The GMA Gazette

Are you familiar with GMA's Inclement Weather Policy? As we enter the most unpredictable weather season in Indiana, it's important to know what to expect in terms of school delays and closings. Our board adopted and approved policy states the following:

GMA will make every attempt to make a decision regarding school closures or delays as early as possible to allow families ample time to make appropriate plans for children. As an independent school not affiliated with any school district and not providing school transportation, the decision to close or delay school is unique.

As a general rule:

If either Mt. Vernon Community Schools or Hamilton Southeastern Schools are delayed or cancelled, GMA will evaluate our local conditions including parking lots and side roads to determine if a delay or cancellation is necessary.

If both Mt. Vernon Community Schools and Hamilton Southeastern Schools are delayed or cancelled, GMA will follow suit.

We reserve the right to either cancel school or issue a delay whenever we feel it is necessary for the safety of all students and staff.

EXCITING NEWS!

Our team is excited about the changes coming for our oldest students in 5th-8th grades. We're working hard to build a program that meets the needs of students and supports them in a transition into a more traditional setting for high school. With all of this in mind, our team has created a plan to departmentalize classes for this group of students and support them in changing classes and navigating the demands of organization, time management, prioritization of tasks, and different teaching styles. When we return from Thanksgiving Break, our 5th-8th grade students will be switching classes for Math, Language Arts, and Science each morning. Social Studies/Cultural content will be taught in homerooms in the afternoons.

This means that the job opening we currently have has changed a bit too. The position we are looking to fill is for 5th-8th grade Humanities (Language Arts and Social Studies). If you know someone who would be great for our team, please have them reach out to Ms. Jen! We are actively searching for a full time, licensed teacher to start in this role in January. If you know of someone who is looking to join an amazing team, has a strong desire to learn and grow alongside Montessorians, and is willing to think outside the box please have them email their resume, cover letter, and three professional references to Ms. Jen as soon as possible. Interested applicants may also view the job description and apply through Nimble here.

On Monday 11/25 and Tuesday 11/26, Ms. Taryn - GMA's contracted Speech Language Pathologist, will be conducting our yearly hearing screenings. All new students to GMA, students with an IEP, Kindergarten, 1st grade, 4th grade, and 7th grade students will be screened. The process takes less than 5 minutes for each child. You will only be notified by letter if your child does not pass the screening. If you have any questions or concerns or if you would not like your child's hearing screened, please let Ms. Taryn know know by contacting her directly at tjohns@gma.k12.in.us.

The Student Council will be holding a Toy Drive now through December 6th. Ms. Rhonda, a former teacher at GMA, is volunteering with Outlook Church to collect new toys, socks, underwear, hats, gloves, and scarves for local children ages infant through 18. Here is a link to their Amazon wish list.

EXCITING UPDATE: Grant Awarded

GMA PTA is excited to announce that we are one only a few PTA’s in the state of Indiana to receive a grant from National PTA organization! We have been awarded a grant that will allow us to host a digital safety event for the parents and students at GMA. The program will provide parents and their children with guidance and resources to have important discussions about safe and healthy use of technology and create their own technology contracts together! This event will take place sometime in February or March! The funding will allow us to provide a meal for everyone attending, and some awesome door prizes and give aways. Watch your newsletters and the PTA website for more information!

NATIONAL PTA UPDATES:

November is Family Engagement Month! One way that our PTA seeks to help our school is through authentic engagement with all of our families! We want a PTA full of diverse voices with different stories and needs. This will help make our school the best it can be! We encourage every single family to reach out and engage with us in any way you feel comfortable. We are always looking for ideas, feedback, and opportunities to improve the PTA and the school for our kids. You can reach us anytime at info@gmapta.org or on our website www gmapta.org

FALL FESTIVAL: Huge Success!

Thank you so much to all of the wonderful volunteers who came out and helped make this night such a big success! Also a big thank you to all of the families who attended and to Stephanie Berkowitz for coordinating the whole event!

TEACHER WISHLISTS:

Teacher wishlists have been coming in from teachers and staff and are loaded on the PTA Website! These are a great way to support your child’s teacher or any of the staff members who are working so hard to make GMA the best place for children to learn in the state! Check them out at https://www.gmapta.org/teacher-and-school-needs/!

CARE CLOSET:

The PTA is starting a Care Closet in the school! This is a cabinet located at the East end of the upper grade hallway, and we are planning to stock it with items that students may find themselves needing throughout the day. This will include deodorants, dental care, hair ties, combs, lotion, chapstick, feminine hygiene, snacks and food. This will be a place where students can get something they need no questions asked. We know that students cannot learn if their most basic needs are not met, and sometimes they forget things, sometimes things happen, and sometimes finances are tight and families cannot afford everything their student needs, and so the PTA wants to make sure that those needs are met. If your family would like to donate to the Care Closet, you can send items into the school or access our Amazon wishlist at https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2PH4ESXJ2E2FE?ref_=wl_share.

