GCMS Families,
It is time to kickoff the official REBOOT to 2022-2023 and the staff at GCMS has been working hard to prepare for the 78,750 minutes that we get to share with our school community.
Priority number 1 in the REBOOT to 2022-2023 is to ensure that students and staff prioritize their attendance for the 78,750 minutes we have together. The best teaching and learning occurs when we are all here. We know that illnesses and family events will occur, however we want to encourage all families and students to minimize absences on school days. Should absences occur it is the responsibility of the students to ensure they complete and make up all expected work with the support of their teachers and families.
The partnerships between students, staff, and families are largely dependent on communication. GCMS has entered into a new era with Infinite Campus which makes connectivity between all the stakeholders much easier. The most important piece in communication is that it is mutual, respectful, and productive. We are in a true partnership that will undoubtedly have some challenges, but we can work through those with open, honest, consistent, and direct communication. We encourage families to always ask should questions or concerns arise. The expectation of GCMS staff is to always respond within 24 hours of questions or inquiries, however families need to also realize that the staff will be hard at work during those 78,750 minutes and the response may not be immediate. Our contractual day is from 8:05 - 3:35 so any communications outside of that time are neither required or expected, but can occur. Digital communication is always encouraged (email), but we also know the necessity of a good conversation or meeting.
Schools are institutions of learning and the key person responsible for the learning is the student. Our students will be held to a high standard of accountability for their academics and actions. The diversity of our students creates unique experiences and challenges that we, as a staff, work hard to recognize and accommodate for, but we also recognize the necessity of personal accountability and will emphasize this in our actions.
We each have the capacity to control our impact on this school community. We choose our attitude, our actions, and our engagements. GCMS will be putting a renewed focus on creating a positive environment in all areas of our system. Classrooms, hallways, performances, competitions, lunchrooms, and all other facilities will be expected to be safe positive environments. We expect everyone to add to the quality of the climate when at GCMS events.
GCMS School District is an amazing place to be. Thousands of engagements will take place daily dealing with our most precious resource, our youth, and some of those engagements will not be perfect. Our hope, our goal, our expectation is to take the 78,750 minutes we have and make them great wherever possible, manage the challenges, communicate with civility, hold each other accountable, and maximize the use of those minutes to serve our children.
We look forward to everyone doing their part!
Falcon Proud!
Mr. Darnell - Superintendent