Greene County Middle School

Dear Families, I am writing to update you on an incident that was reported to have occurred at Greene County Middle School during the school day on Tuesday, January 23. A middle school aged student was reported to be making a verbal threat to school safety. Our middle school principal immediately took action to investigate and provide necessary information to our local police department. We have been informed that the student is likely to face charges as a result of the comments. While this was an isolated incident, we want our families to know that we take this situation very seriously. We are fully cooperating with the police investigation and are doing everything we can to ensure the safety and security of our entire school community. As always, we encourage everyone to speak up if they see or hear anything that could represent a potential school safety issue. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you for your attention to this communication. Sincerely, Brett Abbotts Superintendent

Good evening Ram Families, Greene County Schools will have a 2 hour late start on Friday, January 19th. There will be no morning preschool or Athletic Performance classes. Please stay safe, stay warm, and have a great evening! Greene County Schools *Message sponsored by Peoples Bank

Dear Greene County Families, Due to the forecasted hazardous driving conditions, Greene County Schools will be dismissing 2 hours early on Thursday, January 18th. There will be no evening activities or PM preschool. Please stay safe, stay warm, and have a great evening! Greene County Schools

Good evening GCMS Families, Tomorrow and Thursday, January 18th we will be completing our Winter MAP test. We will try to finish any makeup by Friday, January 26th. Please make sure your student is well rested, ate a good breakfast, arrives on time and has a fully charged Chromebook to school each day. Once the data has been received within the district, we will send home MAP reports with your student. An additional reminder-Students who are leaving the building for Encore at the HS need to have either their coat, or at minimum long sleeves. With the extreme cold temperatures we need to make sure they are properly dressed. Thanks for your assistance in talking with your child about the importance of dressing properly during these extreme cold temperatures. Thanks, Cara Osborne GCMS Principal

Good evening Ram Families, Due to the continued freezing temperatures forecasted, Greene County Schools will have a 2 hour late start on Tuesday, January 16th. There will be no morning preschool, activities, or athletic performance classes. Please stay safe, stay warm, and have a great evening! Greene County Schools

Good Afternoon! Just a reminder there is NO SCHOOL Tomorrow, January 15th. Attached is a weekly update for the week of January 15th. Please stay safe and warm during this cold weather we are having. As always reach out with any questions! Cara Osborne https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LjCxzmx3KN4HlfQD4IUvNeXKXRD_RmUx1ItGDCkLZIw/edit?usp=sharing

All Middle School buses have arrive safely at school this morning. We appreciate the patience and cooperation of parents and guardians during this time. Thank you!

Good morning Ram Families, Greene County Schools will have a 2 hour late start for Thursday, January 11th, 2024. There will be no AM preschool. Please take the additional time necessary to arrive at school safely. Have a great day, Greene County Schools

Good evening Ram Families, Greene County Schools will be closed for Friday, January 12th, 2024. There will be no activities. Monday, January 15th will remain a scheduled holiday and students will return on Tuesday, January 16th. Please stay safe, stay warm, and enjoy your weekend! Greene County Schools *Message sponsored by Peoples Bank

6-7-8th grade Play Students: Musical practice will begin as soon as we return for a full day of school. This week and next week practice will be from 3:45 - 4:30. Please make sure your student is aware of plan when practice is done. Please pick up your student on time. At our first practice your student will receive calendars with all practices listed and a remind sheet to log into specifically for the musical. If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact Tammy Brophy at brophyt@greenecountycsd.net or Brenda Roberts at Robertsb@greenecountycsd.net.

Greene County Community School will be holding the monthly board meeting at the admin building (101 Ram Drive, Jefferson, IA) this evening beginning at 5:15 PM. With school being closed today, the meeting will be held on-site and via Google Meet. The public is welcome to attend in-person or view the livestream on the district's YouTube channel (see below for the link). The meeting agenda can be viewed on the GCCSD Board of Education page under the Links header. GCCSD Board Meeting YouTube Livestream Link: https://www.youtube.com/live/IEuYxdZvlyk?si=BEgTWOEpZbquqvJj Board Meeting Agenda: https://www.gccsd.k12.ia.us/page/board-home

