GEMS Family Newsletter

• Mon. Jan. 22 - Thurs. Jan. 25 - MAP ELA Assessments -
  Grades K-8
• Tues. Jan. 23 - End of Quarter 2
• Wed. Jan 24 - GEMS Family Crew - Movie Night - 6:30-8:30pm
• Thurs. Jan. 25 - Fri. Jan. 26 - No School - PD Days
• Thurs. Jan. 25 - Attention 6th, 7th and 8th Grade - TGFS Career & College Access Night! 5:30-7:30pm at TCS@ODU (1270 Brentnell Ave. Columbus 43219)
• Wed. Jan. 31 - Enrollment Information Session - 6:00pm
  
• Wed. Feb. 14 - Enrollment Information Session - 6:00pm
• Mon. Feb. 19 - No School - President's Day
• Tues. Feb. 20 - GEMS Family Crew - Roller Skating - 5:00-8:30pm
• Wed. Feb. 28 - Enrollment Information Session - 6:00pm

• Breakfast Menu - Jan.
  

• Lunch Menu - Jan.

• Academic Calendar 23-24

• School Year Office Hours - 7:45am-4:30pm - office@gemsschool.org
• School Day Hours - 8:30am-3:15pm

Join us for Career & College Access Night! This year's event will be held at The Charles School at Ohio Dominican University (TCS@ODU) (1270 Brentnell Ave. Columbus 43219) on January 25, 2024 from 5:30 - 7:30PM. There will be snacks and raffle prizes!

During this event, there will be sessions offered on College Credit Plus (CCP), Ohio's program offering students opportunities to earn college and high school credits at the same time, graduation requirements, enrollment information sessions, college essay tips, Financial Aid, Accessibility services, CTE and so much more.

All sessions are 30 minutes, and families may choose to attend up to three sessions throughout the evening. We look forward to seeing you at this event!

We ask all families to contribute $35 per year, per student to help keep our classrooms equipped with basic supplies. You can pay with cash or check at the Front Office or visit the GEMS School Store to pay with a credit card. Thank you for your support!

• Check out the GEMS Family Crew December Newsletter!

• Movie Night - Wednesday, January 24th, 6:30-8:30pm

Join us for a movie night at GEMS. There is no school on January 25-26 as those are professional development days for teachers.

• Spring Playground Cleanup - Sunday, April 21, 3-4pm

• Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week - May 6-10

We are finishing their final Expedition product. Each student designed a stuffed animal, through several drafts. Students are working with Ms. Audrey to sew their stuffed animals, and they are look amazing! We will be moving on to our second module about Weather soon. Students are working on counting within 100 and identifying different shapes. In skills block, we are getting closer to knowing all of our letter names and sounds.

In Expedition we are working on the drafting process by creating watercolors of the Sun. We are working on drafting our “What the Sun Sees” poems. When we finish our Poems we will be moving onto our new Unit that will focus on Birds. In Math we have started our new Unit. Focusing on solving addition and subtraction problems within 20.

In math we are learning all about measuring! We are measuring in both customary and metric systems. Soon we will begin to create line plots with the different objects we have measured. In expedition we are continuing to learn about fossils! We have discussed the steps of fossilization and are exploring the different types of fossils. In February we are doing field work at COSI to understand more about the dinosaurs and fossils there.

In Expedition students will continue with the same central text and build their knowledge by studying three "freaky frogs" that have specific adaptations according to where they live: the glass frog, the Amazon horned frog, and the water-holding frog. They will read about these frogs to answer this question in an informative paragraph: How does where a frog lives affect how it looks and/or acts? In the End of Unit 2 Assessment, students read another excerpt of text about the poison dart frog, gather information to answer a research question, and write an on-demand informative paragraph to answer the question.

We are focusing on our word choices this month and how we build people up or drag them down with our words. We are always on the lookout for Change Agents and those willing to stand up for others and stand out in 4th grade. In Math, students will read, write and compare numbers in decimal notation. They will also extend place value understanding for multi-digit whole numbers and add and subtract within 1,000,000.

In Expedition, we are wrapping up animal defense mechanisms. Students have researched the animal of their choice and are beginning the writing process to create a narrative. Students will create a story where their animal faces a conflict and provide two alternative endings where the animal uses different defense mechanisms. In ALL Block, we are continuing to hone in on phonics skills, fluency, and answering comprehension questions. Ask your child what questions help them break down the main idea (answer: Who is the article about? What are they doing? Why/How/Where are they doing it?).

In math, we are finishing fractions! The students have worked very hard on this subject. After our Celebration of Learning we will be reviewing perimeter and area to get ready for volume.

In science, we are wrapping up our solar system and constellation unit. We have learned about sunrise, sunset, rotation of the Earth, and why we only see certain constellations at certain times of the year. This month we will be discussing how we see objects and how we see in color.

In humanities we are learning more about American Indian Boarding Schools and themes such as Poverty and The Great Depression through our new book “Two Roads”. Empathy is our habit target, practicing putting ourselves in other people’s shoes as we learn about Point of View and Inferences as well.

In math we are digging deeper into unit rates and percentages. We are seeing how knowing how to solve these problems can benefit us in our everyday lives! We are persevering through challenging problems each day to make us into mathematicians!

In science we are in the beginning stages of our new unit on metabolism! In this unit we are medical students working to learn all about molecules and their importance to our body systems! We are learning more about the world and even ourselves each day!

