GEMS Family Newsletter

• Mon. March 18 - Fri. March 22 - GEMS Math Week
  
• Tues. March 19 - Thurs. March 21 - Invited Conferences
• GEMS Family Crew Caregiver Coffee Meet Up - Wednesday, March 27 at 8:30am - Click here for more info
  
• Wed. March 27 - Enrollment Information Session - 6:00pm
• Fri. March 29 - Mon. April 8 - No School - Spring Break
• Tues. April 9 - Tues. April 16 - OST ELA Assessments - 3rd-8th Grades
• Wed. April 10 - Enrollment Information Session - 6:00pm
• Fri. April 12 - Groovy Gryphon Friday
• Wed. April 17 - Thurs. April 25 - OST Math Assessments - 3rd-8th Grades
• Fri. April 19 - Groovy Gryphon Friday
• Wed. April 24 - Enrollment Information Session - 6:00pm
• Thurs. April 25 - Spring Disco Dance - 6th-8th Graders
• Fri. April 26 - No School - PD Day
• Mon. April 29 - Thurs. May 2 - OST Science Assessments - 8th Grade

• Breakfast Menu - March
  

• Lunch Menu - March

• Academic Calendar 23-24

• School Year Office Hours - 7:45am-4:30pm - office@gemsschool.org
• School Day Hours - 8:30am-3:15pm

We look forward to having your student continue to be enrolled at GEMS next year, however, your student's spot for next school year is NOT guaranteed until all Annual Student Registration forms have been completed and are received by the school.

This year we are using PowerSchool to complete the online registration forms. A letter was mailed home this week that included log-in information and step by step instructions on how to create an account. Click here (https://ps-tge.metasolutions.net/) to log-in to your PowerSchool account, then go to the forms page and complete each section under General.

If your forms are completed before spring break (3/28), your student will be entered into a prize drawing - winners announced in April!

Please contact Alisha Porter at records@gemsschool.org with questions.

To GEMS Staff, Families and Friends,

Uplift Youth Volunteers (registered 501(c)(3)) was founded at The Ohio State University and will be hosting a career fair for our middle school students on March 28, 2024 from 12:30-2:30 pm.

They are looking for a few more GEMS community members to sign up to share their careers with our students.

Please read the following message from their organization:

This career fair is designed to give students an opportunity to explore possible career paths and open their eyes to new options. Our aim is to have as many professions displayed as possible. We want to present an accurate representation of the variety of careers in the real world. We’re seeking policemen, welders, hair stylists, engineers, lawyers, doctors, small business owners and more to be presenters for our fair. Presenters will be asked to create a poster board with information and answer questions about their career. The fair will be an open flow and students will be allowed to explore the different booths present. We are developing a scavenger hunt for students to encourage them to explore a wide variety of booths. Takeaways such as stickers or candy can be handed out.

Uplift Youth Volunteers was created to serve children in Columbus and our next step to fulfill this mission is to encourage them to be the leaders of tomorrow. Our hope is that this career fair will help students to explore their options and understand that the possibilities for their future are endless. Please help us inspire the future of Columbus and consider signing up today.

On behalf of Uplift Youth Volunteers, thank you for supporting our cause, and do not hesitate to contact us at upliftexec@buckeyemail.osu.edu.

If you are interested please email Cassie Muller at cmuller.1@gemsschool.org, list your name, your position, your company and a brief job description and we will get back to you with more information.

Thank you!

The GEMS Admin Team

We ask all families to contribute $35 per year, per student to help keep our classrooms equipped with basic supplies. You can pay with cash or check at the Front Office or visit the GEMS School Store to pay with a credit card. Thank you for your support!

• Check out the GEMS Family Crew February Newsletter
• Caregiver Coffee Meet Up - Wednesday, March 27, 8:30am - At Panera Bread (300 W Lane Ave, Columbus, OH 43201). Grab a cup of your favorite Panera beverage and join us for an adult social hour. We'll also talk about upcoming Family Crew events. If you need to bring a younger than school age child or arrive after pre-k drop off both are ok! Adrienne & Kristian will be there starting at 8:30 after student drop off. Look for us in our Green GEMS Family Crew tee-shirts
• Spring Playground Cleanup - Sunday, April 21, 3-4pm
  

• Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week - May 6-10

Check out the available positions for the 2024-25 school year!

Click here for GEMS

Click here for TGS

Click here for TCS@ODU

In Expedition, students are studying living and nonliving things with a focus on trees. Students have been diving deep into ten frames and making addition and subtraction equations to match! In skills block, students have learned all of their letter names and sounds and are now blending them together to make words. We also continue to build our skills in phonemic awareness to help us become readers.

