Gator Alley Newsletter

Greetings!

This is a little overdue so I thought we would join two months together for a very full newsletter. I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather we had this week. It is starting to feel like spring! As the weather continues to get nicer and warmer, please have your student bring a water bottle to school.

We have a few new staff members joining our team. Kevin Brown and Odette Benes are working in our Life Skills program is Educational Support Professionals, Emily Derouin will be joining our Learning Lab as a Educational Support Professional, and Daisy Dudek will be working as a Educational Support Professional focused on behavior in the middle school. Welcome!

Calling Attendance Line:

If your student is going to be out of school, please be sure to call the attendance line at 413-685-1100. It is very helpful for us to know when a student is going to be out so we can update attendance more efficiently. Attendance calls go out at 9:00am from the school if your student is absent. If you call in an absence you will not receive this call.

Lost and Found:

Our lost and found is very full of hoodies, water bottles, hats, gloves, and more. If your student left something behind at school, please encourage them to stop by the lost and found located in the front lobby.

Important Notes and Upcoming Events:

-Graduation commencement speaker confirmed: We are happy to share that Ms. Luppino will return to Gateway on May 31st as the Commencement Speaker for the Class of 2024. Ms. Luppino retired in June of 2020 after more than 30 years teaching 7th grade ELA at Gateway.

-Student shadows continue as a prerequisite for Barr Foundation school visits. We now have over 40 members of the Gateway community (students, parents, school committee members, teachers, support staff and administrators) confirmed to visit schools throughout New England and across the country in an effort to Dream about Gateway’s future.

Please make sure that students are charging their chromebooks at home or bringing their chargers to school. Most of our classes use computers regularly, so students need to be able to use their technology.

If you have questions please do not hesitate to reach out to me, at wsullivan@grsd.org or 413-685-1109, or Interim Assistant Principal Crawford at kcrawford@grsd.org.

Best,

Dr. Sullivan, Principal

Important dates this month

-6th Grade ELA MCAS: Tuesday and Wednesday, April 2 and 3.

-7/8th Grade ELA MCAS: Thursday and Friday, April 4 and 5.

-PreACT: Wednesday, April 10

-Band Field Trip to Broadway: Wednesday: April 24

Past Editions

February Newsletter

January Newsletter

December Newsletter

November Newsletter

October Newsletter

September Newsletter

Please take a look at the approved School Improvement Plan for the remainder of the 2024 school year. The council will work to create an improvement plan for the next three years by June 2024.

Next year, we are planning to expand our course offerings in the wood shop. To expand, we are in need of more materials and tools. If anyone has any wood or other materials, or tools such as hammers, nails, saws, etc., and are willing to donate it would be greatly appreciated! All donations can be brought to the main office.

Next week is Spirit Week! We hope to see everyone dressed up to show their school spirit.

Over 100 people including administrators, staff, students, community members, and parents attended the 3rd Annual Gateway Education Foundation Trivia Night. The event was held at Stanton Hall and hosted by Steve Nagle. Gateway Education Foundation raised over $4500 from this event which will be used to sponsor Funds for Learning Grants - these grants help teachers provide out-of-the-box learning opportunities for the students in the district! Just this week, Gateway Education Foundation released the application for teachers and staff to apply for Funds for Learning for the Spring and Summer! Board members are excited to see what amazing projects the staff has planned and can't thank the community enough for their continued support!

Below are some photos from the Semi-Formal, the High School trip to Spain, and some students participating in Skills USA!

Come cheer on our Gator athletes this spring season! Here is the schedule for all the games. Congratulations to all of our winter athletes on a great season. A big shout-out as well to our seniors. If you have any questions, please reach out to our Athletic Director, Matt Bonenfant (mbonenfant@grsd.org). *Please have an up to day physical with the nurse.

We are deep into Phase 2 of our work with the Barr Foundation and beginning Phase 3. Over the last month, we went to Colorado over February break to see a few schools, headed to Lynn and Malden to visit KIPP and MVRCS, and Casco Bay Maine.

As a reminder, for reaching our goals in terms of engagement in the "Learn Phase" the following events are being planned for the spring.

High School:

-Cornhole Tournament (guided by Wicked Cornhole)

-Outdoor Televisions

-Art and Graphic Design Activities

-Portable MiniGolf

-Cookout

Middle School:

-Mobile Video Game Trucks

-Obstacle Courses

-Cookout

The PTO is also doing a Gift Card Fundraiser. I have added the link to join here.

https://www.raiseright.com/enroll?enrollCode=8F3LSK5WJVK7. There is also an app that you can download that is very user friendly. If you have any questions, please reach out to the PTO President Kristina Schultz at kschultz@grsd.org

Email: wsullivan@grsd.org
Website: grsd.org
Location: 12 Littleville Road, Huntington, MA, USA
Phone: (413)685-1100