James Gettys Elementary

November marks the beginning of the holiday season, a time to gather and give thanks. This time of year brings a lot of joy and anticipation, which can sometimes translate into extra energy and enthusiasm in the classroom. We appreciate your understanding and support as we navigate this festive period together.

With the change of the weather, your child is most likely removing their sweatshirt or jacket during the day. Please have your child check the lost and found if you notice them missing anything. Our lost and found table already has a pile of sweatshirts on it, waiting to be found.

Our car riders are dismissed at 3:10pm. When waiting in line please be courteous to others in line. Make sure you stay behind the car in front of you, make sure your music is not too loud and appropriate for children, and stay in your car the whole time. If you need to get out of your vehicle to buckle your child, please pull into a parking space then get out. This will ensure a smooth pick -up for all.

-Little pig, Little pig, Let me in - For Kindergartens CKLA Fairy Tales unit, they made houses from "The 3 Little Pigs" fairy tale. A straw house made out of toothpicks, a stick house made out of popsicle sticks, and a brick house made out of Legos. Then used a hairdryer as "wind" to see if they could blow them down!

-To get things crackin' - 3rd Graders are learning about Embryology to go along with their animal classification unit in CKLA. They got to experience chicks being hatched while in the classroom!

-May your Starbucks always be stronger than your Monday - There was a Starbucks Writing Cafe in the 4th grade classrooms, where students shared their personal narratives.

They also had a "Math-or-Treat" on Halloween day!

- The whole school participated in Fire Prevention Day on October 18th. They learned what to do and how to react in the event of an emergency. Students also had the opportunity to explore a fire truck.

-October 25th, we celebrated our Amazing Warriors for the first quarter. That afternoon the whole school participated in our quarterly Amazing Warrior celebration. This included rotations with activities the students signed up for.

December 19, 2024: Elementary Chorus Concert (7pm @ Gettysburg Area Middle School)

January 23, 2025: Elementary Orchestra Concert (6pm @ Gettysburg Area Middle School)

January 23, 2025: Elementary Band Concert (6:30 pm @ Gettysburg Area Middle School)

March 5, 2025: Fine Arts (Kindergarten and 2nd Grade) (6pm @ James Gettys Elementary)

March 6, 2025: Fine Arts (1st and 3rd Grade) (6pm @ James Gettys Elementary)

April 3, 2025: District Wide Chorus Concert (7pm @ Gettysburg Area High School)

May 15, 2025: Elementary Chorus Concert (7pm @ Gettysburg Area Middle School)

May 22, 2025: Elementary Orchestra Concert (6pm @ Gettysburg Area Middle School)

May 22, 2025: Elementary Band Concert (6:30 pm @ Gettysburg Area Middle School)

We hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful fall season! We will continue to be out in the community every month at different locations. We encourage our parents and families to stop by and say hello, ask any questions about school or community resources/services, or express student concerns. We look forward to connecting with you at one of the times listed below:

Thursday, November 7th - 10-12pm- Waldo’s

Wednesday, November 13th - 9:30-11:30am – Gettysburg Public Library (basement)

Tuesday, November 19th- 9-11am- Dunkin Donuts

We will also be hosting a GASD Battlefield walk this month, on Saturday, November 2nd. We will meet at the Gettysburg National Military Park Picnic Area, and do an easy 2 mile loop. Keep in mind that this trail is not the most suitable for strollers. We hope to see our students and families there!

Additionally, please consider applying for our district’s Free and Reduced Meals Program. Even if you are unsure if you qualify, we encourage the application. Follow this link and reach out if you have any questions!

https://www.gettysburg.k12.pa.us/services/food-services/about-food-services

Rachel Hastie

rhastie@gasd-pa.org

(717) 334-6254, option 4, ext. 7139

Tara Zimmerman

tzimmerman@gasd-pa.org

(717) 334-6254, option 2, ext. 610

Greetings Gettysburg Elementary Families,

We hope that everyone has experienced a great start to the school year. As the possibility for winter weather approaches, we wanted to provide you with some information and expectations in the event that the Gettysburg Area School District would move to a Flexible Instructional Day (FID). During a Flexible Instructional Day (FID), students will learn from home and engage in flexible learning based upon the schedule and expectations below.

• Emergency FID (students do not have their devices at home) - If an emergency FID or electrical outage/other emergency issue occurs, please utilize the teacher FID folder that will be sent home on 11/1/2024.
• Planned/Anticipated FID (students have their devices at home) - If it is a planned/anticipated FID, students will be sent home with their Chromebooks and follow the schedule below.
  K-5 Flexible Learning Schedule
• 9:00-11:00
  • Classroom teachers will release asynchronous(self-paced/adult supported) learning activities to students by 9am.
  • Activities may include Seesaw, ConnectEd, offline/non-tech activities, math games, Freckle, teacher-created activities, Lexia, Google Classroom, CKLA, 95%, etc.
  • Teachers will also be available during this time frame to assist students with their learning activities via email, Seesaw Messages, zoom, google meets, etc.
• 11:00-12:30
  • Lunch and Recess
• 12:30-2:45
  • Students will continue to work on their assignments released by their classroom teachers.
  • Classroom and support teachers will be meeting with small groups/individuals
• Specials/Counselors
  • Teachers will release learning activities to the classes they teach each day prior to their normally scheduled special time.
  • Counselors will release learning activities to students via Seesaw by 11 am.
  • Assignments should be no more than 20-30 minutes and are due prior to the next scheduled special class for that specific special (4 days). This provides more flexibility to families and allows for changes due to unforeseen circumstances.
• Special Education/Reading Specialist/ESL/Speech
  • Teachers will reach out to students/families to provide support on classroom learning activities and additional learning opportunities to meet the needs of individual students.
• 
  Attendance: Students earn daily attendance through daily engagement measure(s):
  • Completed/Submitted tasks and asynchronous learning activities
  • A student is considered absent if the student does not have documented engagement with the learning activities or daily contact with the teacher or documentation of completion/turn-in of daily assignments.

Thank you for your support with this process.

Sincerely,

The Gettysburg Elementary School Principals