We are excited about our annual GSES Fun Run, sponsored by GSES PTO, taking place this Friday, September 26th. Families are welcome to join us at the WJMS field to watch your child during his/or her grade level event. Runs will take place at the following times:

Students are encouraged to wear comfortable clothes, running shoes, and sunscreen. Students may also wear hats and sunglasses on Friday. Each student should bring a water bottle labeled with his/her name.

Parking for guests will be available in the GSES main front parking lot. Guests may also park in the WJMS parking lot. Please do not park in the GSES car rider lanes during afternoon events. There is no parking allowed on the cut-through road between GSES and WJMS so that emergency vehicles and buses have access.

The following safety guidelines will be in effect:

We are excited about maintaining this fun tradition for our students, and we appreciate your help keeping it a safe and fun event. Mark your calendars to join us as we “Go for the Gold!"

Thanks to GSES PTO for their hard work organizing the “Go for the Gold” Fun Run campaign to raise money to support our school. Friday's kick-off pep rallies during Specials were lots of fun, and our students loved adding their coin donations to their country’s bucket! Thank you for sacrificing your loose change jars and console collections for our school! 😁

We use a platform called Get Movin’ Fund Hub for our event so that online donations can be easily and securely collected and organized and funds raised can go directly to support our school. Our goal is for 100% of students to be registered online. It is a quick and easy process that can be done on your phone. Just click HERE to get started. (As of midnight Saturday night, 17% of students are already registered. Thank you, families!) If you have multiple students at GSES, creating a family site will allow all donations collected to be easily split between your children. (When you register and are asked your child’s “house,” you will select the country their class is representing.) You can also track your child’s progress and our school’s progress toward goals and incentives. The Fun Run campaign is our only major school fundraising event during the year, so we truly appreciate your support!

Need Help or Want to Know More?

Planning ahead for the school year? Check out the school calendar on our website to plan for upcoming events in the next few months!

Amira Reports: Amira ISIP Benchmark reports for the beginning of the school year were sent home with all Kdg-5th grade students on Friday. This report shows one indicator of your child's early reading skills. (Returning families, Amira is now used in place of Acadience reports that you may remember receiving in previous years.) The letter attached to the report contains more information.

Lost and Found is Going Mobile: Starting next Friday afternoon, our Lost and Found will be rolled outside of the front entrance on weekends so that families can have easier access to collect Lost and Found items.

Clinic Need: Our school clinic keeps a supply of clothes for students in the event of accidents or emergencies. We are in need of shorts and pants for both boys and girls in sizes 5-10. If you are cleaning out closets and have gently used items that can help fill this need, please send to school with your child labeled "Clinic Donation" or drop off at the front desk. Thanks!

Car Rider Tag Numbers: During afternoon dismissal, please keep all car tags hanging on your rearview mirror until you exit the car rider line. Thanks for helping us have a safe and smooth dismissal process.

25-26 GSES Yearbooks are sale now! Order before October 31st and receive a 10% discount. Any orders placed before April 1st are eligible for 2 FREE custom pages in your child's yearbook.

Got questions? Contact Ms. Simmons (jsimmons@jcss.us).

Attention Gum Springs Families!

The Jackson County Kiwanis (sponsors of our K-Kids club) are hosting a 5k on October 25, 2025. The race will start and end at the Jefferson Civic Center. The theme of the 5K is the Scarecrow Scrambler (Wizard of OZ costumes are encouraged, but not required). Below is a map of the race route and a link is included to register! This is a fun event for the whole family! Hope to see y’all there! 

The Jackson County School System Foundation is excited to announce a new partnership with the Atlanta Falcons! The JCSS Foundation will be taking part in Jackson County School System Day with the Falcons when they host divisional rival Carolina on Nov. 16. Five dollars of every ticket sold will be awarded back to the JCSS Foundation! Purchase tickets online by visiting www.gofevo.com/event/jacksoncounty30.

To celebrate Literacy Month, our Panthers discovered a magical surprise waiting in the library Wednesday! Students stepped into a darkened library, grabbed a flashlight 🔦, and set off on a quiet adventure to explore the shelves and find the perfect book. The glow of flashlights made reading feel extra cozy and exciting—like uncovering hidden treasure in the pages of a good story. 🪄📖 Students loved the peaceful atmosphere and the chance to see the library in a whole new light!🔦

Can you name this book? Look closely at a picture from the book. Need a hint? Here is one line from the book "I know I'm not an ordinary ten-year old kid." Submit your guess on the form below by Monday, September 22nd. 1 winner will earn a book token to get a book from the vending machine!

🔎✨ Our Kindergarten scientists are hard at work! Students explored different toys and practiced sorting them by the materials they’re made from—wood, metal, plastic, cloth, and more. 🧸🪵🔩

Hands-on activities like this help build critical thinking skills and make learning fun! 💡💙

4th graders put their coding skills to the test this week and used their Ozobot robots to represent the flow of energy in food chains and food webs, as well as categorizing various organisms between living and nonliving categories. These students enjoyed coding their robots, while learning about the flow of energy and the important roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers.

Each 2nd-5th homeroom teacher has their own Canvas webpage for students to access and complete digital assignments, online assessments, and use other digital tools to support learning in the classroom. All parents who have an Infinite Campus Parent Portal account also have access to view the teacher's Canvas page as a Canvas Parent Observer. Parents may not be able to access each assignment as some work is only accessed with a JCSS account, but parents are able to view content standards, parent resources, and other digital materials the teacher includes on their page. Please review the flyer linked below to learn more about how to login and where to locate information.

600 Gum Springs Church Road

Jefferson, GA 30549

706-654-5580

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GumSpringsElementary

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gumspringselementary/