Gator Bites 04/20/24

We hope that everyone had a great April break and are gearing up for the rest of the school year!

Remembering all of the great spring events can be overwhelming, so this edition of Gator Bites is here to provide you with some reminders, information, and updates about all the awesome traditions here at Gateway!

In this edition of Gator Bites you will find:

• The GRSD Annual Report

• Important Dates

• Student Spotlights

• Rural School Advocacy

• Barr Foundation Grant Update

• Gators viewing the Solar Eclipse

• Messages from our Community Partners

• Spring Sports Schedule

• and more!

But first here is some information about our Pre-School program,

as well as the Gator Gallup 5k&Walk coming up this week, AND

a copy of our Annual Report!!

Ready to gallop like a gator? Join us on April 27th, 2024 for the first ever Gator Gallop 5k and Walk to support Littleville Elementary School’s Field Day. The 5k will have you running on Gateway Regional High School’s beautiful cross country course. This course is a bit of a challenge with three inclines, one of which being the side of Littleville Dam, but the view is worth it when you get to the top! The 1.5 mile walk will also have you sweating as you will scale the side of the dam too! Can’t wait to see you galloping!

Each year, the district's schools and departments complete an annual report to send to towns before their annual town meeting. This report is a legal requirement, but also provides insightful information about our work and progress each year. It is on our website and also attached here for you if you would like to take a peek!

Saturday, April 27-Gator Gallop

Friday, May 3-Kindergarten Screening for Littleville

Friday, May 3-Cafeteria Worker Appreciation Day!

May 6-10-Teacher Appreciation Week!

Thursday, May 9-HS Music Concert

Friday, May 10-Kindergarten Screening for Chester

Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11-Gateway Regional Play

Saturday, May 18-Chester on Track (featuring band)

Thursday, May 23-PreK screenings for all of GRSD at Chester

Friday, May 24- HS Prom

Monday, May 27-Memorial Day-No School (7-12 grade band marching in Huntington, Chester and Montgomery)

Wednesday, May 29-Field Day at Chester Elementary (rain date on June 5)

Wednesday, May 29-High School Awards Ceremony and Spring Fling

Friday, May 31- Graduation

Tuesday, June 4-Middle School Music Concert

Friday, June 7-Field Day at Littleville Elementary (rain date on June 10)

Friday, June 14- Last Day of School!*

*Half day of school on June 13 and June 14 for elementary

**Half day of school for finals June 11-14 for MS/HS

Hello Gateway families! It’s that time of the year to see in increase in seasonal allergy symptoms! The best way to manage your seasonal allergies is to talk with your doctor about starting allergy management at the start of the season. To best protect yourself against a cold or other illness’s, practice good hand washing, don’t share drinks or utensils, stay away from people will symptoms of illness, and use a mask when in crowded spaces. As the CDC has updated its guidance surrounding Covid-19 so too has the state. Here at Gateway we plan to keep the current protocol in place until the end of the school year, and then modify it for the upcoming school year. If you are sick, please stay home. If you have a fever you can return after you are fever-free without the use of medications for 24 hours. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call the school nurse for your building. We are always happy to help!

-The Nursing Team

In Ms. Sue's class, we did a unit called "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle". As part of this new unit we made the decision to only use reusable straws and utensils with our hot lunch and we created 2 new recycling helper jobs. We have increased the amount of things that we are recycling and the helpers take our bin and dump it in the larger receptacle every day! On Earth Day we went on a spring walk to look for signs of spring but we also took along bags to collect any litter that we saw.

Despite continuous advocacy and pressure from Gateway Gators and so many other rural schools, the MA House of Representatives released their preliminary budget proposal with a massive cut to Rural School Aid. The proposal slashes funding in half to just $7.5 million statewide, which is only about 1/8 of the $60 million recommendation from the Commission on the Fiscal Health of Rural Schools.

As you know, Gateway Regional School District is the recipient of the Barr Foundation Grant to transform the student experience. Many staff members and some community members have gone on site visits to other schools for inspiration. Once the trips are finished at the beginning of May, members of the Core Team will be developing a plan for the next two years to propose for future Barr funding and support.

