Gettys Greatness Spring Newsletter

You will start to see needed construction in our car line that must be done now so that the finished project can be ready for when we start school August 2. Work will begin in grass areas adjacent to the car line while school is still in session while this summer the entire car line will be under construction for the needed pipe replacement of a 40 year old pipe that runs rain water and creek water. This should also improve drainage at our site.

Starting Monday May 2, the car line will only be open for use for morning car line arrival and afternoon dismissal. The car line will still be used for families and accessible from 7:30-8:45 am and from 2:00-4:00 pm only. All other periods of the day we will have construction work being done. For after school programs or sports, the only access will be to the Gettys Main Entrance parking lot. The GettysU after school program will use the fire lane road at the rear of our cafeteria area and can only enter by the South First Avenue end with one way traffic to the Pendleton Street exit. The construction company will begin removing asphalt immediately on the first day of summer break so it can be ready for opening day August 2. Summer academic programs for the month of June will be housed at Easley High School this year due to the car line closure. This will include the rising 6th grade RISE Program and the Required Summer School for Credit Recovery that will both be held at EHS from June 6 to June 23 from 8:30 am -12:30.

The Chorus Concerts on April 11 launched the beginning of Gettys Middle School's popular Fine Arts Concert Series, school events for the Spring that will allow families and students to enjoy the work of our outstanding students. Mr. Griffin Lewis, Choral Director, led over 150 of our chorus students in an excellent Spring Performance. We appreciate everyone's support of the Arts and we hope you enjoy all of the student performances!

Spring Fine Arts Concert Series:

April 26 Strings Orchestra Concert at EHS 6pm

April 28 Band Concert at GMS Gym with 6th grade at 6 pm, 7th grade -7 pm, 8th grade-8 pm

Congratulations!!! Gettys Middle School had several Art winners at the Pickens County Youth Arts Month Exhibit! Award winning students were:

• Aiden Sewell was selected for 2nd place in the Painting category
• Afton Staudt was selected for 3rd place in the Drawing category as well as honorable mention in the Painting category

Great job by Aiden Sewell and Afton Staudt on their award-winning artwork and for their teacher, Dr. Sargent!

GMS band members from 8th grade and a few 7th graders traveled to the Concert Performance Assessment at Southwood Academy of the Arts. Bands performed and were judged by the state music association members. Our band students received a score of “Superior with Distinction" which is the highest score possible in the state and with the “Distinction “ reserved for only a few bands in the state! Congratulations to our award-winning band students, Mr. Young and Mrs. Myers!

The February and April Teacher of the Month is two-time winner: 7th Grade Social Studies teacher, Mr. Hamby! Maddie Duncan said that she thinks Mr. Hamby initiative because he is always making sure student do not get zeros in the gradebook. Caden Merris agrees and appreciates that Mr. Hamby picks some of the best books for students to read in Social Studies and that he makes learning exciting and fun. Kara-Ann Zamor nominated Mr. Hamby for Teacher of the Month because alongside making Geography seem easy, he is hilariously funny. Zoey Barnett also appreciates how Mr. Hamby helps his students by explaining everything perfectly and by helping them keep track of missing work.

The March Teacher of the Month was a tie between our chorus teacher, Mr. Lewis and 6th Grade Math teacher, Mrs. Pope. Students commented that Mr. Lewis is patient, caring, funny, and hardworking. Cece Makell appreciates that when a student is in a bad mood, Mr. Lewis can turn that bad day into a good day. Emma Smith appreciates how Mr. Lewis believes in his students! Aidan Mitchem nominated Mrs. Pope because she loves her kids! Jayvon Davenport appreciates how she doesn’t allow students to stop doing their work until they do it to the best of their abilities.

Each year, our Strings Program travels to the Concert Performance Assessment competition. Our orchestra students had the opportunity to be evaluated by judges. They earned an "Excellent" rating and received a trophy for the school. They have worked so hard overcoming the challenge of having some remote days in their first and second years of Strings! Great job students and Ms. Atkins!

Congratulations to all of the young ladies who participated in the 2022 Miss GMS pageant. All of the contestants performed beautifully and we are so proud of them. The following students received award recognition:

• The 2022 Miss GMS is Alexis Scruggs
  

• 1st runner up Miss GMS: Kylie Gravell

• 2nd runner up Miss GMS: Alizbeth Wirgau

Miss GMS class champions:

• 2022 Miss 6th grade : Kate Saxon

• 1st runner up Miss 6th grade: MaKale Sutton

• 2nd runner up Miss 6th grade: Mackenzie Lollis

• Miss 7th grade: Emerson Guarino
  

• 1st runner up Miss 7th grade: Aubrey Brewer

• 2nd runner up Miss 7th grade: Madison Davis
  

• Miss 8th grade: Mallorie Bull

• 1st runner up Miss 8th grade: Liliana Rice

• 2nd runner up Miss 8th grade: Jessie Massey
  

Fund for Teachers (FFT) announced the names of public, private and charter school teachers to receive $428,968 in grants for self-designed summer fellowships and experiential learning opportunities. R. H. Gettys Middle School teacher Dr. Nicole Yemothy is one 295 teachers chosen nationwide.

