Gower West News

• Gower West will celebrate Halloween on Thursday, October 31, which is an Early Release Day (11:00 AM dismissal K-4, 8-9:15 AM Preschool & 10-11:15 PM Preschool). Students ARE allowed to wear costumes to school on this day only.
• The costume parade will take place outside (weather permitting) around the building at 9:30 AM. All are invited to watch.
• Students will participate in a Halloween celebration following the parade.
• PTO will provide treats for students on this day (popcorn, Oreos and water). If you wish to send a non-edible treat for your child's class they must be brought to school by 8am on Oct. 30th to check them prior to distribution. No bouncy balls.
• Think safety when choosing costumes for school! No "weapons" of any kind can be brought to school. Please, no excessive bloody or gory masks. Make sure the child can see, sit in a desk and move about in their costume. We want Halloween to be fun for everyone! Thank you!

If the weather is warm enough and dry, we will be parading around the building. You can watch the parade from many spots. You can watch from the field on the west side of the building, the front of the building (carline) and east side of the building (bus lane). Students will be walking along the sidewalk around the building. Please give them enough space to walk by being a few feet back from the sidewalk.

If it is too cold or rainy, we will move the parade inside and have parents be in the center of the lunch room and students parade around the perimeter. We will send out a notification that morning if this is the case.

3rd and 4th grade Bluestem Challenge is still on! Ms. O'Boyle will send a reminder with paperwork next week.

A note from Ms. O'Boyle: I found myself carving pumpkins at home this week with my kiddos, Grace and Quinn. Grace didn't have time to carve so she painted. What a great way to spend some time together! She went with the book characters Elephant and Piggie. If your child would like to paint, craft, or use markers this weekend to decorate a pumpkin like their favorite book character we will display any pumpkins in the LRC. The pumpkin/book will be returned to the students on Halloween. Please make sure their name is on their pumpkin/book. (P.S) Bonus! If you can send the book that correlates to the character that would be amazing! A small manageable pumpkin will be best for your child.

Make sure you're not bringing in a carved pumpkin please!

Last week's fundraiser for the American Red Cross raising funds for helping hurricane victims was very successful. Thank you to the third grade teachers and students for organizing and advertising the event. Thank you to all the students who participated in wearing their hat and families for their contribution to help others in need. Gower is an incredibly gracious and caring community. As a result of everyone's efforts and generosity, a check for $3,357.82 will be donated to the American Red Cross.

If your child missed picture day or is in need of a retake, they will be taking place on 10/30 in the morning.

Veterans Day is approaching, and we want to honor this special day by creating a Veterans’ Wall at our school. To make this possible, we need help from our wonderful Gower community.

Please share photographs of family or friends who have served or are currently serving in the armed forces (in uniform is great!). Electronic photos (.jpeg via email) are preferred, but we can also accept paper photos and will quickly and carefully convert them to digital format. If you’d like to keep your original photo safe, you can bring it to the school office for on-site scanning. We have also kept any photos that families have previously shared, so there is no need to resend them.

Please provide the following information with your photos by Friday, October 25:

• Student Name
• Teacher's Name
• Veteran’s Name & Rank
• Relationship to Student
• Branch of Service
• Years Served

We’re excited to involve our families in honoring our veterans! If you have questions, please reach out to Meg Hoff at mhoff@gower62.com. Thank you!