We are ready for your return!

 

April 28, 2021

Dear Great Falls Families,

Tomorrow we begin 4 days a week learning on-campus. Instead of our A and B student cohorts attending school for two days each week, all current hybrid students will attend in-person learning 4 days per week (Monday - Thursday). Our staff is so excited to see our students and have been working diligently during the last three days to prepare for the big return - we are ready! 

Thursday, April 29th 

Both A and B cohorts will return to campus on Thursday, April 29th. Students will be seated 3 feet apart in the classroom setting and will remain 6 feet apart while eating breakfast, lunch, and snack. Our arrival and dismissal process will remain the same. Although we anticipate that arrival and dismissal may take longer, we will try it as currently established and make adjustments if needed. Thanks for your patience! 

Parent Drop Off

Students dropped off by their parents between 8:30-8:50 a.m. are expected to use the parent drop-off circle. Please use caution when students are exiting vehicles. Students must be wearing face coverings when exiting their vehicles. Grades K-2 bus students will enter through door 4 by the playground and head directly to their classroom. Grades 3-5 students will enter through door 2 in the center of the school and head upstairs and directly to their classroom. Staff will be stationed in the parent drop-off loop to safely assist our students as they exit their vehicles. When you are arriving at the Great Falls campus, please enter the parking lot closest to the playground and stay to the right side of the parent drop-off loop. Do not park. There will likely be a line so your patience is greatly appreciated. We would like 15 cars to unload at the same time, so please move forward in the circle until you are around the corner and pull all the way up to the cone.  After you have dropped off your child you may exit cautiously. If you are waiting to drop off, please remain in your position until you are directed by duty staff to proceed forward to the drop-off zone. 

Breakfast

Beginning on Thursday, April 29th, students that participate in the breakfast program will eat their breakfast in the cafeteria upon their arrival before they head to their classroom.  If your child will be having school breakfast they will enter the building through door #1 if they arrive by bus and door #2 if they are parent drop-off. Please note that breakfast ends promptly at 8:50 a.m. It will be important to account for such in your morning routine if you are transporting your child to school. 

Snack Time

Students will eat snacks either outside using social distancing precautions remaining six feet apart or in the cafeteria at assigned seats. 

Lunch and Recess Time

Students will be staying in their A/B cohorts for lunch in order to eat 6 feet apart while being unmasked. One cohort will eat in the cafeteria while the other cohort will eat in the classroom. They will rotate each week. Both cohorts will partake in recess and be assigned to a rotating area of the playground. Cohort A will eat in the cafeteria on Thursday, April 29th as well as next week. 

New Creative Arts Rotation

The colored creative arts rotation will start with a “green” day on Thursday, April 29th, and proceed throughout the school year. The students will participate in 35-minute creative arts sessions every day they are on campus.

Parent Pick Up

School is dismissed daily at 2:50 p.m.  For safety reasons, cars may not arrive on campus prior to 2:40 pm to begin to line up.  

If your student usually takes the bus, and you are picking up your student just that day, you will have notified the school by 10:30 am and be prepared to show your driver's license upon arrival at the car pick-up line. If you have arranged a JUST FOR TODAY pickup, please follow the directions from Mrs. Murray on which parking lot you should enter.  

Our top priority is to maintain the safety and well-being of all members of our school communities. As always, please feel free to reach out to me at any time with questions and feedback. I am available through email at becky.fortier@gorhamschools.org and by phone at 222-1050. We can’t wait to see our students!

Take care and be well,

Becky Fortier, Great Falls Principal

 

April 15, 2021

Dear Great Falls Families,

As you know, the Gorham School Department is making a switch to 4 days a week of learning on-campus beginning Thursday, April 29th. Instead of our A and B student cohorts attending school for two days each week, all current Hybrid students will attend in-person learning 4 days per week (Monday - Thursday).  

Week of April 19-23

This is the district Spring vacation week. During this time, the district will resume the set up of instructional spaces in preparation for a full return. Happy vacation!

April 26th, 27th, 28th

These three days will be non-student days. School staff will be on campus preparing physical spaces and academic lessons for a full return of both cohorts of students. 

Thursday, April 29th 

Both A and B cohorts will return to campus on Thursday, April 29th. Students will be seated 3 feet apart in the classroom setting and will remain 6 feet apart while eating breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Our arrival and dismissal process will remain the same. Although we anticipate that arrival and dismissal may take longer, we will try it as currently established and make adjustments if needed. 

