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Gotha Updated - Week of November 2, 2026

Posted Date: 11/01/26 (06:30 PM)
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A digital banner for Gotha Middle School with the text "Gotha Update" and "It's a Great Day to be a Grizzly!", featuring a school logo and a portrait of Principal Emery.

2026-2027 Bring your “A” game!

 

Week of November 2, 2026

Hello, Grizzly Families!

Last week’s Red Ribbon Week was a wonderful reminder that our Grizzlies can have fun while celebrating an important message: making healthy choices and living drug-free! Thank you to our students, staff and families for bringing the spirit and supporting a bright future for our students.

As we welcome November, we’re looking forward to another great week of learning, growing and celebrating our Grizzlies. Thank you for all you do to make Gotha such a special place. Let’s make it a Gotharific week! 💜🐻
Red ribbon week
 

This Week’s Students of the Week

Congratulations to this week's Cambridge Learner Attributes Students of the Week.  Both Haley Marks and Ella D’Italia were nominated for being confident!

CONFIDENT
RESPONSIBLE
REFLECTIVE
INNOVATIVE
ENGAGED
 

Principal for the Day

Penny Reynolds took the lead as our highest fall fundraiser and earned a well-deserved turn as Principal for the Day! From greeting families in the car line to making announcements and leading our Fun Fri-yay Name That Tune, she jumped right in and nailed it! Thank you, Penny, and the Reynolds family for your incredible support of our school. Our Grizzlies were in great hands!
 

The Grizzlies - Pop Up Holiday Shop

We’re excited to announce something extra special this holiday season! This year, we’ll be hosting a Pop-Up Holiday Shop where students will have the opportunity to shop for holiday gifts for their family and friends using their hard-earned Bear Bucks!

Our goal is to create a fun and memorable shopping experience where students can enjoy the excitement of choosing special gifts for the people they love.

We would love your help making our Holiday Shop a success! We’ve created an Amazon Wishlist with items we’d love to have available for our little shoppers. If you’re able to contribute, simply visit the link below to see the items needed.

🎁 Help Us Stock the Holiday Shop! Shop Our Amazon Wishlist

Thank you for helping us make this holiday season extra special for our grizzlies! Your generosity and support help us create meaningful experiences and spread a little extra holiday cheer. 
 
LITERACY NEWS

Literacy News

Reading at home still matters in middle school! Regular reading helps students build vocabulary, strengthen comprehension and develop confidence across all subjects. Encourage your Grizzly to set aside time each day to read something they enjoy—a novel, graphic novel, magazine or nonfiction book. Giving students a choice and asking about what they’re reading can help make it a habit they look forward to. A little reading each day can make a big difference! 
 
ROAR

OCPS Code of Student Conduct Updates

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

Dress Code Reminder: Students should wear clothing as it is designed to be worn.  We are seeing a trend of students wearing their pants intentionally unbuttoned at school. Please remind your student that pants must remain buttoned and zipped throughout the school day. This trend needs to stop, and students arriving with unfastened pants will be directed to correct it. Thank you for reinforcing this expectation at home and helping our Grizzlies arrive ready to learn!
Jeans
 

This Week at the School

Monday - Fall Picture Retake; HOME Volleyball Games vs. Robinswood MS
Tuesday - 
Wednesday - Gotha Spirit Day; NJHS Meeting for CURRENT Members; Volleyball Games vs. Windy Ridge
Thursday -
Friday - 

Upcoming Dates
November 2: Fall Picture Retakes
November 12-13:  6th Grade Scoliosis Screenings
November 19: Connectivity Day
November 23-27: Thanksgiving Break
December 1: FAST ELA PM2
December 3: CFEs and PMAs Begin 
December 10: FAST Math PM2
December 21-January 4: Winter Break
 

PTO Updates

🐻💜 THE FUN DIDN'T STOP WHEN WE SURPASSED OUR GOAL! 🎉
Grizzlies, we've been having WAY too much fun celebrating our Grizzly Groove Silent Disco FUNdraiser! From pizza and movie parties to donuts, ice cream sundaes, and Mrs. Emery getting duct taped to the wall 😂, there have been so many amazing moments worth sharing!

📸 Want to see all the fun? We've been sharing pictures from our prize winners and celebrations on our Gotha PTO Facebook and Instagram pages!


Go check out the pictures, celebrate our Grizzlies, and relive some of our favorite moments from this year's FUNdraiser! And one more HUGE thank you to our parents, students, teachers, and staff for making it all possible. We couldn't have done it without you! 🐻💜

🐻💜 STUCK ON OUR GRIZZLIES!
As a celebration of reaching our first Grizzly Groove Silent Disco FUNdraiser goal, our amazing principal, Mrs. Emery, got duct taped to the wall! 😂🙌 She was such a good sport, and our Grizzlies loved every minute of it!

🎥 Want to see how it all went down? Check out the video here: https://youtu.be/dD89_bqPIbY?si=hW5VCDhyKyiQs5jS

Thank you again to our incredible Gotha community for helping us surpass our goal and making these unforgettable memories possible!

Chick-Fil-A Community Care Event - SAVE THE DATE!
Come together for a Community Care Event in support of Gotha Middle School on November 10th. Simply place a mobile order at any time during the day on 11/10 at the Ocoee Chick-Fil-A (10620 West Colonial Dr, Ocoee) then choose “Support Community Care Event” and enter code GOTHA to contribute. A portion of those mobile sales will be donated back. PTO will be in store 5-7pm with supplies to make Veterans Day cards.

🐺 Great Wolf Lodge Offer for Gotha Families! 🎉
Thanks to our partnership with Booster, families can enjoy up to 40% off a Great Wolf Lodge getaway! 🐾🐺 It's just one of the added benefits of using the Booster platform for our school fundraiser.

Check out the graphic for details and booking instructions. The offer is available through December 31, 2027, so there's plenty of time to plan a fun family getaway! 🏊‍♀️💦
To book your stay, click here: https://www.greatwolf.com/booster
COmmunity Cares
Great Wolf Lodge
 

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.
Principal
Gotha Middle School
9155 Gotha Rd.
Windermere, FL 34768
It’s A GREAT Day to be A Grizzly
 

 

Gotha Reminders


[Sunday, Nov 1 at 6:54 PM]
Our apologies - Hayley’s name was misspelled!