With their $5,000 grant, Dr. Yemothy will this summer travel to Peru for 3 weeks on an educational exploration of the Amazon Rainforest and Ruins of Machu Picchu. “Now more than ever, it is imperative that we invest in the most important component of any classroom— the teacher,” said Karen Eckhoff, Executive Director of FFT.

Dr. Nicole Yemothy was also named one of the top five finalists for South Carolina's STEM Teacher of the Year for the second year in a row. Congratulations Dr. Yemothy!

Special thanks to Pinnacle Financial who made several donations of classroom supplies to Ms. Callahan's 6th grade Social Studies classes. Her students will benefit from all the generous supplies like maps, dry erase lapboards, colored pencils and much more. We would also like to thank Mrs. Flathers for coordinating the donations and making the special delivery to our class!

April 25-29th our PTO will be showing appreciation for our teachers and staff for all of their outstanding work this year. If families want to donate gift cards for our random daily drawings you may drop them off at the main office in the PTO box.

Another PTO highlight this week is the culmination of our school's PTO fundraiser. Students that earned the fundraiser incentive of "The Greatest Day Ever" will have their celebration on April 27.

Gettys Middle School will return to having one football team of mixed 7th and 8th grade students to maximize the number of game opportunities for the development of our players. Packets of all needed information from our parent night are available in the main office.

Spring practice for rising 7th and 8th grade will be held on Brice Field at GMS on the following dates:

• May 3, 5, 10, 12, 17 and 19. Times are after school from 3:30 until 5:30. Students must wear tee-shirt, shorts, and bring tennis shoes and cleats. Students must have transportation home each day and must be picked up on time.
• All students must have physical form dated after April 1, 2022 and should be turned into main office or Dr. Strickland

Summer football conditioning for rising 7th and 8th grade students will be:

• June 7, 9, 14, 16, 21, 23, 28, 30
• July 12, 14, 19, 21
• All summer conditioning is from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at GMS

Thanks to all of our family and community support for Gettys Middle School's showing of Aladdin Jr over six performances! Under the direction of Rachael Huff, our musical soared to another great performance by our theater students. We would like to thank Dr. Merck and the SDPC School Board for their additional funding in the Arts that allows these performances to happen.

Don’t forget that your 7th grader must have the Tdap shot before they attend classes in August. This is a booster vaccination required by law for 7th grade students and is a protection against the whooping cough. This required documentation to be eligible to start classes in August should be dropped off in our main office for our nurses. All 6th grade families should make arrangements prior to summer to have your child's Tdap immunization prior to next school year. This state requirement should be taken care of before the first day of school on August 2, 2022. We are now accepting these in our main office and nurse's office so please take care of this before leaving for the summer.

• Moderation and modesty should govern student dress.
  
• Garments worn on the legs (pants, shorts, skirts, dresses, etc) must have a length that comes to within one inch of the top of the knee; with no holes or slits above this line.
• No sagging, baggy pants are permitted.
• Bare midriffs will not be permitted. The standard used will be that no midriff is visible when the student is engaged in normal movement such as walking, sitting down, standing up, etc.
• Any sleeveless garment must have width on the shoulder area of at least four (4) of the student’s fingers, and the arm opening should fit the body closely enough to cover the underarm and the side of the chest areas.
• All district dress code requirements are listed in the student agenda and link is available at the end of this newsletter for your review.

One of the most effective school safety strategies is to have a school community that follows the practice of when you see something, say something. With many middle school or high school students who have an abundance of social media communication, there is sometimes a practice of not sharing information with their family or school. As a school community, we all have to emphasize to students that if they "see something, say something." Students can provide reports to any teacher, counselor or administrator. They can email anyone on our staff or send a Schoology message if they want the information to be shared discretely. Family members can receive the information from their child and pass it along to our staff while keeping reports confidential.

