Good Evening Panther Families, We hope everyone has their clocks updated and has been adjusting to the cool weather. We are officially in the second marking period and report cards for MP1 are being finalized.
Upcoming events: Tomorrow, 11/6 is a professional development day for staff, school is closed for students.
Tuesday 11/7, is a B day for exploratory classes & MTSS period 5 classes.
Upcoming November Calendar:
Fall Dance: November 9th 6-8pm at GB cafeteria. Ticket Sales: continue 11/7. Permission slips due 11/8. Each student will receive a wristband as well.
Friday 11/10 is Veterans Day, School is closed for students & staff
Thursday 11/16 is our fundraiser at Applebee’s (info below)
Monday 11/20 & Tuesday 11/21 are Parent Teacher Conferences. School is closed for students. Sign-up details below.
Winter Sports Games this week: Our first wrestling match is Thursday 11/9, 3:30PM @ Springer Middle School. Our wrestling schedule is linked here:
District Calendar: The school district calendar for the 23-24 school year is linked here:
New Updates:
Parent-Teacher Conferences: November 20th & 21st are our parent-teacher conferences. Parents can view the sign-ups for each teacher here: It is organized by grade. The timeframes for the conferences are: Monday 11/20: 8AM-7:00 PM and Tuesday 11/21: 8AM -11:00AM. Families can sign up for in-person, phone, or Zoom conferences with each teacher individually for 10 minutes. This provides the families with flexibility with scheduling and to be able to meet with whom, when, and how best works for them. When signing-up, please indicate in the comment section if your conference will be in person, phone, or Zoom; and if a translator is needed for the conference.
Fundraising Event: Mark your calendars for November 16th! Applebee’s on Wilton Blvd. will donate 15% of checks to the Gunning Bedford student account to contribute to school events (field trips & end of year activities.) Be sure you bring our flier, which can be found HERE. Flyers will also be available in homerooms.
Back to Basics Tutoring: Please see flier here: 23-24 SY Back to Basics Learning Dynamics Colonial Revise Flyer.png
Updates from Grade Level: Please see updates from our grade level administrators and staff here:
6th Grade: 7th Grade: 8th Grade:
Basketball Tryout Information: There will be sign ups for boys and girls basketball tryouts Wednesday and Thursday, November 8th and 9th in the Panther Learning Den from 8:00- 8:25. Students must have a 1.75 GPA or higher as well as a DIAA sports physical turned in to be eligible. All physicals must be turned in by Thursday November 16th. Tryouts will begin after Thanksgiving break. For questions about sports, please contact our athletic director, Mr. Brelick via email, here:
Colonial School District Fall Newsletter: Linked is the October district newsletter, “Keeping Up With Colonial: Colonial Clippings”
Community Events:
Save the Date: Math Family Game Night PreK-12 is Wednesday, Nov 29th from 6:00-7:30 for our students & families! The flier has an RSVP for families.
YLI Leadership Recruitment Flyer (12).pdf Youth Leadership Institute, a program for middle school students in New Castle County, Delaware. Please see attached flier and application link. Registration link is here:
Verizon Innovative Learning STEM Achievers program. Join a full-day workshop for an introduction into the immersive program. Students will learn about design thinking, 3D printing, augmented reality and social entrepreneurship. The program takes place over a full-day science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workshop on December 2, 2023 from 10 am to 2 pm. See link with flier for more information and to sign up. OpenHouseFlyerFall23.pdf
Rolling Updates
Morning Car Rider drop-off & Afternoon pick-up: Parents dropping off students in the morning need to create a single line on the right side of the cones. Students should exit their cars to the sidewalk. Cars are not to travel on the left side of the cones. Student safety is our top priority. As a reminder, please review the images linked before on where drop-off and pick-up is located. am and pm. AM is in the front of the building, PM is on the side of the building. Staff will be present to support in building the routine with students and families. Please be patient with students, staff and our fellow families as we learn together. Our doors open at 7:55AM each day. Please be mindful of dropping off students before then as staff are not outside. In the afternoon, car rider dismissal begins at 2:37PM on the side of the building. Families will pull into the parking lot on the side of the building and form a line that goes up and around the lot. Please follow the directions of staff supporting the dismissal to ensure a safe dismissal for all.
