June 7, 2023
Dear GCS Families,
Wow – GCS is the happening place to be these days! Our time together this school year is quickly winding down, but not without many fabulous activities to commemorate our time together. From musical presentations, special guests, spirit days and pizza parties, to parachute play, a spectacular rainforest show, and even a “circus that came to town… all to celebrate and say goodbye after a year together of learning, growing, new friendships and memories to last a lifetime. There have been tears, laughter, challenges and growth; but most of all, children leave having learned more about themselves, the world, and all of those around them. This quote tells it all:
“It’s not about how many benchmarks a child meets… it’s about how to inspire a love of learning so they never want to stop reaching for the sky!”
Memorial Day Remembrance
We want to extend our thanks to U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Michael Kennedy (husband to teacher, Jean) for his time as we all gathered for a special Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony together. After the Kindergarten led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, Mike shared some special words about the meaning behind Memorial Day. Together, we sang “God Bless America” and “Red, White and Blue”, after which Mike helped children from each class to place America Flags in each of our planters. It was a moving event and so meaningful beyond that of just a day off, parades, and cookouts.
Groton Police Visit
The children were also treated to a special visit from Groton Deputy Chief Rachael Mead and Officer Omar Connor, along with GPD comfort dog, Miranda, last week. How fun to be able to climb through the back of a police car and sit in the driver’s seat! Omar and Rachael were so wonderful in helping children feel at ease and comfortable and to let them know who they can turn to in cases of an emergency. And who knew that dogs liked carrots and cucumbers?
African Drumming
Classes recently enjoyed learning about West African drumming and Mailian culture with Master Drummer Moussa Traore and some of his students, Marcia Lewin-Berlin, Shelley Grove and Lisa Stafford. We learned about Moussa’s life as a dual citizen in the US and Mali, what a Master Drummer does, and why people drum in his culture. We welcomed our guests singing “Funga Alafia” and then children enjoyed clapping, dancing, and some drumming on their own!
Spring Spruce-Up
A tremendous thank you to those staff, board members, families, and Groton School Crew Team students who gathered together in early May to help with some much-needed playground work during our Spring Spruce-Up. We were able to accomplish so much together from spreading mulch, preparing garden beds, spreading stone dust, and edging gardens to even creating a permanent pathway leading to our storage shed with pavers. A special thank you to John Harker, Yellow Roomer Colby Hankin’s grandfather, for traveling from Rhode Island to help with this project. Thanks, also, to Laura Hankin, Jess Barie & Kelly Lopez for organizing this year’s Spruce-Up.
Family Survey
We are so grateful to the many families who took time to share their thoughts in our Family Survey. There is still time so please take a few moments if you haven’t yet done so. We appreciate your insight and thoughts and rely on the feedback and suggestions to plan into the future. While some things have constraints due to scheduling, staffing, or licensing, we appreciate your insight as to how we can continue to grow and be the best that we can be for the community. All comments are anonymous, but please know that we are always here to help, listen and support you beyond that of a survey. Results will be collated and a summary will be sent to families soon after the school year ends.
Thank You!
Thank you to the following volunteers for lending a hand at our Spring Spruce-Up: Danielle Ayer & Talulla Dennehy, Jess Barie, David Bushery, Jesse Cotter, Joe Crowley, Laura Cummings, Peter Gollands, Laura Hankin, Beverly Harris, Jonathan Jones, Mihirraj Joshi, Lakshmi Krishnan, Sam Landry, Kelly Lopez, Deb Penney, Terri & Pete Martin, John Pettee, Barton Phinney, Peter & Lukas Simms, Lisa Stafford, Andy Tirella, & Virgil Vaillancourt. Our Groton School Crew Team volunteers included: Caroline Creasy, Lauri Dubois, Olivia Fayemi, Hannah Galley, Isabella Gardiner, Gabby Gil, Isabelle Holcomb, Nina Karp, Kit Knupple, Naia Kolodjez, Alice Liu, Maya Luthi, Marlene Ma, Ava Meyer, Aria Nahm, Sydney Nelson, Amelia Pottash, Agathe Robert, Sydney Senerchia & Chloe Zheng. And thank you to Peter Myette and Great Road Farm & Garden for donating supplies and for the continuous support of GCS.
We’d also like to thank the following families for various donations to the school: The Babin family for spare shoes & games, the Brooks family for spare clothing, the Giangregorio family for strawberry plants, the Harris family for animal cage shavings, Claire Macy for an art poster, Wendy Moores for craft supplies, and the Oshiro family for colored paper & card stock. A special thank you to Debbie MacDonald & Sterilite for all sizes of plastic bins, and also to Moison Ace Hardware for donating gardening supplies and Lowes in Nashua for donating annuals for our GCS Parent Social and Room Parent Appreciation Event.
And in the meantime, we are enjoying our final adventures and cherishing all we have shared together this year. Keep your fingers crossed for nicer weather this Friday be able to hold our Annual GCS Family Picnic. Hope to see you all there!!
Linda Kosinski, GCS Director
Dates to Remember
- Friday, June 9th, GCS Family Picnic, 5 – 7 PM
- Monday, June 12th, Board Meeting – 7:30 PM
- Wednesday, June 14th, Last Day of School
GCS Camp Schedule
- Tuesday, June 20th, Full Day Camp Begins
- Monday, June 26th, Half Day Camp Begins, Session 1 – Week 1
- Monday & Tuesday, July 3rd & 4th, No Full Day Camp
- Monday, July 10th, Half Day Camp Resumes, Session 1 – Week 2
- Monday, July 17th, Half Day Camp, Session 2 Begins
- Monday, July 31st, Half Day Camp, Session 3 Begins
- Thursday, August 17th, Last Day of Full Day Camp