GEMS Family Newsletter

• Mon. March 27 - Tues. March 28 : OST ELA Assessment - Grades 3 and 6
  
• Wed. March 29 - Thurs. March 30 : OST ELA Assessment - Grades 4 and 7
• Mon. April 3 - Tues. April 4: ELA OST Assessment - Grades 5 and 8
• Wed. April 5 - Thurs. April 6: OST Math Assessment - Grade 3
• Wed. April 5 - Enrollment Information Session - 6:00pm
• Fri. April 7 - Fri. April 14: Spring Break
  
• Tues. April 18 - Wed. April 19: OST Math Assessment - Grade 4
  
• Wed. April 19 - Enrollment Information Session - 6:00pm
• Thurs. April 20 - Fri. April 21: OST Math Assessment - Grades 5 and 8
• Mon. April 24 - Tues. April 25: OST Math Assessment - Grades 6 and 7
• Wed. April 26 - Thurs. April 27: OST Science Assessment - Grade 5 and 8
  

• Breakfast Menu - March
  

• Lunch Menu - March
  

• Academic Calendar 22-23
  
• GEMS Office Hours - 7:45am - 4:30pm - office@gemsschool.org
• GEMS School Day Starts at 8:30AM, building opens at 7:45am
• GEMS Dismissal Starts at 3:15PM, building open until 4:30pm

GEMS office hours are 7:45am to 4:30pm, however the office is closed each day from 3:00-3:35pm to help with a smooth dismissal process. If you arrive after 3:00pm to pick up students, please proceed to the appropriate pick up line instead of the front office. Thank you for your support.

If your student will be absent or tardy, please send an email with the information to office@gemsschool.org. If they are absent/tardy because of an appointment, please provide an excuse from the office/clinic. Any absences NOT documented are considered unexcused and marked in our attendance records accordingly.

Our front office associates do not have access to real-time information about buses. GEMS can help with general information about route assignments, but for questions about the location of the bus, or how late it is running, particularly in regards to morning routes, please call CCS at 614-365-5074.

We look forward to having your student continuing to be enrolled at Graham Elementary and Middle School (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.

Please use our online system to complete Registration forms: https://gems.esvportal.com/

If you already have an account in the online eSchool/OneView system, use the same login you used for the 2022-23 school year. If you did not create an account last year, you will need to create an account using the invite code. You should have received an e-mail and letter with the invite code. Please contact us via email at: office@gemsschool.org or call 614-253-4000 with any questions.

1. As you set up your account you will be asked to create your own PIN.

2. After your account is created, select 'Manage My Students' on the Enrollment Student Dashboard to link your students to your account. You will enter the Invite Code.

3. Next, select View Online Forms, and under 2023-24 Back to School Forms you'll see 'Annual Student Registration'. Information should be pre-populated into the forms. Double check that the pre-populated information is correct. To update the information, choose Yes or No at the beginning of each section. Make your updates. Complete all fields, and then submit. Check each Section.

4. Once you have completed all seven parts, select Save and Return THEN Save and Submit to District.

Click here to review the OneView How To for what you'll see when you enter the eSchool site. This answers many of the Frequently Asked Questions. Please contact us via email at: office@gemsschool.org or call 614-253-4000 with any questions.

Dear GEMS Families,

Every year students across the State take the Ohio State Tests (OST) in English Language Arts and Math in grades 3 through 8 and Science in grades 5 and 8. State achievement tests tell us how well our students are growing in the knowledge and skills outlined in Ohio's Learning Standards. The OST is one data point that is used to determine your student’s readiness for the next grade level, along with their expedition work, unit assessments and projects, small group work, NWEA MAP reading and math tests, and STAR reading and math tests. We ask that students try their best on the assessments and show how they have grown in their learning. There will be things on the tests that they do not know yet, and that is okay. What matters most is that they put forth their best effort.

Below is the Spring Ohio State Testing Calendar.

You can support your student by helping ensure they:

• Get a good night's sleep before their scheduled tests.

• Arrive at school on time. Tests will take place in the morning! Each test lasts between 75 – 105 minutes.

• Eat a healthy breakfast. School breakfast is available at 8:00am in the gym.

In addition, if you are able to donate healthy snacks, like granola bars or clementines, students will need plenty of brain fuel during these testing weeks. You or your student can drop off healthy snacks at the front office or to your students' classroom teacher. We appreciate your support!

Thank you!

GEMS Team

Mark your calendars for our 8th grade graduation which will take place on Wednesday, May 24 at 7:00pm at Indianola Church of Christ - 2141 Indianola Ave (just north of Lane Ave and only ½ mile from GEMS).

Grades 6-8 will be going to Kings Island on Thursday, May 25. There is no school for 6th-8th graders on Friday, May 26 as we will be returning GEMS late on Thursday night. More information about the Kings Island trip is below! Students are only permitted to attend if they have an 85% positivity rating on Kickboard during Quarter 4. Families will be responsible to pay $25 per student to attend which will be collected starting after Spring Break.

Students have enjoyed the middle school dance, fieldwork to explore dinosaur bones and fossils, participated in positive rap battles, and met with experts to improve their podcast final products.

GEMS is enrolling students for next year! Would you be able to display a yard sign to tell the community about our wonderful school? Stop by the front office and pick up a GEMS yard sign today!

Join us online 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 summited before a GEMS student may be enrolled in either high school. Please join us:

• The Graham School - Tuesday, April 4 at 6:30pm - Please e-mail Pam Boseker at pboseker@thegrahamschool.org to RSVP for the in-person session or with questions about the virtual session.
  
