Parent Survey

Assalam Alaikum dear parents,

Please take our end-of-year surveys and give us your feedback about our performance this year: Parent Survey. Your feedback is very important to us! One survey per family, please. Surveys will be open for two weeks (June 15).

There are three parts to the survey:

1. General questions about academics, communication, and school activities
2. Questions about the Principal, office staff, and the Board
3. Questions about your child's teachers. Note: you may take this survey multiple times to give feedback about different teachers.

Reminders: 

• Today we have an informational session about Parent-Teacher Organization from 2:00 to 3:00pm in the school library.
• Turn in your 2nd volunteer card today

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Nihad

Have a good long weekend!

Assalam Alaikum dear parents,

Thank you for your emails with feedback, suggestions and support. I really appreciate to hear from you and work with you. Today we held a meeting with CAIR representatives so they can answer our questions about the recent protester case and to give us guidelines for future use. I forwarded to the parents, board, and GIS staff their guidelines for our community. It is important for us to be aware of our rights and responsibilities and work within these limits.

On another note, this year we did not have a formal parent organization, like we did in the past (PTSO). We would like to revive this structure and would like to invite to an informational session to meet parents who served on PTSO in the past and to inform you of the potential of such structure. The meeting will take place on Friday 5/31 from 2-3pm. Please join us!

The walk-a-thon was a lot of fun and was enjoyed by all students, from preschool to 8th grade, as well as adults. Now it's time for our students to collect the pledges. We are looking forward to make improvements to our physical education program with the money collected.

A few reminders:

• There is no school Monday 5/27 - Memorial Day
• Next Friday 5/31 is the deadline for the second volunteer card. Please turn it in to the school office and get a receipt.
• Please complete the 2013 Parent Survey. Your feedback is very important for us!
• The May newsletter will be delayed one week. Insha Allah we will plan to send it home next Friday.
•  We will inform you early next week about the make-up day for the Quran Award Assembly for grades 4-8 and the Drama Club presentations of "Annie."

 
Have a wonderful long weekend and a blessed Friday!

Sincerely,
Nihad Mourad
Principal

Parent Survey - Part 1

Dear parents,

Assalam Alaikum. As we wrap up this school year, we would like to get your feedback on how we did this year to help us plan for next year, insha Allah. There are 2 parts to the Parent Survey:

• Part 1 (30 questions) includes questions on academics, communication, school activities, and programs. This part of the survey is open now until end of May.
• Part 2 includes questions about the principal, school office personnel, school board, and teachers. This part of the survey will be available from May 31 to June 14.

 Some parents asked us what we do with the results of these surveys. Below are the actions that we take:

1. Results of all surveys (Parent, Staff and Student) are sent to the school board.
2. We print hard copies of the results and circulate among the admin team (myself, Vice Principal, Business Manager, Director of Student Activities, and Director of Character Education).
3. We take notes and compare to previous years' surveys to note changes.
4. We write a summary of the parent survey results and publish it on the school website and in the October newsletter (page 3).
5. We decide on certain changes based on the parent feedback. Here are a few examples:
• We instructed the teachers to include notes on the social development of the students during parent-teacher conferences, when parents indicated they do not feel well informed in this area.
• We continued the school events that parents ranked the highest like hajj program, sports' day and eid celebration.
• We eliminated the School Community meetings when the majority of parents mentioned they are not helpful.
• We eliminated some sections from the newsletter that were rated the lowest by parents.

Your feedback is very important to us because we are partners in the students' education, so please share your feedback with us. One survey per family, please. The survey is anonymous.

Sincerely,

Nihad Mourad
Principal

Assalam Alaikum dear parents,

The Quran competition results are posted on GIS website (Winners List). Congratulations to all the participants and winners. Please join us next week on Thursday, May 23, for the Award Ceremonies.

During this week's Hicklebee's Bookfair, our students are invited to dress up as their favorite book character on Thursday 5/16. The following dress up guidelines are to be observed. Students are asked to avoid dressing as characters who have been depicted in movies or TV shows, so that they are creative about their costumes.