In Expedition students visited the Grange Insurance Audubon Center to learn more about birds. Now we’re going to put all that we have learned into our upcoming project, Our Mystery Bird Riddles. In Math we completed Unit 3 and took the test. Now we are on Unit 4 which will cover working with numbers between 1 and 99.

In Expedition, students are learning about pollination and pollinators! Students are excited to watch our very own caterpillars grow in the classroom as we learn about the butterfly life cycle. We will be having several experts come into the classroom to teach us about pollinators! In math, we are learning about three digit numbers as we are extending place value to three digit numbers.

In Expedition we have been focusing on these Guiding Questions and Big Ideas:

• How do writers capture a reader's imagination?

• Authors show, not tell, how a character feels through dialogue and description.

• Authors choose words and phrases for effect to help readers imagine they are in the story.

• What can we learn from reading literary classics?

• Literary classics are told in different ways over time.

• Literary classics can show how things have changed since the time they were written.

• Readers have differing opinions about the texts they read and support their opinions with evidence from the text.

In math we have continued our exploration of fractions! This week we are creating and identifying equivalent fractions.

In crew, we have identified ways to be “tech smart”. One small step is to not allow kids to charge their phones overnight in their rooms, and parents to avoid the temptation to use a device at night. Students also discovered that Tik Tok and Instagram has strict rules that children under 16 should not have an account or access to an account.

In our next unit, students will deepen their understanding of multiplication and division and expand their ability to perform these operations on multi-digit numbers. We will continue reviewing word problems, clues to look for in solving these problems and ways in which to check our work.

During Crew we are in constant review as to how to have positive relationships with others as well as how to be successful during the academic learning time. Please continue to help at home with how to take care of self, others and our spaces is greatly appreciated! Look out for a newsletter about upcoming behavioral plans!

In Expedition, we are continuing our understanding of the American Revolution. We wrote letters to ourselves on Leap Day so look out in the mail for your student’s letter. Remember don’t open it until February 29th, 2028! We will be writing persuasive essays this quarter as well as working on comprehension skills.

In science, we learned how we see the objects and their colors. Now, as ecologists, we are learning about ecosystems, food chains, food webs, and the cycle of energy. In math, we are doing a deep dive into place value. We are reviewing the difference between digits and numbers and knowledge of numbers in the hundred millions place value.

In humanities, students will begin drafting podcast scripts to record an episode of a podcast that answers the question: How does the environment impact humans?

In Math, students have begun their work with area, surface area, volume, and scale. Students will continue to investigate and work with solving using various formulas to solve for area and volume, as well as using ratios and scale factors to create and explain the relationships between corresponding sides of figures. Students will also complete a scale drawing project at the end of the unit. After this unit we will move onto our Learning target about circles.

In Science, students will begin exploring more about the process of climate change, focusing on why it is happening and what we could do to slow this process. Optimally, they will have a clearer and deeper understanding about the greenhouse effect, and more opportunities to do in-person science activities.

In math, students started exploring the idea of slope. They used their knowledge to create their own roller coaster hills and calculated the slopes of the hills using two different strategies. Students will continue applying slope as they investigate graphing lines over the next couple of weeks.

In humanities, students are exploring The Holocaust and The Forced Incarceration of Japanese Americans in the U.S. We read "MAUS" and are currently reading "Farewell to Manzanar". In their identity Expedition students are looking at data and evidence surrounding belonging and trying to solve the essential question, “How can we foster belonging at GEMS?”

In Science, Students have begun working on how environmental changes effect the traits distribution in different populations, as well as using histogram to help to demonstrate the change. The main goal is to take as much time as needed to understand the concept about natural selection.

5th grade students are learning all about stop motion animation and beginning to create their own videos! 4th graders are looking at textile art and starting their own loom weavings. 3rd and 2nd graders are working with collage and experimenting using different forms of media to create collages. 1st graders are all about birds and are studying the Australian artist Anya Brock and trying to recreate her beautiful budgie paintings using bright bold colors with dark contrasting lines. Kindergarteners are navigating their stations in the art room and creating sculpture projects and the differences between 2D and 3D artmaking.

Have finished an identity folder decoration project. Seventh and eighth graders learned how to use a rubric in art class to critique and improve their own work! They are working on an inspiring and beautiful “Women Now” project that will pay homage to a woman they personally know in their life- (mom, sister, grandma, cousin, aunt, teacher, mentor, etc.) Some of these Women Now projects will be highlighted at our next community meeting. Happy Women’s Month!

