G-A Superintendent Newsletter

Strategic Planning for the District for 2026-2029

Ramily Resources: Screen Time Edition

Bond Information: Visual on the taxes you'd pay if May 5th Bond Passes

Superintendent Excellence Awards

RISING RAM: Information on how your 4th and 8th graders transfer to new buildings

Conference Info: Feb 25 & 26

Upcoming Events, Fundrasiers, and More: ECHO VALLEY DAY Coming Feb 8!

Building Newsletter Sections: New Sections: Counselor and behavior specialist information

Community Section: Things going on in the community? Send me info and I'll add it here!

This committee will help support and guide efforts related to facility needs, building improvements, long-term infrastructure planning, and maintaining safe, functional spaces for everyone.

Interested in helping create plans for the next few years around faciliites?!?! Join me March 3 at 6:30pm at the High School Library.

Each month, our newsletter highlights family resources on behavior, family routines, mental health, and more. These resources are curated by our counselors, social workers, behavior team, and family liaisons to support and empower families.

We know that transition years—like moving from 4th to 5th grade or 8th to 9th grade—can bring a mix of emotions: worry, anxiety, excitement, and everything in between. To help support students during these important milestones, check out our Rising Ram Program!

We’re excited to share that we’ll be hosting a Donkey Basketball game on Wednesday, February 18th a night packed with laughs, friendly competition, and great family fun!

All proceeds from the event go directly to supporting our Galesburg‑Augusta High School basketball programs.
Tickets:
• $10 in advance
• $15 at the door
You can grab tickets online (scan the QR code on our flyers) or pick them up at:
• G‑A High School Office
• Primary School Office
• Augusta Library
• Galesburg Library
We’ll also have a raffle and silent auction with some amazing prizes you won’t want to miss.
Bring the whole family and join us for a fun night supporting our student athletes!

• Each week we celebrate at least one staff member for their hard work and dedication to the staff and students at G-AHS. During November we celebrated the following staff:

  • Special thank you to Mrs. Stanton for her organizing the field trip to Career Connect and the staff members that helped chaperone that event. All of our 10th graders were bussed over to the new building off 94 to learn about different CTE programs that are available to them in their Junior and Senior year. It was an incredible experience and we hope many of our students jump on this incredible opportunity.

• Shout-out to Mrs. Stanton, Brian Dolph, Nikki Ellis, and Amanda Ellis for their support at making Platinum Club happen this month. Students that met the criteria for attendance, behavior, and grades were bussed to JC Cinema to choose a movie of their liking in addition to enjoying some popcorn and candy. Great work to the 117 students that qualified. Proud of you! Our next Platinum Club will take place at the end of the school year when we take the students to South Haven. We love celebrating our RAMS!

Snowcoming is always one of our most favorite events! Special thanks to Mrs. O’Donnell for all of her planning and support of the Student Council. This group puts together an incredible week of fun and festivities for our building. We are so thankful!

Conferences will take place on February 25th from 4-7 p.m. These conferences will be open house style and you will be able to visit the teachers you need to see that evening. Our second night of conferences will be on February 26th from 1-3 p.m. and 4-7 p.m. This is a half day for students. These conferences are by appointment only. You are able to sign up for a virtual conference via the Google Site linked HERE. If you wish to have a face to face conference on the 26th, please email the teacher you need to meet with to set that up.

Our Accounting students stepped into the role of accounting interns this week as they worked through a simulated, real-world business scenario for a small shoe company. Over the course of the project, students analyzed 30 days of business transactions, recorded each one in the company's general journal, posted entries to the 15 general ledgers, and completed a trial balance—all essential steps in the accounting cycle.

This hands-on experience gave students an authentic look at how accountants track, organize, and analyze financial information to understand the health of a business. Projects like this help bridge classroom learning with real-world skills, preparing students for future careers in business, finance, and accounting.

We’re proud of the focus, problem-solving, and professionalism our students showed throughout this simulation!

• Career Fair Feb 4th

• Scholarships: Check the document here for the latest scholarship postings. G-A Foundation Scholarships application is due February 14th!

