Gainfield Elementary School

Students and teachers work very hard at Gainfield. It is important to find opportunities to recognize the academic and social success of our students. Celebrations are special times in all our lives and we recognize that it is important to celebrate important events with children. Prepared foods as well as home-cooked foods may provide ingredients that could be indirectly or directly harmful to some children. In recent years, we have had a growing number of stuents with serious and even life-threatening food allergies. In addition, with concerns over childhood obestiry and the increased frequency of juvenile diabetes, the administrative team and I feel the use of non-food rewards is a safer and healthier alternative for our students.

We will continue to celebrate important events at Gainfield, but will look for ways to recognize these occasions through non-food items.

GES BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
Students will continue to have their birthdays recognized at Gainfield Elementary School but recognition will come with non-food items. To this end, the GES faculty and administration developed a list of non-food alternatives for celebrating birthdays which is listed below. Please do not send food to school for your child’s classmates.

 In Kindergarten, they have the children wear a birthday crown all day and the rest of the class sings to him/her. The birthday child is also the Super Star that day, meaning they get to be line leader and lead the class in the morning message and math meeting. Students will be given a birthday bag full of books.

First grade birthday celebrants have a song, cheer, special birthday pencil, sticker and handdecorated hat. In addition, birthday students will be able to donate a book to the classroom library on their behalf. Each birthday book will have a commemorative placard placed on the inside cover.

Second grade will recognize birthdays by giving out a social birthdays pencil, sticker and a card.

Third grade teachers will give out a birthday pencil. In addition, the class will make a “compliment book” for the birthday child on that day to recognize special things about them which will be sent home with the child on that day.

Fourth grade students get a birthday t-shirt for their classmates to sign.

Fifth grade birthday celebrants have a song, cheer, special birthday pencil, and certificate. In addition, they will be given the unique privilege of being a guest reader to students in kindergarten or grade 1.

When planning birthday celebrations outside of school, please be sensitive to the fact that most young children are easily hurt if left out of such events. Therefore, invitations are not to be distributed in school unless all class members are included. Also, it is Board of Education policy that we cannot provide addresses and/or phone number of students. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding when dealing with this situation.

OTHER GES CELEBRATIONS
Other celebrations will focus on a non-food activity which relates closely to the event. This may be a craft, performance or other activity. In many cases, classroom teachers are able to incorporate some aspect of learning into the event as well. For example, many teachers plan celebrations around important learning landmarks (i.e. publishing a piece of writing) or holidays. However, we don’t want to take a lot of time away from learning for our students, so individual classroom parties are be limited in frequency and duration.