Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Dear Friends of Gateway:
Here is this week’s installment of Gateway’s weekly e-newsletter. As always, your feedback and suggestions are welcome.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “If I had learned education I would not have had time to learn anything else.” - Cornelius Vanderbilt
COMING EVENTS: A schedule of activities for the week ending October 5, 2007 is now posted. (Items for this calendar should be submitted at least two weeks ahead of time!)
UPCOMING MEETINGS: The next meeting of the Gateway Regional School Committee will be on September 26 at 7:30 p.m. at Middlefield Town Hall. The first half-hour of all School Committee meetings this year will be dedicated to planning for the future (see this week’s Superintendent’s Corner for more information!). The Friends of Gateway will meet on October 9th at 7 p.m. in the Superintendent’s Office. This is different from their custom of meeting the first Tuesday of each month. The meeting was rescheduled to accommodate the R. H. Conwell Open House. The public is invited and encouraged to attend all meetings.
WHAT’S FOR LUNCH? LOCAL PRODUCE! It’s “Harvest Week” in Gateway schools, and all are serving locally grown apples, carrots, potatoes and broccoli at lunch this week. This morning, high school teacher Nancy Shutt is bringing her class to Jim Jameson’s High Meadows Farm in Chester, to pick apples. They plan to deliver those apples to Chester Elementary School in time for lunch. “You can’t get fresher than that,” exclaimed Food Services Director Wendy McCaul. Click here for more information.
GATEWAY PHONE DIRECTORIES ON SALE NOW! For anyone who has ever listened to cell phone minutes click away while an electronic voice asks you to enter the first four digits of somebody’s last name, we have a solution—at least as far as contacting Gateway teachers and staff. The Friends of Gateway have published a Gateway Telephone Directory that has phone numbers to all district staff and phone lines. Keep it by your phone the next time you want to know if school is cancelled due to bad weather, report your child as absence, or follow-up with the school nurse on a playground injury. Read more in the complete article—including how you can purchase this “must have” item for parents. (Hint: look for the Friends of Gateway table at your school’s Open House!).
COLLEGE APPLICATION WORKSHOP: The Gateway High School Guidance Department will present a workshop for high school seniors and their parents/guardians on “The College Application Process.” This workshop will be held on Wednesday, October 3rd from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the GRHS Career Center. Click here for more information.
PSAT SIGN-UP DEADLINE IS TODAY: Sophomores and Juniors at Gateway Regional High School may take the PSAT exam on October 17, 2007. Students must sign up by September 26th and the cost of $13 is due at sign-up. Sign-ups can be made in the Guidance Office. The PSAT/NMSQT is the best preparation for the SAT Reasoning Test. Students in eleventh grade who take the test and meet other program entry requirements may enter National Merit Scholarship programs. Most importantly, the PSAT/NMSQT is a comprehensive tool that gives valuable feedback to both the student and the school. Sophomores and Juniors received letters earlier this month informing them of the test.
ATHLETIC BOOSTERS TO MEET: The Gateway Athletic Booster Club will meet on Sunday, October 7th at Stanton Hall in Huntington at 7 p.m. New members are needed to help with all Gateway athletic sports throughout the year. For more information, please call Deb Lariviere at 667-3121.
SODA DOWN, WATER UP: The American Beverage Association (ABA) reports that schools across the country implemented Wellness Policies last year, as required by the terms of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act. As of July 1, 2006, any school that participated in the school lunch or school breakfast program was required to have a local Wellness Policy in place. The difference is evident: 45% fewer full calorie sodas have been shipped to schools in the past year, while shipments of bottled water are up 23%. The report cautions that there is still work to be done to impact the child obesity rates in the U.S. See the full report on the web.
REMINDERS:
- PARENT LITERACY NIGHT: Parents of Gateway students in grades K – 6 are invited to a special event entitled, “Your Child and Reading” on Wednesday, October 3 from 7 – 8 p.m. in the Gateway Performing Arts Center. Click here for the full article; you can also view the flyer that went home with students.
- SCHOOL COMMITTEE HITS THE ROAD AGAIN THIS YEAR; WILL MEET IN ALL SEVEN TOWNS: Huntington is covered, with the majority of School Committee meetings taking place at the Gateway complex on Littleville Rd. The school committee will meet in the other six member towns this year, in keeping with recent practice. This is done to make it easier for community members and town officials to attend at least one school committee meeting a year. It also allows school committee members to visit the outlying Gateway schools. Additional information is in the complete article, or go to the School Committee Calendar on the district website.
- WELLNESS CENTER TO START UP AEROBICS & YOGA SOON: Gary St. Peter reports that the Wellness Center is getting ready to offer aerobics and yoga classes. He’d like to hear from anyone interested in attending, to try to find the day and time that works best for each class. If you are interested in joining a class, please contact Gary (685-1040 or email gstpeter@grsd.org ).
- VOLUNTEERS - SAVE THE DATE! This year’s annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner will be held on February 8, 2008 from 5 – 7 p.m. in the Gateway MS/HS cafeteria. The volunteer dinner is free to anyone who volunteers in a Gateway school by chaperoning field trips, working in a parent center or library, sponsoring student interns, serving on PTO’s, school councils or other committees, or working on fundraisers/special events—to name just a few examples. The dinner is sponsored by the Friends of Gateway. More details to come!
- HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS SCHEDULE ON THE WEB: The fall sports schedule for Gateway Regional High School can be found on the web
- GATEWAY SCHOOL SAFETY HOTLINE: As part of Gateway’s School Safety Plan, the school safety hotline (685-1050) will remain in place for the coming school year. Monitored by the district’s Security Monitor, the hotline is a voice mailbox that can be used to report harassment, drug or alcohol concerns, vandalism, and school safety issues. The purpose of the hotline is to help keep Gateway schools safe for all students.
IN CLOSING, the Superintendent’s Corner for this week is attached. This week, Dr. Hopson talks about using the first half-hour of school committee meetings to answer the question: What do we ultimately want to provide for our students? Read the entire column—and attend an upcoming school committee meeting—for more information.
Have a great week!
Wendy V. Long, Editor
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