Monthly Newsletter - Gaiser Middle School

Grizzlies
Home of the
10/1/2016
GAISER MIDDLE SCHOOL
3000 NE 99th Street ● Vancouver, WA 98665 ● Office: 360-313-3400 ● Attendance: 360-313-3422
Mike Lane, Principal ● Dr. Sheri Backous, Associate Principal ● Casey Greco, Associate Principal ● Charlyne Clark, Secretary
OCTOBER 2016
WHAT’S YOUR LEGACY?
This is a question we first began asking eight years ago
when the staff and students at Gaiser undertook the
daunting task of re-shaping our school culture. Project
Legacy has transformed our school; student discipline
has dropped, student attendance has increased, and
student learning has improved.
I was talking with my daughter last night and she told
me all about English class and how much she loves it.
She read her essay to me and said, "I used to not like
writing essays but now I love it!" Thank you for making
your class fun and engaging, I know it takes extra
effort and time but it really does make a difference to
your students! It is so encouraging as a parent to see
her inspired and excited to learn!
Inspired by the change, our staff turned their attention
to our vision for Gaiser. Our previous vision statement
was very traditional and simply referenced giving
students the opportunity to learn. Our Team opted for
a succinct statement that reflected our deep-rooted
commitment to this work: We are the pride of our
community.

We are so grateful for our experience yesterday at your
school. I am sure you are aware, but the positive
climate of your program shined through the entire
meet. A few things:
 After the boys ran, I saw multiple boys say to the
group, “Gaiser Boys, let’s go cheer on the girls!” This
speaks volumes about what you have developed
among your team and the entire athletic program
because your football players were cheering
everyone as well.
 When your athletes met the very last runners
(including ours) near the finish line and encouraged
them it moved many of our parents to tears.
I can’t express enough how impressed I was. Believe
me, we took notes and will be striving to create a
similar sense of pride among our student athletes as
well. Thank you!
We now strive to realize this hopeful vision for our
future. While we acknowledge that we still have miles
Thank you for sending us such great feedback!
to go, we are reassured and energized by the following
emails that affirm our progress. The first is from a
Michael Lane, Principal
parent and the second a coach from another school:
OUR VISI ON:
GMS is the pride of its community, renowned for commitment to academic excellence and compassionate collaboration among
all members.
Vision: We are unified and act with decisiveness and fidelity to fulfill our mission.
Excellence: We surpass expectations by following our unwavering collective-will.
Collaboration: We plan, implement, monitor, & adapt strategies to guarantee success.
Culture: We celebrate success, focus on positive momentum, & honor all contributions.
Parent Conferences
Pre-Scheduled
Upcoming Dates
Thursday,
Friday,
October 20
October 21
4-6 pm
10am-12 pm
6-8 pm
8-10 am
Conferences
Arena
Oct. 10
1-hour Early Release
Oct. 14
No School
Oct. 18
Progress Reports go Home
Oct. 19
Two-hour Early Release
Picture Re-Takes
Conferences
Oct. 20
Parent Conferences 4:00—8:00
This year we are again offering 2 “styles” of parent
Oct 21
conferences:
Two-hour Early Release
NO SCHOOL
Parent Conferences 8:00—12:00
Pre-Scheduled:
These are most often group
conferences initiated by parent request to meet with
all of their student’s teachers. These conferences last
20 minutes. To schedule a conference, please call
360-313-3403.
Arena: These are informal, drop-in meetings which
Oct. 24
1-hour Early Release
Oct. 25-28
Scholastic Book Fair
Nov. 6
Turn Clocks Back
Nov. 11
NO SCHOOL – Veteran’s Day
Nov. 23
1-hour Early Release
Nov. 23-25
NO SCHOOL – Thanksgiving
are not scheduled ahead of time. These may be of
varying lengths and most often involve a single
teacher speaking with a family. You do NOT need to
call ahead of time to schedule an arena conference.
We look forward to seeing you!
Early Winter Sports Season
Girls' Basketball and Wrestling sign-ups begin Oct. 10th. Practice for both sports begins on October 24th.
Please go online to www.familyid.com to register. There will be computers in the school office for
families to use to register. Athletes need to turn in packets and fee payments to the Business Office
prior to the first day of scheduled practices. Athletes must purchase a $10 ASB card, pay a $20 athletic
fee. Students also need to pay for or settle all athletic fines prior to getting cleared for sports.



