PANTHER PROWL

Happy New Year, and Happy January, Panther Families!

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday season filled with rest and time with loved ones. We are excited to welcome students back to campus on January 5th as we begin a new semester together.

Please be sure to review each weekly Panther Peek for the most up-to-date information and important details about the upcoming week. With the start of the new semester, all students return to their classes with a clean slate and fresh opportunities for success.

Our 8th grade students have many important events coming up, so families are encouraged to check their emails regularly for information that has already been shared and additional updates as they come.

We look forward to a great start to the new year and a strong second semester at GEMS!

With Panther Pride,

Jessica Fernandez
Principal, GEMS

Hey Panther Families,

We are excited to share that we have successfully made it through the first half of the school year. As we return in 2026, we are hopeful that our students will continue to demonstrate our campus expectations of being Positive, Professional, and Productive each day at school.

While student behavior can change throughout the year, we continue to see some challenges related to students keeping their hands to themselves and acting appropriately during lunch and passing periods. We ask that you please take time to have conversations with your student about appropriate behavior at school and the importance of making safe, respectful choices.

Additionally, we encourage students to speak up when they see something that is not right. Students are always welcome to come to the office to write a report, or they may use our anonymous tip line, STOPit, to submit a report.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support as we work together to maintain a safe and positive learning environment for all students.

Steve Roman

Assistant Principal

Glen Edwards Middle School

When we return from break, we will be starting a Zero Period ELA Intervention from 7:00–7:45 AM a one day a week for each grade level, based on grade level and targeted need.

• If your student was recommended by their ELA teacher(s) for support with a specific essential standard/concept, you should have received a ParentSquare message from Ms. White with details.

• If you’re interested in having your student participate in this ELA intervention one day a week, please reach out to Ms. White at awhite@wpusd.org.

We will also be starting Math Intervention after the break. We are finalizing the details of the need and which concepts will be covered by grade level.

• If your student was recommended by their math teacher, Mrs. Casillas will be reaching out soon.

• If you would like your student to be part of the math intervention, please contact Mrs. Casillas at ccasillas@wpusd.org.

Our local high schools are getting ready to begin the registration process for the 2026–2027 school year! We are excited for the annual Shadow a Zebra Days at LHS, scheduled for Thursday, January 8, 2026, and Friday, January 9, 2026. Permission slips and information went out via ParentSquare on 12/15 and requires a quick Parent Approval turn around.

If you missed the Promotion Newsletter that was previously sent, <<CLICK HERE>> to start making plans and save the dates!!

Thank you, and we look forward to a great start to the high school planning season!

PS: If you are within the TBHS boundary more information forthcoming regarding those events.

Our PBIS team is continuing to coordinate with our Portrait of a Learner theme of integrity.

• Up and coming themes for the weeks of January 5th and 12th will be: Panthers demonstrate engagement and focus during group and independent work time.
• For the remaining two weeks of January our theme is: Panthers take the initiative to clean up after themselves and dispose of trash properly.

Students have the opportunity to demonstrate to their teachers this theme in order to earn a pantherbuck for our weekly raffle. We look forward to watching our students demonstrate actions of integrity on campus.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We’re pleased to share that our Parent Involvement Policy for the 2025–2026 school year has been approved. We invite you to take a moment to review it and learn more about how we’ll continue to partner with families to support student success.

👉 [ENGLISH / SPANISH]

Thank you for your continued involvement and support!

January Update

We wrapped up December with an exciting winter school rally filled with fun new games and a celebration of our boys’ basketball teams and their success. It was a great way to bring students together and head into winter break on a positive note.

Our leadership students also hosted a winter dance with a Winter Candyland theme. The event was full of festive decorations, music, and smiles, and students had a wonderful time celebrating the season with their friends.

While there are no major schoolwide events scheduled for January, our leadership students will be hard at work planning our next big event, which will take place on February 6th. More details will be shared as the date approaches.

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to an exciting start to the new year!

Tutoring

• Days: Tuesday – Friday

• Time: 3:05 – 4:35 PM

• Location: Library

We still have several families who have not completed their Annual Registration Update (ARU), formerly known as the Emergency Card Update. An updated ARU is required for every student at the start of each school year. Please log in to PowerSchool to review, update, and submit all required modules for your student(s).

Please Note: Failure to complete the ARU may result in your student being excluded from school events, including dances and field trips, as well as delays or denials in processing any Travel Study requests.

