November 19 - Parent Teacher Conferences 5:00-8:00 pm
November 21 - Parent Teacher Conferences 5:00-8:00 pm
November 27-29 - No School - Thanksgiving Break
December 2 - No School - Teacher PD Day
December 3 - Parent Teacher Conferences 5:00-7:00 pm
Dec. 23-Jan. 3 - No School - Winter Break
January 6 - No School - Teacher PD Day
The Principal's Pen
The construction process has begun. This week workers excavated the areas around the building that are getting built. It is nice to start to see some progress on that front.
Effective Monday November 15th, the office will be relocated to what was our teacher's lounge. Any parents that need to come into the building during school hours should plan to enter through the southwest entrance, not the main entrance. The door camera, buzzer, and fob have been moved to that door. That is now the closest door to the new office location.
As we approach conference week, I want to update you on an important change for this year regarding how we report on your child's progress. For the first time, we will not be scoring the Essential Learning Scales at the end of each trimester. These scales are intended to outline the end-of-year learning goals for each grade level and we will now score them at the end of the school year.
During your upcoming conference, we will discuss your child's strengths, areas for growth, and any concerns you may have. This meeting will be a valuable opportunity to review your child's overall development and celebrate their progress.
If you have not already done so, please take time to sign-up for your child's conference (see link below). Just a friendly reminder that we provide only one conference per child during conferences. If the parents of a student are not together, please take it upon yourselves to coordinate an amicable time for conferences. Any doubling of conferences on the online sign-up will result in one of the appointments being cancelled to make room for other parents. Thank you for your cooperation.
Parent Teacher Conferences
Parent Teacher Conferences will be held:
Tuesday, November 19 from 5:00 - 8:00 pm - IN PERSON
Thursday, November 21 from 5:00 - 8:00 pm - IN PERSON
Tuesday, December 3 from 5:00 - 7:00 pm - VIRTUAL
Here is the link, or you can click on Parent Teacher
Thursday, November 21st, the PTA will be providing dinner for our amazing staff during conferences. Please consider signing up for something using the link below.
With the holiday shopping season approaching, we have partnered with Charleston Wrap again this year. This was a popular shopping site last year and we hope you will enjoy gifting their products again. Please share this with your family and friends!
Thanks for all your support!!
Santa's Secret Shop
Santa’s Secret Shop is back this year headed again by Kelli Bohnet. This PTA event will be held in the Art Room on December 11 and 12 during the school day. Information on this event will be coming home in next week's Friday Folders. This is a good opportunity for our students to purchase that special gift for their parents and other family members in a safe, controlled environment. All students will have a chance to visit the shop during these days. Volunteers are needed to work at the store. Please use this link to sign up. Make sure you are signed up and cleared through the volunteer registration process or you won’t be able to help out!
Do not turn left into the parking lot when coming south on Nixon. Please follow the traffic pattern shown below to get in the loop.
The only exception to this is for employees who have a laminated sign in their window. Please allow these staff members to turn into the parking lot. Thank you for your cooperation!!
Spare Clothes in Lockers
While our office is under construction for the remainder of the school year, there will not be any extra clothing to offer in case of accidents. Please send in clothes (socks, underwear, pants and shirt) to keep in their lockers. Thank you for your support and patience as we all navigate through this construction phase to make our school even better!!
Willow Ridge PBIS H.E.R.O. Headquarters!
In November, students could choose to submit ten-packs of HERO tickets into a drawing for a chance to win an extra library time with Mrs. Garnaat. The following students were winners of the drawing:
Peyton Hughes
Ozias Jones
Saindhavi Senthil Pandian
Hudson Lyons
Iris Meeder
Ginny Austin
Luka Dilber
Addilyn Decker
Winter Waters
Madison Toomey
Nathan Richards
Fischer Lichtenberg
Zachary Bock
Alexander Torrey
Callie Henn
Ainsley Martinez
Izzy Duff
Cali Kimmey
Emily Jacobsen
Fela Garza
Winners started the day on Wednesday, November 13 by joining Mrs. Garnaat in the library for a reading of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey, followed by 15 minutes of free choice library centers. Activities included word search puzzles, stem art, mazes, drawing and coloring, and some students started a Tic Tac Toe tournament!
Congratulations to all the winners!
Counselor's Corner
Next week is Book Fair Week!
There will be no regular library circulations next week due to the Book Fair. All students were invited to check out books this week, which they may keep for two weeks. Book check out will resume on Monday 11/25. All students will have an opportunity to return or check out new books on Monday 11/25 or Tuesday 11/26, before our long holiday weekend.
You can help with the Book Fair by volunteering to assist students with shopping during school hours or helping with family shopping hours during Parent Teacher Conferences on Tuesday 11/19 or Thursday 11/21.
You can also help by donating to Share the Fair. Donations can be made by sending cash directly to the library in the care of Mrs. Garnaat, adding funds to our library ewallet at https://shop.scholastic.com/ewallet/fund?lang=en_US&walletId=e0086e31-abaa-47cd-8d5f-4886fdf8858a or rounding up at the register when you shop in person. All funds collected will first be used to help purchase books for students who might otherwise not be able to shop the book fair; any additional donations would fund the purchase of books by the library for student HERO winners, to complete teachers’ classroom wish lists, or to add to our library’s collection.
Students will visit the book fair with their classes according to the following schedule:
Monday: Fourth grade and Kindergarten
Tuesday: First and Second grades
Wednesday: Third Grade/ make up shopping time
Thursday: Open shopping time during school hours
THE BOOK FAIR WILL CLOSE ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21 after conferences.
