June 5 - Last Day of School (Half Day) - Dismissal at 12:10
The Principal's Pen
The third and fourth grade students are off to a wonderful start taking the M-STEP for reading. Most students finished that portion and will take the math portion next week. Your child's results will be given to you in the fall.
We are still in need of volunteers and yard games to borrow for the Block Party. We cannot do this without your help! Here is the link again!
The Block Party is on Friday, May 8th from 6:00–8:00 PM! This special evening is a great opportunity to come together as a community and enjoy a night filled with food, music, games, and fun for all ages.
A highlight of the evening will be our Silent Auction, featuring a variety of unique items, including themed classroom baskets, classroom fingerprint plates, and special “Lunch with a Teacher/Staff” experiences. We are still collecting donations for classroom baskets and appreciate your continued support in helping us create exciting auction items. Be sure to stop by the auction and place your bids! If you are a winner, cash and checks (payable to Willow Ridge PTA) are the only forms of payment that are accepted.
Thank you for your support—we look forward to seeing you there!
PTA Flower Fundraiser Pick Up
The hanging baskets from the PTA fundraiser will be delivered to the school on Tuesday, May 5. We’re looking for volunteers to assist with the pickup of flower baskets in the gym. We need a few people to help set up and organize the baskets, and other people to manage orders during the scheduled pickup time.
Please click on the basket of flowers to be directed to the Sign Up Genius.
Willow Ridge PBIS H.E.R.O. Headquarters!
This week we recognized our final H.E.R.O.'s of the Month for this school year
These students were recognized for being a HERO by exhibiting Honesty, Encouragement, Respect and Ownership
Ryder Lane
Naomi Lee
Phillip Lindsey
Hazel Waltz
Cooper Hillard
Violet Kessler
Amaya LaFrance
Lilah Checo
Samir Gonzalez-Infante
Cole Wingeier
Wesley Drumheller
Noah Feldpausch
Brynn Hayden
Makenzie Graf
Roman Jackson-Baker
Olivia Westen
Liam Watson
Leon Harmon
Austin Anderson Eliana Clayborn
Hudson Greer
Joanna Keller
Theodore Yang
Gabriel Gatea
Amelia Schutt
Antonella Rouphael
Henry Sowash
Penelope Cotton
Preston Maddox
Ethan Waweru
Aidan Bauer
Steven Keller
Henry Pfund
Jillian Schmidtman
Caroline Hoffman
Sawyer Janetzke
Emersyn McFarland
Calvin Perry
Benny Allison
Lennyx Lee
Elliott Rickstad
Coral Schmidtman-Holloway
Landon Azzinaro
Lilly Howe
Brinley Jaquette
Kayanna Traore
Hoyt Hansbarger
Micheal Moore
Kambrie Robbins
Evelyn Wilson
Evan Wright
Vincent Hong
Marcus Leyva
Henry Whitten
Leroy Xiong
Rowan Martin
Amelia Tate
Ezra Wixson
Greyson Davis
Aislynn Huhn
Julissa Renderos
Jerica Schmidtman
Killian Sheaffer
Kaden Haskell
Ethan Lee
Quinn McKenna
Nathan Richards
Aiden Benjamin
Natalie Engler
Kristin Humphrey
Barbara Zurek
Francis Blixt
Spogmy Himmat
CJ Tatnall
Jameson Carlton
Reagan Harrison
Ella Stowell
Alex Keller
Maddox Urbina
Mia Phillips
Cameron Reynolds
Xavier Smith
Thank you so much for a great month of April! The top two classes from our Bills VS Coins, Mrs Gribble and Ms. Walker, had their pizza parties yesterday. What a wonderful way to end the month! We were able to collect enough money that our 4th grade, kindergarten classes and any siblings of those students will be getting a free t-shirt this first round of ordering. We might have a second round of ordering and be able to open it up to at least one more grade level, if not more. Keep an eye on your child’s Friday folder because we will probably send another grade level an order form. If you want to ensure your child gets the correct size please make sure to scan the QR code. If you have already sent in the paper form or did the QR code, please do not do it again. Thank you for making sure your child understands disabilities, not just Autism, and making sure inclusion is happening every day at Willow Ridge!
