GMS Family Newsletter

As we settle into the second quarter, our students and staff are back in the swing of things at GMS! Our classrooms continue to be filled with opportunities for learning, collaboration, and meaningful experiences that help our students grow both academically and personally.

This past week, we also placed a strong emphasis on school safety, reviewing emergency response procedures and reinforcing the importance of being prepared, following directions, and responding appropriately in various situations. These efforts are an important part of maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment for everyone.

We appreciate the continued support of our families as we work together to make GMS a place where students can learn, lead, and lift one another!

#BuiltInTheMiddle!,

Dr. Rachel Adams, Principal
Mr. Bryan Everhart, Assistant Principal
Mrs. Nancy Philbeck, Assistant Principal

Monday, October 26

Tuesday, October 27

Wednesday, October 28

Thursday, October 29

Friday, October 30

• Friday Night Lights - GHS @ Elizabethton - 7:30pm

Great things continue to happen at GMS, both inside and outside the classroom! Our after-school RISE program provides students with opportunities to participate in hands-on, engaging activities that make learning both meaningful and fun.

Our Student Leadership Team did an outstanding job presenting to GCSEF community members, proudly representing GMS and sharing some of the great things happening throughout our school. We are proud of their confidence, leadership, and willingness to serve as ambassadors for GMS!

We also celebrated the induction of our newest National Junior Honor Society members! These students exemplify the qualities of scholarship, leadership, service, and character. They represent GMS with pride, demonstrate a commitment to excellence, and serve as positive role models for their peers. Congratulations to each of these students on this well-deserved recognition!

As we returned from Fall Break this week, our administrative team met with each grade level to review important safety protocols, procedures, and expectations. Our Related Arts team also led students through important safety drills to reinforce these practices. The safety and well-being of our students and staff will always be our top priority! We are committed to being proactive, prepared, and working together to keep GMS a safe place to learn and grow.

Our 6th graders enjoyed a wonderful day making memories, spending time together, and celebrating the fall season! We love opportunities to take learning beyond the classroom and build connections that make GMS such a special place!

This past week, we placed a strong emphasis on school safety by reviewing our student emergency response procedures with all grade levels. Students also had the opportunity to practice these procedures through drills conducted in the GMS Commons area, reinforcing the importance of knowing how to respond quickly and appropriately during an emergency.

We have included our GMS Student Emergency Response graphic and encourage families to review these four important steps with their children at home. Having these conversations both at school and at home helps reinforce the importance of being prepared, staying calm, and following directions to keep everyone safe.

GMS Students are allowed to dress up on Friday, October 30th! Please make sure your student follows these guidelines if they choose to celebrate and have a little fun.

Students May Wear:

-Costumes are allowed within GMS Dress Code

-Hats and wigs are allowed. (Yes, this is considered a hat day even if they don't dress up)

-Shoes must be worn.

You may not wear:

-Masks or anything else that covers the face

-Face Paint

-No toy knives, toy guns, or other tow weapons

-Capes, chains, and accessories (such as weapons, belts, etc.) that could potentially hurt you or another student

-Blow up costumes

Visit the GMS Athletics page on our school website for the most up-to-date athletic information. You'll find team contacts, required athletic forms, schedules, physical information, and other important announcements. We encourage families to check the page regularly throughout the school year for updates.

GMS Athletics: https://gms.gcschools.net/o/gms/page/athletics

1 ADULT – GENERAL ADMISSION TO ALL HOME GMS SPORTING EVENTS. THE PASS DOES NOT INCLUDE OFF-SITE SPORTING EVENTS OR TOURNAMENTS.

All purchased passes may be picked up from the GMS Main Office.

We are excited to share the first edition of our Greene Devil Times Student Newspaper! Be sure to click the button below to check out the amazing work of our students. A big thank you to Mrs. Smith and her team for their hard work and dedication in bringing this exciting opportunity to life!

School safety is a shared responsibility, and we encourage our GMS families to be aware of the SafeTN reporting tool. SafeTN allows students, parents, staff, and community members to confidentially report safety concerns 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. By reporting concerning behavior or potential threats, we can work together to help keep our students, staff, and school community safe. We encourage our families to download the SafeTN app and speak up if they see or hear something concerning. Additional information about SafeTN can be found on the GMS website under the "Our School" section.

The Turkey Trot is right around the corner, and we encourage our GMS families to attend and participate in this fun event! Additional information can be found in the flyer included in this week’s newsletter. When registering, be sure to select GMS as your school affiliation to show your Greene Devil pride!

The Greeneville Police Department has notified us that keeping East Vann Road clear and traffic moving is essential for safety. Please keep the following in mind when arriving for afternoon pick-up:

• Vehicles may not stop or wait in the roadway along East Vann Road while attempting to turn right onto campus. The Greeneville Police Department has advised that vehicles stopping in the traffic lane and impeding the flow of traffic may be ticketed.