For the past 16 years as Principal of Gettys Middle, I have relied on our supportive community members, families and students that have all made GMS safer. This timely practice still rings true today in 2022 as it did in 2006. We also incorporate several modern technologies that are at work daily at GMS to make sure safety is our highest priority:

• Our school is always in a modified lock-down with classroom doors locked and exterior perimeter doors secured.
• Visitors to our building can only enter with our dual layers of approved access at one location that limits adult movement on our campus.
• A school resource officer is present daily from the Easley Police Department.
• Security cameras monitor the interior and exterior of our school and buses.
• Administrators are at every arrival and departure location for students: car line, bus loop, gym and cafeteria.
• Teachers interact with homeroom students before and after school with wellness checks outside of the instructional time.
• Technology software notifies guidance counselors and administrators immediately if a student is using our devices or their google accounts to type threatening messages or other words of concern.
• All staff are trained in emergency procedures that are also coordinated with local law enforcement and emergency responders as well as community facilities.
• Mental health counselors are at GMS daily and maintain an office at our school.
• Guidance counselors are trained in research-based interventions and student/family support.

Gettys Middle School is a safe school because of your efforts and work at home. Safety is our number one priority and you can help in many ways. As a parent, make sure you listen to your middle school child and be sure your words and model is always deescalating actions and respectful words. If you keep weapons in your house, make sure they are always secured and ammunition is also locked up. Monitor your child's online time, social media accounts and phone. You can help make sure our greater school community is always safe by always emphasizing, "see something, say something."

GMS will have the traditional back-to-school Meet the Teacher event on July 28, 2022. This event will provide all families with their child's schedule, an opportunity to receive additional information about buses, car line, nurses, cafeteria and other need to know information.

MEET THE STAFF SCHEDULE FOR Thursday, July 28 in GYM:

7th and 8th Grade Registration Drop-In from 9:00 am -12:00.

6th Grade Registration from 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm.

• Student Last Name A-C is 1:00-1:45 pm

• Student Last Name D-H is 1:45-2:30 pm

• Student Last Name I-O is 2:30-3:15 pm

• Student Last Name P-Z is 3:15 to 4:00 pm

Additional Schedule Only Pickup for any grade 4:30-5:30 pm in gym.

Makeup Schedule Pickup Date is August 1, Monday from 12:30-2:00 pm Main Office. The first day of school for students is August 2.

• 4/26/2022 Strings Concert at EHS Auditorium 6 pm
• 4/28/2022 Band Concert at GMS Gym with 6th grade at 6pm, 7th grade at 7 pm, 8th grade at 8 pm.
• 4/28/2022 GMS Cheer Parent Meeting in Auditorium at 6 pm
• 5/2/2022 Students should begin turning in print library books
• 5/2/2022 GMS Cheer Tryouts Begin 4 pm GMS Gym and Spring Vball Practice at Easley Rec Begins
• 5/3/2022 8th grade SC Ready Writing State Testing and PCVA grade 8
• 5/3/2022 Spring GMS Football for Rising 7th and 8th graders begins practice 3:30-5:30
• 5/4/2022 7th grade SC Ready Writing State Testing and PCVA grade 7
• 5/5/2022 6th grade SC Ready Writing State Testing and PCVA grade 6
• 5/6/2022 Algebra I End-of-Course State Examination
• 5/7/2022 Chorus and Strings to Dollywood
• 5/10/2022 8th grade SC Ready Reading State Testing and PCVA grade 8
  
• 5/11/2022 7th grade SC Ready Reading State Testing and PCVA grade 7
• 5/12/2022 6th grade SC Ready Reading State Testing and PCVA grade 6
• 5/12/2022 8th grade Academic Awards Night 6 pm
• 5/13/2022 Any high school credit classes final exams
• 5/16/2022 English One Final Examinations
• 5/16/2022 7th grade Academic Awards Night 6 pm
• 5/17/2022 6th grade SC Ready Math State Testing and PCVA grade 6
• 5/18/2022 7th grade SC Ready Math State Testing and PCVA grade 7
• 5/19/2022 8th grade SC Ready Math State Testing and PCVA grade 8
• 5/20/2022 6th grade SC PASS Science State Testing and PCVA grade 6
• 5/21/2022 GMS 8th grade student dance 6 pm to 8 pm GMS Gym and Courtyard
• 5/23/2022 8th grade Field Day
• 5/23/2022 8th grade Drive Out car line 8:45 pm
• 5/24/2022 7th grade Field Day
  
• 5/25/2022 6th grade Field Day and half day dismissal at 11:45 for middle schools
• 5/26/2022 Last day and half day dismissal at 11:45 for middle schools
• Rising 7th grade students should turn in required TDAP documentation before summer.

Our school website: gms.pickens.k12.sc.us/

Facebook: facebook.com/gettysmiddleschool/

Twitter: twitter.com/Gettys_Middle

Website: http://gms.pickens.k12.sc.us/
Location: 510 South Pendleton Street, Easley, SC, United States
Phone: 864-397-3900
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gettysmiddleschool
Twitter: @Gettys_Middle