The Glade Gazette

Dec 12: PTA Sponsored Family Night at Coal Fire Restaurant, 11:30AM - 9:00PM

Dec 13: Field Trip - Gr. 2 @ Rosehill Manor, 9:30-12:00

Dec 21: Chorus Concert @ 7:00pm - gym/cafe

Dec 25-Jan 1: Winter Break, School Closed

As the last Gazette before winter break and the end of 2023, it is fitting that the power of our Glade community has been at the forefront lately. Last night, PTA sponsored a fun-filled game night, we have been celebrating inclusivity this week and soon our chorus will treat us to a winter concert. I hope our students have a restful and joyous break!

Gladefully,

Steve Raff, Principal

SAVE THE DATE - The 34th Annual FCPS Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration will occur on Thursday, January 4, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. at Governor Thomas Johnson High School (Snow date: January 18, 2024). Our theme for the 2024 celebration is “Let’s stay together and maintain unity.” We invite you to save the date and we look forward to celebrating our FCPS community with you

All visitors to the building must enter through our main office. We have the buzzer system and we ask that you please state your name and the purpose of your visit upon your arrival. We appreciate your cooperation as we do have a required FCPS protocol we follow when meeting visitors. To ensure the safety of our students and staff, please be prepared to show identification if we have not met you yet. This protocol is part of our security for the building and we thank everyone for their cooperation in helping us maintain this security for our school community.

Glade is united for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion all year long. Over the next two months, Ms. Leahy and Ms. Gordon are visiting classrooms to talk more about these concepts. In the primary grades (PK-2), lessons center around the concept of BELONGING - how to help others to feel like they belong and how to accept ourselves. In the intermediate grades (3-5), lessons revolve around respect and dignity, how to navigate teasing behaviors, and how to show unity. All grades are discussing the concept of bullying and how to stand up for ourselves and others. We are still committed to "FALLing" into Healthy Habits and we love how the front bulletin board turned out! As always, for more information, check out our GES School Counseling Website: https://sites.google.com/fcps.org/ges-school-counseling-program/home

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With the gift of our all-new Camp Invention® program, Illuminate, parents can invest in their up-and-coming innovator, and campers will build confidence, practice collaborating and are sure to have a blast. Last but not least, when parents register by Dec. 31, they'll be entered for a chance to be one of 10 winners to get their 2024 camp registration for FREE. Register using GIFT35 by 12/31 to save $35!

Lauren Gordon, School Counselor

2023 is winding down, but the excitement for winter break is winding up! This month is sure to be filled with some thrills! Our month will conclude with Winter Break, and we will get to see our lovely Jaguar family again next year!

REFLECTIONS ART FAIR

The Glade Jaguar students created some real masterpieces this year! We have some seriously hopeful artists in our midst. Thank you to everyone who participated! Winners will be announced the week of December 11th. The Theme of this year's Reflections Art Fair is, "I am Hopeful because..." I just wanted to say how impressed I am with our Glade artists. Some of these entries moved my heart! I wanted to thank everyone who participated and a special thank you to Michelle Gish for serving as the event's Chairperson. She has obtained permission to share the artwork entered, and we look forward to sharing these beautiful expressions of hope once the judges have completed the review process. Please stay tuned!

STAFF APPRECIATION

This month's event will be hosted on Friday, December 22. Sign-ups will be going out Friday, December 8 for this month's staff appreciation event. Thank you so much to all of our staff that help our students everyday, and thank you so much to the committee that make these events a success!

Last month, our second (probably annual) Sweet as Pie event was a huge success. Even with a board where every position is filled by working parents, we managed to pull it off. About 75-80 desserts were baked or purchased by our generous volunteers so each and every staff member at Glade could share our gratitude with their families over the Thanksgiving break. This event has now been dubbed a "staff favorite" and they are like kids at Christmas as it approaches. None of our events could be successful without your ongoing support. This particular event is an all hands on deck kind of thing and you never fail to show up with open hearts and a willingness to do whatever it takes to deliver. THANK YOU to all our shoppers and bakers as well as my board members and delivery helpers.

COAT DRIVE

A huge thank you to our Glade community! Last month, we held a coat drive to collect new or gently used coats to be distributed at the GVCS Holiday Toy Shoppe. We collected well over 100 coats throughout the drive and they were blown away at the size of the donation. The generosity of our community is a beautiful sight and we are beyond thankful for it! We'd like to give a special thanks to Rachel Rush for being the Chairperson and a couple special students, Mason and Alex for making the delivery.

BOOK FAIR

Thank you to all of our amazing volunteers who helped make this fall book fair a success, and a huge thank you to all of the shoppers who supported the school through their purchases. This may very well have been one of our largest book fairs to date. While there are still a few last items to close out the book fair, we will let everyone know the final results next month.

RESTAURANT SPIRIT NIGHTS

Our next spirit night is Thursday, December 12th, 2023 at Coal Fire all day from 11:30AM - 9:00PM. Get your brunch, lunch, linner, and dinner while you help support the school! We have had some of our best spirit nights in history this year! Last month at California Tortilla, we raised $266! This rocks! Go Jaguars!
Kerry Stephen, PTA President

All absences need a parent note or they are unexcused and marked unlawful. Be sure to include the child’s first/last name and teacher name. Even if you have called the school to report an absence, we still require a note upon returning to school. You may print one off - ABSENCE NOTE or email a note to GES.Attendance@fcps.org

If your student is leaving early or has an appointment, a written note to the office is appreciated. This not only lets the teacher know to have them ready, but assists the office with identifying the parent/guardian of the student and prevents delays.

Any changes in your child's transportation home needs to be shared with the front office. Please CALL the office for dismissal changes before 2:30. If you email the teacher only and they are absent, nobody will get that information. Thank you.

• Address change: Please provide a new proof of residency (a copy of a property tax bill, gas bill, electric bill, water/sewer, cable bill or a signed current lease/rental agreement; NO phone bill or mortgage statements).
• Custody change: If there is a change in child custody, please make sure you share that information with your child’s teacher and the office. It is extremely important that a copy of the court document be delivered to the school and placed in the child’s permanent record folder. Should the school not have this documentation, we have no recourse but to release your child to either parent upon request.
• Weapons: Possession of any firearm or other weapon by a student on school property is strictly forbidden. This also includes look-alike weapons. The penalties for violation are detailed in the Discipline section of the FCPS handbook. Please remember it is a serious offense to possess a weapon of any kind on school property.

• Coming soon to Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s Family Theatre Series: My Father the Elf, through December 17. Check showtimes at www.marylandensemble.org and see the flyer.
• Maryland Ensemble Theatre is performing A Christmas Carol on December 15-17 at the Weinberg. Check showtimes at www.weinbergcenter.org and see the flyer.
• Get your tickets for the 3rd Annual Breakfast with Santa, Saturday, December 2, to benefit American Cancer Society & Relay for Life of Frederick & Washington Counties. See the flyer.

The Glade Gazette will continue to be available first via Find Out First. Links to the Gazette can also be found through:

• Twitter: Steve Raff @FCPS_GES
• Facebook: Principal Raff, as part of the Glade Elementary Community group

Email: stephen.raff@fcps.org
Website: https://education.fcps.org/ges/
Location: Glade Elementary School, Glade Road, Walkersville, MD, USA
Phone: 240-236-2100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/GladePTA
Twitter: @FCPS_GES