Gearity PDS

Greetings Gearity Families:

We would like to thank you all for helping make the start of the school year smooth and focused. Our students have been working hard in class all week and are meeting our PAWS expectations daily.

Ice Cream Social: Please make sure you mark your calendars for next Friday. The PTA will host our annual Ice Cream Social which is a great opportunity to meet the families of your child's classmates and enjoy free ice cream - details are in the flyer linked below.

We Need You - Join the PTA! Events like the Ice Cream Social don't happen by chance - they happen through the collective efforts of our PTA. We will be hosting our first PTA meeting on Wednesday from 6:00 - 7:00 pm in the media center. Please consider joining our team as many hands make light work. We have worked hard to ensure the time commitment for PTA is manageable. We meet monthly alternating between in-person and virtual meetings. Help us make sure the following events happen: the Ice Cream Social, 2 book fairs, the Family Dance, Teacher Appreciation week, and support for the 5th grade Sendoff. If you can't join the monthly meetings but still want to help, you can volunteer for individual events.

Teaching and Learning Update: The weekly curriculum review is back and designed to let you know what your students are learning in class while sharing tips for at home learning supports. I plan to regularly share short videos that will give advice for how to support your students with developing stronger reading skills - this week is an overview of phonics skills. As a reminder, it is crucial that your children read for 20 minutes a night so they can build their vocabulary, develop fluency and strengthen their reading comprehension skills.

Character Strong: Our District uses the Character Strong program to help students learn the skills they need to be successful in collaborative school and work settings. Our counselor, Mrs. Higham, teaches your students weekly guidance lessons centered on a monthly theme from the program. At the start of each month, you will get information about the monthly theme and how you can help make connections to the theme at home. September's focus is on Respect.

Have a great weekend,

Mr. Mc Nichols

Principal, Gearity Professional Development School

Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District

What did my child learn at school this week?

Here is a snapshot of what students are learning across grade levels, along with simple ways you can support learning at home.

Kindergarten

What we’re learning

Students are beginning the year by building routines and getting comfortable with classroom behavior and academic expectations.

Try it at home

📖 Read a story together and ask, “What happened?” and “How do you know?”
🔷 Go on a shape hunt around your home. Find circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles.
🗣️ Practice letter sounds and blending simple words.

Grade 1

What we’re learning

They are learning to ask and answer questions about stories and identify important details.
Students are practicing writing complete sentences.
In math, students are working with addition and subtraction ideas and solving problems using mathematical thinking.

Try it at home

📚 After reading, ask: “Who was in the story? What happened? Where did it happen?”
✍️ Encourage your child to write 2–3 sentences about a favorite book, activity, or experience.
➕ Practice addition and subtraction with everyday objects such as toys, snacks, or coins.
🔤 Spend a few minutes practicing letter sounds and reading simple words.

Grade 2

What we’re learning

They are learning to identify important details and events in stories.
Students are exploring how characters respond to events in a story.
In writing, students are beginning to create realistic fiction—stories about characters and events that could realistically happen.
In math, students are building foundational skills in addition and subtraction.

Try it at home

📖 Ask your child, “What problem did the character have? How did the character respond?”
✏️ Have your child write a short realistic story about something that could happen at school or home.
➕ Use everyday situations to practice math: “You have 12 crackers and eat 4. How many are left?”
🔤 Read together for 20 minutes each day and talk about unfamiliar words.

Grade 3

What we’re learning

Students are learning to describe characters and their actions. They are also learning to identify who is telling a story and how the narrator's point of view affects the story.
Students are beginning personal narratives, writing about meaningful experiences.
In math, students are working on addition and subtraction strategies and solving problems involving multiple steps.

Try it at home

📚 Ask, “Why did the character make that choice?”
👀 Talk about how a story might change if it were told by a different character.
✍️ Have your child write about a memorable family or school experience with a beginning, middle, and end.
🧮 Practice multiplication and addition/subtraction using real-life situations.

Grade 4

What we’re learning

Students are learning how to use text features to find and understand information. They are also examining how authors organize information and explain their ideas.
In writing, students are beginning to develop opinion essays supported by reasons and evidence.
Math focuses on place value and multi-digit numbers, including comparing, rounding, and performing operations.

Try it at home

📰 Read a nonfiction article together and ask, “How did the author organize this information?”
🔎 Look at headings, captions, diagrams, and bold words and discuss how they help readers.
✍️ Ask your child to write an opinion about a family-friendly topic and support it with two reasons.
🔢 Practice rounding numbers found on grocery receipts, sports statistics, or prices.

Grade 5

What we’re learning

Students are examining how information is organized in nonfiction texts. They are also thinking about the author's purpose and point of view.
Students are beginning to write opinion essays using reasons and evidence.
In math, students are working with place value and multi-digit numbers, including comparing, rounding, and performing operations.

Try it at home

📖 Read two short nonfiction articles about the same topic and ask, “How are they organized differently?”
💭 Ask, “What does the author want me to think or understand?”
✍️ Have your child write an opinion and support it with at least two reasons and evidence.
🔢 Practice comparing and rounding large numbers using real-world examples such as populations, distances, or prices.

Important Links!

School Supply Lists: Gearity Elementary

Food Service: You can see the monthly menus by clicking on this link.

Registration Information: New student registration can be completed online or in person. Find instructions, required documents, and contact information here. Please share the registration link with new neighbors or friends who may need help getting their children registered for the start of the school year.

Student Code of Conduct: Link to the Student Code of Conduct and Anti-Bully forms.

District Plan for Communications with Persons with Disabilities

The District has adopted a plan for communications with persons with disabilities, which is available at the following link: Communication Plan. The plan establishes procedures to ensure that the District's communications with persons with disabilities, including applicants, participants, members of the public, and companions with disabilities, are as effective as its communications with others.