Garfield Gazette

Under House Bill 410, Ohio schools are required to monitor and report student absences. Schools must provide written notice to parents if a student has been absent for 38 or more hours in a month or 65 or more hours in a school year. As part of this law, schools must develop Absence Intervention Plans for any student who exceeds the attendance limits defined by the legislation.

Missing two days of school per month (missing 10% or more of school) is enough to cause a student to become chronically absent. Chronic absence can make it more difficult to succeed in middle and high school.

Students who have never been chronically absent are: 6.7x more likely to read on grade level by the end of third grade and 9x more likely to graduate from high school on time and go on to college and career.

If your student is absent or will be late, please contact our attendance line at 216-529-4310.

Should you have attendance concerns for your student, don’t hesitate to reach out to our school counselor, Mrs. Fox.

Lakewood City Schools has teamed up with the Cleveland Browns by joining the Stay In the Game! (SITG!) Network to improve student attendance and decrease chronic absenteeism (missing 10% or more of school).

Throughout the year, we will be communicating and bringing awareness to promote regular school attendance. Thanks to our partnership with the Cleveland Browns we have some awesome prizes to give away this year. To encourage and promote students being on-time and ready to learn, one lucky Garfield student will be bringing home an official Browns football, autographed by David Njoku. To qualify to be entered in the raffle for this amazing prize students need to have NO tardies to school during 2nd quarter.

Greetings,

We’re already one-fourth of the way through the school year! Now is a great time to review student report cards and start planning for continued success or making adjustments where needed. For students facing challenges, time management often plays a big role. By creating and sticking to realistic time-management strategies, students can achieve their academic goals and build the skills for success in life beyond school.

Please consider ways to help your student prioritize and allocate their time effectively. Those who invest the necessary time into their tasks tend to accomplish great things, both academically and personally.

Remember, we’re here to support you! Don’t hesitate to reach out to our staff if you feel your student could benefit from additional guidance or resources.

Win The Day,

Ouimet Smith

Assistant Principal

🏀 7th/8th Grade Girls Basketball

11/5 @ Greenbrier

11/7 vs. Hillside (HMS)

11/12 @ Buckeye

11/13 vs. Rocky River (HMS)

11/19 @ Bay

11/21 vs. North Olmsted (GMS)

12/3 @ Shiloh

11/1 8th Grade Washington DC Field Trip- Registration & First Deposit of $214 due

11/1 PTSA Halloween Dance 6:30 - 8:30 pm - Cafe & Gym

11/4 Video Game Club (7th Grade) 3:00 - 3:45 pm

11/5 Election Day - No School for Students

11/6-11/8 Art-2-Go Program - 7th Grade

11/7 H20 3:00 - 4:30 pm

11/7-11/8 8th Grade Fall Play - Romeo & Winifred 7:00 pm

11/11 Veterans Day

11/11 Video Game Club (6th Grade) 3:00 - 3:45 pm

11/18 Video Game Club (8th Grade) 3:00 - 3:45 pm

11/20 Picture Retake Day

11/20 Family Yoga Night - 5:00 pm - Gym

11/20 PTSA Meeting - 7:00 pm - LRC

11/21 H20 - 3:00 - 4:30 pm - Cafe

11/25 Video Game Club (7th Grade) 3:00 - 3:45 pm - Room 202

11/27 Non-Instructional Day - No School for Students

11/28-11/29 Thanksgiving Vacation- No School

12/2 School Reopens

As we wrapped up the first quarter, we celebrated our incredible Fall sports teams and showcased our club offerings. We spotlighted the Drama Club's upcoming performance, and the 8th grade band added to the festive atmosphere with their energetic support.

In addition, we launched our "Stay in the Game!" incentive, recognizing the hard work of our students with a giveaway of Cleveland Browns swag to three fortunate winners who achieved perfect attendance during the first quarter. It was a fantastic way to end the quarter on a high note!

I’m excited to celebrate the remarkable achievements of our students during the 1st Quarter!

A total of 127 students earned the prestigious Distinguished Honor Roll with a GPA of 4.0 or higher, while 118 students made the Honor Roll with GPAs ranging from 3.50 to 3.99. Additionally, 82 students achieved the Merit Roll with GPAs between 3.00 and 3.49. Together, these accomplishments represent approximately 70% of our student body. Congratulations to all our students who earned these accomplishments! Keep striving for excellence!

Romeo & Winifred

November 7th and 8th at 7:00 PM

Join us in the Garfield Middle School Cafetorium for this outstanding production. Pre-sale tickets for the front/center reserved section are available for $5 per ticket through Payschools: https://www.payschoolsevents.com/events/details/36451

If you do not purchase a ticket online, donations are accepted at the door for general seating.

Please contact Mrs. Blasko with any questions: lisa.blasko@lakewoodcityschools.org

Strings Plus is the Garfield orchestra that's just a little bit extra(ordinary). We meet every Tuesday after school from 3:00-3:45 in the instrumental room.

All 7th and 8th-grade orchestra students and 6th-grade orchestra students taking lessons are welcome to join. We play alternate styles of music and are a hard-working group of musicians who love playing in an orchestra and having fun with friends.

In December, we will play holiday music for an event, and in May we will perform in a tour of the elementary buildings. Stop by to hear a rehearsal or sign up in your orchestra Google Classroom. Hope to see you there!

In addition to some of our long standing club offerings, we’re thrilled to introduce three exciting new offerings at GMS: International Cultures Club, Explo-Rangers, and Ranger Reporters!

We invite all students to join our after-school clubs at any point during the school year. To explore the full list of current and upcoming clubs, please check the link below.

We can’t wait for you to get involved!