Here are two videos of the ideas and practices observed during these site visits:

Barr Trips (CA, AZ, CO, ME)

Barr Trips 2 (MA, VT)

On April 23, two Barr Foundation staff visited Gateway Regional High School. Dr. Jess Rose and Dr. Barb Crock were very impressed by our community and passion for our students.

Some specific bright spots they noted included:

• Students using the term "we" meaning the class, the community, the school population including staff and students
• A genuine love and appreciation for one another
• Students acknowledging one another's strengths and working collaboratively with one another
• Students challenging themselves to be better and produce high quality work/performance
• Teachers as facilitators supporting students on their learning journey

Both visitors specifically pointed out that there is a uniqueness to the culture/student relationships at Gateway. There is a deep sense of ownership and care that they have not seen elsewhere.

Things they wondered about or had ideas for future growth:

• There seem to be commonalities with what staff and students care about, but those values could be more vibrant and intentional
• There was encouragement to get more student and community voice at the table to continue to push us to get better--provide praise and support as well as constructive feedback
• There seems to be untapped opportunities for students to take on even more and really drive their own learning
• There is clearly evidence of lots of growth, so pause and celebrate that meaningful progress to keep moving forward!

As a learning community, we will reflect on their observations and potentially work some of their ideas into our proposal for continued support for next year.

On April 8th, there wasn't anywhere in Massachusetts that saw the eclipse in totality, but our area did see it at about 94% coverage of the sun!

All students and staff were provided with ISO-certified eclipse glasses. These glasses were provided to the district from a grant from the Department of Public Health and from a donation from the Blandford Public Library.

Check out some Gators who were afterschool safely viewing the eclipse!

Students in Gateway's amazing afterschool program also did some fun activities to learn about the solar eclipse!

Doors open 30 minutes before showtimes!

There will also be a bake sale to support the Junior Class and GRSD Drama!

The Gateway Regional will have beautiful plants on sale at the spring concert while supplies last! Prices range from $10-$25. Please consider purchasing to support our students!

New April story walk book at Watson Park: “The Listening Walk.” Visit us at the library for a

scavenger hunt and exploration bag.

Book Squirms: Every Tuesday & Wednesday PreK kids and their caregivers visit the library for

story time, sensory play and socializing.

Kids aged 6-13, join us at the library to trade cards, make Pokemon crafts and play games.

Gateway Regional is so pleased to offer free summer programming for current Gateway students again thanks to grant funding. Summer programming starts on July 8 and will run for 5 weeks.

Incoming grades 5-8:

It's time to sign up for our fun-filled and free five week middle school summer camp. Attached is a flyer with a link to register. If the link on the flyer doesn't work, please click here to register: https://forms.gle/KdPTpcLx9rmboGhE9

Contact Martha Clark with any questions.(mclark@grsd.org).

Explorer Summer Camp '24 Information and Registration Link

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Incoming grades K-4:

The district is finalizing how programming will be operated and staffed, but we are planning on running a *free* program for five weeks in the summer. We are able to offer the summer program free of charge due to the ASOST grant received! Wrap around hours before and after the summer program will be for a fee. Registration is now closed and we will be in touch with those who registered by Friday, May 3.

• The program will run from 8:30am through 2:30pm Monday through Friday from July 8 through August 9.
• Field trips will be planned for some weeks to local attraction areas. Field trips will be free of charge.
• Transportation will be provided via community hub stops in each in-district town for the program hours of 8:30am-2:30pm.
• Breakfast and lunch will be provided to students. On days students attend field trips, students need to bring their own lunch.
• Wrap around may be provided from 7am-8:30am and then from 2:30-5pm. Wrap around will have a fee associated. Transportation will not be provided during wrap around hours.

Please reach out if you have questions or concerns!

Chester Elementary School:
Principal Vanna Maffuccio vmaffuccio@grsd.org

Littleville Elementary School:

Principal Melissa McCaul mmccaul@grsd.org

Principal Will Sullivan wsullivan@grsd.org

Interim Assistant Principal Kylie-blu Crawford kcrawford@grsd.org

Athletic Director Matt Bonenfant mbonenfant@grsd.org

Superintendent Kristen Smidy, ksmidy@grsd.org

Gateway Regional School District

Website: grsd.org

Location: 12 Littleville Road, Huntington, MA, USA
Phone: 413-685-1100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GatewayRegionalMA?mibextid=LQQJ4d