Friday, January 29, 2016

Attention 7th graders - If you are interested in the PALS program for your 8th grade year, stop by Mrs. Sindt's room, 804, for an application.

Do you love to run and want to be on the GMS Team for the Cap 10K?  Stop by and see Coach Warner.

Congratulations to the girls A Soccer team.  They defeated Murchison last week.

Did you know that GMS had 22 choir students make regional choir?  Congratulations!

Are you interested in being on one of the GMS dance teams?  There is a mandatory meeting February 3rd.  See Ms. Hanson for more details.

If you have not taken the keyboarding test, next week is the last week to do so.  This is mandatory unless you want to take keyboarding as an elective.

Don't forget that Tuesday is Only One Gorzycki.  I look forward to seeing everyone there.

Friday, January 22, 2016

I am excited to announce this year's Teacher of the Year, Mr. Howard!  He will do an outstanding job representing Gorzycki!

It's time for next year's Choice Sheets.  All incoming 5th graders will receive them during presentations next week at their elementary campuses.  Current 6th and 7th graders will have presentations here at GMS.  Eighth graders will receive their high school choices the following week.  For those wanting to know a more, we are hosting our annual "Only One Gorzycki" February 2nd.  Please look at our website for specific times.

I'm not sure how the leadership class finds time to do all that they do but next week they will kick-off their annual "Super Bowl of Caring" contest.  Please help support the local food bank by bringing canned foods.  The EXCEL class with the most cans receives a movie party.

GMS is also forming their Capitol 10,000 team.  Check out the daily announcements if you are interested in participating.

As I visited classrooms this week, this is what I saw in our 7th grade science classes.  Students dissecting frogs!

Today, the students who read "The 5th Wave" and passed their AR test went to see the movie before anyone else did.  If you have never seen a movie with a theater full of middle school students, it is quite a fun experience!  The kids were great.  This is the 6th grade group once we got back to school - lunch in the commons.  

 Today was also the final round of the Geo Bee.  Will H., an 8th grader, was our winner.  Congratulations!
A shout-out to our awesome school board, and especially to our own Trustee Mrs. Wagner.  Thank you for all you do!  (I happened to be in the board room this week and snapped the picture of the banner from Gorzycki.)
Students interested in the Independent Study Fair were presented information today.  Please check with your child to learn more.

7th graders, are  you interested in the PALS program?  Next week you will have presentations from current PALS .Applications are due Feb. 3rd.

Have a great weekend!

Friday, January 15, 2016

Have you heard this has been a change to the student dress code?  The GMS Student Council proposed these changes: Students be allowed to wear athletic shorts and all other shorts as long as they are at  least finger tip length; Leggings can be worn with shirts/dresses which must also be at least finger tip length. These proposed changes have now been approved and can begin immediately. Student out of dress code will have their parent's contacted or will need to change clothes.

This is a reminder that all middle school students must pass a keyboarding proficiency test prior to leaving middle school.  This can be done several ways.  Most students just take the keyboarding class.  For those that don't, you must sign up to take the keyboarding test before the spring semester of your 8th grade year.  This year that test date is the last week of January.  Make sure you have a plan for your child to either take the class or test.

The boys basketball teams had their first games this week. The 8th graders didn't end with wins, but were impressive to watch.




Today I attending my first fieldtrip here at Gorzycki.  I went with the 6th graders to the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences.  It was a fun day of learning.


Don't forget there is no school Monday.  Have a great long weekend.

Friday, January 8, 2016

Did you see Gorzycki Middle School on the news this week?  Our very own Mrs. Christensen was surprised by AISD's Superintendent, Dr. Cruz, and received his first "SUPERintendent Coin" for her dress project last semester.  If you missed it, watch the attached link. http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2016/01/06/aisd-highlights-exceptional-teachers-with-unique-collector-coin/78359624/

While on campus that day, Dr. Cruz visited several other classrooms, and he took lots of pictures.  They can be seen on his twitter account, and I tweeted them as well.




Next week the format for EXCEL classes will look different.  After hearing from students, parents, and staff, time for homework is being added.  All the students have been told, so they should be able to answer any questions.  If not, send me an email.   Monday and Tuesday are enrichment or lab days.  Wednesdays and Thursdays are when the students will have time for homework.  There are 4 options:  Tiger Time = work on homework, study or read a book.  Computer Time = time to work on the computer in the library.  Tiger Help = tutoring provided by teacher.  This can be teacher required and/or student requested.  Tiger Den = this is for students who need "motivation" to get their work done.  These students will work directly with an administrator to get their work completed.  Fridays will be DEAR/SEL time.  Starting next six weeks, the 1st and 4th Friday of each month will be a reward day for those students that are passing all subjects, that don't have behavior concerns, and that are caught up on attendance.

Starting in February, all fieldtrips will have the same criteria for students to attend.  The school will use UIL guidelines for fieldtrip participation.  Basically, this requires all students to be passing with a 70 to attend.  Again, let me know if you have any questions.

The new attendance guidelines have caused a few students to not receive credit in some of their classes last semester.  We have spoken with all students who were impacted by this rule.  Remember that all students must be in class 90% of the time in order to receive credit.  It doesn't matter if the reason for the absence is excused or not excused.  If you have questions, please contact your grade level Assistant Principal.

Did you know that our PALS program provides over 1000 volunteer hours of support each year?  If you convert that into dollars it is over $23,000 they would have earned!  Thank you, Mrs. Sindt for sponsoring this program!

Next week, 7th graders will be part of a presentation from Deputy Taylor with the Travis County Sheriff's Office Community Outreach division during their social studies classes.  The topic of the presentation is on Choices, Decisions, and Consequences.

It has been a great first week back.  Have a wonderful weekend!