Dear Gem Prep Families,

We hope you are enjoying this holiday season with family and friends. We are have a busy two weeks ahead so we want to remind and send information about upcoming events for your student and family at Gem Prep: Nampa!

Thank you,

Stacey

Gem Prep: Nampa sent out Home Language Surveys to each of your students the week of November 28th. These surveys have been sent home to assess and determine a student’s home language in order to ensure that all students receive the best instruction and that language needs are met. It is required by the Office for Civil Rights and the Idaho State Department of Education that each family fill one out per student. If you have already filled one out for your student, please ignore this message; if you have yet to complete one, please let our School Operations Manager know at [email protected], and she will send one home with your student or email you a copy. We need this copy by Wednesday, December 7th, please.

Please consider donating any nonperishable food items from Monday, December 5th-Friday, December 16th as Gem Prep: Nampa supports the Salvation Army during the holiday season. To inspire the students, we are having a friendly competition by grade level. For the grade level with the most cans, they will receive a root beer float party on Friday, December 16th! Watch the progress grow in our bulletin board display that will be up in the middle of our hallway soon.

In addition to receiving your child’s progress in iReady, your child’s classroom teacher will send his/her fall Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) Student Progress report from Northwest Evaluation Association. We believe strongly in using many data points to show a full picture of where each student is academically so we can support and create an academically challenging program to suite their needs. The MAP assessment is another data point that we consider in kindergarten, grade 1, 2, and 4. If you would like more information, please read the attached parent toolkit in Spanish and/or English.

Thank you for your cooperation and patience during drop-offs and pick-ups! We’d like to mention a few friendly reminders. All parents/guardians wishing to walk their students into the building must park their vehicles in designated parking areas and not along the front curb of the school. We also ask that you park in a designated parking area if you are going to wait with your student in the car until the bell rings before school. Below you will find a picture of our pick-up procedures, please read and review them to help us keep our students safe, and if you have any questions please reach out to our School Operations Manager at [email protected]

This week Mrs. Zwygart’s STEM elective and Mrs. Cron’s coding elective are hosting Hour of Code for all Gem Prep students! The Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. Anyone, anywhere is encouraged to push themselves to learn a new skill in this fun, interactive opportunity! We encourage you to keep coding at home, as well, or maybe even learn yourself.

Come enjoy a positive experience with our Nampa First Responder community on December 9th from 9:30-10:30 am at Gem Prep: Nampa. We will have the Nampa fire department, our school resource officer, and dispatch personnel visiting to teach us how they can help in emergency situations. Opal Kindergarteners are invited to come with their family, as well!

You are invited to attend our Elective Open House form 3:00-4:00 on Thursday, December 15th. From 3:00-3:40, the students in Holiday Music and Singing/Dancing will present their performance to all parents and students in the lunch room, followed by an open house in your child’s elective classroom for you to see the work they’ve been doing throughout the elective period in quarter two. Families may take home their students at the conclusion of the open house.

Each class will celebrate the holiday season with a class party from 3:00-4:00 on Friday, December 16th. Your child’s classroom teacher will send more information about their party in her class email.

Gem Prep: Nampa will be closed from December 19th–January 2nd, with the first day back to school on Tuesday, January 3rd. With such a long break, it is increasingly more important to have your child log on to our online programs. If you need technical assistance, please reach out to Katie Hartshorn, [email protected], before break. 

To log in at home, go to https://gemprep.instructure.com/ or click the following link typing in your child’s username (their email) and password:

This brings the student to Canvas, our learning management system, where the students will be able to automatically get in to all of their programs. You can see each grade’s normal schedule and expectations at school, and you may consider implementing something similar over break.

Have you logged in as a parent at home? While we are continuing to have more and more parents volunteering, we also want our families to see their child’s progress in our online programs. A great way to see the work the students are completed is to create a parent Canvas observer account by following the directions attached. Remember, if your child wants to work on any online program at home the link is the same as your link as a parent: https://gemprep.instructure.com/.

Please take a moment to follow our social media sites to see pictures, receive reminders, and enjoy more information as it occurs. We share items such as celebrating some of our interactive, virtual field trips and recognizing our fabulous families for reaching 1000 hours of donated time to Gem Prep! We have a Facebook, Instagram and Twitter account for you to follow all linked at the bottom of this newsletter.

As we are getting into the colder months, please consider bringing in gently used coats, gloves, hats, or other winter items for office use to help ensure Gem Prep students are kept warm. Items will remain in the office for use by students as needed. Please reach out to the office if you have items that can be donated; we greatly appreciate your help in keeping our students warm.

December 5-9 – iReady Mid-Year Diagnostic

December 5-9: Hour of Code Event

December 5-16: Nonperishable Food Drive for Salvation Army Challenge

Wednesday, December 7th: Home Language Surveys Due

Friday, December 9: Safety Response Assembly (Opals invited!) – 9:30-10:30

Monday, December 12: By this date, your child’s classroom teacher will have sent iReady Student Profile Progress Report and the MAP assessment from the fall

Thursday, December 15: Elective Open House – 3:00-4:00 beginning in the lunch room

Friday, December 16: Class Holiday Parties – 3:00-4:00 and please wait for an email from your child’s teacher for specifics

December 17–January 2nd: No School

Tuesday, January 3rd: First Day Back to School

   

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