From the Head of School
I hope that you were able to join us this morning for our all school assembly. I am certain that you were impressed, like I was, by the student council candidate speeches. Despite the challenges imposed by the virtual meeting format, the passion, energy and creativity of our students was felt by everyone. As an IB educator, it was also gratifying to hear how all of the students defined their qualities and characteristics in alignment with the IB Learner Profile. Terms like risk taker, communicator, balanced and caring were widely used and showed how our program resonates with our students’ character development and growth as global citizens. If you haven’t already seen the IB videos on this topic, please go to the school website and click on The COMPASS tab. All of our past editions are stored there.
Following the assembly, our students voted for the Student Council positions. Our congratulations to the following students who were elected as Student Council Officers:
The polls have closed and the results are in!
President:
Aiden Rusche
Vice President:
Dominic Sutherland
Secretary:
Juliet Rusche
Public Relations:
Austin Diallo and Patris Kosari tied. They will both serve as Co-Public Relations officers.
I have been closely following the updates put out by the LA County Department of Public Health with respect to the reopening schedule for schools in the county. I was pleased to hear yesterday that the county will start a waiver program for students in Kinder to 2nd grade with applications starting this Monday. GPS will move forward with an application when it becomes available. In the mean time, after school sports activities have been allowed and we will start with our basketball program next week. Please look for an update to our plans for safely re-opening the campus for our students. This is posted on our website and you can link to it here.
Next Friday marks the halfway mark for the 1st trimester. During the upcoming week we will be sending out a parent survey to get your feedback on how things are going thus far and hear your opinions on the school’s plans for reopening the campus in the near future. Please look for an email next week and please do complete this survey. Your feedback is important in helping us make informed decisions on how we move forward.
Our next whole school assembly on Google Meet will take place on Friday, October 9. Please join us to meet our student council officers and to celebrate the students who will be awarded IB Learner Profile certificates for outstanding achievement as ‘Inquirers”.
High School Virtual Fair
It feels like the school year has just begun but admissions season has already started for the 2021-2022 school year for students that will be headed to high school. The admissions process will look a little different this year and events will vary based on the school. Mrs. Shibel will keep our 8th grade families informed of upcoming events and important dates. We encourage families in 7th and 6th grade to start thinking about potential high schools as well. Here is some information on an upcoming virtual event:
The San Fernando Valley Catholic High Schools have partnered together to provide two virtual high school nights for the benefit of your 8th grade students and their families. These will take place on Thursday, October 15 (Alemany, Chaminade, Notre Dame, and Providence) and Thursday, October 22 (Crespi, Louisville, and St. Genevieve), beginning at 6 pm.
Virtual High School Night Schedule (Oct. 15, 2020)
Alemany 6:00 PM - 6:25 PM (Alemany High School Zoom Link)
Chaminade 6:30 PM - 6:55 PM (Chaminade High School Zoom Link)
Notre Dame 7:00 PM - 7:25 PM (Notre Dame High School Zoom Link) / (NDHS Registration Form)
Providence 7:30 PM - 7:55 PM (Providence High School Zoom Link)
Virtual High School Night Schedule (Oct. 22, 2020)
Crespi 6:00 PM - 6:25 PM (Crespi High School Zoom Link)
Louisville 6:30 PM - 6:55 PM (Louisville High School Zoom Link)
St. Genevieve 7:00 PM - 7:25 PM (St. Genevieve High School Zoom Link)
GPS Teachers In Action
The work of a teacher has changed radically since last March when schools shut down due to the COVID pandemic. Strategies for managing student behavior and focus in a classroom setting have been replaced by strategies for keeping students engaged in a virtual learning environment. Approaches to assessing student learning have changed from observing students in action to measuring student mastery from a distance. For this week’s video, we have put together a sampling of ‘teachers in action’ as a celebration of the outstanding work that our GPS faculty does in these extra-ordinary times.
Staff Spotlight
Meet Kaila Akbaroff
This week we are pleased to introduce a member of our highly qualified and dedicated administrative staff. Ms. Kaila Akbaroff is our Business Manager and joined CHA/GPS in 2010, coming to us from another independent school. She has been working as a business officer for 24 years and thus is extremely knowledgeable about the financial processes and workings of a school.
Kaila has a daughter who is a senior at UC Santa Cruz, double majoring in Arts and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies. Kaila speaks French and Farsi fluently which makes her trilingual. During her free time she enjoys watching French and Turkish series on Netflix. Kaila, who celebrated her birthday yesterday, is a truly international person and thus is a perfect fit for an IB school such as ours. We at GPS are fortunate to have Kaila on our team and we wish her “Joyeux Anniversaire”.
After School Basketball Training Program
Co-ed basketball practices with Coach B begin next week. Here are the details:
Practice Days:
Grades 2-5-- Tuesdays and Thursdays from October 6 through November 19, 2020
Grades 6-8-- Mondays and Wednesdays from October 5 through November 18, 2020 (except Veterans Day, Nov. 11)
Time: All practices will be on campus from 3:45 – 5:00 pm
Dress code: Wear appropriate athletic clothing--shorts, t-shirt, and laced sports footwear.
Details: Due to current COVID restrictions, there will be no games played and all students will be required to wear masks. A quick COVID-19 screening and temperature check will be completed before students may enter the campus.
Program Cost: $125 to be billed to your Smart Tuition account
Registration Forms: Please use one of these links to sign up
Boys and Girls in grades 2-5: https://forms.gle/RDM3uEdPfL5xfGGx8
Boys and Girls in grades 6-8: https://forms.gle/6cxexsP8zbrCkF2NA