From May 13-24, we have an online bookfair with Noorart for the purchase of Arabic and Islamic books. Granada receives 20% of all sales through this book fair.

The Walk-a-Thon pledge forms are due tomorrow, Wednesday 5/15. Parents are invited to join their children and walk with them on Wednesday 5/22. Parent registration is $5. Walk-a-Thon Schedule:

• PK & K: 10:50 to 11:10am
• 1st & 2nd: 9:50 to 10:30am
• 3rd & 4th: 8:50 to 9:35am
• 5th - 8th: 11:30 to 12:15pm

Sincerely,
Nihad Mourad

Thank You!

Dear parents,

Assalam Alaikum! Thank you for making this week special for our teachers and staff. May Allah reward you for your kindness and generosity. And may Allah reward our teachers and all staff members for their dedication and hard work in educating our students. On Sunday is the recognition of the first and most important teacher: Mothers' Day. Insha Allah you enjoy it with your family!

Progress report was sent home today with your children. Please review it, and discuss with your child.

Important Dates:

• Week of May 13-17: Hicklebee's Book Fair
• Wednesday, May 22: Walk-a-Thon - please collect pledges for our drive to raise $20k for the Sports program.
• Thursday, May 23
• Quran Award Assemblies (details available on GIS Website Homepage)
• Safety Patrol Award Assmembly (11am)
• Online Safety Presentations by McAfee (K-8)

• Friday, May 31: Deadline to turn in Volunteer cards
• Monday - Wednesday, June 10-12: Grades 6-8 finals
• Wednesday, June 12
• Last day of school for students
• End-of-Year Celebrations for PK, K-5 (details available on GIS Website Homepage)

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Nihad Mourad
Principal

 

May is Busy at GIS

Dear parents,

Assalam Alaikum!

Next week is National Teacher Appreciation week and teacher appreciation at GIS. It is a week for students to show their gratitude for the hard work and effort GIS teachers have made to shape our students' development and growth. This is not intended to be a week of parties or extravagant gifts. Participation is optional. Our proposed plan:

• Monday 5/6: share a flower with your teacher
• Wednesday 5/8: bring a small sweet to your teacher
• Friday 5/10: provide your teacher a small note telling what you appreciated most

Additionally, the parents have planned a breakfast for the teachers on Monday, May 6. On Friday, May 10, Student Council and student representatives will be surprising our teachers with a Hawaiian themed welcome. We would like to add some tropical fruits and treats in the staff room on Friday. To volunteer or help, please sign up here: Volunteer Sign-Up.

Quran Competition is taking place today for K-2 students. Yesterday 3-8 students participated. Qualified Quran teachers from the MCA are invited as judges. Quran Award Assemblies will take place on Thursday, May 23:

• Grades K - 1 from 8:15 to 9:15am
• Grades 2 - 3 from 9:30 to 10:30am
• Grades 4 - 8 from 2:00 to 3:00pm

Spring Portraits were distributed yesterday to all classes. Families have one week (until 5/7/13) to either buy or return the pictures. Send payment to homeroom teacher if you decide to buy.

Hicklebee's Book Fair is coming to GIS on the week of May 13-17. If you are looking for quality reading material for the summer months ahead, then please stop by our library.

Our annual Walk-a-Thon will take place on Wednesday, May 22. Pledge forms were sent yesterday with students. Check the Walk-a-Thon flyer for more details.

Our goal is to raise $20K for GIS sports program. The plan is to extend the PE instruction for our middle school students on Wednesdays from 2:00 to 4:00pm and hire coaches. We also plan to rent the MVP arena in Santa Clara to provide better PE facility for our students. Buses will be reserved to transport students between GIS and MVP Arena. In addition we will purchase new PE equipment for all grade levels.

Walk-a-Thon Prizes

• Three top donations: Amazon gift cards for $100, $75, and $50
• Any student who raises $100 or more will receive a Granada Golden Eagle sports bag
• Students who accomplish the highest lap will also receive a Granada Golden Eagle sports bag

Sincerely,
Nihad Mourad
Principal