Dear Great Path Academy Families,
I hope this letter finds you well and that you have had a relaxing summer with families and friends and that you had a chance to connect with your hobbies, passions, and joy! We are greatly looking forward to welcoming back all our students on Tuesday, August 27th, 2024 for the first official day of school. 9th Graders will have their first day on Monday, August 26th, 2024 from 7:30am-11:30am. As summer comes to a close, please take some time to read through our newsletter with important information and updates to prepare for a successful start for the school year.
Student Schedules
Schedules will be live soon in PowerSchool and students can check their schedules there. Please review your schedule closely and contact your school counselors if there are any concerns. Our school counselors will return to the building on Friday, August 16th, 2024.
Ms. Liza Ronzello - Grade 10 and 12
Mrs. Samantha Gralia - Grade 9 and 11
School Hours and Bell Schedule
Our school day begins at 7:30 am and ends at 2:40 pm each day. School breakfast begins at 7:00 am. Upon arrival at school, all students will be directed to the internet cafe for breakfast and will be dismissed at 7:20am to their advisory class. Advisory lists will be posted in the main lobby and students will receive their full schedule and locker assignment in their advisory classroom.
Remembering Mrs. Daniella Sullivan
This summer our school community has suffered a very great loss with the passing of our beloved English teacher, Mrs. Daniella Sullivan, who passed away from cancer on July 19th, 2024. Mrs. Sullivan was recently named the Great Path Academy Teacher of the Year 2024, and she will be remembered for her dedication, enthusiasm, and support for all her students and school community.
Student leaders organized a memorial for Mrs. Sullivan on Monday, July 22nd where many students gathered to support each other along with staff and created a beautiful memorial for Mrs. Sullivan’s memory. We are preparing to open the school year with additional grief counselors and social workers to support students and we have plans for a variety of celebrations and events to remember Mrs. Sullivan and her wonderful impact on the entire Great Path Academy community. For those who are interested in contributing, please connect with me at jessica.fitzgerald@hartfordschools.org
Google Folder of Photos Dedicated to Mrs. Sullivan
Mrs. Daniella Sullivan Obituary
Summer Celebrations and Recognition
Back in June, Great Path Academy was represented at the annual summer conference for the Middle College National Consortium. Ms. Thurrott, Ms. Kallas, Ms. Vega, and Dr. Kate Darcy Hohenthal along with myself spent the weekend at the conference collaborating about how to improve our middle college program and faculty. Great Path presented several sessions at the conference on research-based micro internships, educator externships, and recruiting.
Four students along with staff chaperones traveled to Washington, DC in June for a student leadership experience. Students experienced the sites of historical Washington, DC including visits to the Kennedy Center, multiple museums and college visits to Howard University and Georgetown. Our students will be presenting their experiences at the first assembly of the school year to all students.
The week of June 24th, we held our summer bridge orientation for nearly 70 students. Thank you to all our staff members who supported us during summer bridge. We couldn’t have done it without Ms. Thurrott, Senora Diez, Dr. Kelleher, Mrs. Kallas, Nurse Liz, Ms. Theriault, Ms. Mickle, Mr. Holmes, SSO Torres, Mr. Longley, Mr. Sullivan, Ms. Brianna Sullivan, Mrs. Kelly, and Ms. Vega! We also had a great number of GPA student ambassadors who supported our new students all week long! Thank you to everyone.
This summer we have had many student interns participating in a variety of work-based learning opportunities through ReadyCT. They are involved in programs such as GRIT, GreenSTEP, HartBeat Ensemble, and much more. We look forward to sharing their work at the beginning of the school year. Thank you to our internship coordinator Dr. Kate Darcy Hohenthal for her organization and dedication to the program.
New Staff Members
This summer we had to say goodbye to Ms. Lydia Santiago and Ms. Brianna Mann and we wish them well in their next ventures.
We are excited to welcome our new teachers and staff members to Great Path Academy!
Social Studies Teacher - Ms. Sara Theriault, soon to be Mrs. Sara Sharp
Community Partner Liaison - Mr. Jerome Strums
We are finalizing hiring two additional teaching positions - English and Technology, and we will share an update on that soon.
Transportation
All families will be notified regarding transportation shortly. Please contact Jamie at 860-512-3700 if you have not received information by 8/21/2024.
For questions about transportation:
Manchester students should contact Manchester Transportation Services at 860-327-4445
All other students should contact CREC at 860-524-4077
GPA Calendars and Bell Schedule
This year we have a new weekly bell schedule and year long calendar that increases instructional time in our classes to better service our students. Please note that our year long calendar is different from Hartford Public Schools. Please save both links below for easy reference throughout the year.
FREE Lunch and Breakfast at School
GPA participates in the nationwide school lunch program and our lunch and breakfast program is FREE to all students enrolled at Great Path Academy. Due to this participation in the school lunch program, we are not allowed to access outside food sources such as vending machines or the CT State Manchester Cougar Cave and Bookstore for food purchases. The Cougar Cave is not available to GPA students unless they are enrolled in the CT State high school partnership program. If your family needs resources in regard to food, we do work closely with CT State Manchester and the food pantry as well as other outside resources. We will work with you through our social workers and family community support service provider. Per policy, food delivery is not allowed to Great Path Academy as it’s a safety and security concern to the campus and distracts from academic instructional time and focus. Food delivery services (DoorDash, UberEats, etc.) will be turned away at the door and Great Path Academy is not responsible for monetary losses.
