GMS Weekly News and Notes

We had a terrific first full week of school this past week. Students and staff dove into the academic work for the year, while also settling in to the daily routines of the school day. Our students also spent some time setting personal goals for the year. All in all, it has been a very strong start here at GMS which is a credit to our students as well as our staff! See below for some of the highlights!

We're excited to enhance our communication with you through Powerschool, our new portal for student information. To access your child's academic progress, attendance records, and more, please visit the PowerSchool Parent/Guardian sign in page. If you need to request your credentials to set up an account for the Powerschool Parent Portal, please submit a request here.

In addition to the portal, we're introducing a convenient text messaging feature to keep you updated on important school announcements. To opt in, simply text Y or yes to 67587.

Thank you for your partnership in your child's education!

We hope to see many of our families at Open House this Thursday, September 12th at 6PM. Parents and guardians are invited to follow a "mini" version of their student's schedule in order to meet their teachers (like Ms. Hall and Mr. Murphy of Team 6M, pictured here) and to get an idea of what will be covered in each class during the year. We are working to create individualized digital schedules for families, which we will aim to send out by Wednesday.

We will also have representatives from GMS CAPT (Canton Alliance of Parents and Teachers) on hand Thursday evening. We invite all parents and guardians to consider joining GMS CAPT, which is a crucial planning partner for us. If you have some time, we could use your talents!

We are getting ready to launch our full menu of extracurricular clubs and activities for the fall and beyond. In this edition, you'll find some information on some of the clubs and activities we are offering. Each year, there is a late bus available on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays to support students who wish to participate in after-school events. We anticipate that the late bus will be available starting the week of September 16th. More information is coming soon!

7th grade Shark, Grizzly, and Mountain Lion classes began their water unit with a ROYGBIV Lab! Students' science skills were tested via creating a rainbow of water colors! Our students had a chance to learn about the sequencing of the colors on the spectrum (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet) while also practicing important lab safety procedures.

Pictures courtesy of Ms. Winchell, Ms. Stuart, and Ms. Donovan

We've had very strong interest in cross country, and we're excited about the season ahead! Please note that late bus service will not be available this week. All members of the cross country team will need a ride home this week. Thank you for your understanding!

-Coach Kulas, Coach Dineen, and Coach Gonzalez

Hello musical families!

We are kicking off our instrumental year this week with our annual Instrument Rental Night! All of our vendors and staff will be gathering at the CHS cafeteria on Tuesday, September 10 from 6:00-8:30 PM. Students who are in need of a new instrument can shop around for their ideal rental or swap their current instrument for their new instrument. If you are not able to join us, you can reach out to our vendors directly to set up a rental contract. Their information is provided in the flyer below.

See the attached flyer HERE for more details! Feel free to reach out to your band or orchestra teacher with any questions or concerns! If you have a financial need, please reach out to Catherine Eckersley, our Performing Arts Director, and we can help you get what you need!

Thank you!

Emma Carlson, Betsy Pabon, and Matthew Spitz

Hola!

Any student, specifically of Hispanic/Latino descent, who wishes to say quotes/proverbs in their native language or share information on famous people of the heritage during morning announcements for Latin-American Heritage Month should see Mr. Gibson.

Muchas Gracias!!!

GMS STEP CLUB

Looking for an opportunity to make new friends and build socially. Do you have a passion for dancing/movement? Step or “stepping”, is a complex synchronized dancelike performance that blends African folk traditions with popular culture. Step involves clapping, body slapping, vocalizations, and dramatic movements.

As a member of the GMS Step Team, you will have the opportunity to perform with other GMS students at various GMS and community events in front of students and staff, and at Canton events. Regardless of race, heritage, gender, grade or experience, as long as you are serious about it, you are welcome to join! Please keep an eye out for when clubs are posted. LOOKING TO GET STUDENTS NEW TO CANTON AND 6TH GRADERS INVOLVED!