• If the car line is backed up to East Vann Road, please do not stop in the roadway. Instead, drive past the school and enter the turn lane from the Hal Henard direction, or drive around and return a few moments later once the line has moved.

• When entering campus, please consider alternating turns with vehicles coming from the opposite direction. Allowing one car at a time from each direction to enter keeps the pace even and helps traffic continue to flow. Allowing three or four vehicles to turn across at once can quickly back up traffic on East Vann Road and can also block vehicles trying to exit our car line.

• The CarRiderPro tag reader turns on at 2:00 p.m. Vehicles may not line up or wait at the sensor before 2:00 p.m. This allows us to maintain access to the back parking lot for as long as possible.

Pro Tip: If your schedule allows, consider arriving around 2:55 p.m. The car line is typically much shorter and moves quickly by that time.

Thank you for helping us keep East Vann Road clear, maintain safe traffic flow, and keep our campus entrances accessible.

Morning car drop-off begins at 7:00 a.m., when staff members come outside to begin welcoming students. A few reminders will help us keep morning arrival safe and efficient:

• Please use both lanes of the car line.
• We use the entire drop-off lane, from the green sign below the awning to the trees at the back of the lot. Pull all the way forward and stay close to the car in front of you. Please do not wait to stop/drop off at the end of the awning.
• Once you have passed the trees and traffic comes to a stop, please have your student exit the vehicle. Using the full drop-off area allows more students to exit at the same time, helping us keep traffic moving while maintaining a safe and orderly arrival.
• Students exiting from vehicles in the outside lane should wait for an adult to signal that it is safe before crossing the inside lane.
• Pro-Tip: Plan to drop-off between 7:06-7:16.

A few things make a big difference in keeping our afternoon line moving:

• Have your car tag with you. If you do not have a car tag, you will need to park in the front lot, come inside, show your ID, and sign-out your student.
• The CarRiderPro tag reader turns on at 2:00 p.m. Vehicles may not line up or wait at the sensor before 2:00.
• Use both lanes of the car line. This helps us move more vehicles through the loading area at one time.
• Pull up close to the car in front of you. Maximizing the number of cars in the loading zone allows us to dismiss more students with each group.
• Keep driving until traffic stops or you reach the beginning of the loading zone. Please do not stop when you see your child. We use the entire loading area, from the green sign below the walkway all the way to the trees at the back of the lot.
• Remind your student to watch for your car and be ready to load quickly when dismissed from the sidewalk.
• If your student is not outside and ready to load, you will be directed to pull into the parking row at the bottom of the lot. We will check to make sure your tag scanned correctly, replace a tag if it is no longer working, and call your student outside.
• Pro tip: Car rider traffic is significantly reduced by approximately 2:55 p.m. We highly recommend waiting until that time to arrive when possible. Your overall wait will be much shorter as you cruise straight through our line!

Tardy & Early Check-Out Reminder:

Being at school for the full day and arriving on time helps students stay engaged in learning. In alignment with our Student Handbook (viewable on the GMS website & link at the bottom of this newsletter), the accumulation of three or more unexcused tardies and/or unexcused early check-outs during a semester will result in consequences through our progressive discipline policy, beginning with lunch detention.

Thank you for helping your student arrive on time and remain at school through the end of the day.

Greeneville City Schools only offers free breakfast and lunch for elementary school students. Greeneville Middle School and Greeneville High School students are charged for breakfast and lunch daily. Many families are eligible for Free & Reduced meals by competing the Free & Reduced Lunch Application. Apply now!

The Free & Reduced-Price Lunch Application for the 2026–2027 school year is now open!

We encourage all families to apply — even if you believe you may not qualify. Completing the application helps ensure access to important funding and opportunities for:

✅ Student Education
✅ Technology & Internet Access
✅ College Application Fee Discounts
✅ Scholarships

Please note: If your student qualified for free or reduced-price meals last school year, you must complete a new application for the 2026–2027 school year. Eligibility does not roll over from year to year — a current application must be submitted and processed for benefits to continue.

You can apply quickly and easily by scanning the QR code below or clicking this link:
🔗 https://frapps.horizonsolana.com/GREC01

If you have questions, please email Brianna Holt at holtb@gcschools.net.

Thank you for taking a moment to complete this important application and helping us better support all students!

Bus Transportation- If your student will be riding the bus, please verify transportation questions with our transportation department (423-525-4793). Additional information on the My Ride k-12 app can be found here: https://www4.gcschools.net/page/transportation

The online transportation change form should be the primary method used to submit any transportation changes for your student. All online requests must be submitted by noon on the day of the requested change to ensure we have time to make the necessary arrangements.

Please remember to notify the school anytime your student is absent. Parents may submit a parent note to excuse up to three days per semester. The easiest way to submit notes, whether parent or doctor, is through the online absentee reporting form found on our school website or the email/text link you receive when an absence is recorded as unexcused. Students may also turn in physical notes to the office; however, they often forget and fail to do so within the required two-day window (resulting in unexcused absence toward truancy).