• Semester 2 Schedule Changes: Semester 2 changes can be requested until February 6th.

CTE Applications Deadline Extended! CTE applications for the 26-27 school year are now due February 13th. Please see Mrs. Stanton with any questions.

• February 2nd-6th School Counselor Appreciation Week-Thank you Mrs. Stanton for all that you do!

• February 3rd-Powderpuff Volleyball @ 6 p.m.

• February 4th-Career Fair

• February 6th-NHS Blood Drive

• February 7th-HS Solo Ensemble

• February 9th-WMU Industry Tour-Select 10th Graders

• February 11th-Spring Count Day

• February 16th-Pre-Festival Band Concert in High School Gym

• February 17th- Stryker Tour-Select 10th Graders

• February 18th-Half Day for Students, PD for Teachers

• February 18th- Donkey Basketball!

• February 22nd-School Bus Driver Appreciation Day! (Thanks for all you do!)

• February 23rd-School Board Meeting

• February 24th-Rising Rams-8th Graders Visit the High School

• February 25th-Senior Mock Interviews

• February 25th-GA HS Conferences from 4-7 p.m.

• February 26th-GA HS Virtual Conferences from 1-3 p.m. and 4-7 p.m.

• February 27th-March 2nd No School-Mid-Winter Break

Our December and January Hall of Fame winners are Madalyn Randell, Camila Murphy, Owyn Shoup, and Alannah Snyder. The Hall of Fame award recognizes outstanding student work and kindness shown to others. Congratulations!!!

Our winter Parent-Teacher conferences are approaching! They will be held on Wednesday, February 25th, from 4:15-7:15 and on Thursday, February 26th from 1:00-3:00 and 4:00-7:00. All middle school conferences will be “drop-in” style.

Our 8th grade students will be traveling to the High School on Tuesday, February 24th, for the Rising RAMS event. 8th Grade Students will spend the morning at the High School getting to know expectations, clubs, teachers, and staff.

The Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center will be hosting a 5th Grade Informational Night on Wednesday, March 4th, from 6-7 pm. Please see the flyer that was sent through email and Class Dojo for more information.

I want to take a moment to congratulate our students on the positive behaviors we’ve seen recently-their effort and respect make such an incredible difference! After our snow days, please remind students that hands, feet, and unkind words must be kept to themselves, and that phones and other electronic devices should remain in lockers during the school day. We are all looking forward to a great rest of the school year and celebrating all the successes ahead at G-A Middle School!

Cheer on your Middle School RAMS athletes at one of the following HOME athletic events:

February 4th: Basketball

February 5th: Basketball

February 7th: Wrestling Tournament

February 11th: Basketball

February 24th: Basketball

Doors open at 7:55 for all students who are eating breakfast. Students must go directly to the cafeteria upon entering the building and they must get breakfast. Students will remain in the cafeteria until 8:05. Doors open to ALL students at 8:05.

Classes start promptly at 8:14. Please make sure all students are dropped off no later than 8:10 each morning.

February 18th: Half Day for Students

February 25th: Parent/Teacher Conferences 4:15-7:15

February 26th: Half Day for Students K-12, P/T Conferences 1:00-3:00 and 4:00-7:00

February 27th: No School for Students K-12

March 2nd: No School, Mid-Winter Break

Here are some helpful parenting tips for the long wintery month of February.

Next time you watch a movie with your family, try asking your son or daughter to name three characters with the character strength of bravery. What made them brave?

When celebrating your child’s accomplishments, instead of saying ‘great job’ or ‘good job’, try replacing it with the word brave. “It was brave of you to try a new food.” “It was brave of you to stand up and talk in front of your class.”

Mindfulness doesn’t mean you have to be happy all of the time. Take a moment to be true to your present emotion. Talk with your child(ren) about their present emotions and yours. Each person can share why he/ she may be feeling a certain way.

Practice forgiveness by replacing the memory of a negative thought of someone with a positive thought of that same person.

Have a wonderful February!

Way to go Little Rams!

