PANTHER PROWL

December 6, 2024

🤝 PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Dear Students, Families, and Staff,

As we approach the winter break, I want to take a moment to reflect on the hard work, dedication, and achievements we’ve shared this semester. It’s been an incredible journey, and I am proud of the resilience and growth I’ve seen in our students and the unwavering support from our staff and families.

Winter break will begin on Monday, December 23 and continue through Friday, January 3. Classes will resume on Monday, January 6. This break is a well-deserved opportunity to relax, recharge, and spend time with loved ones.

I encourage everyone to take time for themselves—whether it’s reading a favorite book, enjoying the outdoors, or simply embracing the joys of the season. Let’s return in January refreshed and ready to continue learning, growing, and supporting one another.

Thank you for being part of our wonderful school community. Wishing you all a happy, restful, and safe winter break!

Warm Regards,

Michael Bose
Principal, Glen Edwards Middle School

VP CORNER 🍎

Dear Families,

Happy December! It’s hard to believe how quickly this first semester has flown by. As we head into the final weeks, we encourage you to talk with your students about continuing to meet behavior and classroom expectations to finish the semester strong.

A Few Items to Discuss with Your Student:

Cell Phones: Students are not permitted to use cell phones during the school day. If brought to school, they must remain off and stored in backpacks.
Personal Items: Please remind students to leave personal items at home, such as sports equipment, expensive water bottles, and other valuable items. This helps prevent loss or damage.
Campus Hours: Students should arrive no earlier than 8:00 AM and leave campus within 10 minutes of the final bell unless they are directly supervised by a staff member.
Behavior Expectations: Horseplay is not allowed, as it often leads to injuries or altercations.
Zero Tolerance for Hate Speech: Our school and district have a strict zero-tolerance policy regarding hate speech.

Thank you for your continued support in helping create a safe and positive learning environment for all students. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!

Mrs. Fernandez

Assistant Principal

EARLY RELEASE WEEK - 12/16-12/20 ⏰

We will be on Early Release Schedule the week of December 16th-20th and will dismiss at our normal ER time of 1:55.

8TH GRADE PROMOTION REQUIREMENTS 24-25 🎓

Promotion based on academic achievement for 2024/2025:

The following three requirements will be utilized in determining academic eligibility for promotion and summer school eligibility. Students meeting all three of the following requirements will be academically eligible to participate in the promotion Ceremony.

Overall cumulative GPA of “C” or better
GPA of 2.0 (“C”) or better in Language Arts
GPA of 2.0 (“C”) or better in Mathematics

The academic requirements will only apply to semester 2 grades for the 2024/2025 school year and will be applied at administration discretion.

8th Grade Promotion Activities (2024/2025):

Eighth-grade students must meet the academic and behavioral requirements to participate in promotion activities. Academic requirements are listed above and the behavioral requirements are listed below.

Eighth-grade promotion activities may include a water park trip, promotion dance, and the promotion ceremony. Additionally, students must return all materials, supplies, textbooks, and equipment issued to them and must pay all their debts by the required deadlines.

If during the last seven weeks of school, a student receives the following discipline, it may result in:

First Administrative Referral – Loss of water park trip
Third Administrative Referral – Loss of Promotion Dance

If during the last seven weeks of school, a student receives the following discipline, it may result in:

One day of suspension – Loss of all promotion activities with the exception of the promotion ceremony.
Multiple days of suspension - Loss of all promotion activities including the promotion ceremony.

The behavioral requirements will only apply to the last 7 weeks of the 2024/2025 school year and will be enforced at the discretion of the administration.

8th grade families be on the lookout for more detailed information after the first of the new year!!

ASB - LEADERSHIP NEWS!!

🔌 STUDENT CHROMEBOOKS - CLASS PREPAREDNESS

Please be sure student chromebooks are plugged in and charged overnight to ensure they can function throughout the day. The additional cord extensions in any given class can create classroom safety concerns. We appreciate your support ensuring student devices are prepared ready to go for instruction each day.

