GEHMS Bulletin A great start

Dear GEHMS Families,

It is hard to believe we are already two weeks into the school year! What a wonderful start it has been. From the moment you walk through our doors, you can feel the positivity, excitement, and energy throughout our school. Our students are settling in, our staff is building relationships, and there is a wonderful sense of community taking shape.

We were also excited to welcome our CREC Superintendents for a visit this week. They had the opportunity to see our students and staff in action and experience some of the great things happening at GEHMS!

We are also very fortunate to have Ms. Aideen Whittaker supporting our school community as Interim Assistant Principal. Ms. Whittaker is here to support our students, staff, and families, so please feel free to reach out to her at awhittaker@crec.org with questions or concerns.

Thank You for Your Grace — and a New Dismissal Tool!

We want to sincerely thank you for your patience, flexibility, and grace as we worked through the opening days of school and our dismissal procedures. Dismissal is one of the most complex and safety-sensitive parts of our day, and we appreciate your partnership as we continue to fine-tune our systems.

With that in mind, we are excited to begin rolling out a new dismissal app over the next two weeks! Please take a look at the information below.

This simple tool is already being used very successfully at other CREC schools, and I can tell you from personal experience—as an auntie and godparent who has used it from the parent side—that it really can make a difference!

The goal is to close communication gaps, create one reliable place for dismissal information, and streamline our procedures so that we can get students where they need to go safely and efficiently.

More information and directions will be coming soon. We will need your help to make this successful! In particular, families will need to communicate dismissal changes in a timely manner. Late changes can have a significant impact on our dismissal process and can delay buses from leaving the school. The new system will help tremendously, but only if we all use it consistently.

Thank you in advance for partnering with us on this important safety and communication improvement.

Intake Conferences Are THIS Week!

Next week is Intake Conference Week, and we encourage every family to sign up for a conference with your child's teacher.

This is a really important opportunity for our teachers to get to know you and your family, learn about your child, begin building a relationship, and establish goals together in support of your child's success. We value the home-school partnership and look forward to connecting with you!

PTO Pizza Night & Getting Connected

Our PTO has already kicked off the year with a wonderful Pizza Night, welcoming families back and giving everyone a chance to gather, meet new friends, and reconnect with old classmates.

A huge thank you to our PTO for creating these opportunities and helping build our school community. If you have been thinking about getting involved, please consider joining in! Many hands make light work, and there are so many ways families can contribute to making GEHMS an even stronger community for our children.

Thank you for choosing to be part of our magnet school community. We are grateful you are here, and we are so excited about the year ahead!

Warmly,
Kristi Hummel

• Labor Day (No School): Monday September 7
• Early Dismissals for Conferences (12:10 PM): September 9, 10, 11. Aftercare available if already signed up.
• Wed 9/16. Early dismissal for Professional Development. NO AFTERCARE

We have good news! For your convenience and clarity in processes, GEHMS will begin utilizing a new on-line dismissal management system SOON called School Dismissal Manager (SDM). It is dependable, easy-to-use, and can be updated by parents and guardians from the convenience of their smart phones, tablets, and PCs.

Many other schools use this with great success. We appreciate that dismissal is challenging with so many busses and changes, this should streamline information and help us assure everyone safely gets home! This is GEHMS in house dismissal management-- transportation is not affiliated and they may have their own app.

Through the on-line dismissal management system, families will:

• Report student absences and late arrivals
• Schedule early departures from school
• Make transportation changes the current day (with a cut off time)
• Detail any changes to student's dismissal
• Identify who is able to pick up
• School can send emails to one bus or one dismissal group only, which will be helpful

We will begin using SDM for dismissal with a hard start date later this month. Before we convert to this new system, we will provide you with additional information and an email will be sent to you directly from SDM.

For right now, please continue to report transportation changes gehmsoffice@crec.org

If you have not completed your child’s registration, please do so as soon as possible. Until the registration process is complete, your child may not be officially registered with Glastonbury-East Hartford Magnet School (GEHMS).

This may affect your child’s ability to participate in field trips, school activities, and other events.

If you received an Incomplete Registration email, please complete as soon as possible. If you need assistance or have any questions, please contact Nancy Santiago at nsantiago@crec.org.

Please click and assure you are set and understand Powerschool. The link includes directions and a video (in English and Spanish) about how to access and use the portal. Field permission slips will ONLY BE ON POWERSCHOOL moving forward and are mandatory.

➡️ Important: If your child is not fully registered or if your PowerSchool information is incomplete, you will not receive a class placement. Per CREC policy, registration is required before class placement is finalized. Please ensure all documents and registration steps are completed in PowerSchool. Call the main office if you have questions or need support.

Please be sure to check your junk mail in the event that you have not seen it. The email comes from noreplyenrollment@powerschool.com and the subject is URGENT: Important School Registration for XXXXXXXXXX (your child's name). Each link is personalized links for every child.