Parent Drop Off

Students dropped off by their parents between 8:30-8:50 a.m. are expected to use the parent drop-off circle. Please use caution when students are exiting vehicles. Students must be wearing face coverings when exiting their vehicles. Grades K-2 bus students will enter through door 4 by the playground and head directly to their classroom. Grades 3-5 students will enter through door 2 in the center of the school and head upstairs and directly to their classroom. Staff will be stationed in the parent drop-off loop to safely assist our students as they exit their vehicles. When you are arriving at the Great Falls campus, please enter the parking lot closest to the playground and stay to the right side of the parent drop-off loop. Do not park. There will likely be a line so your patience is greatly appreciated. We would like 15 cars to unload at the same time, so please move forward in the circle until you are around the corner and pull all the way up to the cone.  After you have dropped off your child you may exit cautiously. If you are waiting to drop off, please wait until the entire line moves forward for the next 15 cars. 

Breakfast

Beginning on Thursday, April 29th, students that participate in the breakfast program will eat their breakfast in the cafeteria upon their arrival before they head to their classroom.  If your child will be having school breakfast they will enter the building through door #1 if they arrive by bus and door #2 if they are parent drop-off. Please note that breakfast ends promptly at 8:50 am. It will be important to account for such in your morning routine if you are transporting your child to school. 

Snack Time

Students will eat snacks either outside using social distancing precautions remaining six feet apart or in the cafeteria at assigned seats. Students are encouraged to bring in water bottles but will be asked to drink in a designated spot in the classroom that allows them to remain 6 feet from their peers while unmasked.

Lunch and Recess Time

Students will be staying in their A/B cohorts for lunch in order to eat 6 feet apart while being unmasked. One cohort will eat in the cafeteria while the other cohort will eat in the classroom. They will rotate each week. Both cohorts will partake in recess and be assigned to a rotating area of the playground.

New Creative Arts Rotation

The colored creative arts rotation will start with a “green” day on Thursday, April 29th, and proceed throughout the school year. The students will participate in 35-minute creative arts sessions every day they are on campus.

Parent Pick Up

School is dismissed daily at 2:50 p.m.  For safety reasons, cars may not arrive on campus prior to 2:40 pm to begin to line up. Students being picked up by their parents will start to be dismissed BEFORE bus students. If you have a pickup number in the 10s, 100s, or 200s, you will enter the left side parking lot to line up to pick up your child.  You will follow staff directions, pulling to the curb alongside the side of the school.  Traffic will move through the parking lot in two lanes until you get to the end of the staff lot where a duty person will direct you into 3 lanes to move forward to the crosswalk.  Please stay in your car and pull forward according to staff directions. Staff will take note of your car tag number, utilize our electronic pick-up generator form on their iPhones, and communicate to the inside staff via a google form.  We will load 10 cars at a time.  

If you have a pickup number in the 300s, 400s, or 500s, you will enter the right side parking lot which is where drop-off occurs in the morning. You will pull in all the way forward to the cone in a single file line where a teacher will check you in. Please have your tag visibly ready. Your child will come to the passenger side of your vehicle and following such you may exit cautiously when you are ready. When waiting to enter the loading zone, please do not move forward until all 15 loading spots are clear and the duty teacher motions you forward.  

If your student usually takes the bus, and you are picking up your student just that day, you will have notified the school by 10:30 am and be prepared to show your driver's license upon arrival at the car pick-up line. If you have arranged a JUST FOR TODAY pickup, please follow the directions from Mrs. Murray on which parking lot you should enter.  Thank you to the Gorham Police Department and Volunteer Police for assisting with our safety measures during the busy arrival and dismissal times. 

Our top priority is to maintain the safety and well-being of all members of our school communities. As always, please feel free to reach out to me at any time with questions and feedback. I am available through email at becky.fortier@gorhamschools.org and by phone at 222-1050.

Take care and be well,

Becky Fortier, Great Falls Principal

April Update

 

April 2, 2021

Dear Great Falls Families,

Happy Spring! I hope you and your families are enjoying the sun and warming temperatures. It is hard to believe that we are officially in the month of April and beginning the last leg of the 2020-2021 school year. I want to start by thanking our parent and guardian community for your continued support. Our students are our number one priority and without the continued encouragement and kindness from our families, this hybrid school year would not have been possible. Now more than ever we need to exemplify and reciprocate grace towards one another for it has not been an easy school year to navigate but we can and will continue to give everything we have for our students and their success. 

At the School Committee meeting last night it was decided that we would return to school for 4 full days beginning on Thursday, April 29th. Below you will find some details that may be helpful in planning for your child’s full return to school. Please be sure to refer to Heather Perry’s blog for the most up-to-date information. 