"First Day Shoe Fund provides new athletic shoes to students at Kalamazoo County Public

elementary schools at no cost. Caregivers who need shoes for their elementary aged student

can order online at www.firstdayshoefund.org/order or by scanning the QR code on the order

form. Online ordering opens on January 22, 2026 and will close on February 10, 2026.. If you

order online, you will get an email confirmation; please keep this email as it acts as a receipt for

your order. Students will also receive a paper order form once school starts and caregivers can

order by returning this to their school if ordering online isn’t possible.

Shoes will be fitted between February 18, 2026 through March 12, 2026 at the school buildings"

A HUGE shout out to Mrs. Ledlow for always being there to help with our school’s assessments and for keeping our students at the center of all decisions. Mrs. Ledlow is the keeper of all data and plays a pivotal role in facilitating our RAMS Reading program. Her dedication to not only analyzing and organizing the data but also using it to drive instruction ensures that every student’s needs are met. Her commitment to fostering a positive learning environment and her willingness to go above and beyond for our staff and students truly make a difference. We are so grateful for her hard work, expertise, and unwavering support in making our school a better place for everyone!

Galesburg-Augusta Primary students were given their middle of the year benchmark assessments. Everyone is working hard to grow! Here are some highlights.

1st grade -59% of 1st graders were benchmark or above with correct letter sounds (an increase of 16% from the beginning of the year)

68% of 1st graders were benchmark or above with whole words read (WRR) an increase of 28% from the beginning of the year.

2nd grade - 70% of students had reading composite scores at or above benchmark. NWEA for math in 2nd grade showed a 61st percentile average growth!

3rd grade MAZE students at benchmark increased by 13 %

64% of 4th grade students are reading with benchmark accuracy scores.

G-A Primary uses this data to help plan instruction for students!

Walker’s Window into Counseling:

Talking with your students

For those times when your students seem uninterested in talking about their day, or giving the same responses, try some new questions to see if they open up more--Open ended questions like: What was the best part of your day? What was the worst part of your day? What was one thing you learned about? How did you help someone today? How did you show kindness today? What was something funny that happened today?

Open-ended questions will tend to get a response other than yes, no, fine, good, etc. because they are more specific to what you are trying to learn. Simple changes in how we ask questions, might give us different responses. Take their responses to your questions and continue to elaborate and extrapolate conversation. Continuing to try to communicate with your child shows that you care and are present for them. Building that trusting relationship from this young age will emotionally benefit them as they continue to grow.

Ball’s Expectations

Students are always striving to do their best by demonstrating RAMS expectations in every area. We recently had our RAMS assembly (after winter break) reviewing expectations for school areas, recess, and with staff. Students who routinely demonstrate RAMS behavior receive RAMS tickets for the RAMS store and can also be acknowledged as our weekly and/or monthly RAMS winners.

Weekly RAMS winners receive certificates, a small prize, and a chance for a free book from our book vending machine!

Monthly RAMS winners earn a pizza party for being a leader all month long! We will announce our next monthly winners at the end of January.

Galesburg-Augusta Primary Elementary Families,

I am excited to help create a community of lifesavers and am asking you to join me. Sign up under our school Check this off your list in less than one minute and receive a wristband just for joining the team.

This year, we have an important goal: 100% of our families learning the lifesaving skill of Hands-Only CPR! It only takes a few minutes to learn, and it can make all the difference in an emergency.

1. Sign Up: http://www2.heart.org/goto/GalesburgPrimary OR download the free “AHA Schools” app.

2. Raise funds to help kids with special hearts.

3. Complete Finn’s Mission: Complete all 7 steps, learn Hands-Only CPR, and be entered to win two Super Bowl tickets!

Let’s work together to create a community of lifesavers. Thank you for your support in helping us achieve this incredible goal!

Feb. 2nd - Report Cards go home

Feb. - 1st grade - 4th grade Kids Heart Assembly

Feb. 11th - Count Day - Let’s make today count

Feb. 18th - ½ Day for Students

Feb. 25th-26th - Sign up for Conferences HERE

Feb. 26th - ½ day for students

Feb. 27 and March 2nd - No School -Mid Winter Break

April 23rd - Kindergarten Orientation 6:00-7:00 at the PS School