Grizzly eNews 11-18-2022
Principal’s Message:
Winter is here! As you can see above, unless it is raining or the windchill temperature is below zero, students are sent outside to play and get some fresh air. Please make sure that students come to school with all the winter gear they need to stay comfortable and safe outside. This week we allowed students to use clothing items from the lost and found so that they were wearing enough winter gear to go out in the cold safely. Thanks for helping us keep your children safe and healthy.
It’s hard to believe that ⅓ of the school year is already complete. As a reminder, students’ trimester reflections will be posted in Powerschool on November 22nd. For new families, please note that this is the district elementary report card. Students have been working hard to reflect on their learning behaviors and on their progress toward their academic goals. Educational research has shown that this type of reflection has the potential to help motivate and grow students more than any other instructional strategy. I look forward to hearing from students how they partnered with you to celebrate their accomplishments and to set goals for future growth.
Stay warm!
~Principal Jeff Modaff
jeff.modaff@bps101.net
PTO News:
Winter Wonderland
Winter Wonderland is just TWO weeks away!
Please remember to sign your family up for a shopping slot here! Each time slot is a one hour window for you to arrive during, one slot per FAMILY. Sign up to shop here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080C48ABAD23A4FF2-winter2
We still need more volunteers to make the day run smoothly! We promise it is well organized and will be a lot of fun! There are still slots for wrapping, helping total up purchases, personalization, and floaters! It is such a fun day and the kids truly love getting to pick out gifts for their families. Come get a first hand look at all the generous little spirits!! Volunteer here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080C48ABAD23A4FF2-winter1
While your children shop, you will have the opportunity to peruse vendors in the gym and check out our bake sale. If you would be willing to donate baked goods or help out with the bake sale, please sign up here: https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/70a0c4fa5ad28a3f94-bake/51572862
Parents of 5th graders!! In Grace McWayne tradition, the 5th grade students will serve as the Elves to assist the other students with their shopping. Watch for a separate email regarding Elf Sign-Up.
If you would still like to donate any items, please visit our Amazon “birthday” list and you can choose to mail directly to Karie Friedman: https://www.amazon.com/registries/birthday/2ZB802Q4BQ3T6/guest-view
We typically wrap about 3,000 gifts the day of Winter Wonderland, so we would LOVE your gently used holiday gift bags, tissue paper, and wrapping paper! Please drop in the bin in the vestibule at GMS or on the porch at 39W096 Revere House Lane, Geneva.
If you have ANY questions, please email Karie Friedman at kariefriedman@gmail.com or Kara Barr at karambarr@yahoo.com.
Thank you for your support of the PTO!
Fun Fair
We are happy to announce that Fun Fair is back on the PTO Events Calendar! The event will be held on Friday, March 3rd, 2023.
Parents, are you still looking for a way to volunteer at school this year? Use your creative mind? Meet new people? The PTO has the BIGGEST opportunity for you yet! Below is a breakdown of the different areas for positions that we are looking to fill. Each position can have one or more people involved. Grab your friends and let’s get planning! 
- Head Chairperson – This event is by far a TEAM effort but every great project needs a boss man/woman to oversee deadlines. This can be a group of two to four individuals.
- Hospitality Committee – this committee will manage food and drinks for the event, such as (but not limited to) popcorn, candy, chips, and beverages.
- Decoration Committee – this committee will be responsible for all signs and instructions (maps) the day of the event. Making sure that all signs are placed properly outside the classroom doors, indicating what games are present within the room. Food signs. Setting a theme for the Fun-Fair event. Keeping things simple is the easy way to go – remember less is more.
- Raffle Basket Committee – this committee will work with the room parents to coordinate classroom raffle baskets. They will also set up raffle baskets in the gym and monitor them throughout the night of the event.
- Sign up Genius Committee – looking for two individuals for this committee. This job will set up the Sign-up Genius for coordinating volunteers in order to operate the games and check-in stations for volunteers. 
