Griffins Connect

This week, we are excited to celebrate National School Counseling Week and recognize the incredible work of our school counselors! They play a vital role in supporting students’ academic success, social-emotional well-being, and future career goals. Whether guiding students through challenges, fostering a positive school environment, or helping them discover their strengths, their impact is truly invaluable.

We encourage you to join us in showing appreciation for our amazing school counselors! A kind word, a note of gratitude, or simply acknowledging their hard work can make a big difference.

CLICK the following flyer from our counseling department with details about this week’s activities, including a couple of fun dress-up days.

Thank you for your support in celebrating our dedicated school counselors!

Monday, February 3rd: ARMES Nomination Window Opens for Students in Grades 3-8 (info below)

Monday, February 3rd (@ 4:00): 5th-7th CTC Registration Info Available, CLICK HERE (info below)

Tuesday, February 4th: PTA Papa John's Spirit Night: Order w/Promo Code "Sterling"

Wednesday, February 5th: National School Counseling Week “Team Day” (Support your Team!)

Wednesday, February 5th: PTA Papa John's Spirit Night: Order w/Promo Code "Sterling"

Thursday, February 6th: National School Counseling Week “Bright Futures!” (Wear Bright Clothing!)

Thursday, February 6th: Monthly SIC Meeting (All are welcome!); Vegas Room, 8:30-9:30 AM

Thursday, February 6th: Road to Possibilities: An Opportunity Fair (info below)

Friday, February 7th: Empty Bowls & PTA Bingo Night; 5:00-7:30 PM (info below)

Saturday, February 8th: Spirit Day @ Furman Women's Basketball Game; 2:00 PM (info below)

Thursday, February 13th: PTA Faculty/Staff Appreciation Dessert Bar; CLICK HERE! (info below)

Friday, February 14th: Parents of Students with IEP Survey Deadline (info below)

Friday, February 14th: Greenville Drive All Star Reading Challenge Logs Due (No Logs After Today!)

Monday, February 17th: President's Day; No School

Monday, March 10th: Middle School Lunch n' Learn;12:00-12:45, RSVP HERE (info below)

This past Thursday (1/30), we celebrated the 100th day of school with a fun “I am 100 Days Brighter!” NEON-themed day! And, for some of our 5th graders who helped with this event, they also celebrated their 1,000th day of school! 😀 Students "glowed" as they participated in engaging reading and math activities throughout the day. Thank you to everyone who made this day so special!

This Friday, February 7th, is going to be an exciting and rewarding evening! It’s time for the Empty Bowls Soup Extravaganza and FREE Bingo Family Fun Night! 🎉

To ensure everything runs smoothly, we need YOUR help! Below are sign-up links for volunteering, donating, and participating. Please share these with your friends and family—we’d love for them to join in on the fun too!

🔹 Sign up to HELP with Bingo, serve soup, or assist with cleanup: Volunteer Here

🔹 Sign up to DONATE a crockpot of soup, chili, stew, or curry for the Empty Bowls Soup Extravaganza: Donate Soup Here

🔹 MS BETA CLUB Members: Earn Beta Hours by signing up to WORK: Sign Up Here

🔹 5th GRADE BETA CLUB Members: Sign up to bring bread, crackers, or supplies: Sign Up Here

And don’t forget…

🍲 GET YOUR PREPAID SOUP TICKET! (A prepaid ticket is required to enjoy the soup.)
✅ Choose Your Time Slot: Reserve Here
💳 Pay Here: MySchoolBucks

Thank you for your support in making these events a fantastic experience for our students and the Griffin family! 💙

Greenville County Schools’ Arts Reaching Middle and Elementary Students (ARMES) program provides a unique opportunity for artistically gifted students in grades 3-8 to explore music, art, theatre, dance, and creative writing in depth. ARMES classes are held after school at three locations across the district: League Academy (Central), Greer Middle (Northern), and Hillcrest Middle (Southern).

Our school is proud to have 50 students currently participating, and we'd love to see even more! We encourage you to help us identify students who show a strong interest and enthusiasm for the arts.

