Dear Good Shepherd Families,

We are happy to celebrate our first full week of school–we saw a lot of learning taking place and a lot of smiling faces!

When reflecting on our theme, “The Journey Starts Here,” we looked at how many people influence a child throughout their lifetime. The article, “The Big Picture: How Many People Influence a Child’s Life?” by Kim Marshall, explains that 66 different educators work with each student throughout their k-12 academic career. He goes on to say that 15,000 hours are put into the planning of a child’s education by teachers and staff. The final takeaway: it’s a team effort. All of us contribute in some way, both big and small, to “growing students up.” Thank you for letting us be a part of your child’s journey, we can’t wait to see how they soar this year. Adventure awaits!

The GSLS Admin Team

Elementary Enrichment Classes

We hope you are having a fabulous beginning to the 2022-2023 school year! We are happy to announce that after-school enrichment is back, and we have a variety of options to choose from. Please use the link following the class descriptions to sign up for the classes of your choice and you will receive an email confirming your choices. Sign up is on a first come, first served basis. 

**NO CLASSES FOR CONFERENCE WEEK 10/24-10/28**

Sessions will end the week of 11/7-11/11.

Mondays 3:05-4:05: Grades 3rd-5th TinkerTech Build and Code

Explore STEM through fun, creative coding projects and mini challenges that builds on skills as you go. Explore coding with Scratch & Python, learn to build with circuits and put it all together to program devices including robots and microcontrollers. New projects offered with each session!

Start date: Monday, 9/12

Maximum students: 15 

Tinker Tech Fee: $279

Mondays and Tuesdays 3:05-4:04: Cooking with Chef Mark

Mondays- K-2nd:  Have your student join Chef Mark to learn foundational cooking techniques and make simple dishes. We will cover one basic technique each week, and each student will make/assemble their own version of our dish. (Ex. tossing fresh berries with sugar, and shaving chocolate onto custom yogurt parfaits.) We won’t use any heat or knives with this age group, but we will have tons of fun as we learn! Class fee includes 1 hour of weekly instruction for 8 weeks, all ingredients, cooking equipment, and an apron that they will keep at the end of the session.  We won’t use any animal products, and any other allergies can be accommodated. **Don't wait, only a few spots left!!**

Tuesdays 3^rd-5^th :  Have your student join Chef Mark to learn how to cook simple dishes that they can make for themselves at home—starting now with a little parent oversight, and independently as they grow. My goal is to equip each of them with techniques and recipes that they can use to feed themselves in middle school, high school, college, and beyond. (Ex. how to cook rice perfectly, how to make a delicious salad with homemade vinaigrette, and of course, how to make perfect chocolate chip cookies). Class fee includes 1 hour of weekly instruction for 8 weeks, all ingredients, cooking equipment, and an apron that they will keep at the end of the session. We won’t use any animal products, and any other allergies can be accommodated.

Learn more about Chef Mark here!  Chef Mark Info

Start Dates: K-2- Monday 9/12, 3-5^th- Tuesday 9/13

Maximum Students: 12 

Cooking Class Fee: $280 for 8-week sessions 

Wednesdays 3:05-4:05: Grades K-5- Chess with Mr. Morales

Checkmate! According to studies done at the University of Memphis, playing chess significantly improves children's visual memory, attention span, and spatial-reasoning ability. Perhaps that's because, in chess as in school, concentration and memory go hand in hand. My love of chess has come since I was 10 years old. I have played it ever since and love to teach children the art that is chess. We will work with the pieces and watch videos as we progress to tactical and strategic thought. 

Start date: Wednesday, 9/14

Maximum students: 14 

Chess Class Fee: $180 for an 8-week session

Thursday 1:45-2:45: Grades K-3 Yoga Kids with Mrs. Ziba Orlando! 

We welcome you to the kindergarten to 3rd grade Yoga and Mindfulness Class!

Your teacher, Mrs. Ziba Ansari-Orlando, will provide mats and all teaching tools. Yoga improves balance, strength, endurance, and aerobic capacity in children. Yoga and mindfulness offer psychological benefits for children as well. Wear comfortable clothing/bare feet and I can’t wait to be teaching you soon!

Start Date: Thursday, 9/15

Maximum students: 12

Yoga Class Fee: $180 for an 8- week session

Thursday 1:45-2:45: Grades 3-5^th grade Olympic Athletes with Coach B!  

Coach B is back with Olympic Athletes! Join him weekly on a journey to get faster, stronger, and continue to love sports. Following an Olympic theme, Coach will introduce various games each week and continue to help our children become incredible athletes. 

