Grayson County Middle School

Cougar Staff:

The days and weeks are flying by at GCMS!  Our school year is off to a great start, and I know that everyone is working very hard to make sure that our students are learning and achieving at the highest levels possible.  I want to thank you for your continuous efforts to provide the very best learning opportunities for our GCMS students.  Thanks for all that you do!

Sept. 11 Observance:

I was very proud of the way that our students responded during our September 11 observance and moment of silence yesterday morning.  .  It is amazing to think about it, but our 8th graders were only about a year old or so and our 6th graders were not even born yet when this tragedy took place in 2001.  My main point to the students on Wednesday morning was reminding them to be thankful for the great country we live in and especially thankful to our armed forces and emergency responders who put their lives on the line for us each and every day.  It is important for our students to have some experience with solemn occasions, and they did well this week.  In November, we will plan to have an observance for Veterans Day again this year.

Parent/Teacher Conferences:

Our first parent/teacher conferences of the year are planned for Tuesday of next week, September 17 from 4:00-6:00 pm.  Teams 1 and 4 had their conferences this past week because of the need to share more information with parents about the standards based grading pilot program.  Please make it your priority to share some positive information with every parent who walks through your door.  There may be some areas for improvement with many or most of your students, but the teacher bragging about someone’s child on at least one area makes the parent feel much better about you as their child’s teacher and eases the way for some of those tougher conversations that might be necessary as well. 

Walk-Throughs:

I enjoyed visiting all of the 7^th grade classrooms this week.  As we continue to visit classrooms, we are continuing to look for high levels of student and teacher engagement.  I got a chance to go to Clarkson School with the other principals from around the district and some of our central office staff to participate in engagement walk-throughs there.  I saw a lot of great learning activities with the elementary students there.  Authentic engagement, as we have discussed, is more than just having busy students.  It is having intellectually busy students.  In other words, it is not just “hands on”, it is “minds on” when our students are really engaged.  I am inviting the other principals and CO staff to conduct engagement walk-throughs at GCMS in the near future as well. 

DECA Video:

Some of our high school DECA students have participated in a Carrie Underwood fan contest in which they produced a video against texting and driving.  They won the Carrie Underwood contest!  I feel like the video is very well done, and I encourage all staff members to watch it.  It is fine to show it to the students as well.  Cynthia Smith shared the link with us:  http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bobKmVeZPzQ&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DbobKmVeZPzQ

High Attendance Day:

The annual state-wide “high attendance day” is scheduled for next Wednesday, September 18.  Please encourage all of your students be here each and every day…but especially on high attendance day!  The school in the region with the highest attendance (elementary, middle, and high) receives a nice plaque recognizing their efforts.

Finding Your Strengths:

I read a short article today that I want to share with you.  It talks about what our strengths and weaknesses really are.  Sometimes we think that our strengths and weaknesses are just what we are good at and what we are bad at.  This short article takes a different angle that I think is worth thinking about.  Here’s the link:  http://www.ziglar.com/business/how-find-your-strengths.

Quote of the Day:

“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they’ve never failed to imitate them.” ~James Baldwin

Coming Attractions:

Sept 17                 Parent Teacher Conferences 4:00-6:00 pm

Sept 17-18           EXPLORE Testing

Sept 19                 Team 2 Showcase Lesson

Sept 21                 8th Grade Parent Involvement trip to WKU

Sept 25                 Hansel and Gretel Play, see calendar for times

                             See You At The Pole (prayer gathering), 7:30 am in front of GCMS

Sept 26                 Team 9 Showcase Lessons

                             Flu Vaccines at GCMS (8:30-10:30)

Oct 3                    GCMS Walk-A-Thon

Oct 4-11               Fall Break

Oct 30                   Picture Retake/Makeup Day

Nov 1                    PLC Day (no students)