Gray - New Gloucester High School

Greetings Patriots! 

Homecoming Week is here!  Be sure to check out our athletic website for the schedule of all athletic events this week.  Weather permitting, after the football game on Friday night (09/20), we will have our annual bonfire (which usually lasts 45 minutes to an hour).  On Saturday morning (09/21) we will have our annual Homecoming Parade which will kick off from the middle school parking lot at 10:30 AM sharp.  Classes will showcase their floats and skits based on the theme of Disney (as selected by each class back in June and approved by our Student Council).  Immediately following the Homecoming Parade will be athletic events that will run until late Saturday afternoon.  Each class will be selling concessions and running games for the little kids.  It’s always great to see our community come together during Homecoming Week/Weekend and we hope your schedule will allow you to join us!  The Homecoming Dance (opened to GNGHS students and their approved guest who must be at least in high school and younger than 21) will take place on Saturday evening (09/21) from 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM.  Admission is $5 per student and refreshments will be sold.  Students needing a ride home after the dance are asked to make arrangements to have their ride at the high school by 10:00 PM.

Picture Day: Tuesday (09/17).

Yearbook: Yearbooks and Recognition ads are on sale now!  Order your yearbooks and parent recognition ads here:  http://jostensyearbooks.com/?REF=A03241900

Seniors should submit their Senior photos and baby photos for the yearbook here: 

images.jostens.com/413002

The deadline for Senior photos and baby photos is October 18, 2019. These photos will not be available for use in the Senior video, so please plan accordingly. Every Senior may submit a Senior photo, baby photo, and write up at no charge.

Senior yearbook write ups can be submitted to slandry@sad15.org.  Please type your Senior write-up. Only emailed write ups will be accepted. (DO NOT SEND AS AN ATTACHED FILE. PLEASE PUT YOUR WRITE UP DIRECTLY INTO YOUR EMAIL.) Your write up is limited to 200 characters, including spaces and punctuation.  Any write-up not following this format will not be published in the yearbook. If you miss the deadline, your write-up will not appear in the yearbook. Any profanity, inappropriate material, or questionable phrases will result in your write-up being omitted from the yearbook. Please, no abbreviations or initials. Your write-up is due by October 18, 2019.

From Our Health Office: The GNGHS flu clinic will be held on Thursday, October 17th. Permission forms are available in the office or on the school website. Please submit flu clinic forms by Thursday, October 10. As always, feel free to contact Shelley Blake or Cristie Barone, RN at the school Health Office with any questions or concerns.

If your Senior has not yet received the newly required meningococcal  vaccine, please make an appointment with their provider to have that completed as soon as possible and submit proof to the Health Office. Our fax # is 657-3329.

Please remember, students requiring medication at school must have an annual request signed by their physician as well as their parent. All medications must be checked in at the Health Office by the parent. Some students can carry an inhaler or epipen with parent/physician and school nurse approval. Please call or stop by the Health Office if you have questions.

Fall Musical: Auditions for the play The Sound of Music took place last week.  Students should check out the Patriot Players bulletin board for casting updates.  Any student with an interest in being part of the production crew (building the sets, painting, etc.) is asked to meet with Mr. Walker beginning on Monday (09/16) at 2:30 on the stage.

Study Center/Office Detention & the Late Bus: The Study Center & Office Detention is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:00 – 4:30.  Students should listen to the announcements for the room location as it may vary on the day (depending on the staff member covering it).  Our late bus service will run every Tuesday and Thursday picking students (with late bus passes) up at 4:30 PM at the front of the school.

Guidance Update: College Fairs are an excellent way to meet a lot of college and university admissions counselors who review applications for our region. Three upcoming College Fairs to visit are:

NEACAC College Fair – USM is hosting the New England Association for College Admission Counseling (NEACAC) College Fair on Tuesday, Sept 24, from 6:30pm-8:00pm on their 

Portland Campus.  The list of attending colleges/universities can be found at www.neacac.org

Greely High School College Night – Over 100 colleges and universities will attend an evening program at the Greely High School gym in Cumberland on Thurs, Sept 26th, 6:00-8:00 pm.

Colleges/Universities visiting GNGHS this month in the Guidance Office:

Friday, September 20 UMF 8:10 am B Day

Tuesday, September 24 Bowdoin 10:30 am B Day

Thursday, September 26 USM 8:30 am B Day

SNHU 10:30 am

UNH 11:00 am

The Common App is available for students to apply for college. Common App is a non-profit college access organization that helps students apply to college every year. Common App’s free college application tool is designed to make applying to college faster and easier. With Common App you only need to use one system to apply to multiple colleges and universities. There are two main parts you fill out: a set of common questions and each college’s own specific questions. The best part is you only have to fill out the common questions one time! https://www.commonapp.org/

As soon as possible after its Oct. 1 release, complete and submit your FAFSA® form at fafsa.gov, along with any other financial aid applications your chosen school(s) may require. You should submit your FAFSA form by the earliest financial aid deadline of the schools to which you are applying, usually by early February.