Start Date: Thursday, 9/15

Maximum students: 20

Athletes class fee: 180 for an 8-week session

Friday 3:05-4:05: Grades 2^nd-5^th grade Mobile Makers with Brian Kaplan! 

The new session of the "Maker Club" begins soon and will provide authentic experiences of blending safe woodworking, state of the art technology and interactive electronics. With a low student to teacher ratio your child will have the opportunity to create unique class and student driven projects. Lead Maker teacher Naomi Matsumura has been a maker all her life and has worked with kids for over 20 years. 

Start Date: Friday, 9/16

Max students: 14

Mobile Maker Fee: $240.00

Click the link below to sign up for all classes!

GSLS Enrichment Class Sign Up Link

Homework Club Reminder

Homework Club meets Mon/Tues/Weds from 3-4:00 at K-5 and 3:10-4:10 at MS. The cost will be $15, and will be on a drop-in basis. School accounts will be billed at the end of the month.

Rally Day & Back-to-School Potluck

On Sunday, September 11th, we'll officially kick-off the year at our Rally Day church service! Let's support all teachers, staff and students as they are blessed for the year ahead. A community Pot-Luck will follow the service, please sign up to help or bring something to share!  

Rally Day & Back to School Blessing Event Sign Up

Spirit Wear

Spirit Wear is now available!  Spirit Wear can be worn on Free Dress Fridays, and throughout the year on designated Spirit Wear Days (these will be announced). In addition to children's sizes, there are adult sizes as well--so get your Spirit Wear for the whole family!

Spirit Wear Link

Save the Date for ALADDIN!

Mark your calendar! The 3rd-5th grade play will be Disney's Aladdin Jr. Shows will frun February 2nd-4th at the Marin Center Showcase Theater. This is sure to be an amazing show!  

Thank You!

THANK YOU to Stephanie and Bryan Sander for hosting a terrific Bocce Ball & BBQ event last Saturday! The food was incredible and fun was had by all! The Sander's sign-up event raised $2,400 to support infrastructure improvements at GSLS. 

Family Assembly & Parent Teacher Council General Meeting 

Monday, 9/12: Family Assembly (Chapel: 8:35-8:45 am) & Parent Teacher Council General Meeting (Fellowship Hall: 8:50-9:30 am)

Please join our first Family Assembly held in the Chapel on Monday, September 12th. You'll see our students participate in their weekly assembly routine which will be followed by our first of 3 PTC Community Meetings in the Fellowship Hall. We will have Board members speaking to our school initiatives and PTC members speaking to the new events planned for this year. It will be a conversational format so please bring your comments and questions!

Weds MS Pizza Volunteeers Needed!

The Middle School needs volunteers to serve pizza on Wednesdays, can you help? Sign up here:

 

GSLS Volunteer Sign Ups 2022-2023

Hosts Needed!

Do you enjoy organizing and hosting parties? Get your volunteer hours by hosting a Sign-Up Event. We're looking for a host family (or families) for a September student themed sign-up event. All money raised will support GSLS infrastructure improvements. If you can host please contact our sign-up events lead at  KellyPieczonka@gmail.com

Pizza and Ice Cream Sign Ups

Pizza Wednesdays and Friday Ice Cream starts this week! Purchases must be made by today for your child to get delivery this week. 

Purchase Pizza Wednesday & Friday Ice Cream here!

Download the 2022-2023

"At-A-Glance-Calendar" HERE

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

• Friday, Sept. 2nd: Free Dress Day Color Challenge
• Monday, Sept. 5th: NO SCHOOL Labor Day Observed
• Wednesday, Sept. 7th: 6:00 pm K-5 Back to School Night
• Thursday, Sept. 8th: 6:00 pm MS Back to School Night
• Sunday, Sept. 11th: 9:30 am GSLC/GSLS Rally Day & Back to School Blessing
• Monday, Sept. 12th: 8:35 am Family Assembly
• Monday, Sept. 12th: 8:45 am PTC General Meeting
• Tuesday, Sept. 13th: 6:00 pm PS Back to School Night
• Tuesday, Oct. 4th: 8:40 am Blessing of the Animals (Elementary School)
• Wednesday, Oct. 5th: 8:00 am Blessing of the Animals (Middle School)
• Wednesday, Oct. 5th: 5:00 pm First Communion Class
• Thursday, Oct. 6th MS 4-Square Tournament and Ice Cream Social
• Friday, Oct. 7th: Free Dress Day