The EduGator
November 10, 2026
Dear GRSD team,
As we celebrate Veterans Day across the Gateway community, the holiday reminds me of how our team performs a critical service to our nation, state, and towns as well. We educate our future soldiers, doctors, artists, teachers, welders, and citizens. Thank YOU for serving our nation, and enjoy the photos below of celebrations at some of our schools. I'll be adding more in next week!
Coming up in December is one of our great public service opportunities for NHS members, GRS Ban d and Choir, and our local Senior Citizens - our Seniors Brunch and Concert. See the poster here for the date and time and spread the word!
Our Instructional Leadership Council - ILTs from each school - held their 1st progress monitoring session last week, looking at chronic absenteeism, walkthrough data, and the gaps our students with disabilities displayed on early iReady ELA results in 1-8. As a result of these discussions, each school may see similar data and engage in further discussion about our best moves to continue towards our district and school goals. Kudos to the ILC for thoughtful reflection!
As a reminder, two opportunities to recognize our colleagues are open now.
- Nominate a teacher for the 2026-2027 Pioneer Valley Excellence in Teaching Awards by emailing me with the individual's name and reason for your nomination by November 20. This award recognizes a certified educator who works full time instructing students and also demonstrates:
- Excellence in teaching practices
- Effectiveness and creativity
- Impact on students
- Support of and positive impact upon other teachers’ practice
- Participation in professional development
- Evidence of going “above and beyond” in classroom and school community
- Nominate Massachusetts’ First Paraeducator of the Year! Please email me directly by November 20 to nominate an instructional assistant at Gateway who:
- Provides instructional supports that are evidence-based, inclusive, and culturally and linguistically sustaining.
- Contributes to a safe and supportive classroom environment, fostering a sense of welcome and belonging for all students.
- Collaborates with students, teachers, and the larger school community to support student learning
Enjoy the visuals of our Veterans Day celebrations,
Melissa
A Veterans Panel at GRS, including Senator John Velis and our own Kelly Sudnick.
Middle School Choir leading the national anthem at GRS.
Chester students ready for their assembly.
Shout out to:
- Super shout out to the Sunrise Academy Team - Liz Lewis, Miranda Loucks, Kim Sansouci, Annie Pritchard, Shannon Kopacz, Alicia Spaulding, Kristen Gauthier, Kevin Brown, Kelly Sudnick and Chris Tamburrino. This incredible team manages many of our most medically fragile and physically challenging students. Their ongoing dedication is seen and recognized! - Dr. M.
- Cheers to our Girls X Country team for earning the Pioneer South League Championship and to our Boys Soccer team for winning the Western MA championship in our division. Check out some images of these teams below.
Share your shout out with me!
- November 10: Veterans Day Celebration at Littleville Elementary
- November 11: NO SCHOOL - Veterans Day
- November 18, 19: 1/2 Days - Conferences
- November 25: 1/2 Day
- November 26, 27: NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving
- December 9: School Committee Meeting
With tremendous gratitude for our search committee and ALL of you who participated in our onsite visits with finalist candidates, we will be announcing the new principal for Gateway Regional School later today. Stay tuned!
Amplify CKLA Resources
Foster a spirit of thankfulness this month with our free gratitude activities, including two writing activities and an acrostic poem, available in English and Spanish. Download now ›
Join a live Educator Quarterly Professional Learning session to explore how you can use assessment results to plan instruction. Amplify program experts will answer questions and help connect results to practical next steps.
These one-hour sessions run Nov. 30–Dec. 4, with 45 minutes of facilitator-led content and 15 minutes of live Q&A. Choose your program(s) during registration to see your session date and reserve your spot.
2027 Civics Showcases
DESE and Generation Citizen are partnering for the third year to present four Civics Project Showcases across Massachusetts. The showcases are open to public school students in grades 8-12 who complete a student-led civics project this school year. Each event will have a science fair-style format in which students will share their civics projects with each other and outside community advisors. Civics Project Showcase registration is open for schools and districts through Friday, February 12. The showcases are planned for:
- Thursday, May 27 at the DCU Center in Worcester;
- Tuesday, June 1 at the MassMutual Center in Springfield;
Districts and schools new to the showcases are invited to a webinar that will review what to expect and how to plan their own local showcase. The webinar will be offered twice on Tuesday, November 17, with one session at 8:00 a.m. and another at 4:00 p.m. Representatives are invited to register for one of the November 17 civics webinars.
DESE is also looking for submissions to the Civics Project Artifact Library. Please consider submitting teacher and/or student work through the Civics Project Artifact Submission form. Please email any questions on Civics Project Showcases to Julia Lucas (DESE) or Naomi Sanon (Generation Citizen).
Learn to Live Webinars
*NEW* Moving Past the Habits that Hook You: Have you felt that urge to check your phone
one more time, indulge just a little more, or click "buy now" on something you don't need? This
can seem almost involuntary - like you're hooked with no other choice. In this webinar, the
Learn to Live Clinical Team introduces how you can notice these urges without giving in. You'll
walk away with practical strategies to unhook you from whatever behavior you're working to
change.
Tuesday, November 17th : 2-2:30pm CT/3-3:30pm ET
Retrain Your Brain: The Case for Gratitude: Research shows that strengthening the
gratitude muscle can lower stress and improve mood. Building this muscle actually feels good!
Our Clinical Team will explore ways to strengthen your gratitude muscle and retrain your brain
with practical ideas.