Craig Hill Cougar Chronicle

November:

2: Session 1 clubs begin

10: Veteran's Day Assembly

10: Open Gym 6-7 PM

11: NO SCHOOL

26-27: NO SCHOOL

Join us on Social Media to hear about upcoming events, see photos of events taking place in school, & more!

Join us on Saturday November 7th from 11-1PM for the GCSD Fall Family Fest! This event takes place at Arcadia Middle School and is a FREE event for all families! There will be games, crafts, a magician, and lunch for all! A sensory friendly space will also be available.

Please register by clicking on the flier so they can have enough supplies on hand for the event!

If your family is facing financial hardship and is in need of help with holiday gifts, please click this flyer to complete the form linked below by Friday, November 13th. No applications will be accepted after this time.

Check out these amazing sports opportunities available!

Our school is in need of gently used sweatpants, and new underwear! We need sizes 8-16 for both boys and girls. Thank you for your support!

Join us on Tuesday November 10th from 6-7 PM for an Open Gym!

*Please note that this is not a drop off event.*

If your family is ever in need of any resources or support, Greece Central is here to help! Our Community Schools team is able to connect you to resources and supports available in our local community, from clothing, food, rent assistance, and more!

The buttons below give you contact information to our district Food Pantry, as well as our Neighborhood Navigation Center. These are FREE resources designed to assist Greece Central families with any assistance and resources they may need.

Additionally, you can also always contact our school's Community School Coordinator who can assist with immediate needs of clothing, winter coats, etc. She can be reached via email at valorie.jonas@greececsd.org, or by calling her direct line 966-4551.

Please view this informative presentation to view information about the importance of attendance, as well as the daily schedule to help your student be successful at school.

Join us for an interactive family event where 4th-8th grade students and their families team up to explore meaningful tech use at school and at home. Together, we’ll design practical ways to build positive digital habits and strike a healthy balance between screen time and genuine human connection.

Click on the photo to register.

Protecting young people from online harm starts with knowledge. Join FBI Buffalo for a critical in-person presentation. This session is designed specifically to inform guardians, educators, and school communities about today’s most pressing online safety concerns and provide resources for families and educators to use at home and in the classroom. FBI speakers will explore how seemingly harmless online interactions can turn into threats of manipulation or violence against our youth.

Click on the photo to register.

Dear Families,

Keeping students and staff safe is a responsibility we take seriously every day. Greece Central has established security procedures, emergency plans and student support resources to help maintain safe, supportive learning environments. Families, students and staff also play an important role in making safety a shared priority.

Keeping Our Buildings Secure
Greece Central has established security procedures and systems designed to help protect students and staff throughout the school day. Exterior doors at all school campuses remain locked, and visitors must enter through one designated entrance and follow established security procedures. Our secondary schools also use security screening systems during student arrival and at large-scale events to help prevent unauthorized items from entering our buildings.

The district employs a security team that includes retired law enforcement officers licensed to carry firearms. We also maintain a close working relationship with the Greece Police Department. Officers have keys to access district schools and classrooms to support a timely response when needed.

Additional safeguards include classroom locksets designed to prevent unauthorized entry from outside the room and lockdown alarm systems that support our emergency response procedures.

Everyone has a role in maintaining these safeguards. Following visitor procedures and keeping doors secure are simple but important ways we can all contribute to school safety.

Supporting Student Well-Being
School safety includes more than physical security. It also means helping students build positive relationships, navigate challenges and feel comfortable asking for help.

We continue to expand in-school mental health resources, including counselors, social workers and other mental health professionals who work with students across the district. These staff members help students build connections, work through conflicts and address concerns early.

Understanding Emergency Procedures
Knowing the terminology used during a school emergency can help families better understand communications from the district and what different responses mean. Please take a few minutes to review our School Emergency Planning: Family Edition guide. It explains emergency terms you may hear from your school, what different responses look like and what families should know.

Speaking Up About Concerns
Students, families and staff all play an important role in identifying and reporting concerns that could affect school safety. For more than 20 years, Greece Central has offered the Safe School Helpline as a confidential way to share information.

To report a concern, call 1-800-418-6423, ext. 359, or submit a report online.

Working Together for School Safety
A safe school environment depends on the steps we take together, from following building security procedures to making sure students know they can turn to a trusted adult when something concerns them.

We know families place tremendous trust in us, and we take that responsibility seriously. Thank you for partnering with us to support the safety and well-being of our students and staff.

Sincerely,

Greece Central School District

Due to the busy nature of the office in preparation for afternoon dismissal, no student can be picked up from the office for dismissal after 2:30PM. If you arrive for pick up after 2:30 PM, you will need to join the car line. We will then bring your child out through the carline. Car line dismissal begins at 3:00 PM.

*Please note that PikMy Kid can not make changes to dismissal procedures after 2:30PM, so you will need to put your information into the app before this time.*

We want to share a friendly reminder about our school district's student dismissal policy. For the safety and security of all students, anyone picking up a child must have a valid photo ID available.

While many of our staff members know our families, there may be times when a substitute or another staff member is working at the pick-up window who may not know you or your child. Having your ID ready helps us follow district policy and ensures that every child is released only to an authorized adult.

We kindly ask that you bring your photo ID with you each time you pick up your child. If an ID is not available, the dismissal process may be delayed while we verify your identity.

We appreciate your understanding, patience, and partnership as we work together to keep all of our students safe. Thank you for helping us make dismissal a smooth and secure process for everyone.

We are excited to announce a more convenient way to communicate with our attendance office. Anticipating a December rollout, parents and guardians of elementary students will now be able to submit student absences directly through the Infinite Campus Parent Portal.

The Absence Request tool allows you to inform us of upcoming absences (such as a doctor appointment, a family vacation, or an unexpected sick day) in just a few clicks. After you submit the request, our office staff will process it and an attendance record will be created automatically.

More information and details to come!

This year our building is focusing on Academic Discourse. Academic Discourse literally means "talking about your learning". We will be focusing on this more with Reading, but it is equally important in Math. Here are some questions to ask to get your child "talking" about math!

If your student would like to practice iReady or access any additional school resources at home, here are the instructions on how to access this at home.

Have you ever had questions about iReady? Wanted to know more about it in terms of what it is, how it is used, or how it helps your student? This handy guide can answer all of these questions!

Thank you for your support with the Gertrude Hawk Fundraiser! We anticipate orders arriving the week of November 16th. Orders will be picked up at Autumn Lane after school. We will let you know as soon as we learn the specific date.

Future Meeting Dates:

December 14 6-7pm @ Autumn Lane (click to join meeting virtually)

February 10 6-7pm @ Craig Hill

April 12 6-7pm @ Autumn Lane

June 9 6-7pm @ Craig Hill

Help us stock the Teacher's Lounge for the Week of Parent Teacher Conferences. Click the photo to sign up to bring something!

Principal: Gail.Watson@greececsd.org

Assistant Principal: David.Peterson@greececsd.org

Secretary: Tina.DiPonzio@greececsd.org

Nurse: Marie.Cimino@greececsd.org

Counselor: Megan.Card@greececsd.org

Social Worker: Abigail.Mariano@greececsd.org

Community Schools Coordinator: Valorie.Jonas@greececsd.org