Gilchrist County School District -

From Mr. Brett Wasden: I am excited to share that Bell FFA was selected as one of "FLORIDA'S FINEST FFA CHAPTERS." This prestigious award is offered to the top 10% of FFA programs in the state (out of 443 chapters total)!!!! The official press release is attached here. This is a message from the Florida FFA: Florida FFA is pleased to announce the selection of “Florida’s Finest” FFA Chapters. The selection of these chapters is based upon the completion of the National Chapter Award program application. These chapters have excelled in the areas of growing leaders, building communities and strengthening agriculture and have worked hard to fulfill the mission and vision of the FFA. These chapters will be recognized during 94th Florida FFA State Convention & Expo to be held at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando this summer. Please help the Gilchrist County School District congratulate Mr. Wasden and the BHS FFA on their success!

Let's all join Mr. Wasden in congratulating his Aquaculture team who took home a state win this past weekend! Please help me congratulate the Bell High School Aquaculture team who earned a state championship title this past weekend in Ruskin, FL.! To put this into perspective, this team competed against 83 schools at the preliminary contest in February to earn a coveted top 10 finish to move on to the state finals this past weekend. The aquaculture career development event consists of science-based practicums that include water quality analysis, disease treatment, health and management, species ID, team presentation, and much more. As their teacher and FFA advisor, I am proud that these students put in their work to study science and apply it to a real-world, research-based practicums. This team has been practicing EVERY DAY after Christmas break and twice a week since school started in August. We are so proud of them!!!! - Mr. Wasden

The Gilchrist County School Board will hold a workshop on Tuesday, May 3, 2022 at 3:15pm in Building 14, Board Room 14-002 located at 310 N. W. 11th Avenue, Trenton, Florida. Workshop will be to discuss the FADSS findings and recommendations on administrative and district level salaries.

We are adopting new textbooks for MATH! In accordance with Florida Statute 1006.283(8)(c), an open, noticed School Board meeting to hear public comments in regards to the new proposed mathematics textbooks will be held at the Gilchrist County School Board Office located at 310 NW 11th Ave., Trenton, FL 32693 on Tuesday, May 3, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. To view the proposed materials, click this link: https://www.gilchristschools.org/page/instructional-materials

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In the best interest of our students, staff and community, all Gilchrist County schools will be closed tomorrow and all extra-curricular activities on OUR campuses are cancelled. Away games and activities will continue. However, all participants will be contacted by the school with special instructions. Next week is Spring Break! We hope you enjoy your time off with your children. We will continue to work with Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement to resolve these issues as quickly as possible. We are all looking forward to resuming our normal schedules after Spring Break. Once again, we appreciate your patience and support. Thank you, Jim Surrency

Out of an abundance of caution, all extra-curricular activities have been cancelled for today; this includes after school programs, tutoring, practices, athletic competitions (whether home or away), etc. Thank you for your continued support!

Good morning parents! As you know, we are continuing to work with law enforcement agencies to identify the source of the recent threats to our schools. As part of our ongoing efforts to ensure the safety of our schools, each campus will participate in a lock down for a short period of time today to conduct additional security sweeps. We appreciate your patience as we work through this difficult situation. We will continue to keep you informed. Thank you! Jim Surrency, Superintendent of Schools

The Gilchrist County School calendar for the 2022-2023 school year was approved by the school board on March 15, 2022. The calendar is available on the district's website under "Menu" - "Documents" - "School Calendars".

Good morning! Out of an abundance of caution and to assist in the recent investigation, Bell Elementary School and Trenton High School will be closed today, March 16 (Wednesday). Trenton Elementary and Bell High will be open and will resume normal schedules. All schools will be open tomorrow unless notified otherwise.

