From the Head of School
February is Black History month and all of our classes will incorporate this theme into the academic program in a number of ways. For example, in our Grade K/1 class, students read the book, Tar Beach, by Harlem born artist and children’s author Faith Ringgold. Connecting this to Art class, the students created drawings that were inspired by Tar Beach. Examples like this will be occurring throughout the month at GPS, and at our assembly at the end of the month we will showcase some of the work done by our students. The assembly is set for Friday, February 26th at 8:30 and I encourage you to participate.
If you are interested in Tar Beach, here is the book read by the author.
The following link will take you to a website where you can explore a well-chosen list of illustrated books for children that embrace black history and identity.
Main Parking Lot Closed on February 9th
A film crew from Netflix will be using our parking lot on Tuesday, February 9th and the lot will be closed off all day. On this date please drop off and pick up your children using the side gate by the Preschool section. The check in for all students will be through this gate. The entrance is off of Zelzah Ave. to the left of the sanctuary. There is a small parking lot and you can also park on the side of the lane. A staff member will be there to help direct you. This is a one day only event.
GPS is Growing
With the start of the new calendar year we are seeing some growth in our Preschool enrollment. This is a normal process as children start to become ready to attend school and we see this pattern every year. We will continue to follow all of our school safety protocols to ensure that our growth is managed and does not compromise the high standards that we have set for our community. In the meantime, we are looking to add another part-time teacher assistant to our faculty. If you know of anyone please feel free to have them contact the Head of School.
GPS Memory Book for 2020-21 – Cover Competition
This year we will not be producing the traditional yearbook. Instead we will be commemorating this unusual school year with a memory book, which we will produce as a collaborative effort. Each student will be asked to collaborate (some with parental help) with photos, poems, artwork or written statements/reflections. More details on what, when and where will be sent out in the weeks ahead.
To start with we are looking for a cover design. Themes for design could be anything related to the COVID pandemic, distance learning, safer at home, social distancing and masks, etc.. Students are asked to create their own original artwork to be used as the cover of the publication. I suggest using 8.5 X 11 paper size, however, a larger size will work as we will be working from a jpeg.
Students of any grade level can submit their designs as a jpeg attachment to gmitas@gpsschool.org by February 28th.