Nominations for the 2025-2026 school year open February 3 and close March 31. To learn more and submit a nomination, visit the ARMES Program Website.

Let’s help more students explore their artistic talents through this incredible program! 🎭🎨🎶

Middle School registration for the 2025-2026 School Year opens next month! Information will be made available via Mrs. Gallegos' Website on February 3rd, by 4:00 pm. On her website, you will find course registration forms, course fliers, and departmental videos to learn about our projected course offerings for your child(ren) next year. Current 5th, 6th, and 7th grade students will be meeting with Mrs. Gallegos(6th and 7th grade) and Mrs. Bennet (5th grade) later this month to get more information about the registration process, prior to actually registering in class. See below for when your child(ren) will be registering with Mrs. Gallegos.

Key Dates:

ALL:

• Feb 3: Registration information is available on Mrs.Gallegos' website

Current CTC 5th Grade:

• Feb 3-14: Students will receive their registration forms (Due Feb 21)
• Feb 24- Mar 7: Student Registration with Mrs. Bennett

Current CTC 6th Grade:

• Feb 7: Students receive registration forms(Due Feb 13)
• Feb 21: Student Registration

Current CTC 7th Grade:

• Feb 4: Students receive registration forms
• Feb 18: Student Registration(Due Feb 13)

Current CTC 8th Grade:

• High School Registration will be handled by Mrs. Gallegos on varying dates—primarily between February 24 and March 3.

We’re thrilled to announce that our performance of the National Anthem has been rescheduled for Saturday, February 8, at 2:00 PM during the Furman Women’s Basketball game! Even better, this event coincides with National Girls & Women in Sports Day (NGWSD), featuring special presentations and celebrations throughout the game.

Event Highlights:

• Free NGWSD shirts for the first 200 kids.
• Pre-game clinics hosted by Furman Women’s Sports teams.
• Post-game autographs with the Women’s Basketball team.
• Teams attending include Cheer, Volleyball, Golf, Cross Country/Track, Lacrosse, Soccer, and Dance.

We’re incredibly grateful to our hosts and look forward to seeing a big crowd on February 8 to cheer on the Sterling Glee Club and Furman Women’s team. Let’s show our school spirit and make it a day to remember! Go Paladins!

Greenville County Schools is undergoing a Shared Ownership Strategic Review Process, a review of special education services for students with disabilities. Among the first steps in the process is gathering input from GCS families through a survey. Every parent or guardian of a GCS student with an IEP is invited to take the Shared Ownership Survey. Please complete the survey by February 14th. To take the survey or learn more about the entire review process, visit the district’s website.

GCS, in partnership with the Barbara Stone Foundation, is hosting a resource fair on February 6 from 5:30-8:00 p.m. for students with disabilities ages 3-21 and families. This event is free at University Center Greenville. Exhibitors will provide information on community resources to assist students and families while in school and planning for post-secondary education, employment, independent living, financial literacy, legal planning, transportation, etc. Workshops and food will be provided.

Our 3rd annual Griffins on the Go is approaching! Our event will be April 3rd from 11:30-1:00 PM where our elementary students will be able to rotate to see a number of different career opportunities. Do you have a career or a career on the “Go” that you would LOVE to share with our elementary school students? Or are you not able to speak at this particular event? No problem, please share this link with someone else who may be able to provide our students with a unique learning experience!

Fill out this form or email Dr. T at mtchouros@greenville.k12.sc.us.

Purchase your Middle School yearbook HERE.

Attention Parents! Time is running out—show your 8th grader how proud you are with a yearbook ad. 8th grade ads are a great way for parents, families, and friends to commemorate student achievements and important milestones. In addition, revenues from these ads help our school to create a better yearbook. It’s easy to purchase and create a personalized ad online. Just click this LINK to get started. All ad orders must be placed online by Feb.7th (this deadline has been extended to 2/13)

Middle School Parents, in support of our YEARBOOK team, please consider sharing some information and a picture to highlight the activities your student participates in outside of school. It is possible that not all pictures can be used, but we would like to highlight as much as we can.

8th grade parents: Please submit a baby/toddler picture of your student to be included in the yearbook. This is a fun tradition!