TODAY is the deadline to register and make the initial payment for the Washington, DC Field trip. Please see the attached information for how to register and make payments. All payments are made directly to Nowak Tours (www.nowaktours.com).

The payment schedule is as follows:

November 1, 2024: $214

January 10, 2025: $214
March 14, 2025: $214* (The last payment may vary based on fundraising and the number of students attending.)

FUNDRAISING:

• Pasta Night Fundraiser at Lakewood High School on January 16, 2025. Look for details to come soon.
• T-shirt sponsorship will begin later in November and continue through January. We will be sending home flyers looking for local businesses to sponsor the trip. In return, sponsors will get their logos on the trip shirts and displayed at the Pasta Night Fundraiser.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to contact Mr. Branco at ben.branco@lakewoodcityschools.org. We look forward to an incredible trip!

November 6th, 7th and 8th all 7th grade students will have an opportunity to participate in an Art to Go program in collaboration with the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The program encourages students to examine authentic artworks from ancient Greece and Rome. Through close observation and group discussions led by trained volunteers, students are prompted to think critically and act as archaeologists exploring primary sources. This program is made possible through a generous grant from the Lakewood Rangers Educational Foundation.

This Tuesday our entire 8th grade class visited the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. It was an incredible day filled with exploration and learning. Students were engaged and enthusiastic as they collaborated in small groups to observe the animals and learn about their habitats. It was wonderful to see them asking questions and sharing their discoveries with one another.

To end the first quarter, qualifying 6th-grade students participated in our Quarterly Positive Behavior Incentive! Students had a fantastic time and enjoyed the break from all their hard work.

We are committed to fostering an environment that promotes both academic excellence and positive behavior as we continue through the school year. Let’s keep up the great momentum!

Donations are now being accepted!

Our annual Holiday Open House is quickly approaching! As you start going through your holiday decor (ANY holiday), consider donating your unwanted items to our event at Garfield! Many of our families who attend our annual holiday open houses are able to stay warm throughout the winter with the donated winter gear (coats, hats, gloves, boots, & scarves) as well as decorate their homes with holiday decor they otherwise would not have. How awesome is it that items we may no longer need could easily serve other Garfield families?

The event date is Thursday, December 5th from 6-7:30 pm in the GMS cafeteria.

Please drop your donations off at Garfield’s Main Office or if you are a staff member at Garfield please place your items on the stage to the left. Thank you in advance for any and all donations!

NOTE: Please DO NOT send in other clothing (warm gear only as mentioned above) as we do not have the laundry or storage facilities to host an event with clothing. Other holiday items are welcome as it is a Christmas-heavy event but not limited to such. Toys are also accepted, as the kids LOVE choosing items/gifts for siblings as their parents shop around! If you donate toys with pieces please have them bagged separately as we will not have time, or the storage, to piece together items appropriately.

THANK YOU to our amazing Lakewood community!

Come join Mrs. Sandoval and the rest of our Cardio & Flow Club advisors on November 20th. This event will help raise money for the Garfield Community to run in the Reindeer Run.

All are welcome! See the flyer below for more information.

Picture Retake day is November 20th in the morning only. This will be the last opportunity for students to get their pictures taken this school year.

We encourage all students to have their pictures taken as they are used for the yearbook and school IDs (even if you do not plan to purchase a picture package).

Only those students purchasing for the first time will need to complete an order form if you wish to purchase a picture package. Information to order picture packages on retake day will be available 2 weeks prior to November 20th. The link and ordering information will be located on the Garfield website.

If you already purchased a picture package and are not satisfied with the portraits the entire package must be returned for a retake.

Thank you to Kate Schwab, 1st VP Dances, for planning our Halloween Dance! A lot of time and effort was put into decorations to make this first PTSA-sponsored event a success!

Thank you Kate!

And thank you to everyone who donated their time to help create decorations, chaperone the dance, sell concessions & clean up! We could not host events like this without your help! Finally, a thank you to everyone who was able to donate goodies for the concessions table. These kids love their snacks at the dances and concessions are a big fundraiser for the PTSA, so thank you all for your donations!

We will share some pictures in the next Gazette! We hope everyone has a great time! If you’re interested in helping at the Spring dance, stay tuned for details as we get closer to March.

We are still in need for a 1st VP Membership. Now is the time to get involved to see how things work so you’ll be ready to do it next year! This position does not take much time and is pretty automated with the GiveBacks website. We can help walk you through what has been done in the past and get you up to speed!

Spirit Wear orders were either picked up during conferences or sent home with your student the week of Oct 28th. If you ordered spirit wear and did not receive your order, please reach out to us. If you missed out, we did order a few additional pieces to sell and we are thinking about having a small pop-up in the spring! Stay tuned!

Reach out to us at garfieldmsptsa@gmail.com with any questions!

November 13 Dine to Donate - Angelo's Pizza

If you mention Garfield when ordering (dine in or carry-out), Garfield PTSA will receive 20% of the sales! We rely on these small fundraisers throughout the year to fund teacher grants, staff appreciation events and dances.

November 20 Monthly PTSA Meeting at 7pm

Join us in the Garfield LRC for the monthly meeting. Come hear from Principal Patton and other Board Members about upcoming events and ways to get involved!

It's never too late to join the PTSA! Your $7 membership will help us provide opportunities for students and staff at GMS. To join, please visit: MemberHub

The District's Elementary Planning Task Force will be holding Community Conversations at our seven elementary schools over the next few months to gather input on a potential redistricting and repurposing of our elementary boundaries and buildings. We hope you can attend one of the conversations. Learn more about the task force on the Elementary Planning Task Force page of the District website.