Coleman Connection

Dear Coleman Families,

I hope you and your loved ones are enjoying a safe and restful summer!

When Coleman Middle School returned to school last year, we were committed to supporting our students, teachers, and families with their transition back to school in person, as well as recovering the “Coleman Experience”. The "Coleman Experience" extends learning beyond the classroom and focuses on developing positive relationships. We teach the Academic Knowledge and Skills in the context of Project Based Learning where students use the Engineering Design Process and Arts Integration to answer broad questions or solve real-world problems, while practicing the 21st Century Skills of Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, and Creativity. We also expose our students to speakers, businesses, and organizations, and invite parent volunteers, business, and community partners into our learning process and extracurricular activities.

Coleman MS faced various challenges last year, including the broad impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the deadline for the Georgia Department of Education STEAM re-certification, and a principal transition. I am very proud to report that despite those challenges we had a wonderful year! With the commitment and dedication of our staff, students, families, and our community, we safely brought the “Coleman Experience” back. We also attained STEAM re-certification, becoming the only STEAM recertified middle school in the state! These achievements are a testament to the commitment and dedication of our entire school community!

As we prepare to open the 2022-2023 school year, we are excited about the work that lies ahead! We will be inviting students, parents, teachers and staff to give us feedback as we use the Gwinnett County Public Schools’ Blueprint for the Future to help us narrow down our goals for our local school plan. Gwinnett County Public Schools’ Blueprint for the Future identifies 4 strategic priorities: Empathy, Equity, Effectiveness, and Excellence. These 4 priorities strongly align with the Coleman Experience! This upcoming year, we want to build on the Coleman Experience by creating more opportunities to help every student reach their pre-COVID-19 potential and developing a sense of belonging for all through a culture of dignity.

As it is tradition at Coleman Middle School, I am excited to reveal our 2022-2023 School theme below: Every Student Deserves The Coleman Experience. This theme will keep us focused and inspired!

I am looking forward to welcoming your family at Meet Your Teacher/Open House!

Your Proud Principal,

Dr. Hernandez

A Message from Our PTA:

The Coleman Parent and Teacher Association (PTA) would like to welcome you to our new 2022-2023 School Year! Our new Executive Board of Officers includes:

Susan Witucki - co-President

Jen Ballantine - co-President

Abby Garland - co-Vice President

Lana Tolbert - co-Vice President

Chris Bailey - Treasurer

Cathy Purdy - Secretary

Elizabeth Dixon - Parliamentarian

We welcome all parents to volunteer with the PTA however it coordinates best with your schedule, whether it is donating items, volunteering at events, or taking on a committee chair role. Please feel free to email us at colemanwildcatspta@gmail.com with any questions, concerns, or interest in a committee chair position. Our committee chair positions include PTA Membership, Hospitality, Fall Fundraiser, Literacy Night, and Grade Level Socials.

We will be selling PTA Memberships and Spiritwear at the Meet Your Teacher Day on Friday, July 29th, from 8:30AM to 12:00PM. We will accept cash, check, or card. If you cannot make this event, we will be selling Coleman PTA Memberships online as well. Please click on the following link to purchase a Coleman PTA Membership online: https://cmswildcats.memberhub.com/store. This link takes you to the Coleman Middle School PTA Store. Under store items, a parent or guardian will click on the link that says, "Parent/Guardian" ($10.00 is the listed price under the link.). Then, you will fill out the member type, name, email, and mobile phone number and add to cart to pay. This link is also available on the Coleman Facebook Page.

Coleman Spiritwear will be sold throughout the entire school year. So if you cannot make a Spiritwear purchase now due to a tight budget or scheduling conflicts, there will be plenty of other opportunities this school year to make sure your student has all the desired Coleman Spiritwear.

See you soon!

Your Coleman PTA

Use this quick access LINK showing you the different ways you can get information about your student, our school, and our district.

You can access our supply list by grade level on this LINK to our website.

• Scroll down to a message from our PTA for information about school supplies and spirit wear!

There is still time to complete your Summer 2022 Reading Challenge! Log the minutes you read in Beanstalk to earn prizes, including a ticket to the first Coleman Walk & Talk event of the 2022- 23 school year. The Summer Reading Challenge runs from May 15th – August 10th .

Review this FLYER for more details!

We recommend that all Coleman MS students read the "7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens". If you can not get a copy during the summer, your student will be able to check it out in our school media center.

Our behavior expectation program is built around the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. We teach and reference these habits to help our students manage their behavior and interactions with peers and adults effectively. We also focus on one of the habits weekly for our weekly reward system!