ASVAB and PSAT Testing October 16th. All tenth graders will take the ASVAB on October 16th  in order to explore their aptitude in a variety of areas and their interests. They will meet with their counselors to review the results and explore possible careers. The scores are not shared with the military, but students interested in joining a branch of the military may take the ASVAB again by making arrangements with a military recruiter. All eleventh graders will take the PSAT on October 16th as a required school day testing event. Students may prep for the PSAT by logging on to their College Board accounts and using the Khan Academy link on that page.

Senior Parent Night: A Conversation about the College Application Process will be held on October 8th from 6-7 pm in the GNGHS Cafeteria. We will host an informative evening program with several guest speakers to talk about the college application process at two and four year colleges and financial aid. Light refreshments will be served prior to the event.

Add/Drop: The add/drop period (for students to make any changes to their schedules) took place from 09/03 – 09/13. Student schedules are now set for the reminder of the semester/year (depending on the course).

Junior/Senior Privileges: Any Junior or Senior who returned the Junior/Senior Privilege Form was given these privileges beginning on 09/03.  Approximately every five weeks, we will do grade checks to ensure our Juniors and Seniors are maintaining class averages of 80% or better in order to keep these privileges.  We also take into consideration a student’s attendance and behavioral record when determining eligibility.  We are no longer expecting our Juniors to check-in with their study hall teachers.  Juniors will now do what we have been asking our Seniors to do when they are in the building but not assigned to a class, which is to sign the Junior or Senior Location Form (located in the Library) letting us know where in the building they are at when they’re not in a scheduled class.  For Juniors, that could be the Library, Patriot Place, Cafeteria, Guidance, or with a staff member.  Juniors (and Seniors) are reminded of the importance of maintaining these log sheets for accountability purposes should we have to evacuate; go into a lock-down; or just need to find them for any reason.

Reminder: Students are reminded that during school hours (7:30 AM – 1:50 PM), students are NOT allowed to transport other students on/off campus. This includes those students driving to and from PATHS.

Cell phones are to be turned OFF and put away from 7:30 AM – 1:50 PM – NO EXCEPTIONS.  If a student needs to use the phone, they may use one in the Main Office or the Health Office (with permission).

Student Council: There will be a Student Council meeting after school on Monday (09/16) from 2:00 – 2:30.  All Student Council members, (to include Student Council Officers, class reps, and Class Officers) are asked to attend this meeting.  All other students are invited to attend as well!

The GNGHS Outing Club is planning a hiking trip in Baxter State Park leaving Friday September 27th and returning on September 29th.  Saturday the group will hike the Traveler Loop, which includes the highest volcanic peak on the East Coast.  The Traveler Loop hike summit’s 3 different peaks along this 10+ mile experience.  This hike allows for extended hiking time above tree line and a section similar to the Knife’s Edge, on Katahdin.  The Traveler Loop is in a more remote, less traveled section of Baxter State Park.  If you would like to get away from civilization for a weekend, check out this link for more information.

https://docs.google.com/documentd1w0hKQUnHMSXxSgq5katOp60OQw8zlHZBlSYD_jLNRPA/edit?usp=sharing

Heartwood is GNG’s arts and literary magazine published in full color every spring. We need your artwork, your creative writing and your help to publish the book! We need an Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor and Publicity Director, plus additional members of the Publishing Team. Heartwood 2020 will be meeting for the first time on Tuesday the 17th in Ms. Pennington’s room from 2-3. Sound interesting? Come to the meeting on Tuesday with your ideas and any questions you might have.

Destination Imagination Try-outs: Destination Imagination will be holding an informational meeting and try-out on Monday October 7, 2019 at 6:00pm in the library.

Destination Imagination is a program designed to engage students in project-based challenges that are designed to build confidence and develop extraordinary creativity, critical thinking, communication, and teamwork skills.  The team chooses one STEM/STEAM based “central challenge” that it researches and prepares for competition in March.  In addition, the team practices “instant challenges” where they are given an unknown problem and a limited amount of time to solve the problem. All work is student led, with no “interference” from adults and is solved using the creative process.

Team practices will be held on Monday nights at the High School from 6:00 to 7:30. If you are interested in learning more about DI please attend the informational meeting on Monday October 7th.  If you are interested, but unable to attend, please email Mr. Terranova at timterranova@gmail.com

That concludes this week’s edition of the Patriot Express!  We would like to remind students and parents that if you have any questions or concerns about anything having to do with GNGHS, please don’t hesitate to contact the school.  Ms. Grealish is the primary administrator for students in grades 9 and 10, and Mr. Finn is the primary administrator for students in grades 11 and 12.  Any questions or concerns around athletics, please contact our Athletic Director, Ms. Robbins.  We will do everything we can to address your concerns in a timely manner.  We hope you all have a great week.  Take care and let’s have an AMAZING Homecoming Week! Go Patriots!

Ted Finn, Principal

Sadie Grealish, Assistant Principal   

   

Last updated 9/16/2019