Please note, there will be a firm 2-day-per-week commitment expected for all team members.

Welcome from Nurse Lindsey and Nurse Tara. We look forward to a great year and working with new and returning GMS families. A formal welcome letter to come soon! Just a quick reminder, if your child has a medication, please send in next week. As students are in middle school, Epipens and inhalers can be carried by students and dropped off to nursing. Epipens and inhalers need to be in a pharmacy labeled box along with a Physician order and signed parent consent. Medications and orders must be in to attend field trips. Let’s get those medications in!

CAPT President Lindsay Weber will be attending Back to School Night and is excited to answer any questions you may have. If you're interested in volunteering, have ideas, or simply want more information about CAPT at the Galvin, please visit our table in the cafeteria.

The Canton Association of Parents and Teachers, CAPT, is a non-profit parent/teacher organization at the Galvin Middle School. Galvin CAPT strives to provide an enriched educational experience for Galvin students by supplementing their daily curriculum with related equipment, supplies, and programs/field trips not funded by the school district. This is accomplished through our yearly Fit4Fund$ wellness fundraiser.

This year we would love to add a Social Media Coordinator, Recording Secretary, and Fundraising chair to our board.

We welcome any and all help and look forward to another great year!

Please check out the GMS CAPT website for more information.

Please read the following letter from CHS Principal Jeff Sperling and AD Danny Erickson. We appreciate the cooperation of the GMS family community in ensuring a positive environment at all home games. Go Bulldogs!

Hello GMS Families-

Greetings from Canton High School. We hope the school year is off to a great start.

In preparation for our first home football game on 9/13, we are reaching out regarding expectations for spectator behavior. We are thrilled to welcome GMS students to our athletic contests throughout the school year, however, it is imperative that our behavioral expectations are adhered to by all spectators. In years past, we have had significant issues with unsupervised GMS students and we are looking to enlist the help of our GMS parents/guardians in setting expectations around behavior as we begin another athletic season.

We understand that middle school students are at an age where parent/guardian supervision is beginning to decrease and independence is developing. That said, our expectation is that no GMS/elementary student is permitted to attend our games without adult supervision. This does not mean every student must come with their own parent/guardian, but that there is an ‘accompanying adult’ assuming responsibility for each student attendee. To clarify, one parent/guardian can be the ‘accompanying adult’ for a group of students. Many neighboring schools have instituted a 1:1 parent/guardian-to-child ratio for games and we are hoping to avoid those measures. Please use this Google Form to register yourself and the attendees who will be entering with you. CHS event staff will use this list to check in student guests and their accompanying adult at the ticket gate.

It is also important for all students to remember that these are school-affiliated activities and all school rules are in place. Any infraction that also violates school rules will be handled per the school’s Handbook and disciplinary procedures. These expectations are in place for all attendees and not limited to our GMS students but we wanted to be proactive in communicating this information given some incidents in recent years.

We are excited for a great fall sports season and thank you in advance for your continued partnership in keeping these events safe and positive for the student-athletes and spectators.

Sincerely,

Jeff Sperling

Principal

Danny Erickson
Athletic Director
Canton High School

Thursday, September 12th: GMS Open House, 6-8PM

Wednesday, September 18th: Early dismissal day for students, school dismissed at 11:05AM

Thursday, October 3rd: All CPS schools closed in observance of Rosh Hashanah

Monday, October 7th: First GMS School Council meeting, 5PM, GMS Library

Monday, October 7th: GMS CAPT meeting, 6:10PM, location TBD

Check out the latest events from around town!

Jonathan Mulhern, Principal

Courtney Gaboury, Administrative Assistant

Jim Spillane, Assistant Principal

Karim Gibson, Dean of Students

Ginny Martin, Student Services Team Chair

Email: mulhernj@cantonma.org
Website: https://www.cantonma.org/gms/index
Location: 55 Pecunit Street, Canton, MA, USA
Phone: 781-821-5070