Welcome to Gotha Middle School!
Gotha Update 12/5/2022
Hello Gotha Families!
I hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather this weekend. We have just ten school days left until the end of the quarter and until Winter Break.
Tonight I have some information about the Gotha school-wide spelling bee, basketball tryouts, testing, as well as weekly news about literacy and the code of conduct.
The Gotha Middle School Spelling Bee is back! All students will be participating in a first “qualifying” round on December 12th as part of their Language Arts class and the winning students from each class will advance to the whole-school Spelling Bee on January 12th. The school winner of the Bee will have the opportunity to advance to the Orlando District Level Bee, sponsored by Orlando City.
School spelling bees offer students an opportunity to practice public speaking and improve their spelling, both critical skills as they advance in their schooling. Please encourage your student to participate by helping them study the words, or by allowing them to download the WordClub app.
Tryouts for our girls and boys basketball teams will begin on January 4th @ 3:20 P.M. Athletes MUST have their COMPLETED athletic packet turned into the main office by December 14th @ 3:30 P.M. in order to try out. The packet can be found by going to http://Gothams.ocps.net, then clicking on the ATHLETICS tab and then 2022-2023 OCPS Athletic Physical Packet. The packet must be printed out and be fully completed by students, parents and a doctor. The completed packet should then be turned in to the main office! If you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Davis, our Athletic Director, at [email protected]
Our first incentive day will be December 15th. To take part in the incentive day, students must not have any referrals in quarter 2 and must have all As, Bs, and Cs as of December 14th. Encourage your students to stay on track in order to be invited to the Q2 Kona Ice Party!
Students begin Common Final Exams and Progress Monitoring Activities this week. We will be on a testing bell schedule from December 5th - December 13th, with testing occurring the first 90 minutes of each day. Please make sure your student is getting a good night's sleep and that laptops are charged. If your student does not have time for breakfast at home, remember that breakfast is served each morning at the school at no cost to the students.
LITERACY FOCUS OF THE WEEK
When your student dedicates only 20 minutes of time to reading every day, it is estimated that they will get exposed to 1.8 million words yearly leading to increased general knowledge, communication and analytical skills, and they will obviously enrich their vocabulary substantially.
Check out this article, “Why Read 20 Minutes a Day (The Complete List of Benefits)” for other benefits!
CODE OF CONDUCT REMINDER
OCPS Code of Student Conduct
Please remember that cell phones on campus must be off and concealed. If a student has their phone out or earbuds in it will result in a parent pick up of the device. We do this to limit distractions and to prevent missteps in choices like recording other students or accessing social media. Please remind your student of this school-wide policy.
THIS WEEK AT THE SCHOOL
Each year we celebrate the 12 Days of Gotha Holidays! It’s a great way to have a little fun as we head towards the winter break. It’s also a great way to share a little bit about ourselves as each day has a different theme.
Monday 12/5 - Let it Snow: holiday hat day!; Girls Volleyball Playoff Game @ Home 6:00 pm
Tuesday 12/6 - Christmastime is Here: wear flannel, plaid and boots!; Winter Chorus Concert 6:30 pm
Wednesday 12/7 - Arctic Days: wear lots of blue!; NO EARLY DISMISSAL
Thursday 12/8 - Rocking Around the Christmas Tree: ugly sweaters!
Friday 12/9 - Feliz Navidad: wear anything fun and festive!
A FEW REMINDERS
Consider helping us out by donating to our foundation page. Your donations go directly back to the kids in the form of incentives and events!
Our 2022-23 Gotha Yearbooks are already for sale and RIGHT NOW they are the cheapest they will be all year. Click here to go to our Gotha MS website where you can order books, buy ads for your favorite Gotha student and upload pictures! If you do not want your student’s photo included in the yearbook, please contact Ms. Miller at [email protected]
Please contact the school if you have any questions at all. Have a great week remember to be safe and be kind and as always, IT’S A GREAT DAY TO BE A GRIZZLY!
Monica Emery
Principal
Gotha Middle School
407-521-2360
2022 GOTHA Resilience LipDub
There are a variety of ways to support the school! Please click on the links below for more information!
http://www.ocps.net
Office Hours
8:00a.m. - 4:30p.m. Mon-Fri
School Hours
9:30a.m. - 3:57p.m. (MTRF)
9:30a.m. - 2:54p.m. (W)