School Communication
Our main platform for communication will be ParentSquare. You will receive important information regarding the school, events, updates, and more through this platform. We have set a year-long calendar of events and programs and we will be embedding them in the ParentSquare platform. We will also have these dates on our website and you will receive ParentSquare reminders regularly. Families can always get information about the school on our website as well as through our social media platforms, or if you need help getting signed up for ParentSquare please call us at the school. Below is the link to our school website:
https://www.hartfordschools.org/o/gpa
Parent Engagement
We are looking forward to engaging our families this year in both of our parent organizations - PTO and SGC. Thank you to all our parents who are involved and a big thank you to our new SGC Co-Chair, Ms. Paris Henry. We will be sending out upcoming dates for events soon, and if you would like to get involved please connect with our Family Community Service and Support Provider, Ms. Janice Mickle at mickj001@hartfordschools.org.
Community Service Hours
We are continuing to require community service learning hours as a graduation requirement. Please see the following memo from the school counseling department here to see what hours are required for your student by class.
Student Attendance
Attendance is a crucial focus for us at Great Path Academy. Last year we were able to decrease our chronic attendance rate by nearly 10% thanks to all of our students and families' attention and dedication to being in school each day. We want every student here in the building with us every day on a consistent basis and we are committed to providing families with the resources and support they need to help their students commit to school fully. We will continue to have regular incentives, awards, and recognition for students that display great attendance and focus on the importance of being in school every day.
School Lockers
Each student is assigned a locker and combination lock at GPA. They are solely responsible for their locker. They will receive their locker information on the first day of school along with their schedule.
Students are not allowed to share lockers. Any questions or concerns with lockers, please see the school counseling secretary, Ms. Brianna Sullivan.
Student Early Pick Up Procedure
Parents or guardians must contact the Main Office and speak with a GPA staff member prior to giving student permission for an early dismissal. For planned early dismissals, students should bring in proper documentation the morning of the absence or before. Notes must include the date, time and reason for the early dismissal. The Main Office will verify the dismissal by phone and then issue a pass to the student for the dismissal time from the classroom. For unplanned dismissals, documentation must be turned in upon the student’s return to school. Parents, upon arrival at school, will sign out the student in the Main Office. Early dismissal will not be granted to any student without parent or guardian authorization. Early pick up for a student before 2pm is preferred to maintain proper dismissal procedures. Please review all dismissal procedures here.
Cell Phone Policy
Cell phone policy will be communicated in a separate message.
School Uniforms
Students must wear the proper uniform each and every day at GPA. The uniform consists of black or tan docker style pants and a white or blue GPA logo polo shirt or fleece. Closed-toe shoes are the only appropriate footwear for safety (crocs are not allowed). All students are issued GPA spirit wear with the Cougar t-shirt and can wear those on Fridays only and we embed a variety of non-uniform days for fundraisers and school spirit events throughout the year. Please be sure to review the uniform policy and come to school dressed properly. Below are the approved uniform vendors. If you need assistance with uniforms, please connect with Ms. Janice Mickle, our FCSSP, at mickj001@hartfordschools.org.
GimaSport (online webstore)
If you place an order with them they will deliver the order to the school. https://webstore.gimasport.com/great_path_academy/shop/home
Tommy Hilfiger (online webstore)
School Supplies
Teachers will be providing individual lists for school supplies during the first week of school. School supplies may be class dependent. It is recommended that all students come to school with a backpack, notebooks, pens, highlighters, and pencils. Please know that CT Tax Free Week is this week August 18th to August 24th for tax free back to school shopping.
Students Enrolled in MCC Courses
Manchester classes begin on Wednesday, August 28th for both in-person and virtual classes. For students who need books for their classes, books will be available for pickup at the school and we will be in touch when they are ready. In an effort to provide access to rigorous college level work on Manchester’s campus, we entrust our GPA-Manchester scholars to be responsible, respectful and safe students on Manchester’s campus. Students in grades 10 through 12 who are enrolled in Manchester courses have the independence to attend class, access the Academic Support Center and Manchester Library. GPA Scholars will be required to wear a school-issued lanyard and will receive a designed scholar sweater. GPA’s expectation is that all GPA Manchester scholars attend Advisory classes at GPA and sign out at the school counseling suite every time they leave GPA’s side to attend classes or events on the college side. Parents are expected to reinforce these expectations with their children, as we are committed to keeping our student scholars safe on our shared campus.
Back to School Resources from HPS
Please check the following website from HPS for a great deal of back to school events and resources
https://www.hartfordschools.org/page/back-to-school-2024
Meet the Teacher Night
Our meet the teacher night will be held on Wednesday, September 11th from 5pm-7:00pm at GPA. It will be an opportunity to meet our teachers in person, tour the building, and connect with staff and administration.
Important Dates for 2024-2025
Week of August 12th - Student schedules will be sent out
August 26th - Half Day for 9th Graders
August 27th - First Day of school - A/B Day with Extended Advisory
August 28th - CT State Manchester Classes begin
August 29th - New Student Mandatory Laptop Night at 5pm
August 30th - First All School Assembly
September 2nd - No School for Labor Day
September 5th - SGC and PTO Meeting at 5pm
September 11th - Meet The Teacher Night at 5pm
September 18th - Big E Field Trip for Staff and Students
September 19th - Senior/Junior College Planning Night at 5pm
September 21st - PTO Back to School BBQ GPA Courtyard at 1pm
September 30th - Picture Day
For any questions, please give us a call at the main office at 860-512-3700. We will continue to send out additional reminders and upcoming events prior to the start of school. Enjoy the final weeks of summer and we look forward to seeing you when school begins to kick off the 2024-2025 school year on Monday, August 26th for 9th grade only and Tuesday, August 27th for all students.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jessica Fitzgerald
Principal
Great Path Academy at MCC