Dear Riverside Parents, If you’re reading this before the school day ends, please remember to join us after dismissal for the Holiday Sing! Riverside School families will gather in the front courtyard to sing festive tunes for 15-20 minutes. Riverside students have been busy practicing, and we hear they are promising a surprise! A big thank you to Ms. Punchatz for leading us in song. Registration for our Winter Afters session will begin on Wednesday, December 14th at 7:00am and continue through December 21st. Please see below for more information and visit the Afters page to view the full Winter Afters schedule. Thank you to everyone who contributed this week to Luke’s Toy Drive (benefitting 10 to 18-year-old patients at Yale New Haven Children's Hospital) and to our Green Committee's Holiday Lights Recycling Drive. Luke’s Fundraiser continues for a few more days, and more information can be found below in the PTA News section. Lastly, please be sure to check out the wonderful article in the Greenwich Free Press about last month’s Holidays for Haiti event. Calendar reminders for the remainder of 2022: - December 12 – Winter Concert for families of Grades 4 & 5 Orchestra, Band and Chorus members
- December 13 – Last day for online Book Fair purchases
- December 14-21 – Winter Afters Registration
- December 23 – Early Release
- December 24-31 – Holiday Recess (school resumes January 3)
Have a great weekend! Allison Maus & Clare Johnson
PTA Co-Presidents |
| WINTER AFTERS REGISTRATION STARTS NEXT WEEK! The Afters Committee is thrilled to announce that we have some fun and engaging indoor offerings planned for the Winter Afters Session. The Gym Afters will be broken up into two "mini-sessions," with the first session starting the week of January 17th and the second session (Gymnastics) starting the week of February 27th. All other Winter Afters, including classes by some new and some returning providers, will offer a full session, starting the week of January 23rd and continuing through the week of March 21st. Registration will open Wednesday, December 14th at 7am. For more details and a sneak peek of the Winter Afters Schedule, please visit The Afters Page. Please reach out to Luisa Lander or Virginia Lockhart with any questions. |
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| LUKE MCQUILLAN TOY DRIVE LAST CALL TODAY is the final day that bins will be outside to collect toys for Yale New Haven Children's Hospital. However, it's not too late! If you would like to donate a physical toy after 4pm today, please contact WendyGBrowning@yahoo.com and you can arrange a hand-off. You can also make a monetary donation by clicking I'm supporting Yale New Haven Health!. A huge thank you to all who donated. You have made a big difference in a child's life. |
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| STUDENT COUNCIL DRIVE TO HELP KIDS IN GREENWICH On behalf of the 4th Grade Student Council, Cristina Fioravanti and Jessica Rosa would like to announce that they will be holding a Holiday Donation Drive for Kids in Crisis from December 9th - December 21st. They are requesting clothing, shoes, toys and toiletry items for both girls and boys, ages 7-14. In an effort to ensure that all needs are met, each grade will be responsible for a different donation category: - Kindergarten - Slippers and shoes
- Grade 1 - Pajamas
- Grade 2 - Socks and underwear
- Grade 3 - Hats/gloves/scarves and coats
- Grade 4 - Toys (for ages 7-14 years old)
- Grade 5 - Gallon-size Ziploc bags filled with travel sizes of shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, etc.
This year, Student Council is made up of 45 eager, young leaders who continue to give back to their community. Please join in helping them achieve their goal this month.
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| EARLY MORNING PROGRAM IN THE GYM! Let your children run off their energy before school! The Early Morning Program will head to the Gym at 8am on Tuesdays and Thursdays, giving students a bit more exercise as the weather outside gets colder. If dropping off after 8am, please bring them to the front door. The drop-in rate is $18 per day, and you may register your child and get more information here. Please contact Melissa Goldstein or Anne Akyuz with any questions. |
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| ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS Upcoming Enrichment Programming - December 15: Dinosaurs Rock (Grade 2)
- December 19: Riverside Rhythms, violinist Renee Oliver (All Grades)
- December 21: Author Visit with Jerry Pallotta (Grade 1)
These programs are paid for by your generous donations to the PTA. Thank you! |
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| VISION SCREENING: A NOTE FROM THE NURSE On Tuesday, December 14th, Greenwich Lions Club KidSight coordinator, Alan Gunzburg, will be providing students in Grades 1, 4, and 5 with free vision screenings. Please contact Nurse Flynn with any questions. |
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| SAFETY DUTY: MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN JUST 15 MINUTES! Safety Duty is an important part of keeping our children safe at Riverside School. Volunteers make the morning drop-off process more efficient and secure. Volunteers assist children as they exit their vehicles in the front driveway from 8:30am - 8:45am daily and help to enforce the “Rules of the Road.” Sign up online. For more information, contact Sean Sullivan. |
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WE WANT TO MAKE SURE EVERY 5TH GRADER IS IN THE YEARBOOK! Please upload the following pictures BY DECEMBER 16: - A baby photo of your child for the "Guess Who?" section. To see examples, click here.
