The GMA Gazette

Wow! What an exciting time it is to be a part of our GMA School Community! So much hard work, time, energy, effort, and love has gone into what has gotten us to this point; and I am beyond proud to lead this phenomenal community. Thank you for choosing to partner with us in your child(ren)'s education. It is truly an honor for us to be a part of your village in this way.

I look forward to seeing each of you on Monday or Tuesday afternoon for our Meet The Teacher events. And, I hope you will join us for the Parenting a Montessori Student workshop on Monday evening. Please help us plan accordingly by RSVPing for this workshop.

As we close out summer break this weekend and prepare for an exciting school year ahead, I hope you will take the time to read through all of the information included here. The next issue of our school newsletter will be sent out on Friday, August 16. I send The GMA Gazette out on alternating weekends. Teachers will send classroom communications out on the opposite weeks.

I can't wait to see you all soon! Enjoy the weekend!

Ms. Jen

This afternoon, after 4:00 pm, families will be able to access PowerSchool to see class placements for their students. This information will only be available through PowerSchool, so please make sure to login and view your child(ren)'s information after 4:00 pm today. You can click here to access your GMA PowerSchool account.

Once you login, you will see your child's teacher listed under the "Courses" column as "Homeroom".

Teachers will be sending out a welcome email to their classes soon. Be on the lookout for that to come to your inbox as well.

If, for some reason, you are unable to access your PowerSchool account; classroom placement information will be made available in-person only at our Meet the Teacher events next week. First through eighth grade students may visit their classrooms on Monday afternoon from 5:00-6:30 pm. All Pre-K and Kindergarten students may visit their classrooms on Tuesday afternoon from 5:00-6:30 pm. Mr. Caleb will also be available during these events to help families gain access to PowerSchool for the school year.

Due to the volume of cars and traffic in the parking lot for schoolwide events, we have decided to split our Meet the Teacher event into two separate nights this year.

All 1st-8th grade students and families should plan to attend on Monday, August 5. Families are invited to visit classrooms and drop off supplies from 5:00-6:30 pm that evening.

At 6:30 pm on Monday, August 5, parents are invited to join school leaders in the gymnasium for a session called Parenting a Montessori Student. This will be a short, 30 minute presentation on how you can partner with us in your child's education by incorporating some simple Montessori ideas in your home. This session will either be made available virtually through a Google Meet or recorded for families who are unable to attend. 1st-8th grade GMA students will stay in their classrooms with their teachers and new classmates to participate in a fun activity during this session. Unfortunately, childcare will not be available for younger or non-GMA students.

All Pre-K and Kindergarten students and families should plan to meet their teachers on Tuesday, August 6. Families are invited to visit classrooms and drop off supplies from 5:00-6:30 pm that evening.

You may or may not know that our school's funding is based on the number of students we have enrolled each year. Over the last two years we have experienced significant growth in enrollment and have added SIX NEW CLASSROOMS and a FOURTH SPECIAL AREA CLASS to our programming. It is amazing to be able to offer our school community everything that a Montessori public education at GMA has to offer.

That being said, we are not quite at our targeted enrollment number for this school year. We have openings available at each age level from Kindergarten to 6th grade. You can help us meet our enrollment goals by sharing GMA with your friends, neighbors, family members, and social circles. Meeting our enrollment goal each year helps us continue to be able to offer your children the highest quality Montessori public education possible. It's what makes it possible to keep our student to teacher ratio much lower than that of the traditional schools around us. It helps us bring new programs and experiences to your children. It's what keeps things running smoothly!

Here are some easy ways that you can help us reach our goal this year:

1. Be sure to follow our school Facebook page and share our posts on your own page.
2. Like and comment with your positive GMA experiences when you see our posts shared on Facebook.
3. Take a moment to write a positive Google, Yelp, or Niche review.
4. Wear your GMA spiritwear out and about to spark conversations.
5. Talk to other parents in your neighborhood, on sports teams, at swimming lessons, at church, or at playdates. The very best compliment we can receive is the referral of your friends and family to our school!

We've found that many people in our community don't realize that GMA is a tuition-free, public school. Several new families have shared with us that they always thought Montessori meant private school with an expensive tuition. Sometimes, just letting others know of your own amazing experiences with our school community is all it takes to spark an interest and open the door for a conversation about school choice and the options families have in our area.

