Thank you for attending Back to School Night on Tuesday evening. It was nice to see so many of you here to learn more about your child's classroom. Please read on to learn more about what is going on at OUR GRAY HAWK!

OUR 1st NEST of the year was a hit! It was a great opportunity for OUR GRAY HAWKS to get reacquainted with their NEST FAMILIES and work on getting to know one another. OUR activity this week was to design a name plate all about themselves. Each name plate was put on display in OUR lobby so that each student and staff member is highlighted with some of their favorites things. Check out how cool these turned out.

Basehor-Linwood Assistance Services (BLAS) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing a variety of emergency services for residents of the Basehor-Linwood school district. These services may include utility payments, food, school supplies, and holiday assistance. All requests are confidential. Those needing assistance may call the BLAS at (913) 406-9856 and leave a message. The BLAS coordinator will return your call.

The BLAS Food for Kids Backpack Program is available once again this year. The Backpack program provides a weekly bag filled with food for elementary aged school children that are in need. BLAS delivers the bags each week to GRAY HAWK and then OUR counselor Miss Hubbard distributes the bags on Friday. This program is fully-funded through community donations and the number of participants is limited based on the donations received. There is no cost to participate in the program.

If your child is in need of this service, please reach out to Miss Hubbard at mhubbard@usd458.org.

We have one more opportunity on Saturday, September 17 to volunteer at Children's Mercy Park and the Sporting Game to raise funds for OUR PTO.. You would need to arrive at 4:30 and wear solid black shorts, a black t-shirt and black tennis shoes. The more people we send, the more money we bring in. Please sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c094fabaf2babf58-fundraising If you have any questions please reach out to Joni Gay or Kristin Jordan.

The theme for Homecoming this year is HOLIDAYS and OUR GRAY HAWKS voted and chose Halloween as OUR theme for the float. Everyone is invited to walk the parade route and kids are invited to ride the float. We ask that students bring a bag of candy that they can throw out to the crowd along the route. We had an absolute blast last year and we would love to have OUR kids join us on the float! Stay tuned for more information!

We would like to encourage you to pay for your photo packages online.

Please go to Inter-state.com/order and enter the code 70140YA for Gray Hawk. Thank you!

Thank you for your kind words and birthday wishes on Wednesday. OUR staff and GRAY HAWKS surprised me by wearing t-shirts with my face on them (so ridiculous) and lots of notes and singing. Thank you all so much!

A HUGE SHOUT OUT to OUR friends at Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline for their very generous donation of $500. Dr. Springer reached out to them to help us purchase some more walkie-talkies. They responded in kind and we are so appreciative for their care and concern!

(In the picture below from left to right: Todd Lohman, Operations Lead for Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline and one of his employees, Mr. Alex).

OUR GHES PTO is excited to offer OUR Mum Fundraiser again this year! Yay for FALL & cooler temps! All orders can be placed online at: https://grayhawkpto458.square.site/

If you have any questions please email us at grayhawkpto458@gmail.com. Thank you for all of your support of OUR GRAY HAWKS! All profits from any PTO fundraiser are used on needed items or activities for OUR GRAY HAWKS!

Since we opened OUR doors last year, we continue to have ongoing conversations about what it means to "meet children where they are" and to understand that there is a lot more beneath behaviors than what we see on the surface. OUR GRAY HAWK STAFF know this and do an outstanding job of continuing to grow in their knowledge of brain science.

When we talk about challenges that OUR students sometimes face, we are quick to make some assumptions. Are they dealing with ADHD? Are they making behavioral choices on their own? Is there something deeper? In preparing for a presentation about ADHD, I came across this video and it spoke to me. I wanted to share it with you all to continue to build an understanding of neurodivergent children.

[The term “neurodivergent” describes people whose brain differences affect how their brain works. That means they have different strengths and challenges from people whose brains don't have those differences.]

Stress is a natural part of life and we experience it daily. However, we don’t often think about what stress does to our brain, our ability to learn new concepts, get along with others, or recall information. In episode 2 of this 5 part series, Dr. Perry discusses the impact of stress on students and teachers, and explains how creating a safe, secure environment is critical to allowing students to reach their full potential.

Email: dspringer@usd458.org
Website: http://ghes.usd458.org/
Location: 16000 Garden Parkway, Basehor, KS, USA
Phone: (913) 269-8648
Twitter: @drspringer12301