Dear Gullett Families,
The 22-23 school year is finally here! Can you believe it? I am beyond thrilled to be able to start this year off as Gecko with everyone. Our staff has been working so hard to get ready for our students. To the custodians who put in so much work to deep clean our school, to the behind the scenes organization from our office staff, to the volunteers who helped bring our mindfulness room together, to the PTA who has been planning to welcome students and staff back in style, to the CAC who met to think through safety and to our teachers who have come back to create amazing classroom spaces for our students, I want to say thank you! We will work this next week to finish the physical preparation of the building, learn together as a staff, review procedures and make plans to start our year off right. I can’t wait for the first day of school on August 15th!
Now let’s get to it! I apologize in advance for the length of this letter, but there is so much to share. Our goals the first week of school are to get everyone here safely, feed everyone, and send everyone home happy! To that end, I wanted to make sure I highlighted a few things that will be different, so we can have a smooth start. More detailed information can be found here in the student handbook as well as the district student code of conduct, but let’s get started with some basics.
Food
The last few years we had a grant that allowed for any and all students to have free lunch and breakfast. That is no longer the case. If you need financial assistance with lunch, please fill out this confidential form linked here. There is no grace period, so fill out the form ASAP so it can be processed by day 1. If you want your child to buy lunch, you can put cash into their account. Click here for a link to the menus and school cafe site. For your reference, the cost for meals is below:
- Breakfast: Reduced-price .30¢, Paid $1.50
- Student Lunch: Reduced-price .40¢, Paid $3.15
- Adult/Guest prices: Breakfast $2.75, Lunch $4.50
Students will have to enter their student numbers again in the cafeteria line. If your student doesn’t have enough money in their account, don’t worry, no one goes hungry! They will still be given lunch while we sort it out. You are welcome to have lunch with your child, and I will be sending out more information on that, but for the first two weeks of school, we are asking that parents refrain from coming up to school for lunch as we get everything running smoothly.
Safety, Arrival, & Dismissal Procedures
During the summer, our CAC safety committee as well as our ILT campus leadership team, met to review procedures and the safety protocols of our school. Maintaining a safe and positive learning environment for our students is our top priority. This means that we'll continue with some of the practices we put in place during the pandemic and change a few as well. It is important to us that our safety protocols are in place AND that our students, families, and staff continue to experience a positive and welcoming environment each day. More information about our safety procedures will be shared in my next update, but for now I wanted to make sure that I talked about arrival and dismissal procedures as that will begin on the first day.
Please reference the directions linked here for more detailed information, but one of the more significant changes is no longer having car drop off on Treadwell. We will have one car lane that goes through the back parking lot off of Hunt. Treadwell will be reserved for bikers and walkers coming to school. Knowing that this will create a bit more traffic, we will open up our car lane at 7:15 instead of 7:30 so that anyone dropping off by car can have a smoother process. Please be patient as we work out the kinks with this system. We are also asking that there be no parking along Treadwell if you intend to be on campus longer than 15 minutes. This will include staff.
It is a new AISD safety policy that parents and guardians will not be allowed into school buildings for drop-off and pick-up. As you know, that is a bit trickier at Gullett with the physical layout of our campus. We will continue to have zones for pick up and drop off, but those have been adjusted as well (see flier that will be distributed at Gecko Kick-Off). The key here is that we are not going directly to the classroom doors. On the first day of school, you are permitted to walk your child to the classroom. Zones will begin day 2. If your student comes to school prior to 7:30 they will be monitored in the cafeteria and starting at 7:30, your child can go to their classroom.
One of the biggest things to remember is that from 7:40 to 3:10 you cannot be on campus without a visitor badge (and you will need your ID to get a badge). So if you are dropping off your child by walking up, please make sure that you are leaving campus by 7:40, and if you are walking to pick up, please don’t enter the campus grounds to go to your zones until the bell rings at 3:10. All students will dismiss at 3:10 this year.
Please click here for more written information on arrival and dismissal procedures, and you can watch our video linked here as well.
If you need to pick up your child early from school, please make sure you allot plenty of time for us to check your ID, and have your child come to the office. Students will not be allowed to be sent to the office prior to your arrival. Classrooms are busy so it may take a few minutes for your child to be ready for an early pick up. We also kindly ask that parents refrain from checking out their students after 2:40. The last half hour of school is a very busy time in the school as we prepare to end the day!
Volunteers
I am thrilled that we will continue to be able to have our volunteers on campus! Our community involvement is one of the things that make Gullett the special school that it is. Be on the lookout for the many favorite volunteer opportunities such as gardening and animal care as well as some new opportunities with our heritage fair and our launching of “Guardians of the Geckos.” Please remember that to volunteer in any capacity, you must have a free background check done with Austin Partners in Education as it is required yearly. Please click here to get that underway if you are planning on volunteering at school.
The Schedule
This year we will have PE daily! Not only will our students benefit from daily physical activity, but they will still receive an enriching art and music experience at Gullett. Please make sure your child has on tennis shoes every day so that they will be able to participate. We have revamped our cafeteria and are creating a wellness room so that we will have plenty of indoor spaces for all students to participate in physical education regardless of the weather. Our fine arts block will also include a dedicated STEAM time for students as well. When you add in our commitment to provide a rich, rigorous, and authentic learning experience in both STEAM (math, science, technology, art and engineering) and the humanities (ELA - reading, writing, listening, speaking, and social studies), it will be an terrific year, full of learning.
And last but not least…. Kick Off! (Meet the Teacher)
Yes, I did save this to the very end to make sure you read all the other stuff! I know that everyone is most anxious about who their teacher is and who will be in their class. On Wednesday, August 10th you can expect an email sometime between 3 and 5pm from your child’s teacher letting you know that your child is in their class. Kick off is Thursday the 11th at 4pm. We can’t wait to have everyone come and see their classroom!
Thank you again for your support, engagement and dedication to our school and your child’s education. We can’t wait to partner with you in making this one of the best school years ever!
Kindly,
Tammy Thompson
Proud (and super excited!) Principal, Gullett Elementary