Good evening! We want to assure you that the investigation into the recent school threats is continuing and is a top priority for multiple law enforcement agencies including Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Our number one priority is and always will be the safety of our students and staff. We are also trying to maintain the integrity of our instructional program by keeping schools open when possible. However, until this investigation has concluded, please be prepared for last minute school closures if necessary. Currently, all schools are open tomorrow, March 16. Once again, we appreciate your support and patience as we work through this difficult situation. Thank you, Jim Surrency, Superintendent

Good morning, this is Jim Surrency, Superintendent of Schools.  Overnight, our school district received additional threats that resulted in Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Deputies sweeping all four school campuses to ensure the safety of every student and employee this morning. Law enforcement found no evidence of a physical threat to our schools and has given the “all clear.”  However, multiple agencies including Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement are continuing to monitor the situation closely and are continuing the ongoing investigation to determine and prosecute the source of these recent threats. Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office has been and will continue to provide an increased presence in and around our schools out of an abundance of caution. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through this situation. All schools are open and are being monitored closely by law enforcement and our district safety team.  Thank you for your support.

As many of you know, there was a bomb threat to Bell High School this morning which resulted in the school being closed for the day. I have been and will continue to work in unison with Sheriff Schultz so that all precautions are taken to ensure the safety of our faculty, staff, and students. Although law enforcement found no evidence of a bomb or any other threat and has given us the “all clear,” a thorough and aggressive investigation has been launched with multiple agencies including Gilchrist County Sherriff’s Office, Alachua County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office has been and will continue to provide an increased presence in and around our schools out of an abundance of caution. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding as we work through this situation. All schools will resume normal schedules on Monday!

There has been a possible bomb threat at BELL HIGH SCHOOL. Out of an abundance of caution, we have cancelled school at Bell High School only. BHS bus riders will be transported home after a short wait at the elementary school. We are also checking the elementary campus before allowing students to enter. BES students will be held on the buses or at parent pick up until that campus has been cleared by law enforcement. After that, school will resume at BES as usual unless we notify you otherwise. Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office is on the scene and assisting us with this investigation.

COVID Reminders We are working in conjunction with the local health department to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff. Therefore, we are following the guidance of the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Department of Education. We understand that being quarantined from school is a burden, but it is necessary to keep everyone safe. If your child is experiencing any symptoms of Covid, please keep him/her home! Symptoms may include any of the following: · Fever or chills · Cough · Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing · Fatigue · Muscle or body aches · Headache · New loss of taste or smell · Sore throat · Congestion or runny nose · Nausea or vomiting · Diarrhea If your child has had a Covid test and is awaiting results, please quarantine him/her UNTIL you have the results. If your child has had a positive test, please contact the health department (463-3120) and follow their guidance. If your child has been in direct contact with a positive person, he/she will need to quarantine based on the date of contact. PLEASE contact the health department (463-3120) and follow their guidance. Direct contact occurs when a person has been within six feet for at least fifteen accumulated minutes of a positive person. If your child is quarantined from school, please contact the school to ensure your child has access to his/her school work. If your child is feeling fine, please make sure he/she completes work daily. If your child is sick, he/she will be given additional time to make up work. The link below contains the DOH/DOE student quarantine guidelines GCSD is following. https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/1015244/Covid_21-22_One_Pager_DOE__002_.jpg Please have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend!

The application for Extended Day is now available! Check out our Facebook or website.

The Gilchrist County Fire Rescue & Emergency Management will open a special needs shelter located at Bell High School starting at 4PM today. Please see their Facebook page for more information. https://www.facebook.com/GilchristCountyEmergencyManagement/posts/4131892640221591

Due to Tropical Storm Elsa, the Gilchrist County School District will be closed on Wednesday, July 7. This includes all school campuses and all offices. At this time, we plan to reopen on Thursday, July 8. Please stay safe!

Power has been restored to our Trenton schools and offices. Thank you!

At this time Duke energy is reporting that the power outage affecting Trenton will be resolved by 7:30PM on May 4th. This outage will affect student connectivity until power is restored to our equipment. Thank you.