- Photos of at-school events from Kindergarten through 5th grade - think First Day of School, Boo Bash, Field Day etc.
Upload the photos here.
FAQs - I'm having trouble uploading photos to the Google Drive. What should I do?Click here and scroll down for instructions.
- When do you need the pictures mentioned above? By December 16th! (Of course photos from 5th grade can continue to be uploaded through February.)
- When should I work on my child's individual page? Stay tuned for details in the new year. Every student will design his/her own page, uploading his/her own photos (which can include activities outside school) and designing the page using a software program to which we will give you access. Currently, please only upload the pictures mentioned above to our Google Drive.
- Do you have enough volunteers working on Yearbook? NO. We can't make this happen without more help. If you have time January - March to work on a small section of the yearbook (ie. pictures from 1st grade), please write luisalander@gmail.com
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Greenwich Public Schools Board of Education Meetings You can attend this year’s Board of Education meetings in person or on Zoom – which makes it easier to stay informed! Here is a list of 2022-2023 academic year Greenwich Board of Education meetings. Information on how to access the meetings virtually can be found on the GPS Accessing Virtual BOE Meetings page. All meetings start at 7:00pm unless otherwise noted. - Thursday, December 15, 2022
- Thursday, January 19, 2023
- Thursday, February 2, 2023 (Retreat, no public comment)
- Thursday, February 23, 2023
- Thursday, March 16, 2023
- Thursday, April 20, 2023
- Thursday, May 18, 2023
- Thursday, June 1, 2023 (Retreat, no public comment)
- Thursday, June 15, 2023
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PTAC Academic Excellence Committee: Upcoming Session "Fostering a Love of Learning at Home" Series We have another opportunity for elementary school parents to learn more about hands-on strategies they can use to support their children at home, both with review and enrichment. OGS Principal, Jennifer Bencivengo, has put together a four-part series, "Fostering a Love of Learning at Home." All GPS elementary school parents are invited to join the conversation. All sessions will be offered both in-person at OGS' media center and virtually through Google Meets. If you are interested in attending any or all of this discussion series, you must register by using this link. |
ALP Program Update and Grade 2 Placement Grade 2 ALP Enrichment Placement Recommendation Notifications will be made on January 3, 2023. |
Subscribe to Receive Greenwich Public Schools Newsletters Make sure you are receiving GPS e-newsletters directly to your inbox! To subscribe, select the relevant newsletters below and click the orange "Follow" button on the right side of the page. |
Open Arts Alliance Announces Auditions for The Wizard of Oz Open Arts Alliance is proud to announce auditions for The Wizard of Oz on December 12, 14 & 15 at 6 pm at River House (125 River Road Extension, Cos Cob, CT 06807) for students ages 6-18. Follow the yellow brick road in this delightful stage adaptation of the classic film featuring "Munchkinland," "If I Only Had A Brain" and "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." Performances will take place in March 2023 at the historic Westport Country Playhouse where many cast members from the 1939 film performed. Register today and join us over the rainbow! |
Merry, Bright & Waste Free Holidays Webinar 'Tis the season for joy, traditions, celebration... and waste! Americans produce one million extra tons of trash than the rest of the year between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Bah humbug! Don't let waste dim the holiday spirit! It's easy to make switches from decor and wrapping to gifts and cooking to create a merry, bright and waste-free holiday season. Join the Greenwich Conservation Commission and Waste Free Greenwich at 9:30 am on Thursday, December 15 for a virtual event hosted by the PTA Council Green Schools Committee to learn about practices and tips to green your holiday celebration with these featured presenters - Sarah Coccaro of the Greenwich Conservation Commission and Julie DesChamps of Waste Free Greenwich. To register, please visit: https://www.wastefreegreenwich.org/events |
Waste Free Holidays – Less Waste, More Cheer, Support Your Local Artist One of the easiest ways to make sustainable choices this year is to swap out your wrapping paper for a more eco-friendly option. At 4pm on Thursday, December 15, at the Old Greenwich Social Club, talented local artists Jesse Gestal and Katie Humbold are offering personalized gift wrapping with unique upcycled wrapping paper to any gift you want beautifully wrapped for the holidays. Hassle free, sustainable, and all handmade, their wrapping paper will surely make your gifts into pieces of art! Come and enjoy arts & crafts for the kids, and a Christmas market too. If every American family wrapped just three gifts in reusable materials, the paper saved would cover 45,000 football fields. Let’s wrap it up and recycle! Some easy gift-wrap alternatives include: reusable cloth fabric, leftover paper and ribbon, newspaper or magazines, artwork by your children, and reusable baskets or mason jars. |
Greenwich High School Theater Arts Presents: High School Musical Greenwich High School Theater Arts, winner of the Outstanding Schools Theater Program Award, presents the Broadway Musical Workshop production of High School Musical, December 14-17, 2022 at the G.H.S. Blackbox Theater. Performances are at 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm. Order your tickets now! |
| SUBMISSIONS Have something to add? Email us at: peekweekriv@gmail.com/ Deadline for submissions is 3pm on Wednesday of the school week |
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