Fifth graders are working on activities to increase their cardiovascular fitness, strength, and flexibility, while also learning new skills, including cooperative play, teamwork, and sportsmanship. Students are being introduced to a variety of team sports such as flag football, volleyball, and exploring different field games.

Sixth graders are learning a wide variety of individual, dual, and team activities. Including basketball, volleyball, tumbling, rhythms and dance, outdoor winter activities, and aerobic fitness.

5th grade students are working on researching topics for a public service announcement project. 4th graders are learning problem solving strategies. K-3rd graders are exploring how to identify strong emotions in themselves and how to be kinder to others.

This week for Classroom Guidance, middle school students will be educated on GEMS rules related to bathroom etiquette. Students will also learn about how their negative choices could potentially impact their family and school and what ramifications look like if unwelcomed actions persist.

Annual Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (OELPA) testing is finishing on March 22. English Learners have been taking the Speaking, Reading, Writing, and Listening tests. Letters with results and explanations will be sent to families in June. Students who receive scores of 4 or 5 in all four areas will place out of ESOL services at the start of the 2024-2025 school year. For more information about OELPA testing or services for English Learners, please email Chris Spackman at spackman.1@gemsschool.org.

Join us for Enrollment Information Sessions to talk about high school. The Graham Family of Schools comprises GEMS, The Graham School, and The Charles School at Ohio Dominican University. However, an application must be submitted before a GEMS student may be enrolled in either high school. Please join us:

• The Graham School - Tuesday, April 9 at 6:30pm - *RSVP is required for all sessions. Please contact Bryan Kossmann, Enrollment Coordinator/Registrar at 614-262-1111 or bkossmann.1@thegrahamschool.org with questions or to RSVP. Click here to complete an online application. Completing an online application does NOT commit the student to attend TGS.
• The Charles School at Ohio Dominican University - Wednesday, April 17 at 6:00pm - Please contact Amanda McCain, Enrollment Coordinator at amccain.1@thecharlesschool.org or 614-258-8588 with questions. Click here to complete an online application. Completing an online application does NOT commit the student to attend TCS@ODU.

GEMS is accepting applications for the 2024-2025 school year. Please share this newsletter with anyone who is interested in learning more about GEMS and suggest they attend an upcoming Enrollment Information Session. Click here to complete a New Student Online Application. Please e-mail Alisha Porter at records@gemsschool.org with questions.

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/GrahamElementaryandMiddleSchool

Instagram -

https://www.instagram.com/gemscolumbus/

Kroger

Go to: www.krogercommunityrewards.com or call 1-800-837-4483 to enroll in the program. Add GEMS to your Kroger card. You can search for GEMS by name or use our school code: FD086. Shop! Every time you shop and use your Kroger Rewards Card GEMS gets rebates. Kroger totals those rebates and sends GEMS a check.

The Graham Family of Schools participates in the National School Lunch Program that allows for all families to apply for free or reduced meals. Lunch is available to all students. Should they choose not to participate in the school meal program, students may bring their lunch from home. NO OUTSIDE FOOD MAY BE ORDERED OR DELIVERED AS THIS DIRECTLY VIOLATES THE NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM POLICY.

Our partnership with EL Education empowers our teachers to unleash the potential of their students. EL Education is built on ten design principles that reflect the educational values and beliefs of Kurt Hahn, founder of Outward Bound and co-founder of EL Education. These principles also reflect the design's connection to other related thinking about teaching, learning, and the culture of schools. The 10 design principles are: The Primacy of Self-Discovery, The Having of Wonderful Ideas, The Responsibility for Learning, Empathy and Caring, Success and Failure, Collaboration and Competition, Diversity and Inclusion, The Natural World, Solitude and Reflection, Service and Compassion.

GEMS is a School-wide Title 1 program, enabling us to receive Federal Funds to ensure that our students receive the support they need to reach and exceed grade level goals particularly in reading and math. We welcome parent involvement in planning, review and improvement of Title 1 programs. Please contact Debbie Addison at addison.2@gemsschool.org with any questions. Follow this link to the Parent Pact.

Per House Bill 21 community schools are required to perform a monthly review of student files and randomly select families for residency verification. Please contact the school immediately in case of an address change. Proof of residency must be submitted within two weeks of an address change. If evidence is not provided, requests for additional documentation or a home visit may occur.

School Day Hours - 8:30am-3:15pm

Email: office@gemsschool.org
Website: https://www.thegrahamfamilyofschools.org/gems_home.aspx
Location: 140 East 16th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43201, USA
Phone: (614) 253-4000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Graham-Elementary-and-Middle-School-109578509098428