Announcements

8th Grade Yearbook Ads Deadline!

stack of yearbooks opened to ad pagesDeadline to order yearbook ads: Friday, February 4, 2022

8th grade yearbook recognition ads are a great way for parents, families and friends to celebrate student achievements and important milestones.

Create and purchase your ad online through Jostens. Simply choose your ad size and layout, then enter your text and upload your photos. A 1/2 page ad costs $85, and a 1/4 page ad costs $45. Spaces are limited, so order yours today!

Create a Yearbook Ad

Human Growth & Sexuality

icon: human healthFirst semester Physical Education classes at MMS will be teaching students the unit on Human Growth & Sexuality January 31–February 4.

Parents/guardians of these students are invited to come by the MMS Media Center during school hours November 24–28 to review the materials that will be presented. Materials may not be checked out and may only be viewed here at the school. Please contact the Front Office with questions.

 

Curriculum Nights @ MMS

icon: MMS MustangCurriculum Nights for the 2022-2023 school year are coming up very soon! Curriculum Night for rising 6th grade students and their parents, and will be held in the Mauldin Middle School gymnasium. When you come to 6th Grade Curriculum Night, you will learn about...

Mark your calendar now and plan to join us for your 2022-2023 grade level's Curriculum Night!

Inclement Weather and Quarantine Instructional Plan for Parents

icon: eLearningThe state Education Oversight Committee approved Greenville County Schools as an eLearning district in the fall of 2020. This designation allows the district to conduct eLearning on inclement weather days or when the district must close a school due to quarantines. eLearning days are not counted against the district and therefore does not require the use of make-up days. Below are the procedures and expectations for students on elearning days. This information can also be found under the Parents tab of our website's top navigation bar.

Inclement Weather

For the purpose of inclement weather days, eLearning is defined as live instruction throughout the day. This live instruction may be whole group, small group, and/or individual sessions similar to the Virtual Program instruction. Students are expected to log on to the live instruction during inclement weather days. If students are unable to join the live meets due to power loss, sickness, etc., work must be made up within five days of returning to school. 

Class and School Quarantines

In the event a school or a class within a school has to be quarantined, students should join the live instruction at home via Google Meets. If students cannot join the Google Meets, they must contact their teacher or they may be counted as absent for that day. 

Individual Student Quarantines

Individual students who have to be quarantined need to contact their teacher in order to continue their school work at home. In some cases, teachers may be live streaming their classes and in other situations this may be work posted on Google Classroom. Teachers are not required to live stream since they will have brick and mortar students they must teach. We do encourage teachers to live stream, but ultimately that is up to each individual teacher to live stream, post work or send work home for students on quarantine.

GCS Job Fair on Tuesday, January 25

icon: Greenville County SchoolsGreenville County Schools is hiring great people for positions for bus drivers and aides. They will host an in-person Job Fair on Tuesday, January 25 from 5:00 - 7:00 PM at Lifelong Learning at Sullivan Center. Social distancing will be in place. If not fully vaccinated, we ask that you wear a mask.

New Pay Increases – Effective July 1, 2021

Great benefits, including health and dental, retirement, sick leave, and free life insurance, are available for employees who work 30 or more hours per week. Training is provided. If you are interested in working at a job where you can make a difference in the quality of our community and receive great benefits, you are encouraged to attend this event.

For more information contact INFOLine at 355-3100 or visit the Employment section of the GCS website.

View/Download Flyer (PDF)

Updated DHEC Requirements for Quarantine and Isolation

icon: DHEC logoSCDHEC has issued new requirements that reduce the length of time for COVID-19 isolations and quarantines. Greenville County Schools is required by law to follow DHEC’s requirements, and we have updated our processes effective immediately and for the opening of school on Monday, January 3, 2022. At this time, early return from isolation is for school attendance, extended day programs, and other extracurriculars where students can wear a mask while participating. Early return does not apply to athletics.

For students who test positive for COVID-19, the isolation period has been reduced from 10 days to 5 days if there are no symptoms or symptoms have improved. DHEC requires students to wear a mask for days 6 through 10 when they return to school. In addition, students must provide a parent note confirming that symptoms have improved and there has been no fever in the past 24 hours without using fever-reducing medication. Parents may email this note to their school or send a copy to the school with their student.

For students who are exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 and who are not vaccinated, the minimum quarantine period has been reduced to 5 days. Quarantine can end after Day 5 if a viral test is negative and if no symptoms were present during the quarantine period. A PCR or antigen test must be collected no sooner than Day 4. At-home tests will not be accepted. Regardless of vaccination status, DHEC now requires a mask to be worn by exposed students through Day 10 when they return to school. DHEC recommends exposed students get tested on Day 5 as well.

For students who are currently excluded from school based on the previous DHEC quarantine/isolation requirements, updated guidance is being issued individually if applicable.

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*Update, 1/10/2021 - DHEC has also issued new requirements that impact whether or not individuals must quarantine after an exposure to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

To avoid quarantine after being exposed to someone who is positive for COVID-19:

Individuals 5-17 years old must be fully vaccinated*, but are not required to have a booster, even if more than five months have passed since their second vaccine dose.

Individuals 18 years and older must be maximally vaccinated**, meaning they have completed the initial series and have had a booster shot if eligible***
or individuals must have documentation of a positive test for COVID-19 within the last 90 days.