For any further questions on these committees, please reach out to the following individuals: Melissa Knapp
Andria Wright Sullivan, or Andrea Alster. The PTO thanks you for your support and dedication. Without the help
of our parents events like this could not be possible.
Walking Wednesday Updates:
Walking Wednesday has ended for the fall/winter. We will resume again when the weather warms up, keep a look out for the start date in the spring. Thank you so much to all of the volunteers that came out each week to walk with the kids this fall! Your help was very much appreciated! Great job to all of the kids for putting in so many miles!
GMS Volunteer Opportunities:
Grizzly Kids Club is partnering with Batavia United Way. We are hosting a Cereal Drive to support the annual Adopt-A-Family holiday event. If your family would like to contribute, please have your child bring a full size box of cereal to school Monday, November 28th- Friday, December 2nd. Thank you for supporting our community this holiday season!
School / District News:
Arrival/Dismissal Updates and Reminders
There is a special crosswalk that runs between the parking stalls in our main parking lot. This was created so students and parents can walk safely to their vehicles. When drivers pull through the stalls instead of backing out, it creates a very dangerous situation for our families. Please take the time to back out and follow the flow of traffic instead of pulling through the stalls. Thanks for helping us keep all Grace McWayne students and families safe.
Due to the colder weather, we have very few walkers/bike riders that need to cross the street at the crosswalk. The staff member assigned to the street crosswalk by the school will be reassigned to another location starting after Thanksgiving break. Thanks for your understanding.
Winter Weather Reminders
Now that snow is on the ground, please read these helpful reminders about recess and snow gear:
- Students without the proper snow gear are required to stay on the blacktop area during recess
- Students must wear gloves, snow pants and snow boots to be allowed to play in the snow
- Please label all snow gear and provide your child with a reusable bag to store his/her gear
- Now that temperatures are consistently below 50 degrees, it is recommended that all students wear a jacket or coat and keep it on while outside
Additional request from Mrs. Gamlin: Now that the weather has gotten a little snowy and your child needs to have boots to go outside, please remember to send them with gym shoes for PE. I want to keep your child safe and active but boots and other non-gym shoes make that very difficult. Thank you!
Anticipated ILP Paraprofessional Position Opening
Grace McWayne is anticipating an ILP Paraprofessional opening starting after Winter Break (January 9, 2023). General responsibilities are listed below. Please email jeff.modaff@bps101.net directly if you are interested in this position.
- Assist students in our ILP program with academic and social-emotional needs
- Provide behavioral and functional support
- Support daily living skills (bathrooming, feeding, etc.)
- Team collaboration
LRC News
With the arrival of our new furniture, we’ve been busy rearranging and weeding out hundreds of older books to update our space and make our books and resources more accessible to students. Stay tuned for more info. In the meantime, you can visit this link to access available resources, a Thanksgiving Math Challenge, digital breakouts, and a History Bee for 3rd-5th grade students.
IMPORTANT DATES:
FIRST TRIMESTER REFLECTION – AVAILABLE IN POWERSCHOOL
Tuesday November 22nd
THANKSGIVING BREAK – NO SCHOOL
Wednesday November 23rd – Friday November 25th
WINTER WONDERLAND
Saturday December 3rd – 9:00AM-1:00PM
MONTHLY PTO MEETING
Tuesday December 6th – 7:00PM @ GMS
RESTAURANT NIGHT – OBERWEIS-THAT BURGER JOINT-WOODGRAIN
Thursday December 8th – Time TBD
WINTER BREAK – NO SCHOOL
Thursday, December 22nd – Friday, January 6th
School Resumes Monday, January 9th
IMPORTANT LINKS
Grace McWayne PTO website: www.gmspto.org
Batavia Public School District website: https://www.bps101.net/
Grace McWayne Contacts: https://gms.bps101.net/staff/
BPS 101 2022-23 Calendar: https://www.bps101.net/events/
Grace McWayne PTO Facebook page: Grace McWayne Elementary PTO News & Events
Grace McWayne Elementary School website: https://gms.bps101.net/
