September 6, 2019

Back to School Night is Wednesday, September 11, beginning at 5 PM .  Be sure to mark your calendars!  Families will go through their Vikings' schedule, moving from class to class as the bell rings and ending in the gym for food from Napa Deli for purchase and information from GVMS PTC, Watch D.O.G.S representatives, Attendance Liaisons, Child Nutrition, and more!  

It's a WEALTH of information for all families! We look forward to having you involved!

MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) testing will take place THREE times during our school year, with Winter scores helping to determine high school placement for our current 8th graders.  We started and continue to MAP test in Math and ELA. These tests are done on a computer and they measure academic growth throughout the year.  The tests are unique as they can adapt to your your Viking's level of learning!  Each student has the same opportunity to set goals for themselves and to succeed while maintaining a positive attitude toward testing!  MAP tests take a shorter amount of time to administer and give us detailed accurate information about their growth.  Check out THIS Parent's Guide to MAP Growth!

PLEASE help us help our students to remember a few things!  Please remind them to charge their chrome books every night and bring them back each day!!  We know that this is new and we are really struggling with this!!  Also, please remind them of our school rules and keeping their hands to themselves!  Thank you!

Just a few friendly reminders that were announced during our morning announcements:

• The daily bulletin is on our website and is read each morning.  It can be found HERE.
• We know that short shorts and short shirts are super cute....AND need to be left at home please!  
• We follow FSUSD dress code policy, so please make sure that you and your Viking are aware of it or they will need to change.  It can be found HERE. 
• Please do NOT bring gum to campus.  It ends up EVERYWHERE!  Mints are totally fine!
• Earbud, wireless or not, MAY NOT be used during passing periods any longer.  It has become a safety hazard and we need all of our students to hear what's going on.  If teachers allow earbuds to be worn in class, with permission, then that is up to the teacher!
• PE Clothing can be purchased before and after school still.  
• Please make sure that your Viking has money on their lunch card.  We cannot give emergency lunches in middle school.  The website can be found HERE.
• If you still haven't created your Parent Portal account or need the instructions, please call the office or come in.  If you need the website again, you can find it HERE.
• If your Viking needs assistance from a different teacher than they are going back to for tutorial, they MUST arrange that the day before to get a pass!

7th and 8th grade Vikings will be participating in Challenge Day on September 12, 18 and 19 to help build empathy, love for others, kindness and compassion and WE NEED YOUR HELP!  We need parent volunteers to be the host of small groups during these days!  If you are able to help for the day (THANK YOU!!) please take a look at this form:  Challenge Day Sign Up and take a minute to check out what Challenge Day is all about at www.challengeday.org 

We are ALWAYS thinking outside the box to create effective ways to reach all of our students!  Want to be a part of this??  Check out THIS LINK to see the different ideas that our teachers have come up with!!