Individuals who are not in one of the three categories above must quarantine after a close contact exposure in accordance with DHEC requirements.

These updates do not change DHEC requirements regarding isolation for anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Key Definitions:

*Fully Vaccinated continues to mean two weeks since completion of a primary vaccination series (two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or a single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine).

**Maximally Vaccinated is a person who has completed their primary vaccine series (two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or a single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine) more than 14 days ago, AND has had a booster shot if eligible*.

***Booster Eligibility: Individuals ages 12 and up are eligible for a booster if:

5 months have elapsed since receiving the second dose of Pfizer (reduced from 6 months to 5 months as of 1/8/22)

5 months have elapsed since receiving the second dose of Moderna (reduced from 6 months to 5 months as of 1/10/22)

2 months have elapsed after receiving the single dose of Johnson & Johnson

Individuals ages 5-11 are not eligible for a booster at this time.

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To review all of the recent updates per DHEC requirements and Greenville County Schools’ processes, please visit the GCS COVID-19 information webpage and within the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction document.

ACE Award Nominations

logo: ACE AwardsNominations for the 2022 ACE Awards are being accepted!

The Coaches 4 Character ACE (Advocates for Character and Education) Awards was created by Greg Blatt, Founder and Executive Director of Coaches 4 Character. It is an annual award given to one male and one female student from each of the Greenville County middle and high schools. The award is designed to honor true “unsung heroes” who all too often are not recognized for their accomplishments. The selection process focuses on identifying and selecting students who often go unnoticed for one reason or another, but who have accomplished great things in their community, church or school.

If you would like to nominate a Greenville County 8th or 12th grader, please submit your nomination online today. All nominations must be submitted by January 31, 2022. An ACE Advisory Committee at each school will choose finalists from among those nominated to complete an application for the ACE Award.

ACE Awards 2022 Nomination Form

Fall Portraits

icon: framed photoStudents and their parents can review, edit, and purchase their Fall Portraits from Metro Portraits by visiting Metro Portraits: View Your Photos.

Metro Portraits: View Your Photos

Car Line Etiquette

🚙 Arrival

🚗 Dismissal

COVID Notification Process – Not a Close Contact

Effective Monday, September 13, Greenville County Schools will begin using Backpack to notify parents when a COVID-positive case has occurred in their child’s classroom or team.

The new Backpack notification process, which interfaces with PowerSchool, will allow principals to automatically distribute an email to parents of all students in a particular classroom. The new process is much faster and more efficient than our previous system of manually selecting each student’s name from the roster and entering it into a Phone Messenger system.

Please note that parents whose children are identified as “close contacts” will still receive a phone call from a school staff member.

Parents who have not done so already should set up a Backpack account using the steps outlined here.

COVID-19 Reporting Reminders

icon: COVID-19Please remember to continue to communicate information regarding your student testing positive or an exposure to another individual who has tested positive for COVID-19. If this occurs, we are asking that you contact a school administrator immediately. You can email or call the grade level administrator, and someone from the school will reach out to you within 24 hours.

6th Grade

Matt Hurst
355-6782
Email Mr. Hurst

7th Grade

Edgar Henson
355-6784
Email Mr. Henson

8th Grade

Ashley Stewart
355-6783
Email Mrs. Stewart

Change of Information

The Student Emergency Information Form in the start of school student packet is sent directly to the Health Room.       

No updates are made to our student database from this form.

To change your address, phone numbers or emergency contacts:

Use your Backpack account to update your contact information. You’ll need to scan a copy of a recent utility bill* or Change of Address Form. Please notify the school directly as you must provide two proofs of residency.

If your child will be a bus rider, you’ll also need to indicate that in Backpack or complete the Transportation Form, which is available on the district website.

*All address changes must include a current bill dated within past 30 days from either Duke Energy, Laurens Electric, Piedmont Natural Gas, Spectrum, or Greenville Water System. The bill must show the service address, not just the mailing address. If the bill is not in the parent’s name, please contact Guidance for additional information. Please bring paper copies to the Guidance Office or fax info to 355-6670. We cannot change your address without this documentation.

Questions? Please contact the Guidance Office at 355-6774. Thank you!

Let's Talk: Social Emotional Learning at GCS

Let's Talk - Greenville County Schools Mental Health ResourcesSocial Emotional Learning (SEL) is a term used to describe traits students need to be prepared for opportunities in life, education, and employment. GCS has committed to building a better graduate, which includes social and emotional skills like perseverance, integrity, work ethic, and interpersonal skills. These are all skills that the business community has emphasized are needed for our students to become healthy and effective employees.

COVID-19 has made the past year hard for us all, especially our children. We understand from local and national mental health experts that our children are experiencing a mental health crisis. Over the past several years, both nationally and in the Greenville community, we have seen consistent increases in mental health needs and in the number of suicide deaths among children. These increases were even more significant in the last 12 months. Nothing is more important than the safety and wellness of our children, and we must all work together to address their needs.

Greenville County Schools and Rethink Ed have partnered to provide you access to our online SEL program. This program provides videos and activities for both adults and children to support your social and emotional wellbeing. You will have access to strategies and tools that will help you and your child recognize and manage emotions, build stronger relationships, and develop skills to lead happier and healthier lives.

For information about the program and how to register, please download and review the Rethink Ed Parent Letter (English | Spanish).

Let's Talk: GCS Mental Health Resources