This was another wet week at the Den. Thank you for your patience with dismissal. I do want to remind families that in the event of a delayed dismissal, we do not want students signing out early. I know it is frustrating at times, but learning is still occurring in the classrooms. With as much rain as we have had lately, students could miss a significant amount of time in that last class. Please pick up your child in the office at dismissal time.  

This week we had our first round of intramurals in the gym. Coach Jacoby is sponsoring our intramural program and will have the gym open from 8:15-9:00 every Wednesday and Thursday mornings for students to play designated sports. This nine weeks, he will be focusing on basketball and volleyball, but that will change quarterly.

Tuesday is a very busy day for us. We will start the morning in the media center for our School Advisory Council meeting. These meetings are for parents that want to learn more about and have input on school-based decisions. The meeting will start at 8:00AM and should last about 45 minutes. After school, we have our Open House scheduled for 6:00-7:30. This is a great opportunity to see each of your child’s classrooms and learn more about what’s happening. We hope that you can attend. Finally, our soccer game against Union Park Middle School has also been rescheduled for Tuesday at 5:30. We apologize for double booking, but the soccer game scheduling is out of our control. Hopefully our soccer families can join us immediately following the victories!

Our PTSA has really started the year off on a fast track! Membership is up, but we always welcome more. I want to personally thank the PTSA for approving 4 grants for teachers already this year. Those monies will be spent on classroom libraries of the Sunshine State Books for all 9 ELA teachers, new badminton nets for our PE classes, a supplemental math curriculum for students that need extra support in math and supplies for a Maker’s space in the media center. I know I speak for the students and staff when I say thank you!

Finally, I want to officially thank Mr. Astone for his hard work and dedication to Glenridge Middle School. He has been the IB coordinator for 3 years hear after starting in the chorus classroom. He was named as the assistant principal at Lawton Chile’s Elementary School. While we certainly miss our Lions that leave, it is very rewarding to know that we are preparing our team members to take on the next chapter of their careers. We will be hiring for this position, and in the meantime, Ms. Pena will be helping us meet our IB expectations.

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you at Open House on Tuesday!

Pictured very top: Glenridge Middle kicks of National Hispanic Heritage Month. The second floor, center hall has to be the best decorated hall at GMS! Thank you Ms. Caceres and Ms. Cruz for decorating the second floor, center hall as part of our Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations. Please come check it out (but don’t touch)!