~ Mrs. Garnaat
Safeties of the Week:
Victor Kingery
Capri Gibbs
Hank Wright
Stevie Garwood
Possession of Cell Phones, Smart Watches, and Other Electronic/Recording Communication Devices
The use of cell phones, smart watches, or any other ECD are prohibited to be used during the school day. It is recognized that some students may need access to these devices for transportation purposes after school and are therefore permitted after dismissal. During school, however, cell phones, smart watches, and other ECDs shall be turned off and stored away out of sight. If you are concerned that an electronic device might be stolen, broken or inappropriately used, please do not allow your student to bring it to school.
Attendance / Absence Policy Update
All absences from school conflict with the continuity of learning and need to be avoided when possible. Regular school attendance is necessary to academic success and continuous and consecutive attendance in school is required by State law; 10-undocumented absences limit per school year. The 10-absence limit per school year includes both Explained Absence (AE) and Unexplained Absence (AU).
In order to help provide supports for students and families, GLPS closely monitors explained and unexplained absences. We also work with families to ensure that as many absences as possible are documented, because undocumented absences can trigger truancy considerations.
Documented Absence (AD) - Absence that includes a note from a professional (ie. doctor, dentist, lawyer, etc.) to explain the absence. Absences are only considered documented for the days identified in the note. For example, if a doctor excuses a student for Monday and Tuesday, but the student is absent on Wednesday and Thursday as well, only Monday and Tuesday’s absences are considered documented. Any absence that does not include a note from a professional is considered undocumented.
Explained Absence (AE) - Undocumented absence in which a parent/guardian calls the office or sends a note to alert the school their child will not be in attendance, but does not include a note from a professional (ie. doctor, dentist, lawyer, etc.). This is important because explained absences are necessary for schools to meet pupil accounting requirements.
Unexplained Absence (AU) - Undocumented absence in which a parent/guardian does not call the office to alert the school their child will not be in attendance.
Attendance Policy - Undocumented Absences
A student's school will send a letter after 6 undocumented absences and after 10 undocumented absences in a school year, providing you with notice of the absences and outlining steps to help your child attend school regularly.
A student's school will communicate with families if the student has undocumented absences on more than 10% of the first 30 days.
Ten (10) or more days of undocumented absences in a school year can be sent to court. However, GLPS will make every effort to work with you and your student before it gets to that point.
Please note that school related absences, such as field trips or athletic events, are not factored into any truancy related processes.
Extra Clothes
PLEASE send your child to school with an extra set of clothes to keep in their locker for emergencies. This could mean they wet their pants, fell in the mud, spilled their lunch, etc. If they use those clothes, please send in another set to keep in their locker.
BREAKFAST IS ONLY SERVED UNTIL 8:55
If you arrive after 8:55, you will not be able to get breakfast
Background Checks
If you are interested in working with students during the school day or chaperoning field trips, you need to complete the volunteer application here. This process will run a thorough criminal background check. Once approved, you will need to check in at the office using our new Raptor system that will run your state issued ID and print you out a badge to wear. You will need to check in at the office and run your ID each time you volunteer.
Birthday Treats
Our classes do not have students bring in birthday treats. We have a number of food related allergies across the building so that is a practice we have not done for quite a number of years now. If your child wants to bring something for the class, it can be non-edible items like bookmarks, pencils, etc.
Absent Students
The office needs to be notified if your child will be absent or tardy. You can leave a voice message on the attendance line at 517-925-5812. In that message, please leave the following information:
* Student Name
* Teacher
* Reason for Absence (out of town, funeral, car trouble, sick, etc. If your child is sick, please leave
the nature of the illness – fever, vomiting, pink eye, cough, respiratory trouble, head lice, etc.
PLEASE NOTE: Teachers can only mark students unexcused. The office has to change those to excused absences after you call in or bring your child to school. This can take some time to get all the absences updated. If your child is still marked unexcused after 11:00, please feel free to contact the office.
Illness Reminders
We ask that your child be 24 hours free of fever, vomiting or diarrhea before you send them back to school after they have been out sick. We appreciate your cooperation with this!
Nov. is National Native American Heritage Month
Nov. is National Youth Homeless Awareness Month
Nov. is Child Safety and Protection Month
Nov. 15 » America Recycles Day
Nov. 15 » Guru Nanak Dev Sahib’s Birthday Festival
Nov. 18-22 » American Education Week
Nov. 20 » Education Support Professionals Day
Nov. 21 » National Parental Involvement Day
Nov. 22 » Substitute Educators Day
Nov. 20 » Anniversary of the Mexican Revolution
Nov. 25 - 29 » National Family Week
Nov. 28 » Thanksgiving Day
Dec. 1 » World AIDS Day
Dec. 2 » National Special Education Day
Dec. 2 » International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
Dec. 3 » Giving Tuesday
Dec. 3 » International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Dec. 7 » Pearl Harbor Day
Dec. 9 » Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Dec. 10 » Human Rights Day
Dec. 15 » Bill of Rights Day
Is something missing? Please share with John Ellsworth, GLPS Director of Communications, any additional Recognitions & Acknowledgments you think we should include on this list or upcoming lists – email him at EllsworthJ@GLcomets.net.
November is Child Safety & Protection Month
The CDC has a Tips for Parents webpage. It notes, "As a parent, you play an important role in helping your child develop the habits and behaviors that can affect their lifelong health and well-being." The page has some resources too:
