STINGRAY NEWS

Please take a few minutes to view and read the important information regarding drop-off and pick-up. You will see an opportunity to sign-up your student for a free dental exam. Also, enjoy some pictures from 6th grade orientation and our preplanning activities.

Upon entering school on Monday, we will have students' first period classes (alphabetically by grade level) posted near the cafeteria and down the hallway. This is for students who may be unclear where to go once dismissed for class. Once in first period, students will receive the most up-to-date copy of their schedule. It will be on purple paper. This will help staff/WEB students who may be assisting students as they navigate the school on Monday. The schedule change requests were completed as of Friday afternoon at 4 pm. So, any requests after that time would not have been changed. Also, it is possible a request was considered but unable to be accomodated. On Monday, we will be handling cases where a student may have no class assigned on a given period. The next priority would be a student who should have been in Intensive Reading but it is somehow missing, as well as students who may be in the wrong core class. Anything further will be of less priority and dealt with in coming days. Thank you in advance for your patience. We hope everything is in order but know it is likely there will be problems to solve.

Don't be this guy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7ixBvVQHC0

A question I ask often ask students, and myself, quite frequently is, "What if everyone was doing what you're doing? Would it be a good thing or create chaos?" The answer to this is almost always very evident. Please follow the procedures and it should provide both a safe and efficient process.

Please watch (follow the cursor) and listen to this video explaining how we work together to safely and efficiently drop-off and pick-up our precious cargo each day: https://watch.screencastify.com/v/SYBBscHAsh98LNFWuxXf

In case you have trouble with the video, a short summary is provided below, though I do hope you are able to view the video. The video and details below comprehensivley cover what you need to know.

• Drop-off no sooner than 7 am.
• Always pull forward as much as possible, up to the tree where the sidewalk ends. Students will be entering at the gym doors, not the main entrance.
• After dropping off, proceed cautiously as there are many cars entering, including some staff entering the parking lot.
• When picking up at the end of day, please pull forward, but leave a short distance between you and the car in front of you. This allows for the possibility your child will be ready for pick-up sooner and you will not have to wait.
• Grades are released gradually. For this reason, 6th graders will be out front first, followed by 7th, then 8th. If you have an 8th grader, it may make sense not to try and be the first in line.
• If you are near the front, please pull forward far enough that cars behind you can get around until your child gets to you.
• As the line grows to the front gate when you arrive, proceed down the drive to the gate that leads to the back (where the buses pick-up) and circle back around to the front gate. This will allow for more cars to enter the property, reducing back-up to Hwy 1.
• Please do not park in the parking lot. We feel it is unsafe for students to be walking across traffic as cars arrive and depart.

We had a nice turnout for orientation on Monday evening. We appreciate our 8th grade WEB students taking several hours out of their evening to help make it special. A former WEB teacher, Mrs. Nancy King, as well as several current teachers also helped. Below you can view some pictures taken during the event.

We want to thank the good people of Homeport Church (5605 US Hwy 1, a half mile north of school) for providing our staff breakfast Tuesday morning. Pastor Ben Boles was kind enough to deliver the goods and clean-up afterwards.

We also want to thank Jason Moortgat and Rachel Keith of kb Homes. They manage sales of Orchard Park Townhouses (on Wildwood between Brinkhoff Rd and Hwy 207). Jason and Rachel provided our staff breakfast on Thursday.

Both we delicious and very much appreciated by everyone!

Teachers and other instructional staff officially returned to school on Tuesday. We had a staff meeting on Tuesday where new staff were introduced, goals and expectations for the year were discussed, and district support personnel met with departments. On Wednesday, ALL staff met to learn about safety protocols. This was led by our YRD, Deputy Gomez, as well as our new Assistant Principal, Mr. Ferdinand Cooper. Teachers new to SJCSD also met to learn a bit about how things are done here. Wednesday afternoon was broken into 4 rotations. Teachers rotated together and learned about ESE Accomodations/Supports, Discipline Processes, PLC/MTSS, and Data. On Thursday morning we took a staff picture and of course Friday morning was Meet the Teacher. Any other time was spent by teachers as they prepared their classrooms. Below are some pictures from Tuesday.

Big Smiles will be at GRMS on August 26th to provide a free dental exam and cleaning for students.

Use the link below to provide consent, which will also sign-up your student:

https://www.myschooldentist.com/35367_schsrm

Per Big Smiles, these forms will go through an insurance verification process. Students with valid insurance will be eligible to be seen, and those without valid insurance will also need to fill out a simple grant form prior to the visit in order to be seen.

This is the last SR News where we plan to include information from previous newsletters. Future SR News should be considerably shorter. As long as you have been keeping up, you will not need to read anything below, unless you want to check out the new Dad jokes.

Parents,

Attached below are the document we are required to share. When you get a chance, please look them over. You may want to save some for reference. Thank you.

Hopefully everyone is aware that Meet the Teacher is Friday morning, 8 am - 11 am. We had provided a link to sign-up a few weeks ago. If you used that link, it would be wonderful if you kept your plans to arrive at the scheduled time. If you have not signed-up and desire to come, please come at your convenience, but be sure to arrive between 8 and 10:45. The link as not working earlier today, a Microsoft Bookings issue of some kind. I'm sharing it again here in case it may be working later today. If so, use the arrow to go to August 8. The purpose of scheduling is to spread out visitation to provide everyone a good experience. If it were to become crowded, we will open the gate to the parking area outside the fence near the two portables. Some teachers will not be present the entire time as they go to another school to meet their child's teachers. If these cases we have asked teachers to have something for you to pick up to learn more about the class and how to contact them. We look forward to seeing you!

Meet the Teacher 2025-2026

We understand waiting in the lines each morning can be a pain. This is certainly to be true the first few days of school, so please be patient! We do ask that students be here on time as class will begin on time. Upon entry, students who choose to eat breakfast will go to the cafeteria until done. Students who choose to eat breakfast should get in line right away so they can be ready to go to class on-time. As long as they begin eating upon arrival, we allow them to finish, even if it causes them to be a bit late to class. All 7th and 8th graders not eating breakfast will be seated in the gym until release, and other 6th graders will wait in the multi-purpose room until moving on to first period. We release students to first period in a staggered manner. Sixth graders will be released at 7:24 and expected to be in class at 7:27. Seventh graders will be released at 7:27 and expected in class by 7:30. Eighth graders will then be released at 7:30 and arrive in class by 7:33. At that time we will recite the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a moment of silence. Teachers of 6th graders are expected to begin class with a bell ringer (warm-up) while attendance is taken. They will not have several minutes of idle time waiting for others to arrive in class. This is mentioned so parents know that dropping students off at 7:30 will result in their student missing some important class time. However, for students whose buses may arrive a bit later than expected, we will give them ample time to eat breakfast without penalty.

Everyone should have recieved information regarding the new communiction tool, Parent Square.

This will enhance the ability for all stakeholders to connect.

This newsletter is still be created using Smore and shared via School Messenger. However, this will be changing in the near future as yours truly has more time to get comfortable with the new resource. Below are introductory flyers that will help you get started, in both English and Spanish.

The annual School-Opening Community Prayer Walk is scheduled for Sunday, August 10.

The time is based on the type of school. There will be a designated leader for each event, but everyone is welcome to participate. As you can see below, the prayer walk at GRMS is scheduled to occur at 3 pm. Go to the front of the school entering through the main gate.

• Elementary and K-8 2 pm
• Middle 3 pm
• High School 4 pm
• College 5pm

August 8: Meet the Teacher

August 11: First Day of School for Students (7:30 am - 1:50 pm)

September 1: Labor Day, No School

The dress code basically mirrors the one found in the SJCSD Student Code of Conduct. You may see the GRMS Dress Code below. It is also attached for easier viewing. We appreacite the support of parents as we carry out adherance to the policy. One of the steps is a parent conference here at school if the student were to consistently not meet the standards set by the school administration and SJCSD School Board.

We are getting very close to finalizing schedules. The only schedule changes that will be considered moving forward are ones where students are misplaced in a core subject or IR. If this were to occur, we can discuss whether we should give it more time or make a change to a standard or advanced section. If a student should be enrolled in Intensive reading and it is missing, we will need to make this change. Everyone should be aware that electives are not 100% student choice. We do our best to place students in classes of greatest interest, but our staffing is limited and this is not always possible. While PE is a required class for at least one semester, we do accept waivers. However, if there are no other electives available, a student's waiver may not be accpeted. This would be rare, and we would discuss it with parents on an individual basis. Thank you for understanding that scheduling is challenging.

