From the Principal's Desk
Cool mornings bring cozy outer layers. Warm afternoons leave unclaimed items on the playground. Help us help you! Remind your child to do a quick check of what they came to school with when they are packing up for dismissal. Writing your child’s name in those often left behind items allows us to return them to their owner before they ever land in the growing Lost & Found. If you know your child is missing something, feel free to ask them to check the Lost & Found or you may do so yourself any time you come into the building.
Coming soon! When guest adults come by school to volunteer or visit a classroom, they will check into the office with our new visitor management system. Please plan to bring a photo ID to scan when you arrive at the office. This is only expected when adults are visiting areas with students like classrooms or the library.
Please know that we are always open to communication that will enhance your child’s educational experience with us and welcome your questions and feedback at any time.
Dates to Remember:
Wednesday, Oct 8th - Full School Day
Thursday, October 9th - Picture Day (see below) Order Online Here!
Friday, Oct 10th - No School, Professional Learning Day
Monday, Oct 13th - No School, Indigenous Peoples Day
Wednesday, Oct 15th - Full School Day
Sincerely, Carol MacArthur
Principal, Grade 4-5
Office Reminders
- Student arrival begins at 8:20 AM.
- School begins at 8:50 AM. If your child arrives after that time, they are tardy and need to check-in at the office before going to the classroom.
- You can report absences, communicate transportation plans or make general inquiries by calling the main office at 829-4815 or emailing [email protected]
We greatly appreciate your attention to these procedures, as they help to ensure that our routines run smoothly and efficiently.
Lost & Found
If you are missing something, encourage your child to take a look at the racks & bins just outside the cafeteria.
News From Our Nursing Team
Student Flu Vaccine Clinic Fri 10/10/25 from 4-7 pm
Maine Health will be onsite Friday, October 10th from 4-7 pm at GHS in the commons to administer flu vaccines to students. Please use the link below to print and complete the consent form and the insurance information. Bring the completed forms to the clinic to receive your vaccine.
Flu Clinic Consent Form and Insurance Information Card
If you can’t attend the MSAD #51 Student Flu Vaccine Clinic, you can visit your healthcare provider or your local pharmacy for a flu vaccine. The seasonal influenza vaccine is covered by MOST insurance plans at no cost to you!
Meaghan Riemer: [email protected], School Nurse
Lora Rolfe: [email protected], School Nurse
Community Corner
Focus on Citizenship
“Being a productive and model citizen takes kindness, compassion, and empathy toward others. Sometimes this requires extra tolerance especially of people whose beliefs and attitudes are different from ours. This extra effort is usually appreciated by the other person and helps us learn more about those who are different from us,” says Dr. Paccione of Brown University's Bradley Hospital in Rhode Island. Follow this link to read a short article full of great ideas on teaching our children to be good citizens.
While we talk and learn about citizenship at school this month you might ask your child some of these questions:
1. What is citizenship?
2. What does it mean to be a good citizen?
3. What citizenship activities are happening at school?
4. How do you show you're a good citizen?
Happy October! Please reach out to any of us if we can be of service to your or your student,
Katie Campbell, School Social Worker
Ali Waterhouse, School Counselor
Amy Vincent-Cross, School Social Worker
A Look Into Literacy
As we move into October, our literacy classrooms are busy working on their first unit of personal narratives. Students in grade 4 have read and analyzed narratives such as, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”, “All the Pretty Ponies”, and “A Girl from Yamhill”. They are learning to identify the elements of a personal narrative and how writers use them to create a compelling story. They are also using these texts as models for their own writing.The ultimate goal of the unit is for students to write their own personal narrative, and the first half of the lessons focus on building the foundational skills for this task.
Students in fifth grade have also read and analyzed several personal narratives such as, “The Prince of Los Cocuyos”, “Hello, My Name Is”, and “Rosa Parks: My Story”. Students are analyzing how professional authors use various writing techniques to bring their personal stories to life and convey a theme. They are reading and closely analyzing these narratives to identify literary elements like personification, imagery, dialogue, and tone. Students will be working on a “surprise narrative”, which is a writing assignment where students craft a personal narrative about a surprising, real-life event. This specific writing task teaches students how to use descriptive language and structure to effectively convey a surprise.
Check out what is going on at Prince Memorial Library:
Janet Giguere, Literacy Specialist
Math Matters!
Building Strong Fact Fluency at Home
As your child progresses through 4th and 5th grade, building strong mental math skills is more important than ever. In our Everyday Mathematics curriculum, we refer to these skills as "fact power" or "reflexes" because they should become second nature, much like a reflex action. Having these skills makes your child a more flexible and confident problem-solver.
