STINGRAY NEWS

November 2, 2024

Make-Up Days

The message below was sent out by SJCSD messenger on Thursday afternoon.

Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused students to miss five days of instruction. Three of these days need to be made up.

The first hurricane make-up day will be Veterans Day on Monday, November 11. To make up the remaining instructional time, the following ten Wednesdays will now be full instructional days and will no longer be early release Wednesdays:

November 13, 2024
November 20, 2024
December 4, 2024
December 11, 2024
December 18, 2024
January 8, 2025
January 15, 2025
January 22, 2025
January 29, 2025
February 5, 2025

The regular early release Wednesday schedule will resume on February 12, 2025.

Daylight Savings Time

At 2:00 am this Sunday, November 3rd, daylight savings time ends and our clocks fall back. You will get an extra hour of sleep Saturday night 😀

It will be nice having some light out as students arrive at school, at least for a month or so.

Students of the Week

The students below were announced in the last newsletter as SOWs this week. We have not had an opportunity to select and recognize students for the coming week.

GRMS News Crew

We have a class where students create news about our school. You can find the programs at the link here, which will not change: https://vimeo.com/showcase/9790037.

Enjoy!

Red Ribbon Week

We are pleased with the AMAZING turnout for the Red Ribbon Week “Walk out on drugs” event to honor the life of Enrique Camerina who was tragically killed in the line of duty fighting the War on Drugs. During lunch on Wednesday students signed a pledge, committing to stay drug-free and make healthy life choices. Students who signed the pledge received a wristband to participate in the “walk out” for a group photo. We are so excited to see that GRMS is HAPPY to be DRUG-FREE.

Thanks to Mrs. Register and her WEB students for putting together a good Red Ribbon Week. Below are some pictures from Wednesday as students pledged to be Drug Free!

Curriculum Corner

Students in Mr. Gamble’s Physical Science class had a sublime Halloween. Studying states of matter and phase changes, students observed dry ice as it sublimed from a solid to a gas and pondered the practical applications of dry ice for personal and business scenarios.

Picture Retakes

Retakes of school portraits is scheduled for Monday, November 4th.

This inlcudes students who were absent on the original date as well.

You may only get a retake if you had ordered portraits.

Volleyball - Monday

Coach Laakso wanted us to send a reminder about the Girls and Boys volleyball games on Monday 11/4 @ Fruit Cove.

Girls should arrive 4:45p and Boys no later than 5:45p.

Basketball Coach Needed

If you, or someone you kow, have an interest in coaching our boys basketball team, please email Mr. Wilson. It pays $1000 and practices generally take place after school. See email address at the bottom of this newsletter.

Therapy Dog Visit

From Mrs. Dufrain:

Our Friday was made a WHOLE LOT BETTER with a visit from Officer Roach and Simba! We always love our visits with Simba - he allows us to calm down, gives us peace, and makes our hearts so incredibly happy!!!!

Best Buddies Halloween Party

THANK YOU to all of the teachers and staff who allowed Best Buddies to spend extra time today at our Halloween party…they had soooo much fun!!!! I know I say this a lot, but…these kids are SO GREAT! So very proud of their Stingray character!! I feel so fortunate to be able to provide them these opportunities through Best Buddies to grow together, as leaders and friends! - Mrs. Dufrain

Community Enrichment Classes

SJCSD is pleased to announce the Autumn 2024 Community Enrichment classes at First Coast Technical College. The schedule includes virtual computer classes, improv comedy, and sewing.

Register online!

If you are interested in becoming a future instructor, please complete and return a Course Proposal. Instructors design their class, become independent contractors, and are paid on a sliding scale based on class enrollment.

Yearbook

Below you will find information on how to order a yearbook, celebrate your 8th grader in the yearbook, as well as purchase a business ad in the yearbook.