Welcome Back Letter

 

July 2025

Dear Parents/Guardians:

Welcome to the 2025-26 school year. As we start the new school year together on Monday, August 18, 2025, the staff at Gaston Middle School looks forward to working with you and your child. Our Gaston staff strongly believes that the education of children is a partnership between the home and the school, and that parent involvement is crucial to the success of our students. Please mark August 15, 2025, for Gaston Back to School Night from 3:00 to 5:30 pm where you will meet our staff and receive important information about the coming school year.

The Gaston Middle School office will extend their hours on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, for registration.  The office will be open through 7:00 PM.

As we look ahead to the upcoming school year, we are excited to share several key changes designed to enhance student achievement, build stronger connections, and foster a deeper sense of community engagement. While these changes raise the expectations of our students, it also raises the school expectations to collaborate with parents and ensure our students are provided with the proper supports to meet them

Advisory Enhancements:
Next year, advisory sessions will be held twice a week and will follow a “check-in/check-out” model. This structure will allow students to regularly set personal and academic goals, reflect on their progress, and receive timely support from trusted adults.

Updated Promotion Requirements for 8th Grade:
To ensure our students are well-prepared for high school and beyond, we are updating our promotion criteria. Beginning next year, 8th grade students must:

• Hold a 3.0 GPA or higher before the 4^th quarter grade cutoff.
• Successfully complete an 8th grade community project
• Complete 80 hours of iReady practice

These projects will be connected to advisory and will challenge students to identify a real issue in our local community, then propose meaningful solutions. Students will integrate their knowledge from core subjects—such as science, math, and history—into these projects.

Each advisory group will also participate in a community trip in west Fresno. These experiences will help students better support and understand the community they live in while inspiring civic responsibility.

Instructional Updates:

• We will implement quarterly IABs and FIABs as both pre- and post-assessments. These tools will help prepare students for summative assessments and inform instruction throughout the year.
• Full i-Ready implementation will begin, which includes:
  • Three benchmark assessments per year
  • Daily homework expectation of 45 minutes of i-Ready practice to reinforce learning at home (80 hours of iReady practice for the year) Afterschool computer access available daily. 

These changes reflect our continued commitment to our school vision and our belief that with the right support, all students can thrive. Together, as One Team, One Family, we will ensure that every second of learning matters and that our scholars are ready to Win the Day—every day.

Class schedules will be posted Thursday, August 14, 2025, on atlas, and provided for students on August 19^th. These lists will indicate your child’s teacher and advisory room number where they will receive their full schedule.  No schedule changes will be made prior to Tuesday, September 9, 2025.  

Our district will be implementing an early release schedule on Tuesdays of a five-day school week for teacher professional development.  Please visit our district website for calendar details: https://www.fresnounified.org/calendars/

Bell Schedules:

Regular School Day Daily Schedule
Grades 7th-8th	8:00am to 2:30PM
Early Release School Day Daily Schedule
Grades 7th-8th	8:00am to 1:30PM

 

Parent conferences will be held one week after every progress report is sent out. The dates for parent conferences are September 25^th, November 20^th, February 26^th, and May 14^th. This is a strategic plan focused on ensuring that you as parents/Guardians have opportunities to collaborate with teachers to support your students before the end of each quarter. 

Breakfast is served from 7:30am to 7:55am and our after-school program is available daily until 6:00pm. Please Continue to check the transportation website for updates to bus routes: https://transportation.fresnounified.org/bus-routes/  

The staff at Gaston Middle School is committed to providing an education that will prepare your child to be a career ready graduate, and we look forward to working with you toward this goal.

Sincerely,

Thomas Williams Jr

Gaston Principal

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