• 3/22/23: No school for students on Monday, March 27. It is a Professional Development day for staff.

    3rd nine weeks report cards given to students today. Please review, sign and return.

    3/14/23: Caldwell Online Academy Accepting Applications in March

    Caldwell Online Academy is currently accepting applications until March 31, 2023, for the 2023-24 school year for rising 4th-12th grade students.

    Our online classes have previously operated as a district program, but beginning next school year, Caldwell Online Academy will be a standalone school. This is a free public school option for online learning, and it will remain part of the Caldwell County School System.

    Families can find detailed information about Caldwell Online Academy and can access the application on the district website. Go to caldwellschools.com and select Caldwell Online Academy from the Schools menu at the top or click here. You can also find the school on Facebook as well by searching for Caldwell Online Academy. Again, applications can be submitted for rising 4th-12th graders for the upcoming school year from now through March 31st.

    Click here for a direct link to the application or go to: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf9GTacKeKcZ7Fa3jMj5dO_YHKy1MQNf0VcIL4knsMZFN-8Hw/viewform

     

    2/27/23: ALL MISSING ASSIGNMENTS FOR THE 3RD NINE WEEKS MUST BE TURNED IN BY THURSDAY, MARCH 16. THE 17TH IS THE LAST DAY OF THE GRADING PERIOD.

    2/10/23: No School on Monday, Feb 13 for students. It is an optional planning day for teachers.

    STEM event brought to you by Betabox, Google & the Education Foundation 

    Join the kick-off event at Lenoir’s MLK Center on March 11, 2023, from 11 am-4 pm for an exciting day filled with high-energy STEM experiences, food, and more! Students will get a hands-on opportunity to explore topics including machine learning, autonomous vehicles, and the Internet of Things - pioneered by Google. Experience cutting-edge computer science in the new Betabox mobile learning lab. Free hamburger/hotdog lunches for the first 200!

    1/5/23: UPDATE: PTO meeting on TUESDAY, Jan 10th! Meeting starts at 5:00pm in the media center.

    1/4/23: 2nd nine weeks reports cards will be given to students on Monday, Jan 9th. You can also access your child's report cards through Parent Portal.

    No school on Monday, Jan 16 - Martin Luther King day.

    The end of the 3rd nine weeks grading period is March 16. We must have grades finalized by the end of the day on March 17. This means that the last day students can turn in late/overdue/missing assignments for the 3rd nine weeks is Friday, March 10.

    12/20/22: Wishing all my families a wonderful Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year. Enjoy this time with your loved ones, rest, recharge, laugh, and love one another. See you all next year!

    tree

     

    12/14/22: Our PBIS Christmas Extravaganza has been moved to Fri, Dec 16 due to the possibility of wintery weather next week.

    We will have our class Christmas party on Tues, Dec 30. Please send in treats, if you are able to - we have 24 students in our homeroom. School will be dismissed at 11:50 (Early Release day!).

    ALL MISSING ASSIGNMENTS FOR THE SECOND NINE WEEKS MUST BE TURNED IN BY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16TH.

    12/2/2022: Our HOSA students are collecting fuzzy gripper socks and personal blankets/throws for our elderly neighbors in our assisted living facilities. We want to make sure they aren't forgotten at Christmas. If you are able to send any in, we need them before Dec 12th. Thank you!

     

    Wishing all of my families safe travels and a blessed Thanksgiving holiday.

    corn

     

     

    GMS HOMECOMING WEEK - NOVEMBER 14 - 22

    11/14: May I Stay in Bed Monday - Wear your coziest pajamas! (School dress code still applies)

    11/15: Twin Tuesday - Match with your favorite teacher or best friend!

    11/16 : Wacky Wednesday - Wear a mismatched outfit!

    11/17: Sports Team Thursday - Wear your team's favorite colors!

    11/18: Flying thru Time Friday - Wear clothes from your favorite decade!

    11/18: Homecoming Dance - 3 -5:30 Tickets are $5 and concessions will be sold.

    11/21: Many Ages Monday - Dress up as your grades age! 6th - Kids/Babies

    11/22: Color Wars Tuesday -  Dress in your grades color! 6th - Yellow

    11/22: Homecoming Basketball Game at 4:00 - come out and support our girls as they take on and crush WLMS! Boys basketball game at 5:30!

