Welcome to GVMS

Achieving our best through creativity, compassion, and community.

Email: stenzl@garnetvalley.org
Website: https://gvms.garnetvalleyschools.com/
Location: 601 Smithbridge Road
Phone: 610-579-5100
Twitter: @GarnetValleyMS

Garnet Valley Middle School Community New Families,

Welcome to Garnet Valley Middle School! We are excited to meet you in the coming weeks and we are excited for you to meet your new classmates and teachers. We have been working hard this summer to make sure the start of the school year begins as "worry-free" as possible given our current circumstances. We hope this school year hasn't been on your mind too much and you have been able to enjoy this beautiful, but humid summer weather!

Even though school is still a few weeks away, we wanted to inform you that all GVMS students have summer work to complete for ELA and an optional summer packet to complete for Math. To access these documents, please use the links below:

• Use this link to access the various optional math packets.
• Use this link to read an overview the the required summer ELA work.
• Use this link to create a copy of the Google Doc sheet each child must complete. *This link will not require your child to use their newly created GVSD Google account.

We are excited to have you join our school and local community. We hope you are settled in and please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Lisa Stenz, Building Principal

Gerry Weinhardt, Assistant Principal

Rick Martin, Assistant Principal

On behalf of the entire GVMS community, we would like to welcome you to our school. We recognize that this is not the “warmest” welcome, but believe us when we say, we would much rather be meeting you all in person! Since we are not having students come in for testing at this time, we are moving forward with remote testing. We have piloted remote testing this past spring and, while there were a few issues, many of the students shared afterwards that they preferred the quiet and comfort of taking the assessment in their home environment.

Here at Garnet Valley Middle School we believe in using a variety of data sources to determine both a student’s strengths and specific areas of need. While we will review your child’s incoming school records, we also find it beneficial to administer and review the results of a universal ELA and Math screener. These two short assessments provide us with another perspective on where your child is currently performing in regards to both national norms and our local student population.

As you will see below, the program we utilize for our screener is NWEA MAP Screener. NWEA stands for Northwest Evaluation Association. NWEA is a non-profit organization that has assessed millions of students and is used in over fifty countries around the world. Screening tests are 20 questions long and are available for math, language arts, reading, and science. In addition to the MAP Screener, our school utilizes MAP Growth to gain a better understanding of where each of our students are throughout the year. MAP Growth results provide a more complete picture of what your child knows and is ready to learn—whether it is on, above, or below their grade level. Click here if you are interested in reading more about the MAP Suite.

We understand this might seem like an overwhelming document. We created this document to address potential unexpected problems. Please don't feel like you have to read everything in this document.. Our online proctors will be your main support system and will be able to help assist in troubleshooting along the way.

We have broken the following document into five categories:

• Prior to Test Date - Preparing Your Device

• Day of Assessment- Accessing Your Testing Session

• Day of Assessment - MAP Log-in Procedures

• Troubleshooting Guide

• Do’s and Don’ts For Remote MAP Testing

Please click here to access the full document, which includes the above introduction as well as the directions mentioned above.

Sincerely,

Lisa Stenz, Building Principal

Gerry Weinhardt, Assistant Principal

Rick Martin, Assistant Principal

Click here to access the 6th and 7th/8th Grade student school supply lists.

All middle school students will receive a district device this year. This will be the first year our middle school will implement a 1:1 Chromebook initiative. If you have not picked up your child's device, we have one final pickup scheduled for August 17th.

For more information, click here to view a copy of the full email that went out in July from Sam Mormando, our district's Director of Technology.

We wanted to take a moment and introduce our four school counselors. Please know that the GVMS Counseling Department is buzzing on a typical school day. Our counselors do an amazing job working through a multitude of issues with our students each and every day. Also, feel free to contact your child's counselor if you have any questions at any point throughout the year.

School Counselors

Marisa Mahon - Last names beginning with A-Em

mahonm@garnetvalley.org

Wendy Xanthopoulos - Last names beginning with Ep-Ler

xanthow@garnetvalley.org

Madison Rogas - Last names beginning with Les-Rom

rogasm@garnetvalley.org

Christy Francart - Last names beginning with Ros-Z

francac@garnetvalley.org

Building Administrators

Lisa Stenz - Building Principal

stenzl@garnetvalley.org

Gerry Weinhardt - Assistant Principal

weinhag@garnetvalley.org

Rick Martin - Assistant Principal

martinr@garnetvalley.org

• All drinking fountains will be converted to bottle fillers. The water fountain spouts will be locked.

• Classrooms and hallways will be disinfected by a backpack sprayer each night.

• Students will be encouraged to wash hands throughout the day.

• Each student is encouraged to bring their own hand sanitizer.

• Hand sanitizing stations will be strategically placed throughout the building.

• School supplies and materials will not be shared to the greatest extent possible.

In the classroom

Desks will face the same direction and students will be spaced at least 6 feet apart. Activities in the classroom that do not support social distancing will be limited. Students will bring backpacks with them and should have their own supplies. Chromebooks can be utilized to facilitate collaboration of students in class and at home.

During Lunch

Students will either pack their lunch or purchase a box lunch from the cafeteria. Students will be assigned seats and will be spaced at least 6 feet apart. If needed, other spaces will be utilized in order to maintain an appropriate social distance.

Staff

• Staff members will be required to wear masks or face shields at all times except under certain circumstances and activities, e.g. eating

Students

• Masks will be worn on the bus and at parent drop-off
• Masks will be worn the majority of the day (exceptions would be made for eating and drinking).
• Masks will be worn during all transition times including recess.

Masks or face coverings should not be worn by students if the face-covering impedes their vision, if they have a medical condition, or wearing a face-covering would create an unsafe condition, specifically: students with a disability preventing them from comfortably wearing or removing a face covering, students who are deaf or hard of hearing and use facial and mouth movements as means of communication, students with respiratory conditions, students who have been advised by a medical or legal professional that face coverings will pose a risk to their health.

Faculty and staff are instructed to stay home if they are sick. Our parents/guardians are urged to keep sick children home. GVSD school nurses will take the temperature of all staff and students who visit the nurse’s office and monitor for signs of symptoms. Refer to the chart below:

Achieving our best through creativity, compassion, and community.

Email: stenzl@garnetvalley.org
Website: gvms.garnetvalleyschools.com
Location: 601 Smithbridge Road
Phone: 610-579-5100
Twitter: @GarnetValleyMS