson, Rebecca L’Homme, Brendan & Caroline McCann, Bethany McGuiggan, Erica Tamlyn & Cathy Wong.
Thanks to the following for their donations to the school: The Abraham and Forkel families for Staff snacks; Katie Berrafato for library help; the Ellison-Lyons family for an electric griddle; Mallory Maison for sewing help; and Natina Perrotti for a book for the GCS Library.
We are grateful for the trust you place in us with your children and wish you times of peace, warmth, and togetherness in the days ahead.
Linda Kosinski, GCS Director
DATES TO REMEMBER
Monday, December 22nd
Holiday Sing-A-Long
11:15 AM – All Welcome!
Wednesday, Dec. 24th – Friday, January 2nd
Holiday Recess
No School
Monday, January 12th
Board Meeting
7:30 PM
Monday, January 19th
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
No School