In humanities, students have completed their children’s books and are eager to show them off at our Celebration of Learning. We have jumped into our second module, and have begun to think about how epidemics can be both medical and social: ideas can spread just as easily as a virus.

Please encourage your student to read for twenty minutes a day at home to build endurance and reading comprehension skills!

In math, students are working on their equations learning target. In this target we are looking at unpacking word problems into a tape diagram. Much of our conversation will be centered on strategies for decoding word problems, as well as using our tape diagram to set up multi step equations that we can solve. Students have just wrapped up their unit on percentages working with proportions, and I was very pleased with everyone's progress during that unit. I am excited to continue our progress.

In math, students finished their smoothie volume projects and voted on the smoothie they would be most likely to purchase. The top 5 smoothies will be featured at our Celebration of Learning. Students started investigating angles, triangles and the Pythagorean theorem. They will be using their knowledge to complete a project where each student creates their own cell phone.

We are excited to proudly display all of the students' hard work for their expedition products this week at Celebration of Learning! After wrapping up our products we have begun to move forward in our art exploration and knowledge as Kindergarten and First begin to experiment more with color theory as we really get to know our color wheel. Second grade will be examining tools in the art room and what is available to us as artists. 3rd grade will be looking closer at the artist Jen Stark and the elements of designs. 4th grade will have a blast as we learn to create our very own dragon eyes as we talk more about texture. Lastly, 5th grade will be experimenting with the wonderful process of collage as we study inspiring artists and learn how to piece together pieces to create a whole composition.

In 6th grade art, we are finishing a mixed media unit where we focused on creating in depth landscape and personal concept projects, and then pushed them even further by adding collage, paint, and alternative mediums to our final pieces. We have really enjoyed using all the techniques we’ve learned on our last two pieces in class, and really look forward to showing off our work this week at the celebration of learning!

In SEL, K-5 students are working on how to identify, name and manage strong emotions. K-5 students are learning calm down techniques and strategies to help avoid negative consequences.

State OELPA testing for students receiving ESOL services will start at GEMS on March 5. Families should receive letters with more information. Please contact Mr. Spackman at spackman.1@gemsschool.org with questions.

Join us for Enrollment Information Sessions to talk about high school. The Graham Family of Schools comprises GEMS, The Graham School, and The Charles School at Ohio Dominican University. However, an application must be summited before a GEMS student may be enrolled in either high school. Please join us:

• The Graham School - Tuesday, February 6 at 6:30pm - *RSVP is required for all sessions. Please contact Bryan Kossmann, Enrollment Coordinator/Registrar at 614-262-1111 or bkossmann.1@thegrahamschool.org with questions or to RSVP.
• The Charles School at Ohio Dominican University - Wednesday, February 7 at 6:00pm - Please contact Amanda McCain, Enrollment Coordinator at amccain.1@thecharlesschool.org or 614-258-8588 with questions.

GEMS is accepting applications for the 2023-2024 (a few spots remaining to start in January) and 2024-2025 school years. Please share this newsletter with anyone who is interested in learning more about GEMS and suggest they attend an up coming Enrollment Information Session. Please e-mail Alisha Porter at aporter2308@gemsschool.org with questions.

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/GrahamElementaryandMiddleSchool

Instagram -

https://www.instagram.com/gemscolumbus/

Kroger

Go to: www.krogercommunityrewards.com or call 1-800-837-4483 to enroll in the program. Add GEMS to your Kroger card. You can search for GEMS by name or use our school code: FD086. Shop! Every time you shop and use your Kroger Rewards Card GEMS gets rebates. Kroger totals those rebates and sends GEMS a check.

The Graham Family of Schools participates in the National School Lunch Program that allows for all families to apply for free or reduced meals. Lunch is available to all students. Should they choose not to participate in the school meal program, students may bring their lunch from home. NO OUTSIDE FOOD MAY BE ORDERED OR DELIVERED AS THIS DIRECTLY VIOLATES THE NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM POLICY.

Our partnership with EL Education empowers our teachers to unleash the potential of their students. EL Education is built on ten design principles that reflect the educational values and beliefs of Kurt Hahn, founder of Outward Bound and co-founder of EL Education. These principles also reflect the design's connection to other related thinking about teaching, learning, and the culture of schools. The 10 design principles are: The Primacy of Self-Discovery, The Having of Wonderful Ideas, The Responsibility for Learning, Empathy and Caring, Success and Failure, Collaboration and Competition, Diversity and Inclusion, The Natural World, Solitude and Reflection, Service and Compassion.

GEMS is a School-wide Title 1 program, enabling us to receive Federal Funds to ensure that our students receive the support they need to reach and exceed grade level goals particularly in reading and math. We welcome parent involvement in planning, review and improvement of Title 1 programs. Please contact Debbie Addison at addison.2@gemsschool.org with any questions. Follow this link to the Parent Pact.

Per House Bill 21 community schools are required to perform a monthly review of student files and randomly select families for residency verification. Please contact the school immediately in case of an address change. Proof of residency must be submitted within two weeks of an address change. If evidence is not provided, requests for additional documentation or a home visit may occur.

School Day Hours - 8:30am-3:15pm

Email: office@gemsschool.org
Website: https://www.thegrahamfamilyofschools.org/gems_home.aspx
Location: 140 East 16th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43201, USA
Phone: (614) 253-4000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Graham-Elementary-and-Middle-School-109578509098428