Congratulations Heroes! You have run
2,276 miles! Keep up the great work!!
PTA News
We are excited to invite all Willow Ridge families to our upcoming Block Party on Friday, May 8th from 6:00–8:00 PM! This special evening is a great opportunity to come together as a community and enjoy a night filled with food, music, games, and fun for all ages.
A highlight of the evening will be our Silent Auction, featuring a variety of unique items, including themed classroom baskets, classroom fingerprint plates, and special “Lunch with a Teacher/Staff” experiences. Be sure to stop by and place your bids! If you are a winner, cash and checks (payable to Willow Ridge PTA) are the only forms of payment that are accepted.
We are still collecting donations for classroom baskets and appreciate your continued support in helping us create exciting auction items.
To make this event a success, we are also looking for volunteers and item donations (items are just borrowed for the evening). If you’re able to help, please sign up using the link below:
We are excited to announce that our upcoming PTA election is approaching, and all officer positions are open for the next term. This includes:
President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary
If you would like to be added to the ballot, please send an email expressing your interest to ptawillowridge@gmail.com no later than May 11th. Voting will take place at the May 19th meeting.
Serving on the PTA is a great way to make a positive impact and stay connected with our school. We hope to hear from you!
We are quickly approaching the end of the school year and with that come some changes to the library schedule.
Here are some important dates/events:
May 4-8: No library classes this week, special visit from public libraries on Friday
May 11-14: Last week to check out; no library Friday (Friday class comes on Thursday)
May 18-21: Regular library times (Friday class comes Thursday) for story and activities
May 21: All library books due back!
May 26-29: No library; printed reminders and replacement requests sent home
June 1-5: No library
Due to the library closure next week, this week all students were offered the opportunity to check out an extra book.
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 students arrive after
8:55, they 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.
The Impression 5 Summer L.A.B.S. program offers children hands-on experiences exploring scientific concepts through interactive experimentation, challenges, artistic expression, and play. The Summer L.A.B.S. program offers exciting sessions for ages 5 to 14. 5-year-olds who plan to attend Summer L.A.B.S. must have completed kindergarten by their first program date. Registration for Summer L.A.B.S. is open!
Grand Ledge Emergency Assistance Program (GLEAP) - The GLEAP Food pantry serves the GLPS district. ID & proof of residency required. Call ahead to place an order at least 1 hour before the pantry closes. Open Tue. 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM and Thu. 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM. 4980 Burt Ave. 517-627-4348
MI Capital Cares - Resource for finding the services and supports you need within your community. Select one of the service areas listed to search for the resources you need or call 2-1-1 or 866-561-2500 for additional assistance.
Catholic Charities of Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton Counties - This charity has an active community kitchen, food pantry, & bread rack. Hot breakfast (9:00 - 10:30 AM) and lunch (11:30 AM - 1:00 PM) provided Mon. - Fri. at the Cristo Rey Campus. Make an appointment to access food pantry: 517-372-4700.
Helping Hands Food Pantry Charlotte - Clients are subject to low-income guidelines and residency requirements and are required to sign a statement attesting to their need and the accuracy of the information. Open Tuesday (11:00 AM - 5:30 PM), Wednesday (10:00 AM - 4:30 PM), and Thursday (9:00 AM - 4:00 PM). 621 Jefferson St, Charlotte. 517-543-8737
The Salvation Army - This location has a food / personal needs pantry and hot meals available. The food pantry is open Monday thru Friday (9:00 AM -12:00 PM and 1:00 - 4:00 PM). Walk-In only. Hot meals are served Tuesday - Friday (12:00 -1:00 PM). 525 N. Pennsylvania Ave. 517-484-4424
517 Living - A list of the area food-focused nonprofits.
