Inferno News: September 27, 2024

Inferno News: September 27, 2024

Here is our weekly update of events and information for Greystone Centennial Middle School. 

Principal Message

Just like that, we have made it through the first month of school. September is always a very busy month in schools - with start-up, learning new routines, getting used to new classes and classmates, and beginning a new curriculum on top of all the regular parts of school. Our staff has worked diligently completing a number of screens in literacy and numeracy to better understand each child's current abilities in literacy and math, which will help with student programming throughout the year.

We had a number of successful events and have started our extracurriculars. October typically allows for staff and students to hit their full regular routine and really get into curricular content.

During the first month at Greystone, one area of large concern has been student online conduct. There have been a number of incidents from all grades that have occurred this month involving unsafe and online behaviour using social media platforms, with Snapchat being the most frequent site that has made its way into the office. These incidents have occurred outside of school hours, but have affected individuals in our school, which makes this a school issue. Please read the separately attached Fair Notice letter, as it is important that all families are aware that students are responsible for their conduct outside of school if it is affecting individuals in our school. Although we do have a cell phone policy in place, the school day is only a portion of the day and we all need to work together to ensure that our students are educated about online safety and are being safe and interacting in healthy ways, especially, online.

We have taken some initial steps to help educate our students on their legal responsibilities as students. I am personally visiting every class in Greystone to educate our students on their responsibilities as part of the Alberta Education Act, and I have already been able to visit every grade 7 class. It will take a few weeks, but I will get my way to every classroom to spend 30-40 minutes with each class to discuss this. Online safety for students and healthy interactions with peers will be a priority for us this year here at Greystone. Please watch for further news as we hope to have guests into our school to help educate our students about online safety, and hope to offer parent sessions as well.

Volunteer(s) needed for the Greystone Library. Mrs. Marshall would love any time that you have to volunteer to help with the library on a weekly basis or special projects occasionally. Please email GreystoneLibraryStaff@psd.ca   (you can ask at parent meeting as well)

BYOD students: Please establish a routine for charging and bringing chromebooks on a daily basis as there are a limited amount of extra chromebooks to borrow. 

Parent Code: some students are still having difficulties with parent codes. please refer to Google support: Adding an Education account 

Managing your child's account on a chromebook

Support.google.com/chromebook

You may have to wipe the chromebook and start over or visit the place of purchase to help sort it out. 

Nutritional Program - repeat

In keeping with Parkland School Division’s commitment to student success and well-being, we are once again working to promote healthy eating and create a positive food environment for all students. 

We would like to acknowledge the President’s Choice Children’s Charity Power Full Kids program, the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove, and Breakfast Clubs of Canada in providing support for food security at Greystone for the 2024-2025 school year.

Hot Lunch Update - repeat

Below you will find the schedule for hot lunch this year.  This schedule can also be found on the GCMS website.  If you do not yet have a hot lunch account please see this document for instructions on how to get set up. 

Important Dates

Monday, Sept 30 - National Day For Truth and Reconciliation - No School