Basketball practice will be after school for both 7th & 8th grade the first week. Practice time
is 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. every week day. After teams are established, 7th grade will be practicing in
the morning and 8th grade in the afternoon.
Wrestling practice will be after school for ALL grade levels 6 th, 7th & 8th grade. Practice time
is 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. every week day.
A bus will transport athletes to games, and parents will be responsible for picking up studentathletes after all games.
From the Attendance Office…
Note from the Nurse:
New this year, the VPS policy is for a written excuse for a
student’s absence from the custodial parent/legal guardian
within 3 days of the student’s return to school (per
Regulation 5113). This can be a written note brought to
school, an email to the Attendance Clerk:
Stacy.Bundt@vansd.org, a fax sent to 360 313-3401 ATTN:
S. BUDNT, or entered through FAMILY/PARENT ACCESS in
Skyward. Absence reminders, emails and letters sent by US
Mail will be used to help get all absences excused. An
UNEXCUSED ABSENCE BECOMES A TRUANCY, which can
result in filing paperwork with Truancy Court.
Approved reasons to excuse an absence are:
Tdap vaccinations are required for 6th grade
entry. If your children have not yet had their
shot, please obtain them as soon as possible and
submit paperwork to the school office.
Immunizations can be obtained at local
pharmacies as well as the Free Clinic of
Southwest Washington 360-313-1390.
Chickenpox (Varicella) – Two vaccinations are
now required for everyone in middle school.
Double check to make sure your students have
two doses of chickenpox (varicella) vaccine. If
they had chicken pox, we need documentation
from the healthcare provider confirming
immunity.
If your children are ill, please keep them home
to avoid spreading sickness in our school
population. A rule of thumb to follow – if your
children have a fever of 100 degrees or more,
keep them home until their fever is under 100
for at least 24 hours (without the use of feverreducing medication). Also, if they have active
vomiting or diarrhea, do not allow them to
return to school until 24 hours after the last
episode. In addition, if your students have a
persistent cough, they should be kept home until
coughing is improved (or once your physician
clears them to return to school.) Flu shots are
recommended!







ILLNESS
HEALTH CARE APPOINTMENT
COURT
RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE
EMERGENCY (please specify PERSONAL or FAMILY)
PARENT REQUEST-W/O a reason
PRE-APPROVED ACTIVITY (prior to the first day of
the absence)
Anyone signing out a student during the school day MUST
PROVIDE PHOTO ID. The parent/guardian is required to
authorize the person on the Emergency Contact list EACH
TIME the student is being picked-up. All persons listed in
Family 1 and alternate parent in Family 2 are authorized to
excuse, sign-in & sign-out, and initiate a student leaving
school early, unless court paperwork is on file in the
student’s cumulative folder.
Please remind your student to call from the Attendance,
Nurse or Main Office when wanting to leave school. The
parent/guardian needs to speak with office staff to approve
the departure and who will be picking up the student. The
student may use their own phone to call, text, or email, but
then the parent/guardian will need to contact the office
staff (Attendance Clerk, preferably) to verify the
information the student has received.
Thank you for your continued flexibility with these
procedural changes and updates. If you have any questions
or concerns, please don’t hesitate to call the Attendance
Office direct line at 360-313-3422. This number will record
your message if I am unable to answer your call. Thank you,
Mrs. B!
Thank you keeping our school community
healthy!
College Wednesdays!
Gaiser Middle School focuses on educating all students about their academic options posthigh school and creating a school wide college-ready culture. Starting this school year, we
have made Wednesday a day when our students can wear their favorite college attire.
Our goal is to increase college awareness and further establish our college-bound culture.
This activity also reinforces our AVID program, which teaches and promotes positive work
and study strategies for college and career readiness for students.
The Gaiser staff is committed to college and career readiness for all of our students!
Gaiser’s Fall
Scholastic Book Fair
Great books to read!
Start your holiday shopping!
Profits support our Gaiser
Library!
Date: OCT. 25 – 28th
Lunches: Tues-Fri
Before School: Wed – Fri
Where: Library
PTSA WILL gladly accept
CASH, CHECKS, VISA and
MASTERCARD
Box Top and Pop Tab Drive Directions
Box Tops:
Collect Box Tops over the summer.
Trim the edges and tape on to the back of this collection sheet.
Make sure to not include any that expire before November 22, 2016.
Write your name and turn into your 1st period teacher.
You will then be entered into a drawing for gift cards and other awesome prizes!
Pop Tabs:
Collect pop tabs from beverage cans, pet food cans, and even soup cans!
Place all tabs into a sandwich size Ziploc bag.
Once the sandwich bag is full, staple it to this card and turn it in to the office.
Make sure your name and your 1 period teacher is on the front!
Free Sports Physicals
2016-2017
Available to Vancouver Public School students, grades 6 – 12 who do not have health insurance
or a primary care provider.
Limited Space
RESERVE A SPOT WITH YOUR BUSINESS OFFICE
Sports Physical staff will facilitate a referral to a primary care provider
Sponsored by Vancouver Public Schools, and
Family Medicine of Southwest Washington
2:15 – 4:00 p.m. @ Fort Vancouver HS
November 3, 2016
February 23, 2017
March 16, 2017
April 20, 2017
**You must sign up in the Business Office of your school**
A student who is not accompanied by parent or guardian must bring a signed permission slip
Please tell your Business Clerk if you will need a translator.
Por favor, informe a su Secretaria de negocios si se necesita un traductor.
NEW Sports Physical paperwork available from your school Business Office
--Please complete medical history portion prior to coming to the clinic--