Library Information from Ms. Hewes: We are excited to announce that our library, The Panther Learning Den, is now open to students. Please visitHERE to get more details from our building literacy coach, Mrs. Hewes.
GB Gear: Please see link here to order GB clothing & apparel. I purchased 2 sweatshirts this week and am looking forward to wearing them soon!
Student Lockers, Coats, Cellphones, & Expectations for Dress: All students have access to a locker. Students are to use their lockers to store their coats and bags each day. Students have access to their lockers multiple times during the school day to pick-up/dropoff items. Students are to not wear backpacks or coats during the school day. Link for Code of Conduct & Colonial Expectations for Dress: Please see link for a reminder for our district expectations for dress and this year’s code of conduct. Students are to not wear hats, hoods, or sunglasses inside the building. Please remind students about our cellphone expectations of devices being away while at school. Students are able to use YONDR pouches and/or have phones remain in their bags. A brief presentation about our cellphone expectations is linked here: Also, student horseplay is not appropriate at school. Students are to keep hands/feet to themselves.
Ongoing GB Food Drive: Details are here: Food Drive Fall 2023
GB Chorus: We had a great first meeting with about 30 students attending! Choir will continue to meet on Wednesday after school with Ms. Bailey. Please see the document here with more details. Choir Expectations & Permission Form
Emergency cards: Emergency Card 2023-2024.pdf If you have not submitted an Emergency Card, please do so ASAP. If you need one, it is linked above. Any new information from medical, to emergency contacts, to new phone numbers can all be updated on the emergency card.
YMCA Partnership: The Bear-Glasgow Family YMCA is excited to offer a fall program for middle school students. The WOW program provides students with experiences focusing on health active living through fitness, sports, team building and volunteer opportunities. Please see the link here for more details and how to sign-up!
End of Marking Period Dates: Marking Period 2: 1/24/23: Marking Period 3: 3/21/23: Marking Period 4: 6/6/23
Health Office Information: Our school nurse is Ms. Taylor & her email is: olivia.taylor@colonial.k12.de.
Theatre Arts: Ms. Burruss (7th grade teacher) will be leading our play this year! Updates and info will be shared shortly. We are excited to continue the tradition of performing arts at Gunning Bedford Middle School.
2023-2024 Yearbook Order Form: Linked here if interested in pre-ordering. Thank you Mr. Blocker for having Yearbook club at sporting events already snapping pictures. Looking forward to a great edition of the yearbook! 2024 Yearbook QR Code Order Link.pdf
Breakfast & Lunch for students: All students at Gunning Bedford get free breakfast & lunch each day. Students can pack their breakfast or lunch as well. Students are not able to have any outside delivery food for lunch time; For example no Door-Dash or UberEats delivery. The lunch times for students is:
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11:05-11:35 |
8 lunch |
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11:47-12:17 |
6 lunch |
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12:27-12:57 |
7 lunch |
The district Nutrition website is linked here: https://www.
Support Links for Families: –Please use this link for more information & FAQ about Home Access Center –To update the contact information you have on file please fill out the form linked here:
Grade level Administrators & Counselors: The names and contact emails for our grade level assistant principals, student advisor and school counselors are listed below. They are your go-to contacts for supporting your student. Dr. Stoffa will be the 7th grade administrator and Ms. Payne-Miller will be the administrator for the ILC for the rest of the school year.
Administration School Counselors
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6th Grade AP: Dr. Thomas-Brown |
6th Grade: Ms. Sheppard |
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7th Grade Student Advisor: Dr. Stoffa |
7th Grade: Mr. Arent |
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8th Grade AP: Mrs. Nowell |
8th Grade: Ms. Pine |
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ILC Administrator: Mrs. Melissa Eger |
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Principal: Mr. Johnston |
Upcoming events around the district:
Where’s the Bus Application: CSD is now offering the “Where’s the Bus” app to provide parents and students with timely information about the location of your child’s bus. Using GPS technology, this app will show you and your child how many more miles your bus is from the bus stop.
Change of Address/information Documents: Link in Spanish: Link in English:
If you have updated your address or contact information, please use the link below, to complete the form so that the office is aware of the change, and we can update your student’s file as soon as possible.
Have a great rest of the day and remember, you can’t hide that Panther Pride!
Sincerely,
Mr. Johnston
Principal
Gunning Bedford Middle School