Please visit My Payment Plus (MPP) to access forms that need to be signed and pay for contributions before coming to Meet Your Teacher Open House:

• Coleman's and GCPS' Parent and Student handbooks will included on My Payment Plus for your review and sign!
• If you do not have a MPP account, we will help you open one during Meet Your Teacher/ Open House.

This year, due to a national paper shortage, GCPS is printing very few documents for distribution to families Meet your Teacher Open House. Instead, key information for families will be accessible via a new Back-to-School Backpack (BTS) for Families on the website. The BTS Backpack will go live on July 25. You will be receiving a School Messenger email from GCPS on July 25 with BTS reminders and a backpack link.

On July 25, 2022, your student’s password will be reset to reflect their birthday. To support this effort, the student portal will be offline for maintenance from July 22 at 5:00 PM to July 25 at 12:00 AM.

To access the student portal, your student will be required to type their numeric birthday in the password field using two digits for their birth month, two digits for their birthday, and four digits for their birth year. For example, if your student’s birth occurred on June 9, 2015, their reset password would be 06092015.

• Students in Grades 6-12 will be required to change their password immediately after the first successful login to the student portal. GCPS is strongly recommending that students generate a passphrase as their password. A passphrase is a sentence-like string of words that is longer than a traditional password, easy to remember, and difficult to guess. Students, families, and staff members can learn more about creating a passphrase by visiting our website at https://www.gcpsk12.org/cybersecure.

• Students in Grades K-5 will retain their birthdate password for the 2022-23 school year.The privacy and security of the information belonging to our students, families, and employees is a strategic priority, and we appreciate your support in the district’s efforts.

Please email any concerns you may have about the password reset process to data.privacy@gcpsk12.org.

During our Meet Your Teacher/ Open House you will receive the following information:

• Homeroom teacher and team
• Transportation information
• Lunch form to request free or reduced lunch if needed
• Assistance to open your My Payment Plus account, if needed

Starting this year, all students in GCPS will have a device that they can take home. Students at Coleman have have always had a device assigned to them, but this year they will start taking them home instead of keeping it at school. Our teachers and students are very savvy with technology. 6th Grade students will receive orientation during the first weeks of schools!

• 6th grade students will receive their device on their first day of school: August 3rd.

• 7th and 8th grade students will receive their devices ON their first day of school: August 4th

If your 7th or 8th grade student does not have a device to complete their digital work on August 3rd, you can bring them to the school to pick up their devices any of the following dates & times:

Monday 1-6 pm

Tuesday 8-12 pm

*For more information about the 1:1 initiative, please visit the district website on this LINK

Starting this year, we all return to the regular procedures and payments for lunch at schools.

Use this LINK to review information regarding GCPS nutrition program and to have access to the Free and Reduced Lunch application

• School hours are 9:15 AM to 4:00 PM
• Please review Coleman MS procedures for arrival and dismissal on this LINK (With a video included for car riders).

• First come first serve, 6 spaces
• Located on the side parking lot (Across Parson's Alley)
• Cost $600
• Money goes back to our STEAM program!
• Contact our bookkeeper Monique.Young@gcpsk12.org

Review the different business partner levels on this LINK. Contact Dr. Hernandez if you are interested at gypsy.hernandez@gcpkk12.org

Thank you to our 2021- 2022 business partners for your support!

Use this LINK to access the GCPS 2022-2023 school year calendar.

Coleman Middle School is hiring for Paraprofessionals. Please go to the GCPS website and apply!

For current information about COVID-19, please use this LINK to visit the GCPS COVID-19 Information.

Hello Coleman Middle School Parent or Guardian,

If you would like to learn more about how my personal and professional background connect to Coleman Middle School, and you did not have the opportunity to meet me during my transition on December 2021, please feel free to click the link below to watch my introduction message.

English:

https://vimeo.com/728568833

Spanish:

https://vimeo.com/728568860

At your service,

Dr. Hernandez.

Gwinnett's flagship STEAM school & GA Department of Education STEAM-certified school

Principal: Dr. Gypsy Hernandez

Summer School Hours: 7:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Regular School Hours: 9:15 AM - 4:00 PM

Email: gypsy.hernandez@gcpsk12.org
Website: https://www.gcpsk12.org/ColemanMS
Location: 3057 Main St, Duluth, GA 30096, USA
Phone: 678-407-7400
Facebook: facebook.com/colemanms546
Twitter: @colemanms546