Good Evening Panther Families, We hope everyone had a special spring break with family and friends. We are gearing up for our DeSSA testing this week. We are excited to encourage our students to show their learning growth this year and support them in doing their best.
Upcoming events:
-Tomorrow, 4/08/24 is a B day for exploratory & MTSS classes.
-DeSSA Testing begins on Wednesday April 10th. It will continue on Wednesday’s each week following for multiple weeks. We will have a unique testing schedule on Wednesday’s beginning on 4/10.
DeSSA Spirit Days, Pep Rally and Testing this week: Monday 4/8 Favorite School Subject Day: Wear any apparel representing your favorite school subject. Do you love science? Dress up as a scientist! Be creative! Tuesday 4/9: Each grade wears a different color. 6th – Green 7th – Red 8th – Blue. We will also be having grade level pep rallies during exploratory to gear up for testing starting on Wednesday.
Testing this week on Wednesday 4/10, is in ELA. We start testing at 8:30. Please encourage your student to be at school on time and to show their learning growth this year on the assessment. Thank you for your support. We will be testing on Wednesday mornings for the next 4 weeks.
Spring sports: Spring Sports practices continue this week with our first games/meets on Thursday @ Springer Middle School . Schedules: Baseball Softball Track & Field
District Calendar: The school district calendar for the 23-24 school year is linked here:
2024-2025 School Calendars: July 2024-December 2024 January 2025-June 2025
New Updates:
Upcoming Meeting for Future 8th grade students attending William Penn High School Next School Year: Please see the flier with RSVP here: https://www.smore.com/n/hpt4f-
Delaware School Climate Survey: Please take a few minutes to complete this survey for parents from the University of Delaware about our school climate: DSCS-Directions-Home-Sp2024.
Upcoming Community Events:
Verizon Stem Achievers program taking place on April 13th on the DSU campus. Thank you to Ms. Stokes for sharing! DSU_Flyer_VIL_STEMAchievers_
Updates from Grade Level: Please see updates from our grade level administrators and staff here from before break: 6th Grade: 7th Grade: 8th Grade: ILC:
8th Grade families, the deadline for permission slips/money for the Washington DC field trip is Friday 4/12. Mrs. Nowell will send a reminder email this week to 8th grade families.
Solar Eclipse Information:
Rolling Updates
Ramadan 2024: Please see overview document that is shared with staff with Ramadan beginning tomorrow. Ramadan 2024.PNG Our school community is prepared to support our students participating in Ramadan. Any families with questions can connect with 8th grade school counselor, Mrs. Pine (shaheda.pine@colonial.k12.de.
Early Dismissal Procedure: Students will no longer be able to wait in the Main Office for a family member to pick up early. As increased security measures we must check the ID of the persons picking up before releasing the child. Thank you for your understanding and your partnership in keeping our students safe.
After-School Activities Pick-Up Details: As we move into our next season of after school sports and activities, we want to clarify procedures for parents who pick up their students from after school activities. Student safety is our biggest concern. Please do not park in the first 5 bus slots or along the sidewalk outside of the auditorium. Both areas are noted in the map below by a blue ‘X.’ This ensures that our students can safely cross the bus court to get on their assigned buses.
2023-2024 Yearbook Order Form: Linked here if interested in pre-ordering. 2024 Yearbook QR Code Order Link.pdf
Back to Basics Tutoring: Please see flier here: 23-24 SY Back to Basics Learning Dynamics Colonial Revise Flyer.png
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. amand 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. 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: Please visit HERE to get more details.
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.
GB Gear: Please see link here to order GB clothing & apparel.
Health Office Information: Our school nurse is Ms. Taylor & her email is: olivia.taylor@colonial.k12.de.
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 |
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:
Administration School Counselors
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6th Grade AP: Dr. Thomas-Brown |
6th Grade: Ms. Sheppard |
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7th Grade Administrator: Mr. Sopkanich |
7th Grade: Mr. Arent |
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8th Grade AP: Mrs. Nowell |
8th Grade: Ms. Pine |
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ILC Administrator: Mrs. Eger |
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Principal: Mr. Johnston |
Have a great rest of the day and remember, you can’t hide that Panther Pride!
Sincerely,
Mr. Johnston, Principal, Gunning Bedford Middle School