Skip to main content

Popular Links

Gotha Update - Week of December 8, 2025

Posted Date: 12/07/25 (06:30 PM)
View Original Post


Gotha Update

2025-2026 be the ONE.

I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend. We had a very successful week of FAST testing last week. We have made great gains over the first round of testing in August and in ELA we are already just 3 percentage points from where we ended the year last year. I am very proud of all of the students and teachers for working so hard.

Next week students will be taking common final exams in some courses and our Algebra, Geometry, Geometry, Civics and Science students will be taking their second progress monitoring assessment. The bell schedules can be seen below.

As I stated last week, when student are off of their routines, it can sometimes make them feel anxious or excitable. Please talk with your student each day to ensure they are making good choices and staying positive.
Bell schedule
 

Spirit Night at Jet’s Pizza – December 9th

Take a break from the holiday shopping hustle and bustle and join us for Spirit Night at Jet’s Pizza on Tuesday, December 9th! It’s the perfect chance to grab a delicious dinner before heading to the band concert at school that evening. Enjoy great pizza, support our school, and make the night a festive one for the whole family.
Pizza
 

Student Government Family Movie Night

One of the goals of our student government is to build strong connections between our feeder elementary schools and our current students. To celebrate that mission, they are excited to host a Family Movie Night on Friday, December 12th! The featured film will be the holiday classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Admission is simple—just bring one non-perishable food item per person to support our community. To join in the fun, please register using the QR code provided on the flyer.
 

Literacy News

Students in our intensive reading course were grouped into “Expected Growth” and “Insufficient Use” categories based on their participation in Reading Plus, which also reflected whether they were reading independently at home. The data shows a clear difference: 61 percent of students in the Expected Growth group demonstrated improvement on the FAST assessment, compared to only 29 percent in the Insufficient Use group.

This gap highlights how critical it is for students to engage not only with structured reading practice at school, but also to build consistent habits of reading at home. When students combine both, their chances of making meaningful progress in reading skills increase significantly.
Literacy
 
PBIS

OCPS Code of Student Conduct Updates

As always, the OCPS Code of Student Conduct can be found HERE.

Our PBIS program is showing strong results. Out of 1,030 students, referrals dropped from 45 in quarter one to 29 in quarter two—a 36% decrease. The number of students with referrals also declined from 38 to 27, reflecting the positive impact of our consistent expectations and reinforcement of good behavior.

Thank you for continuing to support our incentive programs with your donations.
 

This Week at the School

Monday - Testing in 1st and 4th periods
Tuesday -Testing in 3rd and 5th periods; Spirit Night at Jets Pizza; Band Concert @ 6:30pm
Wednesday - Testing in 7th period; Gotha Spirit Day!
Thursday - Testing in 2nd and 6th periods; Orchestra Concert @ 6:30
Friday - College and Kindness Day
 

Have a GREAT Week!

Follow us on social media, as we post frequently to Facebook and Instagram. Encourage your student to make choices that are confident, responsible, reflective, innovative and engaged, and as always, it’s a GREAT day to be a Grizzly!

Facebook - Gotha Middle School
Instagram - gotha_middle_school

Monica L. Emery, M.Ed.
Gotha Middle School
9155 Gotha Rd.
Windermere, FL 34768
407-521-2360
It’s a GREAT Day to be a Grizzly
 
 

Gotha Reminders

Aktivate Sports Physicals and Registration: Basketball registration is due December 15th.
Buy Your Yearbook NOW school code: 382901