GMS Weekly Newsletter

Good Afternoon Wolf Pack Families,

I am sure that many of you had a chance to read the email sent by Dr. Lonze. Last night the Facility Study Committee recommended that Geisler MS be repurposed. Geisler MS will not have any changes for this year and more details on school alignment etc.... will be shared by the District as plans are developed and approved. In school today, we let our students know this information as the "rumor mill" was beginning. We want to be transparent and open with school staff, students and our families. We felt it was best to let them know and that we are here to support them in any way we can. Please reach out to me directly if you have any questions about the process. I will be more than happy to share what I know to the best of my ability. Please look for an email from our school counselors as well. They are great resources for students struggling with this change.

I am hoping that all of you have wonderful weekend. Wishing our families that observe Rosh Hashanah later next week, good health and happiness.

Wising you all a fantastic weekend,

Stuart Riley

Principal, Geisler Middle School

Upcoming Events

9/27-GMS Band @ WLC Football Game

9/30-Volleyball vs. Muir MS-Away

10/1-Volleyball vs. Centennial MS-Away

10/1-Cross Country vs. Muir MS-Home

10/2-Student Count Day

10/3-No School in obsevance of Rosh Hashanah

10/7-Volleyball vs. White Lake MS-Home

10/9-Best Day Ever Party (Weather Permitting)-Fundraiser Party for participating students

10/9-Cross Country vs. Oak Valley MS-Away

10/9-Volleyball vs. Sarah Banks MS-Home

Walled Lake Consolidated Schools Pupil Membership Count Day is this Wednesday, October 2, 2024.

Student attendance on this date is very important to assure full funding for our school district. Michigan schools report to the Michigan Department of Education the tally of students in attendance on Count Day. Because district funding is directly tied to student attendance, we encourage you, if possible, to send your student to school for each and every class period on Wednesday, October 2, 2024

If your student is unable to attend school for any portion of the day tomorrow, please make sure to call our attendance office at 248-956-2990

iReady is an assessment tool that is given to all students grades 6-8 in math and English language arts. The results from the assessment give teachers information on how to tailor their instruction to meet the needs of their class/students. It also gives individual feedback to each student/family on if they are at, behind or above grade level. Lessons can then be completed in iReady that are tailored specifically for each student. If your child is not at grade level at this time, it's ok! In the next few weeks, we will be sending home strategies to help them get caught up. We'll need your support to help us do that.

• By Friday, September 27, your child's math and ELA teachers will be giving each student their individual diagnostic results report. If your child did not finish due to absence, it may be a few more days before you receive the information.

• Students will be reviewing their own individual data and setting some goals with their teachers.

• Please ask your child for their iReady diagnostic results in Math and ELA!

• Please review the 2 informational letters below to learn more about iReady and how you can help your student become more proficient in math and ELA.

The annual PTSA Reflections competition has begun! Our 2024/2025 Theme is “Accepting Imperfections” Reflections Categories are: 2-D/3-D visual arts, literature, dance choreography, film production, music composition, photography, and special artist (for any students needing accommodations).

Students can create works in any of those categories around the theme. All Geisler students are welcome and encouraged to participate. More information, along with official rules and entry forms can be found at www.wlcsd.org/reflections, or in the GMS Learning Commons. Submissions are due to our main office or through our electronic entry form by Friday, November 8th. We can't wait to see the amazing work from our GMS community!

If you have any questions, please contact our PTSA Reflections Chairs:

Mrs. Archana Godase archanagodase@gmail.com or Mr. Torry Yu torryyu@wlcsd.org

This week the 6th and 7th grade Wolves volleyball team was able to win 1 of 3 games against Mason Middle school, but was unable to take any games from Creek. The girls showed great hustle and had some excellent serving through their games. The 8th grade Wolves Volleyball team was victorious against Mason 3 games to 0. Unfortunately they lost to Creek 0 games to 3. Great effort by all the girls showing great court awareness, strong serves, and excellent defense.

The cross country team lost to South Lyon Centennial this week. However, there were some great personal records for many of the athletes on the team. They ran hard and gave their all.