• The Charles School at Ohio Dominican University - Wednesday, April 19 at 6:00pm - RSVP is required for in-person sessions. Please contact Gail Collins at collins.5@thecharlesschool.org to RSVP.

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

Instagram -

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

GEMS welcomed back retired WOSU radio host Boyce Lancaster as an expert for our 7th grade podcast project. Mr. Lancaster spoke with our students about making recording and provided feedback on their scripts. Thank you Mr. Lancaster!

Are continuing their study of living things by examining everything from the trees on our playground to the new guinea pig in our classroom. Students have been sharing ides for potential names for the new class guinea pig. They voted and displayed their results on a bar graph. Our new guinea pig has a name: Queen Deena Sparkles. Queen Deena has started joining us for expedition, she has lots to say on the matters of living/non living things, nouns, and the adjectives that describe them.

In expedition, are continuing to research birds. We have been taking an overlook at different types of beaks and how birds use them to survive. We will focus on becoming super experts on six different kinds of birds. We will start our researching notebooks soon. In math we took our Unit 3 test on adding and subtracting within 20. We are moving on to Unit 4, understanding place value for numbers up to 99.

Started learning about pollinators! We did a science experiment where we planted grass seeds in a cup of soil to start growing our own grass. In math, we are working on making three digit numbers and writing our numbers in expanded form.

Are writing a book review of Peter Pan in which they state an opinion with reasons about whether they would recommend Peter Pan to a friend. For the end of unit assessment, students will revise their book reviews for linking words and phrases and spelling errors. We are learning that readers have differing opinions about the texts they read and support their opinions with evidence from the text. In math students are working on equivalent fractions and comparing fractions.

In Humanities, are closing the American Revolution unit with a persuasive essay. Students are writing a three paragraph essay to state their opinion, list three reasons, provide evidence and show a counterargument. The writing prompt is, “Would you support the American Revolution? Why or why not?” Students have also been working on punctuation, capitalization, and articles. Lastly, we are working on comprehension of decodable texts. In Math we will be focusing on decimals, money and measurement.

In Humanities, are talking about natural disasters in relation to human rights. We will be practicing cursive handwriting and practicing parts of speech, focusing on adverbs. In math, we are diving into decimals, focusing on adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions. In science, we are continuing to expand our knowledge of space focusing on meteors, meteorites, and asteroids.

In science, we are beginning our adventure into life science. We will be talking about living things and delve into what makes living things so unique, including looking at the smallest part of a living thing, a cell. In math, we started looking at different types of data and how we can represent that data using graphs. We have started our personal finance unit and learning why math is so important especially when it comes to things like taxes, budgets, and buying things we want and need.

In Humanities, we are reviewing for Ohio State Tests at the end of the month! We are also reading Two Roads with a focus on historical fiction and creating an audio museum explaining stories of Native Americans in Native American boarding schools.

In math, are learning about the characteristics of circles, including the radius, diameter, circumference, and area. We will be completing a Pizza Parlor Project where students will create their own pizza parlor menu and find the circumference and areas of their pizzas.

In math, students have been exploring the idea of slope. They looked at data from roller coasters around the world and created their own roller coaster hills using graphs. They interpreted their graphs by calculating the slopes of their roller coaster hills.

In Crew, students are preparing for Passages. They are reflecting on their experiences at GEMS and choosing work to share with a panel during their presentations in May. Students must meet expectations for Passages to graduate 8th grade at GEMS.

This month 4th graders are finishing a design unit focusing on zentangles! We have practiced how to use doodling as a meditative process. Students used elements and patterns to create harmonious works of art. 3rd graders, have been working hard on their paper mache hot air balloons and are starting clay soon. 2nd graders, are working on superhero portraits and will be working on collaborative works that will focus on our class community. 1st graders, are working on landscapes, focusing on foreground, middle ground and background. Kindergarteners, have created process art to help us hone our skills and experiment with all sorts of materials. We have started to get really good at cutting and pasting this past quarter!

This March Kindergarteners are “getting emotional” as we continue to use music to understand, express, and practice communicating how we feel. First grade, has learned about the Ukulele and are learning how to play our first song, “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley. Second grade, is working hard to learn more about the music staff and how to read music to play the xylophones. In third grade, we are continuing our ongoing discussion on how music can help tell stories. We are collaborating to choose and learn songs that will be used in their upcoming recreation of “Peter Pan”. The fourth grade, are exploring the four families of instruments. We will continue this exploration and begin taking steps towards the string family soon. While each K-4 class is working towards their individual Learning Targets, ALL classes will be taking some time to focus on how music helps us in social and emotional areas of our lives. Want to know what some of them have learned so far? Just ask any K-2 student, “What is a boundary?” and they should be able to tell you in song.

As we finished up quarter three in art, both the seventh and eighth grade students got a chance to work with stoneware clay and learn traditional handbuilding and pinch pot techniques. The Seventh graders also focused on stylization and creating cartoon versions of themselves. Eighth graders learned watercolor resist techniques. Seventh graders will turn their focus to collaboration, learning how to create art alongside their peers. Eighth graders will start to learn about the history of street art and graffiti art before we introduce the use of spray paint.

English Learner students completed OELPA state testing in March. We will receive their results in mid-May, and we will send detailed letters home in late June. Students who place out of ESOL services will still be eligible for services until the start of the next school year.

GEMS is accepting applications for K-8th grades for the 2023-2024 school year. Please share this newsletter with anyone who is interested in learning more about GEMS. Please e-mail Wesley Owens at owens.2@gemsschool.org with questions.

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.

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.

Office Hours - 7:45am-4:30pm

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