TUTORING - HOMEWORK HELP NOW AVAILABLE

2025-26 WPUSD DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION

Please see the fliers below for information regarding the districts TK/Kindergarten New Student Parent Information Sessions. The information presented will be the same at every session.

Please use this link for the virtual information session on Wednesday, December 18th.
Google Meet link: https://meet.google.com/wna-prxy-kjw

APTS 🤝

MEETINGS

Our next APTS meeting will be on January 9th @5pm in the GEMS Library. We hope to see you there!! Everyone is welcome to attend!

ONGOING FUNDRAISERS

Check out and support our APTS STORE!! Updated items are:

Stickers have been discounted to only $1 now!!
Bling Hoodie Strings are still available for $5ea.

🤼 WINTER AHTLETICS 🏀

BOYS BASKETBALL

7th Grade:

Won Co-League Champion Banner finishing 5-1 in league
Will host the tournament on Tuesday, Dec 10th here at GEMS. Panthers play Eich at 4:45
Adults $5, students $1

8th Grade:

Finished 4-2 in league
Travel to Twelve Bridges for the tournament on Wednesday, December 11th
They play WC Riles at 4:45pm
Adults $5, Students $1

WRESTLING

Wrestling has started its season and we'd like to welcom Coach Wade. Its going to be a great season!!

GIRLS BASKETBALL TRYOUTS

7th and 8th grade tryouts begin January 6th (times will be announced). **Make sure your physical is uploaded to final forms and all forms are signed. See Mr. Noonan in Room 105 if you have any questions.

FOUNDRY

Items of Interest for PANTHERS 🐾

OFFICE NEWS AND INFORMATION

As we enhance safety measures, please note IDs will be checked every time you come to pick up your student during school hours. Please have your ID ready for the office staff. This includes anyone listed as an emergency contact. Be sure you have logged into the PowerSchool Parent Portal and submitted the ARU modules for accuracy.

Unfortunately our office staff can not interrupt class time to call students to pick up items in the office. Parents can drop off items for their student but we will not be able to call the student to pick the item up. The student can check in during the passing period or at lunch.

REMINDER: We can not allow food delivery services (Doordash, Postmates, UberEats, etc.) to GEMS. Breakfast and Lunch are available to all students without charge.

TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR SPORTS:

IF your student wants to participate in any athletic capacity be sure you have an account created in Final Forms and physical clearance by a physician.

Parent AND Student must create their own account, fill out and submit information via FINAL FORMS
All students must have a current PHYSICAL on file with the school (current means within the past year).

NO CHILD WILL BE ALLOWED TO PRACTICE OR PARTICIPATE WITHOUT THE PROPER FORMS. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE GRANTED.

YEARBOOK

Make sure to reserve your copy at jostensyearbooks.com as prices will continue increase throughout the year.

MEDIA

Advanced Broadcasting produces GEMS TV every Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/gemstv916

WeAre105 podcast has started! Subscribe to our channel on Spotify or Apple Podcast

Panther Press is live NOW! Visit pantherpress916.com to see the latest articles written by the Journalism students at GEMS. The views on this site do not reflect the views of WPUSD or the admin at GEMS. Our goal is to promote student expression and provide a platform for diverse voices and viewpoints within our campus community.

FOOD SERVICES

Learn more about our food service program HERE and visit the food services website HERE for daily menu options.

ATTENDANCE REPORTING

Check out the flier below. There are several ways to report absences. We hope you find it useful!

DID YOU KNOW..??..

When you receive a message that your student was absent, you can respond easily by clicking on the link within the message to report your student's absence.
7th period is actually the students PAW period and the first class of the day Tuesday - Friday.
ALSO NOTE: There will be NO TRAVEL STUDIES allowed to last two weeks of school.

Follow Us On Facebook! 👍

Don't forget to follow our GEMS Facebook Page to stay on top of all the fun things we are doing around campus! Click this link or the picture below to follow!