December Update

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday and a relaxing break! We added an extra school store this month right before the holiday break and it was a success! At the request of the students, we also had an additional lunch meeting. We used this meeting as time for students to be together and talk.

I will be meeting with students individually on Tuesday January 4th. Students will receive passes with their scheduled time from homeroom teachers that morning. When I first met with students in September, we set goals for the year. When we meet in January, we will be revisiting those goals, discussing progress and revising if needed. A lunch meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 10th with school store on Friday, January 14th.

Please continue to check the gifted/enrichment Moodle site as new enrichment opportunities are added periodically which may interest your student. I am meeting with teams monthly to discuss the progress of each student and support teachers as needed with enrichment and differentiation ideas.

As always, I appreciate your continued support at home. Please feel free to contact me at any time with questions or concerns.

Happy new year!

December meetings and school store

Gifted students met individually with Mrs. Mahaffey during the first two weeks of December. Grade level lunch meetings were held on Wednesday in preparation for school store on Friday. This was our most successful school store yet! Many new items were offered at this month's school store as students completed an order of winter merchandise a few weeks ago.

Don't forget that the middle school will be offering the National Geographic Geography Bee for the first time this year. Sign ups took place in social studies classes this past week If you are interested in signing up, please see your social studies teacher. The competition will take place the week before our winter break. This is an excellent way for our students to challenge themselves in the area of Geography.

Parents of Gifted Students Listserve

Hello parents and guardians!
I hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving! Millersville University is now hosting a listserve for parents of gifted students. There is a flyer with additional information on the gifted/enrichment Moodle page if you are interested.

November School Store

Our most recent school store was a huge success! The students worked hard to sell our stock. They also have put together a new order for the holiday season. I appreciate all of their effort!! Our next school store will be on Friday, December 10th during all three lunches.

Happy November!

Happy end of the first quarter! I hope the first marking period has been a successful one for all students and parents. I have really enjoyed getting to know all of the 7th and 8th grade gifted students. It's been great being able to work with some students that I had in 6th grade again as well as getting to know those that I didn't have in class.

I checked in with all students last week for our monthly meeting. During this meeting we discussed the first marking period and how everything is going. We will be having a lunch meeting on Tuesday 11/9 during lunches. I hope students are enjoying the opportunity to be together as a group during this time. During our lunch meeting on Tuesday we will be planning and preparing for our school store on Wednesday 11/10.

Our Moodle site continues to be updated as we receive information on various contests, competitions, and enrichment opportunities. Please check it out periodically and see if anything listed might be of interest to your student.

Students had the opportunity to sign up for the middle school spelling bee a few weeks ago. The written competition will be held soon. The high scorers will then participate in an oral spelling bee with the top speller advancing to further competition with other schools. Our middle school will be participating in the National Geographic Bee in December for the first time. Sign ups will take place in social studies rooms during the first week of December. This would be a great opportunity for our 7th and 8th grade students.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns throughout the year. I can be reached via email or by calling 838-1331. Thank you for all of your continued support at home.

October School Store

Our second school store was a huge success! During our lunch meeting on Tuesday, students worked in groups to brainstorm ways to improve our business. Groups of students focused on budgeting, supplies, scheduling, and advertising. We put many of those ideas in action on Friday 10/8. Our next school store is scheduled for Wednesday, 11/10.

Thanks to the parents I met with this week for GIEP meetings. I appreciate your time and support. It's great to be able to work together to meet the educational needs of your student.

October Update

Happy October! I hope everyone had a great first month of school! I have enjoyed getting to know your students and am looking forward to a wonderful year.

I am in the process of meeting individually with students to check in and talk about their classes. We are revisiting the goals that each student set for this year and seeing how they are progressing. We will have lunch meetings on Tuesday, October 6th so students will have the opportunity to be together. School store is scheduled for Friday, October 8th during lunches. Since we had our first school store in September, we have learned a little bit about what worked and what we will need to change. When we meet on the 6th, we will be talking about how we can improve our business.

GIEP meetings will also continue in October. If I haven't met with you in September to discuss your child's educational needs, I look forward to this month where we can work together to plan for a successful year. I have been adding contests, competitions, and other enrichment opportunities to the gifted/enrichment Moodle site. Please check the site periodically and see if any of the opportunities posted might be of interest to your student.

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns throughout the school year. I appreciate all of your help and support at home.

School Store and Parent Meeting

We have had a busy few weeks of school! I hope your student is settling back into the school routine and enjoying their new team and classes. We had our first school store on the 9th during lunches and it was a huge success. Everyone did a great job working. We are planning our next store date for Friday, October 8th. I will be meeting with students prior to the 8th to work on budgeting, ordering, and advertising.

Thank you to all parents who attended the gifted program parent meeting prior to the start of open house on Wednesday. Hopefully any questions you had about the changes to the program were answered. I would also like to thank those parents that I met with this week for GIEP meetings. I appreciate your time and willingness to be part of your child's educational experience.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. I look forward to meeting with more parents for GIEP meetings in the coming weeks.

Program Information

We are now into our second week of school. I hope the first week went well for everyone. Last week I met with each student to talk about the changes to the gifted program. During that time, I shared that there is now a gifted/enrichment page on Moodle. Moodle can be accessed through the district webpage (www.pasd.us). On this page, we are listing different competitions and contests that are open for students to participate in.

Middle school gifted students have the option of helping to run the school store. This is the first year for the school store and PTO has purchased our first round of items to sell. Those that would like to participate will be working during lunches once a month to sell items. Eventually I would like to have those students assisting with the ordering, pricing, advertising, etc.

There will be a meeting for parents of middle school gifted students prior to the start of open house on Wednesday 9/15 at 6:30. We will be meeting in the LGI to discuss changes to the gifted program this year.

If you have not already done so, please sign and return the GIEP invite that was sent home last week. If the time does not work, please email or call me and we will schedule a new time. Invites can be returned to the main office at the middle school.

Welcome to the 2010-2011 school year!

Welcome back to school! I hope everyone had a great summer! I am excited to begin working as the gifted facilitator for 7th and 8th grade students. As you know, there have been changes to the gifted program at Palmyra. You should soon be receiving a letter from me in the mail that includes a paper reviewing those changes as well as an invitation for your child's GIEP meeting. I have scheduled GIEP meetings at the beginning of the year to allow us a chance to meet, discuss the programs, learn more about your child, and plan the best ways to meet his/her educational needs.

One of the goals of the gifted facilitators is to increase communication with parents. We now have a page on the district's Moodle site. You can access this site from the district's home page. I will be giving each of you an instruction sheet with your child's Moodle log in information when we meet for the GIEP meeting. In the mean time, you can log in as a guest to view this site.

I have scheduled meetings with each 7th and 8th grade gifted student during the first week of school. I am hoping to use this time to get to know your student and work together to set some goals for the school year.

Please feel free to contact me at any point throughout the school year with questions or concerns. I look forward to a wonderful school year and appreciate all of your help and support at home.