Use this FORM to submit activity pictures and baby pictures.

Please see the information about the "Empty Bowl" project and Soup Dinner. Beta Club members have LOTS of opportunities to help serve in support of this project. * Help a parent make a pot of soup, stew or chili (2 service hours) * Helpers to receive crockpots / Instapots of soup in the morning or right after school on Feb. 7th, * Set-up, Serve, and/or Clean-up For Soup Dinner on Feb. 7th

SIGN UP HERE.

The next payment of $100 is due by Feb. 3rd. Thank you!

Hello fellow astronomers, Do you want to use telescopes around the world to take photos of the night sky? Then join the Astro Nerds! We will be learning about astronomy while using telescopes in Chile, Australia, and the Canary Islands, This club is for middle school students and will begin on Tuesday, Feb. 4th. Club membership is limited to 10 students.

Meetings: Tuesday from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm Where: Ms. Merritt's classroom.

Register HERE.

Chess Club is BACK for the spring semester. Beginning January 24th, chess club will meet each Friday for 10 weeks. January 24th thru April 11th (no club meeting on 3/14 and 3/21). Students have 2 options: FREE play club - just for the fun of playing - OR- Paid Lessons through Think Move Chess.

Lessons will also run for 10 weeks and the cost is $150.

Parents of interested students in grades 3-8 should sign up using the GOOGLE FORM linked here (both free play or paid lessons)

Volleyball Club is now FULL. If you would like to add your name to the waitlist, please complete the registration form and we will reach out to you if a spot opens.

Volleyball Club is a co-ed club for students in grades 3 - 6. The club will meet on Thursdays from 2:30 - 3:30. Use this GOOGLE FORM to be put on the wait list.

Running club is on a break until March. NO running club during January and February.

Is your child interested in getting a club started at Sterling? Are you willing to sponsor a club or help to coordinate parent volunteers for a club? If so, please complete this Club Proposal Form. Ms. Foulkes will reach out to you to coordinate plans if we can make it work.

We're thrilled to announce our incredible spelling bee champions!

A huge congratulations to Atharva Arun, 6th grader, who showcased amazing talent and triumphed over 10 middle school competitors to secure the win as our school's Middle School Bee Champion! Fisher Alexander (5th grader) also showed amazing spelling skills by defeating 17 other elementary students to claim victory as our Elementary Bee Champion!

In an exciting spell-off, Atharva won, proving that the competition was fierce and that Atharva is our School-wide Bee Champion! Both of these talented students will advance to the Regions in Charlotte, representing our school with pride.

Let's cheer them on as they take their spelling skills to the next level!

We’re thrilled to announce the winners of this year’s PTA Reflections program! This year’s theme, “Accepting Imperfection,” inspired incredible works of art, writing, music, and more. Each piece reflected heartfelt creativity and the courage to embrace our beautifully imperfect world.

A huge THANK YOU to all the amazing students who participated. Your work reminds us that imperfection is what makes life extraordinary.

Parents are invited to attend the Parent Academy, a comprehensive workshop designed to support families in navigating the special education process. This event, sponsored by our district, offers a valuable opportunity to connect with other parents and explore essential topics, including:

• An overview of special education

• The evaluation process

• The roles of parents and students in the IEP process

• Understanding the Individualized Education Program (IEP)

• Answers to your questions

• Information about available resources

To register, CLICK HERE!

We encourage all parents to participate in this informative session to enhance their understanding and access the tools needed to support their child's educational journey.

Both Elementary and Middle School Year Books can be ordered with this link.

Parents of 8th grade students: If you would like to include a special "shout out"/AD in the middle school yearbook, please complete that information on the Jostens website linked below.

Mission: Sterling School seeks to create an environment where students receive a personalized educational experience that allows them to explore their world, be enriched, & excel both academically & emotionally as they prepare for challenges today & tomorrow.

Email: jpatterson@greenville.k12.sc.us
Website: www.greenville.k12.sc.us/sterling
Location: Sterling School, John McCarroll Way, Greenville, SC, United States
Phone: 864-355-4480
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theSterlingSchool
Twitter: @SterlingSchool