The GMA Gazette

I am so excited to share this GOOD NEWS with our school community!

It was announced on Friday, March 8 that GMA is a recipient of the Indiana Department of Education's Charter Facilities Grant. Our application was centered around a much needed addition to our school campus - a bridge to our north field. With this grant award, we are looking forward to a pedestrian bridge over the county drainage creek very soon!

The first step in the process is getting project approval from the County Drainage Board (CDB). I've been working with a local engineering firm to prepare the drawings and documents that are required for that step. We hope to get approval to move forward at the April CDB meeting. I'll keep you posted on the progress as we move through several stages of local approvals before the actual construction can begin.

Did you know that our school has a goal of 97% student attendance rate by 2027? We know that student success is impacted by school attendance. According to a study conducted by The University of Chicago, Pre-K and Kindergarten children who are chronically absent (defined as missing 10% or more of the school year, which amounts to 18 or more days) are at a significantly higher risk of needing intense intervention as struggling readers in second grade. We also know that the habits that are developed as children, carry through to secondary school and into the post-secondary education and workforce as well. Punctuality and attendance matter a great deal in the professional world, and those habits and routines start early in childhood!

This month, we want to celebrate with our K-8th grade students who have a 90+% on-time attendance rate for the first three weeks of March. We will be tracking student tardiness and attendance extra closely from March 1-22. That means students must be at school on-time for the full day 15 out of 16 days. Then, on Friday, March 22 any K-8th grade student who meets the goal of 90+% on-time attendance during the designated period will receive an invitation to our very special AttenDANCE Party!

Invited students will be able to stay after school (with a signed permission slip) to celebrate their success with friends at GMA's first AttenDANCE Party. We will have music, karaoke, popcorn, prizes, and TONS OF FUN. I can't wait to celebrate with everyone on March 28 from 3:15-4:15 pm!

If you are interested in registering your child(ren) for The Grove's Spring Break Camp, please complete this form. The deadline to register for Spring Break Camp is 4:00pm on Wednesday, March 20. If you have questions about this program, please reach out to Ms. Kayla at kcommons@gma.k12.in.us.

3/19 - Dine to Donate at Puccini's at Geist, 4pm-close (see flyer above)

3/21- Body Safety Talks in classrooms

3/26 - International Fair, 6:00 pm

3/27 - GMA Board of Directors Meeting, 5:30 pm

3/28 - AttenDANCE Party, by invitation only, 3:15-4:15 pm

4/1-8 - Spring Break - no school

4/9 - Students and staff return to school

4/15-5/10 - ILEARN assessment window for all 3-8th graders

4/24 - GMA Board of Directors Meeting, 5:30pm

5/13 - Spring NWEA Testing begins for grades K-8

5/18 - The Market at Geist Montessori

5/23 - IREAD-3 "Summer" Retest

5/27 - Memorial Day, No School

5/30 - Last Day of School

Each grade level group will dance to represent one of the countries they have been learning in music class. Each dance will take place in the gym during a specific time, depending on their grade level. If you plan to attend the international festival please have your student in the gym five minutes till the time they will be performing. Thank you for your cooperation, we look forward to sharing this with you!

Preschool will perform at 6:15.

Kindergarten will perform at 6:25.

First and Second will perform at 6:35.

Third and Fourth will perform at 6:45.

Fifth and Sixth will perform at 6:55.

Families that do not want their child to participate in the body saftey talks that will be presented in all K-8 classrooms this Thursday must check the box on the form, put their child's name on it, sign it, and return it to GMA. If the box is not checked, it does not count as a refusal. If you have any questions, please email our School Counselor at crhinehart@gma.k12.in.us.

Kids Heart Challenge has officially kicked off at our school! Watch Kick-off video here! We need your help to accomplish our goal of having 100% of our families to learn Hands-Only CPR, and you can help us by registering your child and spreading the word.

Here’s how you can help:

Register here: Geist Montessori School Kids Heart Challenge 2024

• Complete Finn’s Mission: Watch a 2-minute video to learn about Hands-Only CPR and spot the signs of a stroke!

• Share your student’s website with friends and family through social media, text and/or email.