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    11/15/22: STUDENT LED CONFERENCES from 3:30 to 5:30. Bring your child to class, sit down with them and let them show you what they are learning, listen to how they feel about their academic progress, and review their goals they have set. THIS IS NOT A TIME FOR PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES. If you would like to set one up, please get in touch with us.

    11/11/22: FEDERAL HOLIDAY - SCHOOL WILL BE CLOSED IN HONOR OF VETERAN'S DAY.

    VET

    11/8/22: NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS! It is a professional development day for teachers - we will be in workshops all day.

    10/23/22: GMS Spirit Week-  Mon 10/24 to Fri 10/28

    Monday:  Wear Red Day! Come to school wearing red to commit to being drug free.

    Tuesday: Stomp Out Cancer! Wear crazy socks or shoes to stomp out cancer. NO SLIPPERS!

    Wednesday: Teaming Up Against Cancer! Wear your favorite team colors or our school colors.

    Thursday: Hats Off to Survivors!: Wear a hat for $1.00 - proceeds go to the Lenoir Wig Bank.

    Friday: Pink Out Day! Pink is the national symbol representing the fight against cancer. Wear as much pink as you can!    

    10/18/22: From the student handbook: "At Gamewell Middle School, we operate under federal and state established guidelines, offering a variety of self-choices at breakfast and lunch to encourage students to develop good eating habits.  Energy drinks and soft drinks are not allowed during school hours, even with home prepared meals. We offer a variety of beverage choices.  A la Carte items are available.  Deliveries to students of restaurant food are not allowed. " 

    10/17/22: IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT PICTURE MAKE-UP DAY ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2022

    Please read through this message from Mrs. McQuaid, media coordinator, about the picture make up day on Monday.

    "If a student was absent on the original picture day and the parent paid online, they were refunded because the student was not photographed.  THERE IS NO online ordering available for picture make-up day.   There is a place to put a credit card number on the back of the form or they can call the company. 
     
    If a student got a LAST CHANCE sheet of paper (meaning they did not order a packet) there is a specialized shoot key for parents to order online if they liked the picture and just forgot to order. 
     
    If a student did not get a LAST CHANCE sheet nor a packet, they were absent and I have their ID cards ready so they will be photographed on Monday.  I will send the list out once it is organized by homerooms. 
     
    If a student simply did not like their original photo and packet, the only way they will get a new packet if they bring the old one back in complete condition.
     
    If a student simply did not like the LAST CHANCE photo and wants another one for the Yearbook, I believe they need to also bring the LAST CHANCE sheet back so the company can see the reason why the customer was not happy. "
     

    10/2/22: Access to Site Manager disappeared on 9/27/22. This means I was unable to access or update my teacher webpages. This turned out to be a county-wide issue. No staff was able to access or update their teacher webpages. Permissions were restored late Friday 9/30/22.

    9/22/22: NOTICE: It appears that Talking Points has crashed. It has erased all of my classes and I am unable to respond to messages or send messages. I have opened a Tech Ticket this morning. I apologize for the unanswered messages you've sent since yesterday. You can email me at kmbraswell@caldwellschools.com with questions or call the school office at 828-754-6204.

    UPDATE: It appears to be back and working as of mid-morning!

    9/21/22: PRIME NUMBER CHALLENGE! Students are challenged to memorize the first 25 prime numbers (between 1 and 100) and recite them in front of the class! Winners will receive their choice of a large candy bar!  The names of the victorious are listed in the Prime Number Challenge tab on the left.

    October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  All Caldwell County schools will be supporting this throughout the month. We are offering Pink Out shirts to students for the first time. Our Pink Out day is the same day as our fall festival, October 28th. If you are interested in ordering a Pink Out shirt for yourself or your student, pls ask them to bring a form home. Cost is just $15 and proceeds go to our local Wig Bank. Last day to order is 9/30/22.

    Picture Day! Thursday, September 15th. Pre-pay is on our website and FB page. These are the photos that will be going into our school yearbook. Flyers will be given to students on Thursday, September 8.