What is Fact Fluency?
Fact fluency isn't just about memorization. It's the ability to recall the basic facts of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division quickly and accurately. For 4th and 5th graders, we focus heavily on mastering multiplication and division facts.
This mastery isn't just about speed; it's about understanding the relationships between numbers. For example, knowing that 3 x 4 = 12 also means your child knows 4 x 3 = 12, 12 ÷ 3 = 4, and 12 ÷ 4 = 3. This is what we call a "fact family."
How We Practice in Class
We use a variety of engaging methods to build these skills:
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Games: Games are our favorite way to practice! They make repetitive tasks fun and less tedious, while allowing students to compete and challenge themselves.
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Fact Families and Triangles: These tools help students visualize the relationships between numbers, reinforcing their understanding of fact families.
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Daily Warm-Ups: We regularly integrate short problem sets into our lessons to keep skills sharp and provide consistent practice.
Bringing Math Practice Home
Want to help your child build their fact fluency at home? Here are a few great resources:
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Greg Tang Math Games: Their Kakooma game is a fantastic, fast-paced way to practice.
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The Multiplication Course by Steve Wyborney: This is an excellent resource for visual learners.
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Play a game! Try classic games like Yahtzee, or simple card games where you can practice quick mental calculations. Even asking "what's 5 x 7?" in the car is a great way to sneak in some practice.
With your support, we can help our students build the confidence and skills they need to succeed in higher-level mathematics.
Shannon Peterson, Math Specialist
Library News
The Library is in desperate need of adult volunteers to help during the week; any afternoon and Wednesday & Friday mornings are when there is the most need. Volunteering doesn't have to coincide with 4th & 5th grade Library class. If interested, please be sure you're cleared by the district to volunteer and reach out to Dorothy Hall-Riddle, GMS Librarian.
Melissa Hankens from PML has started the 5th grade MSBA Lunch Bunch (a read-aloud book club) during lunch/recess again with A Game of Noctis. It's not too late to join!
Dorothy Hall-Riddle, 4-8 Librarian
Tips from the Teacher Technology Team
The Late Bus
In addition to regular, daily dismissal, a late bus is also available on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for students who stay for co-curricular activities or after-school academic support. Buses pick up students from GMS at 4:15pm and transport them home. Please be aware that depending on the number of students riding the late bus on a given day, your child's arrival time at home may vary. If you have specific questions about the late bus, please feel free to call the Transportation Garage at 829-4820.
Co-Curricular Activities
Tuesday: Chorus - Mrs. Jennifer Caton [email protected]
Thursday: Newspaper Club - Ms. Melissa Fiess [email protected]
The sign up for the first session of The GMS Newspaper Club is open now through Thursday, October 9th.
Meetings are on Thursdays after school until 4:10 and begin on October 16th. The late bus will be available.
There is a capacity limit of 18 members to ensure a quality experience for all. Please only sign up if you are passionate about the writing process and you are available to consistently attend meetings.
When more than 18 students sign up priority for membership goes like this:
- 5th graders who have not participated in newspaper club because this year is their final opportunity to participate
- 4th graders
- 5th graders who participated last year
The last day to sign up is Thursday, October 9th and Mrs. Fiess will be in touch with all families who fill out the sign up form on Friday, October 10th.
Contact Melissa Fiess at [email protected] with any questions.
**Link to sign up: Newspaper Club Sign Up
Thursday: 5th grade Ukulele Club - Mr. Barry Saunders [email protected]
5th Grade Ukulele Club will meet Thursdays starting 10/9 from dismissal until 4:00. Students can bring their own or use a school ukulele.
Thursday: 5th grade Math Team - Mrs. Laurie Poissonnier [email protected]
Math Team is for students who love math and want to grow as a mathematician. It is an opportunity to practice math skills, learn new math skills and learn new problem solving strategies.
We will meet every Tuesday immediately after school in the STEM Lab until 4:10, starting October 20th. A late bus is available to those needing transportation home.
Participation will be limited to 24 students. There will be a lottery if more than 24 students sign-up. Parents and students will be notified by Oct. 15th if selected.
Click to go to the Math Team sign-up. The deadline for sign-up is Oct. 13th.
During the School Day:
Green Team - Mrs. Monica Moore [email protected]
Civil Rights Team - Mrs. Katie Cassessee [email protected], Mrs. Jane Kilbride-Dupuis [email protected], Ms. Molly Russell [email protected]
Stay Connected