Good morning Ram Families, After re-evaluating the road conditions within our school district, Greene County Schools will close for Wednesday, January 10th. There will be no activities or practices after school. Multiple factors included drifting gravel roads, ice and slick conditions, and settling fog. The regularly scheduled board meeting at 5:15pm will still take place. Information to attend virtually will be shared through our social media pages as normal. Have a safe day! Greene County Schools

GCMS was filled with a sea of blue to show our solidarity with our friends in Perry. Our heartfelt thoughts go out to the Perry School District and the entire Perry community. Together, we stand united with Perry! #PerryStrong

Good evening Ram Families, Greene County Schools will have a 2-hour late start. All activities and classes before school will be canceled and there will be no morning 3-year-old PreSchool. Travel conditions will be re-evaluated in the morning. Please stay safe and have a great day! Greene County Schools

After an evaluation of our arrival procedures we are going to make some adjustments to our daily arrival at GCMS. Starting Tuesday, January 9th all students will be allowed into the building at 7:45AM. Staff supervision will be available. Thanks, Cara Osborne GCMS Principal

Due to the impending hazardous weather, Greene County Schools will dismiss at the following times: Elementary - 12:20pm Middle School - 12:25pm High School - 12:40pm This is 3 hours from the Tuesday-Friday regularly scheduled dismissals. We apologize for the previous confusion.

Good evening Ram Families, With the hazardous weather not improving, Greene County Schools will be closed for Tuesday, January 9th. There will be no activities, practices, or athletic performance classes. Please stay safe and enjoy the day!

Due to the impending hazardous weather, Greene County Schools will be releasing 3 hours early today. There will be no evening activities and staff will not have their regular professional development. Please stay safe!

Happy New Year! We are excited to welcome students back to the building tomorrow. Please see the January Parent Ram Reminder below. It is full of updates and reminders. As always please reach out with any questions or concerns you may have. Cara Osborne- GCMS Principal https://docs.google.com/document/d/11OV7qfsnzlJ2yyMk7hGgBcIORFVUhMR3ZNmQ0s7L3Ss/edit?usp=sharing Translated Copy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W-6YfCNyj68SIho02R7zmFda9sBDZsbHCEqLNVH_jm8/edit?usp=sharing

Dear Ram Family, As students are arriving back to school tomorrow morning, we understand and empathize with the fears and concerns that you may be having sending your child back to school. Our teams at each school have been planning for this arrival to ensure that our students are safe, secure, and supported after the tragedy that unfolded in Perry last week. We also want to provide you with some transparency regarding the conversations our teachers and staff will be having with students regarding the events and let students have the opportunity to share their thoughts. Our administrators, teachers, and staff will be having age appropriate conversations with students and they will touch on the following points in student’s homeroom (Base Camp or Advisory) classes: - Acknowledging the events and situation that occurred - Express our condolences for those who have been impacted - Empathy for the range of emotions that this will cause - Identify the actions being taken at the district level - Identify the actions being taken at the building level Jefferson Police will have officers present at all three schools throughout the week. They will be patrolling hallways, maintaining a presence at the buildings during most arrival and dismissal times, and be available to students and staff as needed. As a district, we will continue to partner with the Jefferson Police Department to investigate any inappropriate comments, actions, or social media posts that would cause a threat to school safety. Greene County Schools and the Jefferson Police Department are being vigilant to ensure safety at our schools and within our community. Inappropriate comments or posts we have been made aware of at this time have been thoroughly investigated and deemed not credible by both the Jefferson Police and County Magistrate. We want to formally extend our gratitude to the Jefferson Police Department for their willingness and preparedness for our students and schools. All staff will be practicing our Lockdown drill on Monday during the early release Professional Development time to ensure that these drills, processes, and procedures are effective.  As a district, we will then be organizing a district-wide lockdown drill, including all students, with communication coming to all families with more specifics on the date and time as to when that will happen.  Lastly, our High School Student Council invites all Greene County Schools to participate in a unified showing of support for the students, staff, and community of Perry. We are encouraging all of our students and staff to wear blue in support of Perry on Monday, January 8th. Again, we want to thank you in partnering with our schools to ensure that we can make this a safe return back to school. Please reach out to the building administrators with any additional questions you may have. Thank you, Brett Abbotts, Superintendent Greene County Community School District