November 24 - Twelve Days of Giving Begins (see below)
November 26-28 - No School - Thanksgiving Break
December 1 - No School - Staff PD Day
December 10 & 11 - Santa's Secret Shop (more info next week)
December 22-January 2 - No School - Winter Break
January 5 - No School - Staff PD Day
January 6 - Classes Resume
January 19 - No School - MLK Day
January 20 - PTA Meeting 6:00 pm
February 13 - No School - Staff PD Day
February 16 - No School - President's Day
The Principal's Pen
Thank you to everyone who made it to conferences this week. When families and schools work in collaboration, the child grows significantly.
We will have our first of three state required lock down drills on Thursday, 11/20. Mr. Chris Chester is our School Safety Supervisor and he helps coordinate the drills with school personnel and local first responders. He relays updated best practices with me and our staff and we practice those with feedback from him and the first responders.
Our PTA fundraiser is complete and we were able to surpass our goal for raising $20,000 by raising $21,395. That is awesome! As part of the fundraiser incentives, the top five classes that raised the most will be able to have a PTA sponsored pizza party on Tuesday, 11/18 during their lunch time. Those classes are Mr. Terranova, Mrs. Sweet, Mrs. Austin, Mrs. Ellis, and Mrs. Sampson. Congratulations!
As we are beginning to experience colder weather, I want to take a moment and iterate our outdoor recess policy, which is briefly explained in the elementary handbook on page 8. Students will be going outside during the day unless it is raining or below zero degrees with the windchill. Please ensure your child has the appropriate winter attire to enjoy the season. The school does not have a plentiful supply of winter gear, so be sure your students are bringing those items to school. If you are a family in need of winter gear, please reach out to our counselor, Annie Reik, at reika@glcomets.net.
PBIS All School Reward
Our first trimester PBIS all school reward took place today. We had an inflatable chicken jockey race! Students voted on who they wanted to see race. The selected participates were Mr. Gee, Mrs. Sweet and Mr. Kavion. These three suited up and raced through an obstacle course. The kids had a blast watching them!
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 10 and 11 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!
Thank you so much for your support of our Scholastic Book Fair!
Every book fair sale benefits the library, which in turn benefits the whole school. Because of your support, we will be able to purchase new books and supplies for our library. Due to many generous donations, we were also able to provide gift certificates to students who might otherwise not be able to shop, AND to some students who were entered into a drawing because of their outstanding HERO behavior. You also helped to fulfill the teacher’s Book Fair wish lists to build their classroom libraries.
If you missed the fair, or your favorite title was sold out, you can still shop our fair online until November 23 at
Library starts back up next week! We are looking forward to a week back in our routine. Library reminder emails will be sent again starting this weekend. Books are due back before your child’s next library day.
Thursday: Sweet, Weidenbach, Rozycki, Oetting, Nelson
Friday: Ford
“You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child.” ~ Dr. Seuss
~ Mrs Garnaat
Attendance / Absence Policy
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 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
Illness Reminders
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.
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!
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.
Grand Ledge Education Foundation » Trivia Night & Sponsorships
The Grand Ledge Education Foundation (GLEF) is a 501(c)3 organization that provides extra funding for special projects within Grand Ledge Public Schools classrooms, and they are doing a TRIVIA NIGHT fundraiser.
BE A BUS DRIVER – join the GLPS transportation team! Probationary pay begins at $21.50 per hour, then regular driver pay starts at $25.50/hour. GLPS bus drivers have access to SET-SEG Plum Health Center, and many health services are provided at no cost (or minimal cost if you have an HSA). $500 signing bonus distributed as follows: $250 disbursement once all hiring and training has been completed, then the remaining $250 disbursement 6 months from the date of hire or end of school year, whichever comes first. Paid Training is provided to obtain a Class B CDL with Passenger and School Bus endorsements. Must have a 10-year clean driving record. Apply today or contact Pete Bucholtz, Transportation Supervisor, and Nicole Freels, Assistant Transportation Supervisor / Dispatcher. Call them at 517-925-5300 or email them at bucholtzp@glcomets.net and freelsn@glcomets.net.
