GMS Weekly News and Notes

Our cover photo this week comes courtesy of the elementary students who participate in the Cole-Harrington after-school program. They decorated our front walkway to offer support and encouragement to everyone participating in the Bulldog Invitational. They may not be GMS students yet, but we're so glad they're part of our wider school community!

It was another busy, productive, and fun week at school. On Wednesday, students had a half day while our teachers spent time meeting with their department teams, planning out some of the work for next part of the school year. Our students once again did great work in the classrooms, music rooms, on the stage, and out on the fields. Plenty of highlights below!

On Thursday evening, I presented the 2024-25 GMS School Improvement Plan to the School Committee. The SIP was collaboratively developed by the GMS staff after having the chance to review multiple data sources from the 2023-24 school year. I appreciated the feedback from the School Committee members, and look forward to continuing to work toward achieving our goals.

On Friday, we ran the first of a series of SEL Friday X Block activities. Our faculty planning committee has developed a number of ideas for promoting both physical and mental wellness during X Blocks on select Fridays. We are piloting the idea this year, with the aim of developing a new community practice. I'm very grateful to our teacher planning team for bringing this idea to the table, and I'm excited to see where it goes!

Galvin Middle School students sprinted through the first month of the Marathon Reading Challenge. GMS students read 1,555 books in September! Grizzlies (grade 7) are currently in first place with Galaxy (grade 6) and Green (grade 8) on their heels!

One friendly reminder regarding Halloween: Students may not wear costumes to school on Thursday, but are encouraged to wear Halloween colors if they'd like. We appreciate the cooperation of our families with this, and we hope that GMS students who plan to go trick-or-treating or celebrate Halloween in some other way after school, will do so safely while having lots of fun.

Students in Ms. Ducat's Social Studies class role-played as detectives tasked with solving a 5,000 year old mystery. Otzi the Iceman, a famous discovery from 1991, still has questions remaining on the life and death of this Neolithic man. Students worked in groups to sift through the real life evidence social scientists found and work together to solve the mystery.

From Ms. Coates:

7th grade Mountain Lions worked on their first ever DBQ, on Asoka the Great of Ancient India. They are peer reviewing the primary and secondary sources documents here.

During our first Friday SEL activity, students in Ms. Kennedy's X Block demonstrated perseverance by balancing a pencil on their nose while lifting one leg in the air. They have much better balance than the principal!

Mr Quinn and the GMS Robotics team have been hard at work, building, testing and optimizing their robots and Innovation projects

The GMS Step Team is hard at work each week led by 8th grade captains Sky T. and Ahliany R. The team consists of 20 talented girls and boys. They are all working towards their first performance which will be at the Canton High School pep rally on Wednesday, November 27th, heading into the Thanksgiving holiday. This will be the first time returning to the high school since 2019.

We brought a terrific cross country season to a close on Thursday with the first, and hopefully annual, Bulldog Invitational. Members of the GMS cross country team were joined by parents, guardians, siblings, and staff for a community meet. Thanks to Mr. Quinn, and our coaches, Ms. Gonzalez, Mr. Kulas, and Ms. Dineen for planning this wonderful event!

Student Leadership will be collecting money for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund in support of breast cancer awareness during the month of October. On Wednesday, October 30th, we will be holding our annual “pink” day where students and staff are encouraged to wear pink and buy a pink ribbon for $1 in the main lobby before school.

Do you want to see your favorite teacher dress up for Halloween? Students and staff are encouraged to stop by room 204 or room 305 between Tuesday, October 22nd and Tuesday, October 29th, and for $1, you can vote for a teacher to dress up on Halloween. While you are there, guess how much candy is in the candy jar. The student who guesses closest to the correct amount of candy without going over will bring home the jar on Halloween. The top 5 teachers with the most votes on October 29th will have to dress up on Halloween. All money collected will benefit the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

Museum of Black and Brilliant Inventors and their STEM Contributions

Any student or parent who is interested in participating or having their child participate in the Black History Month Project in February, please see or contact Mr. Gibson for details.

The Galvin Middle School Project is heading toward two key town votes. Save the Dates: November 18 Special Town Meeting and an Anticipated Ballot Vote on December 10.

Want to learn more about the GMS Building Project, see design renderings, or review timelines, please click on this LINK. If you have any questions, please email info@galvinmsproject.com.

The Galvin Middle School Project Team will be at the Sunday, October 20 Fall Fest at the Canton Farmers Market, and there will be a Community Forum at GMS on Wednesday, October 23 at 6:30 p.m.

This week's fact comes to us from the English department:

"Reading for six minutes a day reduces stress by 68%" (Lewis, 2009).

Please see the information below:

We are creeping and sneaking through the rest of the month towards November 1st, the worst day of the year for the school nurse. The day where most kids ate candy, stayed up late, and now have a stomach ache or headache. Here are some health tips for this coming week.

1. Pace your sugar addictions

Enjoy the Halloween festivities but don't overdo it. Excess sugar can slow down your GI system and make you feel terrible the next day. Foods with high sugar content can cause mood swings, irritability, and fatigue.

2. If you're trick or treating - stay out of the road! Or drive carefully on the road.

Halloween night is one of the riskiest, dangerous nights to be on the road and has a high rate of accidents. Be mindful of cars coming by, stay visible, and drive slowly down residential streets. Go to neighborhoods that are well lit and have sidewalks!

3. Make sure you're with people you know and your parents know where you are!

Whatever mischief you have planned, make sure you stay with people you know throughout the night and your household adults know where you are. This is a good chance to show personal responsibility. Don't do anything Nurse Tara or Nurse Lindsey wouldn't do!

Please reach out with any questions!

Lindsey Coppola, RN
(508) 584-1070 x3110

Tara Medeiros, RN

(508) 584-1070 x316

The next GMS CAPT meeting will take place on Monday, November 4th at 6:10PM in the GMS Library. We invite all interested parents and guardians to attend!

Monday, October 28th: Special Needs Parent Support Group meeting, virtual, 7PM

Wednesday, October 30th: Wear Pink Day at GMS

Saturday, November 2nd: Cantonstock Music Festival at CHS

Monday, November 4th: School Council Meeting, 5PM, GMS Library

Monday, November 4th: GMS CAPT Meeting, 6:10PM, GMS Library

Monday, November 18th: Special Town Meeting

Wednesday, November 20th: Parent-teacher conferences at GMS

Wednesday, November 27th: Early dismissal day

November 28th and 29th: All CPS schools closed for Thanksgiving

Check out the latest events from around town!

Courtney Gaboury, Administrative Assistant

Jim Spillane, Assistant Principal

Karim Gibson, Dean of Students

Ginny Martin, Student Services Team Chair

Email: mulhernj@cantonma.org
Website: https://www.cantonma.org/gms/index
Location: 55 Pecunit Street, Canton, MA, USA
Phone: 781-821-5070