Please take a few moments to confirm, update and submit each module of information . There are new modules that have been added this year: https://powerschool.wpusd.org/public/

FAILURE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION WILL LEAD TO EXCLUSION FROM STUDENT EVENTS SUCH AS DANCES, FIELD TRIPS AND APPROVAL OF ANY TRAVEL STUDY REQUESTS

OUR 24/7 GLEN EDWARDS MIDDLE SCHOOL Sideline Store is up and running. Stop reading and start shopping to score the latest fan wear and accessories.

*PLEASE NOTE: THESE CLOTH ITEMS WILL NOT MEET PE UNIFORM REQUIREMENTS. DO NOT PURCHASE FOR PE CLOTH FROM HERE.

THANK YOU!
HUGE thank you's to all of the families that donated items towards our Staff Winter Luncheon. It made for a great lunch for all GEMS staff. Also, thank you to everyone who volunteered at our local Salt Mine on Sat, Dec 13th. You truly helped make a difference.

MEETINGS:

We encourage All Parents, Teachers & Students (APTS) to attend our meetings. This is a great way for everyone to be a part of the GEMS community. Our next meeting is on Tues, Jan 13th @5pm in the school's library!

UPCOMING:

• Our next dine out event is on Mon, Jan 19th at panda express. Make sure to let them know BEFORE PAYING that you are there to support GEMS APTS. APTS will get 20% of all sales back.

For more ways you can help support APTS and our ONGOING FUNDRAISERS check out the GEMS Website for details.

CONNECT:

Any questions, comments or concerns be sure to email us at GemsApts@Gmail.com

Be sure to follow us on Facebook @GemsApts

Visit the APTS website : Click here!

Girls Basketball: Tryouts begin the first day after Winter Break, January 5th. Please have updated physical in Final Forms before the first day of practice. 7th grade begins at 3:15pm and 8th grade begins at 4:00pm.

Check out the flier below. There are several ways to report absences. We hope you find it useful!

• When you receive a message that your student was absent, you can respond easily by clicking on the link within the message to report your student's absence.
• 7th period is actually the students PAW period and the first class of the day Tuesday - Friday.
• ALSO NOTE: There will be NO TRAVEL STUDIES approved if the Annual Registration Update is not completed.
  

Check out www.pantherpress916.com

NEW ARTICLES HAVE BEEN POSTED TO PANTHER PRESS!

Make sure to check back several times a week as we are constantly posting
new articles and photos!

Recently Added:

• Expanding GEMS a possibility....
• GEMS Broadcasting Field Trip
• Developing Life Skills in Students: Portrait of a Learner
• What is CTE Wheel?
• Harvest Fair
• Gilmore Girls Review
• Opinion: Energy Drinks: Dangerous Boost for Kids' Health
• Opinion: Rise of AI Video Generation
• Opinion: Why Middle School Friendships Matter More than you think
• updates in Paw Prints section
• vote in our Favorite HOLIDAY poll

.....AND MUCH MUCH MORE

Our first podcast of the year is ONLINE NOW....
WeAre105 is available on the GEMS TV YouTube channel, Spotify and Apple.

Our first episode has students discussing Artificial Intelligence and a round table on Holidays.

https://youtu.be/6KM-iwB6mVI?si=w6qlR2zepxxCL3Xr

Web Link:

Click Here

https://youtu.be/6KM-iwB6mVI?si=w6qlR2zepxxCL3Xr

7th Graders: Trip Registration is open now! We have over 45 travelers signed up....We will be visiting Washington DC, New York and Boston in 2027. If interested, please email jnoonan@wpusd.org

8th Graders: Student meetings will begin in January. We have over 85 travelers signed up and have 3-4 open spots if anyone is still interested in joining. We will be traveling to Philadelphia, Washington DC and New York

Any East Coast questions, please email jnoonan@wpusd.org

IF your student wants to participate in any athletic capacity be sure you have an account created in Final Forms and physical clearance by a physician.

• Parent AND Student must create their own account, fill out and submit information via FINAL FORMS
• All students must have a current PHYSICAL on file with the school (current means within the past year).

Learn more about our food service program HERE and visit the food services website HERE for daily menu options.

Don't forget to follow our GEMS Facebook Page to stay on top of all the fun things we are doing around campus! Click this link or the picture below to follow!