Any student who completes Finn’s Mission will be entered to win TWO Super Bowl tickets for the game in 2025. Watch this video for more information.

Thank you!

Our Board of Directors approved the academic calendar for the 2024-2025 school year at the January board meeting. Families can access the new calendar on our website, or download a copy below.

Be on the lookout for a flyer to be sent home with all students very soon. Go ahead and mark your calendars for these fun weeks at The Grove's Summer Camp at GMA:

June 3rd-June 7th:

Aloha Summer!

Hawaiian-themed activities, making our own sunglasses, making popsicles, having a Luau party on Friday.

June 10th-June 14th:

Pirate Camp

Making our own pirate hats, completing a scavenger hunt (treasure map), making sand slime, DIY pirate ships

June 17th-June 21st:

Going Green

Going on nature walks around the school, collecting leaves and sticks for art projects. Learning about bugs, doing a little bit of gardening.

June 24th-June 28th:

Jurassic Park

Playing dinosaur themed games, excavating fossils, dinosaur crafts

July 1st-July 12th: CLOSED

July 15th-July 19th:

Exploring Famous Artists

Studying famous artists and making artwork based on their work. Painting, pottery, and collages.

July 22nd-July 26th:

Olympics

Sports camp in preparation for the summer olympics

If you or someone you know is interested in being a vendor at our annual Market at Geist Montessori, please contact Ms. Beth at blarock@gma.k12.in.us. The Vendor Application is open and accepting new applications now!

If you would like to order a yearbook for your child, please be sure to place your order before March 29!

To order, visit inter-state.com/order and enter code 83125S.

We use OneCall Now as our mass communication system to send out alerts, updates, and school-wide communication such as The GMA Gazette. Most communications are sent through email, with a text alert to notify you that something has been sent from GMA.

When school is closed or delayed due to inclement weather, especially in the unpredictable Indiana winters, it is important that families receive the notification quickly and easily. The best way to ensure that you don't miss an announcement from GMA is to sign up for text alerts!

It's simple to sign up. Just text the word alert to 22300. That's it!

Please contact Ms. Beth at blarock@gma.k12.in.us if you have questions or need to add an additional phone number or email address to our OneCall Now system.

Thank you to those who submitted information to be included in our first GMA Community Directory! Form responses have been compiled into a Google Sheet for ease of use. You can access the directory here.

Once you have opened the directory, it is searchable using the "Ctrl-F" command. Then, you can search by classroom or teacher name to find your child's classmates. You can also sort the data to filter by classroom.

Thank you for helping us continue to connect members of our school community.

Thank you for continuing to help us keep our students and staff safe during arrival and dismissal each day. Please refer back to this document that was shared in August regarding traffic patterns and safety reminders.

As we work to build partnerships with organizations and businesses in our community, we need your help in being good neighbors. Please remember that Traditions at Brookside is not a turn around point for GMA traffic. Also, we are begging that drivers refrain from U-turns in the middle of 900 N and at the entrances to neighborhoods. The safest route to ultimately head in an eastbound direction is to take 900 N west to Carroll Road and head north or south to an eastbound roadway of your choice.

It has been said that “behavior influences behavior.” Please be mindful of this fact as you model behavior for your children each morning and afternoon in and out of our carline. All GMA Families are expected to heed these instructions and model safe, courteous carline behavior. Thank you for your cooperation in this important matter.

We have asked McCordsville police for their assistance several times throughout the year. As traffic increases in this area with the influx of new housing, I anticipate a stronger police presence to monitor the flow of traffic and assist drivers.

Also, please note that we use the blacktop area on the north and west sides of the building during recess time. It is for this reason that we put up the chain and cones to block off this area for our students immediately after carline ends promptly at 8:35 am. If you arrive in the parking lot at 8:35 or after, you will have to park and walk your child(ren) into the office to sign them in as tardy.

Thank you for helping us keep our community safe on the roads!

Please be sure to notify the school if your child will be absent. Families should call the front office at (317) 813-4626 and select option 1 from the menu to reach the attendance line.

Our office staff makes daily attendance calls to families at 10:00 am after classroom teachers have submitted their attendance for the day. We want to make sure our students are safe and healthy when they are not here at school with us. Thank you for your help in reporting attendance in a timely manner.