We’re excited to have everyone back at school! Just a friendly reminder that attendance counts—every day your child is here is an opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed.

Preparing your child for regular school attendance starts with building consistent routines, establishing healthy habits, and addressing potential anxieties before classes begin. Small steps at home can make a big difference in helping your child feel prepared, confident, and ready to learn.

Please remember to call the attendance line to let us know whenever your child will be absent from school. Your communication helps us keep accurate attendance records and ensures we know your child is safe.

Thank you for partnering with us to support strong attendance and student success!

💙 Everyday Counts! Let’s make this a great school year together!

We are happy to announce that GEHMS remains eligible for the community eligibility provision (CEP) grant. Therefore, both breakfast and lunch will be offered at no cost to the students. This is the final year of a 4-year approved grant. The Glastonbury Food Services website listing meal choices is being updated, once it is completed, the information will be sent along to all families.

We’ve had a great start to the year! Our first PTO meeting was held last week, and we were so excited to kick things off together.

We also had a wonderful time at our Welcome Back PTO Pizza Night on Friday! The weather was beautiful, the pizza was delicious, and it was such a great opportunity for families to connect and enjoy some time together on the playground. Thank you to everyone who came out and helped make it such a fun evening!

There are lots of exciting things ahead this year:

🍔 McDonald’s Night – Thursday, October 8
Come grab dinner and support GEHMS! A percentage of purchases made during designated hours will be donated back to our school. No volunteers are needed — just come enjoy a meal!

🌟 NOVA Night – November
Date and details coming soon!

🎄 Gingerbread Event – December
This is always a favorite and a wonderful way to have fun while supporting our school goals.

Volunteers will be needed, so please consider joining us, helping out a little (or a lot!), or simply reaching out to learn more.

Interested in getting involved? We’d love to have you! Every bit of participation makes a difference, and there are many ways to help — big or small.

📧 gehmspto@gmail.com

We’re looking forward to a fantastic year together. Thank you for being part of our GEHMS community!

• Dental Van will be here 9/24. Seesaw and physical flyers were sent home.
• Updated Physicals are needed by 10/31. Physicals are for Pre-K, K or if new students are here and if we don't have one on file. Immunizations apply to all students. If not received, student's cannot return until requirements met.
• immunizations are needed by 10/31. Immunizations apply to all students. If not received, student's cannot return until requirements met. We have been reaching out to the parents whose child(ren) are non-compliant at this time,

Race to Fill the Pantry Food Drive: Monday, September 28th through Friday, October 30th

Class that brings in the most nonperishable food or household items receives a field trip to the Glastonbury Food Pantry to drop off the food!

Race to Fill the Pantry 5K Walk/Run - Sunday, November 15th - 8:00am - 10:30am - Registration TBA

GEHMS Families who participate receive a discount when registering.

Most proceeds benefit the Glastonbury Food Pantry, and the GEHMS Green Leaf Program receives a generous donation from the registration fees that help with our Garden Club and other school-based sustainable initiatives.

Any questions, please email Ms. Wilson at twilson@crec.org

After a successful inaugural afterschool spring club, the GEHMS Garden Club is pleased to start up again this Fall. Students in Grade 3-5 are invited to participate in this after-school club. We will begin on Monday, September 21st meeting twice a week, Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:35pm - 5:00pm.

All interested students are requested to fill out an interest inventory and past Garden Club students are welcomed to participate again. The most important aspect of participation is to have reliable transportation home as afterschool bus transportation is NOT provided. Girls who participate in Girls on the Run are welcome to attend just one day a week while that program is in session.

Here is a link to the program: https://forms.gle/tbBpCuJPqMTZ4B6G7

Any questions, please email Ms. Wilson at twilson@crec.org

Girls on the Run (GOTR) is an evidence-based, after-school program for girls in grades 3–5 that combines running and physical activity with social-emotional learning. Trained coaches lead girls through interactive lessons focused on confidence, healthy relationships, teamwork, managing emotions, goal-setting, and making positive choices

• The program will run from Monday, September 28th through Sunday, December 6th
• Practices will be held in the gym and on the soccer field on Monday and Thursdays from 3:35p -5p
• Bussing is not provided

• Our End-of-Season 5K will be at Blue Back Mitten Run: Sunday, December 6, 2026

CREC strives to understand and confront the symptoms and causes of racism and prejudice—ranging from biases to aggressions to discriminatory policies, practices, and traditions—that harm people from systemically marginalized groups or that benefit privileged groups. CREC staff and students acknowledge and respect people of all identifiers, such as race, socioeconomic status, gender identity and expression, education, age, ability, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, language, nationality, religion, and veteran status.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBl7GzEnnKc

Email: gehmsoffice@crec.org
Website: https://gehms.crecschools.org/
Location: 95 Oak Street, Glastonbury, CT, USA
Phone: 8606334455