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The Chameleon Connection: RISE
News for Families: Week 30: 3/4/24-3/8/24
Our Grade 2 Famous American Wax Museum was a HUGE SUCCESS!!!
I FLY!!!
Grade 4's field trip to I FLY in Loudoun County was truly amazing!!! Students flew in weightlessness and learned so much!!!! Wow!!!
Meet Bass Reeves!
Our grade 2 students self-selected Famous Americans, way more than the Virginia Department of Education called for in Standard 2.4. We know it is important for students to select those individuals who they are interested in, that contributed to our country, and are wonderful individuals. Great research, great posters, and great costumes!!! Wow!!!
Kindergarten students loving the field trip!!!
Going to Handley Regional Library is a great experience for our little ones!!!
Students are happy!
They loved the trip to Handley!!!
Flying!!!
This is the coolest ever!!!
Lost and Found
Please call our main office at 540-662-3575 if these items belong to your child. We recommend labeling your child's clothing for easy retrieval.
A Message from GQES Administration!
Chameleons RISE: Raising Intentionality Strengthening Expectations for students, teachers, administration, and families.
Week: 30: 3/4/24-3/8/24
Dear GQES Families,
Let's have a great READ ACROSS AMERICA week, coming up!! Here you go: Read Across America Days for fun for all!!! Let's promote literacy!!!
What a great week of learning!!! If you have a second grader, we hope you attended our VERY SUCCESSFUL FAMOUS AMERICAN WAX MUSEUM LAST WEEK!!! Students were dressed in costumes, had wonderful fact filled posters, and shared their learning when a cool button was touched last week!!! So proud of all of our students! Instead of only doing 8 men and 2 women of different ethnicities, we opened the research up to 40-50 Famous Americans where culture, gender, ethnicity, or race was not a barrier.
In addition, our grade 4 students went to I FLY in Loudoun County last week as part of our Metrics Grant. Students 'flew' in weightlessness!! HOW COOL!!! We are delighted to have offered this opportunity for our students! Last, our kindergartners went to the Handley Regional Library and learned so many cool things about reading!!! Well done!!!
While the month of February is completed, we need all families to know we celebrated Black History Month by sharing video announcements read by our fourth grade students: Dr. Walker's Black History Month Information
WE are super excited about our GQES Annual Talent Show which will be 5/23/24 at John Handley High School; more information to come! There's a tremendous amount of work and preparation to get ready for this fun, engaging, entertaining, and wonderful, community spirit event! Ms. Lindsay Edwards, our music teacher is our point of contact for this event. Here is some more information: Talent Show Audition Flyer!
Please complete the Panorama survey for GQES: GQES Panorama Survey Link for FAMILIES by 3/8/24. If you have questions or need assistance, please call us at 540-662-3575.
We enjoy partnering with our students' parents/guardians to help them thrive! If you have any questions about how your child is learning, please call us at 540-662-3575 to arrange a conference.
Thank you for dressing your child appropriately for the winter weather: coats, gloves, scarves or hats, boots, etc. We will continue to monitor the weather/temperature with the full intention of going outside four times a day.
If you have questions or concerns, always feel free to contact us at 540-662-3575. Thank you for partnering with us to help your child thrive!
Sincerely,
Joanie Hovatter
Principal, Garland R. Quarles Elementary School
(540) 662-3575 (Phone)
(540) 662-8449 (Fax)
Astronauts of the future!!!
Our grade 2 students were amazing as they researched and shared their Famous Americans last week!!!
More Recess Research
Here you go! More supports for recesses:
The Importance of Physical Activity
Recess plays a huge role in children’s physical health. Researchers Kimberly A. Clevenger and Karin A. Pfeiffer found in their 2020 study that recess time can contribute up to 70% of a child’s weekday physical activity. This may be because 76% of children ages 6 to 17 don’t get enough exercise, according to a 2017 CDC study. Since the US health department recommends children ages 6-17 get an hour or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily, it is up to schools to provide children with sufficient recess time to increase their physical activity.
It is actually in school leaders’ best interests to give children time to exercise. Dr. Scott McGinnis, an instructor in neurology at Harvard Medical School, says parts of the brain that control memory and thinking are larger in people who exercise regularly.
“Even more exciting is the finding that engaging in a program of regular exercise of moderate intensity over six months or a year is associated with an increase in the volume of selected brain regions,” McGinnis stated.
A 2014 study published in Brain and Cognition said physical activity can boost children’s ELA skills.
“More aerobically fit children … scored higher on academic tests of reading and spelling, which measured their ability to correctly pronounce and spell progressively more difficult words,” the researchers explained in the study.
With more brainpower, elementary students can learn faster and retain information better.
Regular physical activity can also help reduce children’s anxiety, depression, and stress levels, according to Harvard Health Publishing. The better students feel, the more likely they are to pay attention and behave well in class.
Read Across America!!!
Super focused!!!
Our grade 4 students loved the weightlessness experience at I FLY last week!!! Well done!!!
How cool is this!!!
Our students were loving and were delighted to fly last week at I FLY in Loudoun County!!!!
Administrators Love Student Writing!!!
Our students love to share ideas with us on how to improve our school!!! We love this!!! Thank you, grade 4 and grade 2 for sharing some way cool ideas lately!!!
It's time to register for Preschool and Kindergarten!
Do you have a child who will be 4 or 5 by September 30? Everything you need to know about registration is on our registration website: bit.ly/WPSregistration2024
-Registration and eligibility events start soon! Physicals and vaccinations will be offered as listed on the registration website.
-You must bring your required documents, including birth certificate, TWO proofs of residency, physical exam, immunization record, and income verification for PreK only
-We will be using a new system for online registration and an email address is required to register
We can't wait to welcome your student and family to Winchester Public Schools!
Learning at GQES
Learning about famous Americans!
Andrew Carnegie was in the house last week! Well done!!!
WPS Update: From the Central Administrative Office (CAO)
From our Central Administrative Office
Information
- From Ms. Jennifer Buckley, Director of Student Services
- From Ms. Maggie McCampbell Lien, PR for the division
- : Opt-In to School Texts
Info: Not receiving school-related text messages? You must OPT-IN to receive messages. Text "Subscribe" to 67587. You should receive confirmation that you are registered. Don't forget to ensure all of your contact information is correct at your student's school, too!
Attendance Information
ELA (Reading) and Math Supports for Parents to Help Students