June 29, 2023
Dear GCS Families,
As June comes to a close, along with another school year, we wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on all of those who helped to make this time at Groton Community School such a special experience. Like anything, there have been highs and lows, but the overall feeling when this time of year comes along is that of celebration of growth, new friendships, independence, and memories to last a lifetime!
WITH GRATITUDE
There are so many wonderful people who helped to make GCS a better place throughout the school year:
- To our amazing teachers and staff for their unwavering commitment to early education, their endless energy, and their genuine time and talent.
- To GCS Room Parents for their coordination and efforts in pulling together playgroups, year-long communication, teacher support and classroom assistance.
- To those of you who helped each month by “Stocking the Staff Room!” Teachers often go through the day at a rapid pace and don’t always take time to nourish themselves. Having some extra, healthier choices for snacks and drinks has been amazing and I know how grateful our teachers are for your kindness!
- To our Board of Directors for their organization all year long, their fundraising efforts, family fun and support, and overall guidance.
- To our Board of Trustees for their forward thinking and vision, generosity, communication and outreach, and commitment to the school’s mission.
- And finally, to all of you, our GCS Families, for sharing your children with us for the past 42 weeks. We have loved all the smiles, friendships, milestones and growth that has occurred.
A FOND FAREWELL
Speaking of gratitude, we are especially grateful for three Board of Directors Members who stayed well beyond their terms to continue supporting the school. Thank you to Laura Cummings, Kelly Lopez and Colleen Neff for the many extraordinary things they have done for our school! Please read our Board of Director Good-byes 2023 to thank these talented and dedicated Board members!
GCS CAMP
GCS Camp is in full swing as campers are enjoying “Oceans of Fun” singing, swimming, crafting, and other ocean-related adventures. While we do wish for less rain, it really hasn’t put a damper on our days. If you are coming back to GCS next year, you should have received information and paperwork this week for the Fall. Please call with questions or refer to the GCS website www.grotoncommunityschool.org, with a new Family Login code of GCS2324fam.
LEAVE YOUR LEGACY
Last call for GCS’s Leave a Legacy Brick Campaign. Find more information for the Brick Campaign to help in supporting GCS, as well as to leave your enduring mark of remembrance and celebration for years to come. We will be sending this batch out for engraving next week and hope to have our walkway installed along the front of the building by the Fall.
GCS ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIPS
Each spring we pay tribute to two special young men through our Groton Community School Scholarships for GCS alumni. Our Scholarship Committee has the difficult task of selecting the recipients, and it is so amazing to learn about the accomplishments of our alumni applicants. Congratulations to our 2023 recipients: Isabella Meehan and Remy Towers (GCS Scholarship in Memory of Christopher Barton) and Samuel (Sam) Landry (GCS Scholarship in Memory of Taylor Benjamin Young)! We are so proud of these GCS representatives, and of all of our alumni, as they graduate from high school and begin the next stage of their educational journey!
FAMILY PICNIC
It was so nice to see so many of you at our family picnic. After canceling for weather, we finally had some good luck on our side and were able to sneak in a fun night of bubbles, hula-hooping and popsicles. It was really rewarding to see so many families and children interacting with friends that they had made during their year at GCS. We are grateful to the Town of Groton for allowing us the use of their field and the Board of Directors for facilitating the evening.
THANK YOU!
Thank you to Tom Delaney from the Town of Groton for helping us with our recycling endeavors. We’d also like to thank Dan and Jess Barie for the hours of weekend work constructing our greenhouse planters and rebuilding the slide deck. A special shout out to Ava Barie for her artistic talent in painting our new GCS mailbox. Thank you to Kyle Mann for assembling our new diggers for the sandbox, to Jess Barie & Laura Hankin for assembling our new composts barrels, and to Jillian Doyle for creating a new advertising tri-fold for use at Grotonfest and other town-wide events.
We’d also like to thank Vipeda Tirella (daughter, Ayla, was in the MWF Yellow Room) for donating her time & services taking class photos, to our June “Stock-the-Staff-Room” volunteers, Jillian Doyle, Heather Gerteisen, Krista Giangregorio, Jacquelyn Hagermoser & Katherine Maroney, and to the Guaraldi family for flowers and the Guichard family for spare clothing.
Wishing you all a warm, wonderful and sunny summer!
Linda Kosinski, GCS Director
DATES TO REMEMBER
Thursday, July 20th, Completed Forms Due for the 2023-24 School Year
Thursday, August 31st, Family Orientation Day (details to follow)
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