JOIN THE PTA:

It is not too late to sign up to be a PTA member for this school year! Maybe you forgot earlier this year, perhaps you are new to GMA (If so, Welcome to the family!), or maybe you did not sign up because you thought it meant a bunch of time and meeting commitments (It does not, actually there are no time or meeting requirements!). Either way, we want to be an inclusive, diverse, and open community, and to do so, we need our families, students, and community members to join us and support the work we do as an organization to build a better community for our school. Visit our website at https://www.gmapta.org to sign up!

It is important that everyone in our school community remains committed to keeping our car line running safely and effectively all year long. After a month of school, it seems some have gotten very comfortable and are not following all of the car line expectations.

Please be mindful of these reminders:

• • Your car line tag must be displayed before you pull into our driveway. This helps staff make sure you get in the right line.
  • A YELLOW car line tag is required to be in line between 8:00-8:15 am. If you do not have a YELLOW car line tag, please do not arrive on campus before 8:15 am. The GREEN tag car line opens at 8:15 am.
  • Families who have children in PK/K and also grades 1-8 will have both a YELLOW and a GREEN tag for car line. Please clip these tags together and write "AM" on the YELLOW tag and "PM" on the GREEN one. Then, flip to the YELLOW side for drop-off in the morning and then to the GREEN side for pick-up in the afternoon. This helps our car line staff tremendously! Remember, if you have both color tags, you drop off with the youngest car line and pick up with the oldest car line.
  • Families with a YELLOW car line tag must park in the front parking spaces and walk their child into the office to sign in as tardy if they arrive on campus after 8:15 am. Families with a GREEN car line tag are tardy if they arrive on campus after 8:35 am.
  • Families with GREEN car line tags arriving on campus after 3:35 pm must park and come to the office to sign their child out. Car line ends promptly at 3:35 pm as staff have other duties to end the day. Vehicles will not be permitted through car line if they arrive on campus after 3:35 pm.
  • DO NOT cut through the parking lot aisles during car line. YOU MUST follow the arrows painted on the blacktop to serpentine through the lot and enter the line at the northeast corner of the property.
  • Please slow down when driving through car line. There is no need to speed!
    
  • DO NOT change lanes during car line.
  • Please be sure to form three lanes when you exit the serpentine pattern through the aisles. This helps us get as many vehicles into the line as possible to avoid backing traffic out onto the roadways.
  • DO NOT use your cell phone during car line. Staff will ask you to put it away and remind you to help us keep everyone safe. Indiana is a hands-free state and cell phone use is not permitted while driving.
  • No one will be permitted to line up early for any car line. Due to the volume of traffic and the need to run two separate car lines through the serpentine pattern, we will require all families to abide by the updated expectations. Please plan accordingly and do not arrive on campus before your scheduled drop off or pick up time because you will be asked to leave in order to keep traffic flowing for everyone.
    
  • DO NOT use Traditions at Brookside as a turn-around point. You must go through a neighborhood to safely turn around or use the safest route by heading north or south on Carroll Road to an eastbound roadway of your choice.
  • DO NOT use resident driveways as a turn-around point.
  • DO NOT make a u-turn on 900N.
  • ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT PEDESTRIANS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY. We have a handful of families who walk their student to school. Please make sure that you are allowing them to cross the street safely by stopping completely at the crosswalks.
  • If you have concerns about traffic safety around our campus, please call the non-emergency number for the McCordsville Police Department at 317.335.2812.
  
  

11/27-29 - Thanksgiving Break, no school

12/2-6 - Winter NWEA Testing, K-8th grade

12/23-1/7 - Winter Break for students

1/8 - School reconvenes for second semester

1/13 - WIDA testing begins for English Language Learners

1/20 - No School - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

1/21 - Open Enrollment begins for new students only, 9:00 am

1/22 - Board of Directors Meeting, 5:30 pm

1/26-2/1 - National School Choice Week

2/6 - Early Childhood Preview Night, 6-7:30 pm

2/17 - No School - Presidents Day

2/20 - Skating Party, 6:00-8:00 pm at The Roller Cave

2/26 - Board of Directors Meeting, 5:30 pm

2/28 - Open Enrollment closes

3/3 - IREAD-3 begins for all 2nd and 3rd grade students

3/25 - Lottery for Admission for new students only

3/26 - Board of Directors Meeting, 5:30 pm

3/27 - International Fair, 6:00-8:00 pm

3/31-4/4 - No School - Spring Break

We use OneCall Now as our mass communication system to send out alerts, updates, and school-wide communication such as The GMA Gazette. Most communications are sent through email, with a text alert to notify you that something has been sent from GMA.

When school is closed or delayed due to inclement weather, especially in the unpredictable Indiana winters, it is important that families receive the notification quickly and easily. The best way to ensure that you don't miss an announcement from GMA is to sign up for text alerts!

It's simple to sign up. Just text the word alert to 22300. That's it!

Please contact Ms. Beth at blarock@gma.k12.in.us if you have questions or need to add an additional phone number or email address to our OneCall Now system.