    9/2/22: What a great first week of school! I have been blessed with two amazing classes. Thank you for entrusting your child to me! I know we are going to have a good year.

    "New Bus App Tracks Student Riders

    Beginning this year, the school district has launched a new app that allows parents to monitor their students on the yellow school bus ride to and from school, including where a specific bus is on its route.

    “By adding GPS to buses and expanding monitoring services to parents, we are providing more accountability of ridership,” said Jay McCarraher, Transportation Director. “Offering Here Come the Bus app to the families in our school district is a positive upgrade and available at no charge.”

    Here Comes the Bus app shows real-time location of a student’s bus on a map, gives scheduled and actual arrival times at home and school for bus routes, and provides push and email notifications when the bus is near. For example, if a bus number changes, parents are notified, or whenever the bus is near the bus stop, parents are notified.

    The easy-to-use app is available on a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer. To complete the download and registration process, parents enter the information provided by the school administrative office and enter their student’s name and ID number.

    “At the Transportation Department, we take responsibility for each of our bus riders and want to ensure that every ride is safe and accounted for,” McCarraher said.

    Within the first week of school, bus ridership increased to 5,200 students, up from last year’s count of 4,500. Some 94 school buses cover 122 routes throughout the county, and the entire fleet is enabled to utilize the Here Comes the Bus app."

    8/30/22: I have started sending out messages via Talking Points. If you are not receiving them, please email me at kmbraswell@caldwellschools.com and let me know. Please provide your name, student name, relation to student and cell phone number. Thanks!

    8/29/22: It was a great first day of 6th grade, until it came time to go home on buses. We don't have enough drivers for our afternoon load so it was a mess. Please understand that at no point did we tell the kids that they had to call home to have someone come get them. We did say that if there was someone at home who wanted to come pick them up, they could call as they would probably get home a lot quicker. We will always provide bus transportation for your child! We are hoping to get some new drivers trained so we can make sure our kids get home at a reasonable time. If you are willing to become a bus driver or know of someone that is, pls have them contact our office for training info!

    Talking Points: Talking Points is a text messaging app that allows me to share information about classroom and school events. Below is a video from our Tech Dept, on how to connect to the app without needing a code: https://youtu.be/U-_dMehlv0M 

    Make sure you click through the ad that comes up first!

     

     first  WOW! It has been a busy two weeks getting our classroom ready! It was so good to meet some of you at our Brave Beginnings session, then get to talk to others of you at the Open House. I hope you are ready for tomorrow because I am! I am so very excited, I probably won't be able to sleep tonight. Make sure you have your clothes picked out and ready to go, your backpack with your school supplies packed up and a water bottle. If you are buying lunch, make sure you have either paid on-line or are bringing money (or a check) tomorrow. PLS remember to apply for free and reduced lunch online! Remember to bring your lock for your locker tomorrow. You'll get your locker assignment tomorrow and hopefully you've been practicing opening your lock so you won't have any problems with it. See you all tomorrow! 

     

     

    Free and Reduced Lunch for 2022/2023 School Year: PLEASE make sure you apply for free and reduced lunch this year. Last year, lunch fees were waived for all students. This year, you will have to pay for lunch, unless you qualify for free and reduced. You can use this link to apply or go to the Child Nutrition tab on the Caldwell County Schools home webpage.

    https://www.lunchapplication.com/

    1st Day of School: Monday, August 29, 2022

    OPEN HOUSE: Thursday, August 25, 2022 from 4:30 - 6:00 pm: Everyone is welcome to come into school during this time. Students and their families will get to meet with and talk to the teachers, check out the classrooms and learn about the great things we've got planned for this school year! 6th grade families - if you come to the Brave Beginnings sessions, you do not need to attend Open House, but you are more than welcome to!

    BRAVE BEGINNINGS: Monday, August 22, 2022 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm: This is a program designed for our rising 6th graders. Parents/guardians - you will need to drop your child off by 4:00; they will get to meet their teachers, tour the school, get their schedule, check out their classrooms and have fun getting to know their classmates. Parents/guardians, you can return at 5:15 for a meet and greet with our principal and assistant principal. You will also have time to meet with your child's teachers. We are so looking forward to getting to know our new 6th graders; it's going to be an awesome afternoon!