Week of April 12-16

“A” students will be learning on-campus on Monday, April 12th and “B” students will be on-campus on Tuesday, April 13th. On Wednesday, April 14th, and Thursday, April 15th the students will be remaining at home and learning remotely.  These two remote days will allow for our district maintenance staff to unload furniture from storage and deliver the furniture to instructional spaces. The classroom teachers will send out a schedule with the daily virtual meeting links and classroom assignments for their remote learning day. Friday will be a regular virtual day. 

Week of April 19-23

This is the district Spring vacation week. During this time, the district will resume the set up of instructional spaces in preparation for a full return. Happy vacation!

April 26th, 27th, 28th

These three days will be non-student days. School staff will be on campus preparing physical spaces and academic lessons for a full return of both cohorts of students. 

Thursday, April 29th 

Both A and B cohorts will return to campus on Thursday, April 29th. Students will be seated 3 feet apart in the classroom setting and will remain 6 feet apart while eating breakfast, lunch, and snack. Our arrival and dismissal process will remain the same. Although we anticipate that arrival and dismissal may take longer, we will try it as currently established and make adjustments if needed. Beginning the week of May 3rd the schedule will be as follows:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Group A and B  On-Campus Learning	Group A and B  On-Campus Learning	Group A and B  On-Campus Learning	Group A and B  On-Campus Learning	Virtual student check-in, intervention, enrichment, and support as needed

Upcoming Schedule:

Monday, April 5th - “A” Students On-Campus

Tuesday, April 6th - “B” Students On-Campus

Wednesday, April 7th - “A” Students On-Campus

Thursday, April 8th -      “B” Students On-Campus

Friday, April 9th -          Virtual Friday

Monday, April 12th - “A” Students On-Campus

Tuesday, April 13th - “B” Students On-Campus

Wednesday, April 14th -  “A” Students Remote Learning At Home

Thursday, April 15th -         “B” Students Remote Learning At Home

Friday, April 16th -   Virtual Friday

April 19th - 23rd -         School Vacation Week 

Monday, April 26th -      No School/ Teacher Work Day

Tuesday, April 27th -      No School/ Teacher Work Day

Wednesday, April 28th - No School/ Teacher Work Day

Thursday, April 29th -      Full Return A and B Students

Friday, April 30th - Virtual Friday

As always, please feel free to reach out to me at any time with questions and feedback. I am available through email at becky.fortier@gorhamschools.org and by phone at 222-1050.

Take care and be well,

Becky Fortier

Great Falls Principal

Spring Conferences

 

March 8, 2021

Hello, Great Falls Parents!

It is time for our virtual Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences! Here is some important information for you to have:

WHAT: The general purpose of our virtual conferences is to connect with your child’s teacher, as well as obtain an update on academic progress and “skills for life.” These progress checks may include student sharing of their work products, goal setting, and the presentation of other assessments and work by the student or teacher. As your child will be present, it is understood that issues that are private and confidential require a different forum for communication. It is expected that issues that are of a serious concern would have been discussed prior to and outside of these conferences. IEP meetings, even in close proximity to conference dates, do not take the place of student-led conferences. 

WHEN: Conferences are held throughout the next two weeks and during the full day of Friday, March 12th. March 12th is reserved for conferences and is not counted as a student school day. The available dates and times during this window vary depending on the teacher. 

 

HOW: The PTCfast online program is used for scheduling conferences unless teachers know that there is a family who does not have Internet access at home.  Teachers sent out notices and passwords for parents to use to set up conferences. The procedure is user-friendly and quite efficient, especially when a family has more than one child in our school.  This program allows you a maximum choice in dates and times, choosing the one that works best for your schedule. When you pick a day and time, you will receive a confirmation and a reminder prior to the conference. If you need to change the date and/or time, you simply return to the site and do so, unless it is beyond the cutoff time selected by the classroom teacher. 

Please make sure to contact us if you run into any difficulty with this process.  We don’t anticipate that you will, but we are, of course, happy to help. Great Falls takes pride in having a very high participation rate in Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences.  Although we would prefer to have you on campus, we appreciate your flexibility and know the experience for you and your child will be a great one! 

Don’t forget that our Scholastic Book Fair is up and running. Check out the online store at Great Falls Spring Book Fair. Have a great conference experience! 