All notes, parent or physician, must be submitted within two days of returning to school.

Good school attendance is essential for student success, as missing more than eight days in a semester, including illness or doctor-excused absences, is considered chronic absenteeism. Regular attendance helps students stay on track with their learning and is directly linked to higher achievement and an increased likelihood of graduation. Please reach out to GMS admin if you have any questions or need support.

Michael Bowman, Being Proactive, Not school related, but I can't thank Michael and Sebastian Bowman enough for immediately stopping to help me when my truck was having trouble last Thursday. The world needs more people like them!

Katina Smith, Thinking Win-Win, Katina has been a wonderful addition to our GMS team! She hosted a fantastic book fair before fall break that was fun for staff and students! She's led a group of students in creating a student-created GMS magazine. She has worked very hard to update the library and make it a welcoming place for everyone. Friday, we hosted the GCSEF meeting in the library, and Katina welcomed everyone in such a gracious way. Thank you, Katina!

Kayla Welden, Thinking Win-Win, In addition to being a GREAT teacher, Kayla is investing in our students as the yearbook sponsor, leading the student yearbook team, working with homebound students after school, and serving as a co-sponsor for our NJHS! This past week, she helped organize another great NJHS induction ceremony for our students. Thank you, Kayla, for all you do!

Logan Taylor, Synergizing, Logan is a rock star teacher and also leads our RISE program and serves as a co-sponsor of NJHS! Logan is working hard to ensure our RISE program is providing academic and enrichment opportunities for students before and after school. Last week, Logan helped organize another great NJHS induction for our students. I'm thankful Logan is part of our GMS team!

Kimberly Foulks, Thinking Win-Win, Kimberly is always working hard to ensure students are critical thinkers in her classroom and has been a great mentor for her student teacher this year! She is also our ELA team leader and co-sponsor of our NJHS. She helped organize another great NJHS induction ceremony for our students this week. Kimberly is helping plan our upcoming GMS Gallery Night. Thank you for all you do!

Michael Bowman, Thinking Win-Win, Michael invests a lot of time in our students as a teacher, coach, and leader! Recently, Michael supported our student leadership team as they welcomed the GCSEF Board Members for a visit to GMS and then gave a presentation about all of the great things happening at GMS. Thank you, Michael, for investing in our students!

Carrie Foster, Thinking Win-Win, Carrie does it all! Carrie helps make our library/media center a welcoming place, provides essential intervention during Extended Devil Time, subs in classes when needed, and is always working on ways to make things more efficient! We are blessed to have Carrie as part of our GMS team!

Bryan Everhart, Being Proactive, Bryan does it all, but most importantly, he's always working hard to ensure GMS is a safe place for our students and staff! Bryan is always reflecting and working with various stakeholders to update our crisis/safety plan to be the best it can be to keep GMS safe! This past week, he worked with our Related Arts team and led meetings with each grade level team to review important safety information. Thank you, Bryan, for keeping GMS safe!

Nancy Philbeck, Putting First Things First, Nancy does so much to make sure our students are successful and thriving! She has been working with our RISE program this year to ensure we have a system in place for students to complete their missing assignments each morning. She works every week to send important communications to students and families to keep them up to date about any missing assignments so they can take care of them quickly. Thank you, Nancy!

Related Arts Team, Being Proactive, Our Related Arts team worked together to make adjustments to our emergency plans that focus on clear communication protocols. Led by our Related Arts team leaders, Rachel Thomas and Andrea Tolley, the team practiced these procedures with students this past week to ensure they know what to do if there is an emergency. Thank you for working so hard to make GMS a safe place!

Danielle Stephens, Putting First Things First, Thank you, Danielle, for all your work to make our GMS Giving Tree possible! Danielle puts a lot of time and effort into ensuring all our GMS students have the opportunity to have what they need, along with some of their wish list items, during the holidays through the Giving Tree. Thank you, Danielle!

Starla Angel, Does It All!, Starla keeps GMS running! Our office is the operating hub of our school, and Starla helps make it all happen. There aren't enough words to describe all the things she does on a daily basis that deserve a shoutout. Thank you, Starla, for all you do!

Laura Neilsen, Synergizing, We are so grateful to have Laura as part of our GMS office team! Laura brings knowledge, calmness, and kindness to our office. She does little things to make others feel valued and always gets tasks completed. She helps keep the hub of our school, the office, running efficiently! Thank you!!!

Brooke Klickman, Being Super Organized!, Our GMS 6th grade had two field trips the week after fall break! Thanks to the leadership of our 6th grade team leader, Brooke Klickman, they were very successful! Brooke recently became the 6th grade team leader and is doing a wonderful job! Thank you for being so organized!