MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS

Happy December!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and is ready for a wonderful holiday season.  I can’t believe 2024 is coming to an end, but I’m invigorated by all the fun we’ve had at the Middle School this fall.  

MS Events 

November was a great month at the Middle School.  Our 7th Grade Party was a huge success, with 275 students in attendance.  Thank you to our 7th grade representative, Tiffany Scola, and all the wonderful parents who volunteered to help out with coordinating and decorating for the event.  On November 20, we had our virtual PTA Meeting, which featured presentations from Dawn Dennis from our Digital Citizenship Committee, as well as a presentation from our guest speaker, Detective Romeliotis, who spoke about community safety for our middle school students.  We also welcomed Kristen Pappas from the Garden City Board of Education, who spoke about the Regionalization Initiative.  If you missed the meeting, a recording and meeting minutes are available on the website.

Please see below for a list of this year’s remaining meetings.  Meetings are a great way to stay current on what is going on at the Middle School and we encourage you to attend.

• January 15th, 9:15 am, in person and zoom
• February 12, 7:30 pm, All School PTA Meeting, in person and zoom
• March 11, 9:30 am, in person and zoom
• April 9, 7:30 pm, zoom

And keep your eyes peeled for some winter decorating at the Middle School in the coming weeks.  Our beautification committee has been working hard to make the Middle School even more fabulous.

SEPTA News

SEPTA will be hosting their annual Ugly Sweater Party on Tuesday, December 10 at Bowlero Mineola.  This is their first fundraiser of the year.  The funds raised support activities and events at all Garden City Schools and for all Garden City kids.  The Middle School would like to help by donating a raffle basket from our school.  If you are interested in contributing to the school basket, please submit your optional $10 donation by venmo to our building SEPTA representative, Lynda Vaillant, @Lvaillant1 by Tuesday, December 3.  Please write 'Ugly Sweater Basket' in the comment.  If you would like to make a personal or business donation, please reach out to Lynda at lmadera1@gmail.com.  

SSEP

Congratulations to GCMS students Anjali Motwani and Tanya Oza, Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) winners from last year, whose microgravity experiment was launched into space on the SpaceX CRS-31 on November 4!  Anjali & Tanya were invited to visit the Kennedy Space Center to watch the 9:29pm shuttle launch in person from the Banana Creek Launch Viewing Area.

There were 14,250 students all over the world who submitted 1,859 experiments total. Of those, 39 student experiments were chosen, one of which was the experiment Anjali and Tanya designed with their staff mentors -- Ms. DeRiso and Dr. Zaferiou.

This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, as the Kennedy Space Center made special arrangements for the winners to come to the night launch outside of normal operating hours, and participants were able to view every part of the rocket launch, separations and return/landing of the booster in the complete darkness. Congratulations to Anjali, Tanya, their staff mentors, and the Garden City Middle School on this incredible accomplishment!

I sincerely thank you for your continued support of the PTA.  Please feel free to contact me at middleschool@gardencitypta.org if you have any questions or concerns.  

Lastly, I’d like to express our gratitude to all the parents, teachers, staff, and administrators who have worked tirelessly to make this year a success. Your dedication and hard work have not gone unnoticed, and we appreciate all that you do for our children and community.

As we say goodbye to 2024, I wish you and your loved ones a wonderful, peaceful, and joyous holiday season.  May 2025 bring happiness, good health, and prosperity to you and your family. Happy Holidays and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Sincerely,

Tara Kelly

Middle School PTA Director

www.gardencitypta.org

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