 

Sincerely,

Becky Fortier

Great Falls Principal

READ ACROSS AMERICA WEEK! 2021

 

February 25, 2021

Dear Great Falls Families,

Next week is Read Across America Week and Great Falls is ready to celebrate thanks to our amazing library staff! Read Across America has always been an event focused on nurturing a love of reading, and has usually been celebrated alongside Dr. Seuss's birthday (March 2nd).  A couple of years ago the Read Across America organization and Suess's estate went their separate ways.  Read Across America's new focus is on diversity in reading (books, authors, and readers) throughout the year.  Check out their website for monthly focus activities. Great Falls has some fun things planned for next week! 

Diverse Book List

Our librarian, Mr. Dowe, and media-specialist, Jessie Mason have created a book list of diverse books that can be found in our Great Falls library. The list will continue to grow and staff and students are welcome to check out titles of interest!

Diverse Book Read Aloud Classroom

This interactive page includes links to read alouds that can be enjoyed at any time. 

Guest Readers

Classrooms are welcome to sign up for guest readers either in person or virtually on March 3rd and 4th. Guest readers include administrators, central office staff, community members, Baxter Memorial staff, and various special guests. 

“Read Your World” Book Display

There will be a fun book display going up in the stairwell area for the students to enjoy! All the books featured can be found in our Great Falls Library.

Monday, March 1st “A” Day “Favorite Book” Tag Day  Teachers will be asking their students to fill out a sticky tag with “My favorite book is ______.” The students will wear them throughout the day!

Tuesday, March 2nd “B” Day “Favorite Book” Tag Day  Teachers will be asking their students to fill out a sticky tag with “My favorite book is ______.” The students will wear them throughout the day!

Wednesday, March 3rd “A” Day Dress as a Book Character Day  Students and staff are asked to dress up as their favorite book character. Be creative and have fun!

Thursday, March 4th “B” Day Dress as a Book Character Day  Students and staff are asked to dress up as their favorite book character. Be creative and have fun!

I hope you will join us in the Read Across America fun! As always, please feel free to reach out to me at any time with questions and feedback. I am available through email at becky.fortier@gorhamschools.org and by phone at 222-1050.

Take care and be well,

Becky Fortier

Great Falls Principal

Jump Rope for Heart 2021

 

February 23rd

Dear Parents,

Great Falls will, once again, participate in the American Heart Association’s Kids Heart Challenge student exercise event! Throughout the years, our students have made tremendous donations supporting the American Heart Association!

 

Before our students ask for donations for the American Heart Association, they will learn (or review) the components of heart health, which are diet and exercise. Diet and exercise are critical elements of both the Physical Education Standards and the Health Standards. This donation drive gives Great Falls an opportunity to connect these concepts in a thoughtful way.  The students will also learn how the American Heart Association uses donations to help save lives through their education efforts and research.

In addition to providing money for the AHA, this student exercise event provides funds that allow us to enhance learning beyond the classroom.  It is our goal to provide children with a fun and engaging field day in June where students participate in wellness experiences outside of their regular PE classes.

  

Monday, March 1st and Tuesday, March 2nd  - AHA Packets will go home with the students.

March 1st- April 8th - Students will collect donations for the AHA. The donations can be made online at heart.org/KHC or returned to Great Falls. Cash or checks made payable to Great Falls.

March 17th - April 1st - Students will participate in the exercise challenge during PE class.

Donations are due back by Thursday, April 8th.

We recognize that each family’s ability to contribute at this time may be impacted and strained by a number of factors, notably those associated with the current pandemic we are experiencing.  Please know that a financial contribution of any amount is greatly appreciated, but not expected.  Thank you for supporting this amazing cause! 

Great Falls Feel the Love Family Fun Parade

 

February 2, 2021

Dear GF Families,

I am sure you are missing our community events just as much as our staff. Great Falls has always taken great pride in being a dynamic school community that offers many in-person opportunities to celebrate as a school family and we are missing face to face connections this year. As we continue to think of creative opportunities, we would like to invite you to our 1st ever Great Falls Feel the Love Family Fun Parade! 

Who: Staff will be playing music and decorating the bus loop with luminaries, plenty of glow in the dark items, and light displays for our families to enjoy and “feel the love”.

What: Students and their families are encouraged to decorate their vehicles with solar lights and more remembering that vehicles will be asked to turn off their headlights to enjoy the full effect of the light shows. 

Where: The Great Falls staff will be lining the bus loop and cheering our families on as they drive in from the top of the hill entrance, down the hill into the bus loop, and exit through the staff parking lot. See the map for details on the parade route. 

When: The parade will be held at Great Falls on Thursday, February 11th from 5-7 pm 

(Rain/snow date is February 25th). 

We’re excited to see you!

Wishing you love,

The Great Falls staff