Thank you for helping us spread the word that GMA is the best place to be!

Summer is a great time to make sure that your child is up to date on all of their required and recommended immunizations. You can find the current list of childhood immunizations from

the Indiana Immunization Coalition here. While there are minimum immunization requirements in place for your K-12 student to attend school, the link also provides information regarding recommended immunizations.

As a friendly reminder, all public schools are required by the state to keep updated records of student immunizations on file in each student's permanent record.

The very best way to make sure that your child's immunization information is kept current is to consent to allow those records to be accessed through CHIRP. The Children and Hoosier Immunization Registry Program (CHIRP) is a secure, web-based application that is administered by the Indiana Department of Health. If we experience an outbreak of communicable illness necessitating the exclusion of students from school based on vaccination status, CHIRP is the fastest way for schools to access that information.

Please be sure to complete the CHIRP consent form in PowerSchool for the 2024-2025 school year. The CHIRP consent is listed under the tab for General Forms as Form N. Completion of this form is required for enrollment in the 2024-2025 school year.

Indiana Code (IC 20-34-4-5) states that a child is not permitted to attend school beyond the first day without furnishing a written immunization record, unless:

• The school gives a waiver (for a period not to exceed 20 days); or
• The local health department or a physician determines that the child’s immunizations have been delayed due to extreme circumstances and that the required immunizations will not be completed by the first day of school. The parent must furnish a written statement and a time schedule approved by a physician or health department; or
• A medical exemption (linked below) or religious objection is on file.

GMA will abide by IC 20-34-4-5 with an exclusion date of Friday, September 6. Any K-8th grade student who does not have proper documentation of immunization status on file with the school by Thursday, September 5 will not be permitted to attend school beyond that date unless and until proper documentation of immunization status is submitted.

According to the Indiana State Department of Health, a medical exemption is a physician’s certification that a particular immunization may be detrimental to the child’s health. It must state in writing that the child has a medical contraindication to receiving a vaccine. The Indiana Department of Health has a medical exemption form that providers should use to document medical exemptions. As true medical contraindications to immunization are vaccine-specific, medical exemptions must be written for each vaccine that is contraindicated. When a valid medical exemption form is received by the school, the school must document this exemption in CHIRP. Please note: A physician’s note stating an invalid dose of vaccine is acceptable does not constitute a medical exemption and does not meet Indiana School Immunization Requirements. Only a licensed physician (M.D. or D.O.) or advanced practice provider (nurse practitioner or physician assistant under a physician’s supervision) can provide a medical exemption.

Regarding religious exemptions for immunizations, the Indiana State Department of Health states, a religious objection must state that the objection to immunization is based on religious grounds. The objection must be in writing, signed by the child’s parent, and delivered to the school. There is no requirement of proof. To ensure the continued religious objection status for a student, schools must require written documentation of the religious objection each school year. When a valid religious exemption is received by the school, the school must document this exemption in CHIRP.

If you have any questions regarding immunization status, please reach out to our Family Resource Navigator, Ms. Susan, at szachary@gma.k12.in.us.

Indiana Code (IC 20-34-4) requires schools to provide parents of 6th grade students with information prescribed by the Indiana State Department of Health.

6th grade Education Letter (English) (Spanish)

Are you ready to start shopping for school supplies? The lists for each age band can be found below!

There may be a few items requested by individual teachers once class lists are published. The lists below are standard for each age band level.

The PTA has been busy this summer and is ready to get started for the 2024-2025 school year!

JOIN THE PTA
This PTA is working hard to build a strong foundation to support our students and teachers, and to create an even better GMA for our kids! We want to be an inclusive, diverse, and open community and to do so, we need our families to JOIN US!!!

August 5 and August 6 The Executive Team will be at Meet the Teacher night for both nights. We will have school swag available for order and will be helping everyone sign up for the 2024-2025 PTA!

Breakfast for Teachers
August 7, 2024 – 8 am – PTA will provide teachers with breakfast and will tell them a bit about our plans for the year! We need help providing breakfast for 51 staff members! Items can be dropped off on August 6 during the back to school event or can be brought at 7:45am August 7. Sign up to donate here!

KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS Log in to your Kroger Account. Then Search for Geist Montessori Academy PTA or RW689 and make the PTA your charity of choice! Then all you have to do is shop at Kroger and the PTA will get some donations! PLEASE NOTE: If you had already had the previous PTO as your community rewards organization, you MUST change to the new organization; we had to get a new Tax ID and 501c3 and the old account is lost to us. Sign up here!

PTA WEBSITE
Check out our brand new website to join the PTA, submit ideas, see upcoming events, view teacher wish lists and much more! Click here!

PTA MEETING

August 27, 2024 at 3:45 PM in the Basswood (music) Room

🚗🚗IMPORTANT CHANGES FOR CARLINE THIS FALL🚗🚗

Detailed instructions and information regarding our car line procedures and expectations can be found here. Beginning this Fall, the following changes will take place for arrival and dismissal on campus:

• Families will be assigned a specific color for their car line tag. We will use YELLOW for our Early Childhood line and GREEN for our 1st-8th grade line. Car lin tags must be displayed in the car window upon arrival on campus for both arrival and dismissal.
• All Pre-K and Kindergarten students must be dropped off in the Early Childhood car line which will run from 8:00-8:15 am. Older siblings of these students may also be dropped off in this car line. Pre-K and Kindergarten students will be marked tardy if they arrive after 8:15 am.
• All students in grades 1-8 without younger siblings in Pre-K or Kindergarten must be dropped off in the second car line which will run from 8:20-8:35 am. These students will be marked tardy if they arrive after 8:35 am.
• All Pre-K and Kindergarten students without older siblings in the building must be picked up in the first afternoon car line between 3:00-3:15 pm. Pre-K/Kindergarten students with older siblings in the building should be picked up in the second car line, which opens at 3:15 pm.
• All students in grades 1-8, and those Pre-K/Kindergarten students with siblings in these grade levels must be picked up in the second afternoon car line between 3:20-3:35 pm.
• Families picking children up in the first line may not line up until 2:50 pm at the earliest. 1st-8th grade car line families may not line up before 3:15 pm.
• All students must be picked up no later than 3:35 pm unless they are registered for The Grove.

This Fall, no one will be permitted to line up early for any car line. Due to the volume of traffic and the need to run two separate car lines through the serpentine pattern, we will require all families to abide by the updated expectations. Please plan accordingly and do not arrive on campus before your scheduled drop off or pick up time because you will be asked to leave in order to keep traffic flowing for everyone.

Thank you for understanding and cooperating with our staff during car line times!

The application for The Grove 2024-25, GMA's before and after school program went live on June 21. Spots in this program are expected to fill up quickly, so please fill out this application as soon as possible if you're interested in your student(s) attending before or after school care. Spots are limited at each age level and will be filled on a first come, first served basis. Ms. Kayla will be reaching out to all families who fill out an application to inform them of next steps. Reach out to kcommons@gma.k12.in.us with any questions!

8/5 - Meet the Teachers - grades 1-8 only, 5:00-6:30 pm

8/5 - Parenting a Montessori Student, 6:30-7:00 pm (RSVP here!)

8/6 - Early Childhood Meet the Teachers - Pre-K and Kindergarten only - 5:00-6:30 pm

8/8 - First Day of School

8/12-16 - Fall NWEA Testing, K-8th grade

8/27 - PTA General Assembly Meeting, 3:45 pm in the Basswood room

9/2 - Labor Day, no school

10/9-10 - Parent Teacher Conferences

10/10-11 - Early Release Days

10/14-18 - Fall Break, no school

10/25 - PTA Fall Festival

We are still looking for two new team members to join us this year. If you are interested in being an assistant teacher in either a Lower Elementary or an Upper Elementary classroom, please reach out to Ms. Jen TODAY!

We use OneCall Now as our mass communication system to send out alerts, updates, and school-wide communication such as The GMA Gazette. Most communications are sent through email, with a text alert to notify you that something has been sent from GMA.

When school is closed or delayed due to inclement weather, especially in the unpredictable Indiana winters, it is important that families receive the notification quickly and easily. The best way to ensure that you don't miss an announcement from GMA is to sign up for text alerts!

It's simple to sign up. Just text the word alert to 22300. That's it!

Please contact Ms. Beth at blarock@gma.k12.in.us if you have questions or need to add an additional phone number or email address to our OneCall Now system.