Thank you Geisler community for participating in the PTSA Next Level Fundraiser. We are so grateful for your support of our students and staff this school year!

While short of our goals, we're thrilled we were almost halfway to meeting our $35,000 goal with 42 Acts of Kindness that will go directly to support our school. The PTSA is excited to celebrate our success with approximately 200 students at our Best Day Ever party on October 9th. We're still looking for additional parent volunteers during our Best Day Ever party, and only parents who have registered and filled out a background check form may attend.

Please find the background check form attached below and click here for the volunteer sign-up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090D49A5AA2CA6F85-51609607-best#/

Background check forms must be returned to the Main Office by 10/2/24.

Thank you again for your support!

If you are a family that could use additional food over the weekends and are having difficulty finding the finances to do so, let us help! GMS and Hospitality House have partnered together to provide food to many of our students/families in need. Sometimes the need is temporary and others need it consistently throughout the year. Either is ok! Please contact your child's counselor, Mrs. Hart or Ms. Garvin if you have questions or would like to sign up for this program.

We are so lucky to partner with Lakes Area Youth Assistance to offer a free 8 week after-school yoga class. Please see the flyer and permission slip below. Questions about the Yoga class should go to Ms. Garvin, School Counselor.

Thank you to all the families who were able to attend the Washington, D.C. Trip Informational Meeting on Monday night. For those families who were unable to attend, please visit our Geisler DC Trip website to access the registration link through Corporate Travel, view the meeting presentation, and more.

If you have any questions about the DC trip, please reach out to Mr. Yu at TorryYu@wlcsd.org.

WLCSD has a 1-to-1 Chromebook Program in all of our middle and high schools. Please review the information about the 1-to-1 Chromebook Program as part of your Back-to-School Online Registration Process.

Each student will be required to bring a device to school each day as the middle schools do not have Chromebook carts in the building for students to use a Chromebook during the day. District issued Chromebooks often work much better within the building than personal devices do as they are set up to connect to the District Wi-Fi.

Important Highlights

Students will have two choices for technology use while at school:

1. Bring your own device from home

2. Sign up for a District issued Chromebook*

*Additional carts of Chromebooks will no longer be available for students to utilize extra building devices on a daily basis. Students will be expected to bring a charged device (personal device or District issued Chromebook) daily in order to utilize online curricular resources as well as participate in daily instruction within the classroom.

We strongly encourage families to sign up for a District issued Chromebook.

There are advantages to this practice including:

• Better Wi-Fi connectivity in District

• Increased support from District IT staff including

• curriculum resources

• support apps

• Streamline repair process

MIDDLE SCHOOL students (grades 6-8) must complete PAYMENT for the Chromebook deposit ($50) and Technology Protection Plan ($20) in order to receive the District issued Chromebook. Payments made after August 17 will still receive a device, but not until the first few days of school. Please be sure to review the entire 1-to-1 Chromebook Program Information that is linked on our Back-to-School Packet Website. If you are in need of financial assistance to participate in this program, please reach out to Mr. Riley directly at stuartriley@wlcsd.org

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Please follow the steps below when your student's District chromebook needs to be repaired.

1. If a student needs support, he/she should fill out a Student Chromebook Support Form linked on all of the Google Classrooms and on the school website under Students. Being logged on to the school google account is required to access the form.
2. The information in the form will be sent to Mrs. Stasak, our Middle School Computer Resource Teacher. She will reply to the student at his/her school gmail account. She will offer suggestions to fix the issue or, if it needs service, she will tell the student to take the chromebook to the office and give it to building admin secretary (enter the name for your building).
3. The chromebook in the case will be sent through inner office and the student will be allowed to use a loaner chromebook AT SCHOOL. It will be the student’s responsibility to pick it up each morning from the office and return it at the end of the day.
4. When the chromebook has been repaired, it will be delivered back to the school for the student to pick up.
5. If the family purchased insurance, the first repair is free and all additional repairs carry a deductible. Deductible invoices or repair invoices, for those that did not choose insurance, must be paid before the repaired chromebook is returned.
6. If a student with a personal chromebook has a network issue, the same form can be used. We are not able to fix physical problems with personal devices and loaner chromebooks will not be provided.