Attached is guidance on school supplies, title Supplies List 25.26.

Purchasing the AVID bundle will support our AVID program and also provide most of the supplies necessary for classes. Below is a link to purchase a bundle. You may use the drop down arrow to view what is included. The resources in the bundle may also be found in the attached supply list. The QR code below will also take to the bundle/add-on school pay site.

https://schoolpay.com/pay/for/2025-Supply-Bundles-and-Add-On-Items/Mf2c

Per policy and state statute, students are not allowed the use of their cell phone during the school day. We understand communication between student and parent is sometimes necessary during school hours. You may call school at any time. We have a procedure for getting messages to students. Also, we have a phone in the guidance suite for student use. They simply need to ask. We request students use only this phone during lunch time when possible.

Families with access to HAC were able to view a glimpse of their student's schedule today. It may also be available on Thursday, though my understanding is that there have been some issues with HAC. Regardless, know that schedules are NOT final. We have a good amount of balancing of classes to do in the coming week or so. This will result in many students having the same classes but changes in the periods. We also have some students needing to be moved to an advanced class due to their performance on FAST PM3. This work takes a great amount of time. Please be patient and know we are doing our best to get all students in the appropriate classes that best meet their abilities. Also, be aware that some students will be enrolled in an elective they may not have chosen. It is impossible to schedule all students in the electives of their choice, though we generally are able to enroll students in 1 or 2 electives they selected in the spring. We will provide more information on schedules in coming days as they become finalized. Thank you!

Below are a few notes regarding this topic:

• Breakfast and lunch are both free to ALL students.
• These free meals include only one portion and no extra snacks, only the standard meal.
• Students are welcome to bring their own lunch from home.
• Breakfast should be eaten immediately upon arrival so students arrive in class on time.
• Students arriving to school with containers of soda, coffee, etc. that have been purchased at a convenience store, restaurant, donut/coffee shop, etc. must proceed to the cafeteria to finish consuming the food/drink.
• Only drinks in a container that may be sealed tightly and stored in the backpack are allowed to be taken out of the cafeteria. Please do not get upset if we confiscate your student's drink. We have had too many spills and spent many thousands of taxpayer dollars to replace stained carpets in classrooms over the past two years, though we are still not finished replacing all of them.
• These sealable containers should be stored in backpacks when not in use.
• Please do NOT bring students lunch from a restaurant during the school day. They will not be allowed to take it to the cafeteria.
• Students are not allowed to have food delivered to school by door dash, uber eats, etc.
• We do NOT have a microwave available for student use.

With the help of our SAC (School Advisory Committee) and input from students and staff, we developed a new mission statement last year. The short and simple statement encompasses our daily objective.

The mission of Gamble Rogers Middle School is to support the development of positive character and academic achievement that meet the unique needs of each student.

Please remember to complete the Returning Student Verification form sent via email from the district in recent days. It is important to have the accurate address and contact information in the system. Not completing the RSV will limit access to HAC (Home Access Center) which will preclude viewing student's schedules, among other things.

Below are the daily bell schedules. Wednesday are early release days. Note that students passing periods are staggered, beginning in the morning, and including dismissal.

Once school begins, possibly sooner, I will be adding a new section to the weekly SR news. As you can see, it's called BW's Best of the Week. This section will include things I liked that week, maybe in the classroom, student accomplishments, a good read, etc.This section was formerly called Curriculum Corner. The change opens up sharing a more variety of school/education-related topics.

During the summer, our office will be open Monday thru Thursday, 8:00 am - 4:00 pm.

Beginning August 4, office hours will Monday thru Friday, 7:00 am - 3:00 pm.

After 65 years of marriage, my grandpa still calls my grandma "honey", "sweetie", "baby", and "sugar". I asked him for the secret to keeping love alive so long. He said, "I forgot her name 10 years ago, and I'm afraid to ask."

A turtle crossing the road was mugged by two snails. When the police asked what happened, the shaken turtle replied, "I don't know. It all happened so fast."

GRMS has a new Facebook page: GRMS Facebook