June 5 - Last Day of School (Half Day) - Dismissal at 12:10
~ SUMMER BREAK~
August 17 - Kindergarten Launch
August 19 - Kindergarten Open House 4:30 - 6:00
August 19 - First-Fourth Grade Open House 5:30 - 7:00
August 25 - First Day of School - Half Day
September 4-7 - No School - Labor Day Weekend
The Principal's Pen
HAPPY LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!! I asked the teachers to nominate students from each class who consistently demonstrated being a HERO all school year. These are students that are good role models for their peers. Those HEROes are:
Begindergarten/Kindergarten
Cora Bielawski
Witten Rickstad
Camile Diaz
Grant Hess
Kayleigh Lyons
Presley Portt
Carson Price
Harrison Steward
Luna VanHorn
Isla Wood
Lillie Alaniz
Elizabeth Eitienne
Ruby Garza
Samir Gonzalez Infante
Alexander Heinrich
Emma Helfer
Xenai Hollis
Madison Hughes
Lawrence Lahaie
Mackenzie Morden
Luca Orrico
Riley Webb
Alexandra Allen
Alain Goldberg-Strassler
Vahin Janga
Sainitha Rajasimman
Leon Sabin
Rakshan Senthil-Pandian
Anvi Velicheti
Hope Davis
Anson LaCross
Liam Watson
Amelia Anderson
Grace McConnon
First Grade
Saylor Bair
Henry Bielawski
Isaac Bock
Cecilia Boone
Violeta Boone
Hayden Buzun
Tilly Byrens
Riley Earley
Audrey Efting
Addie Lopez
Koda Martin
Megg Nkwayep
Isla Pinckney
Lydia Redman
Alessia Saunders
Thea Wright
Jace Adams
Olivia Bucio
Finley Cobb
Bryce Decker
Hope Glashower
Mackenzie Jenkot
Silas Nykamp
Merida Perry
Zelda Rashid
Theo Sommerlot
Kamden Stolicker
Kinsley Sweet
Teddy Trudeau
Hudson Vue
Riley Wight
Maren Clark
Penelope Cotton
Aleeya Dalagan
Kamden Efting
Autumn Elenbaas
Ava Grow
Riley Heerema
Jackson Hillard
Oliver Lee
Ella Nguyen
Vivian Usher
Joshua Morehouse
Maverick Morgan
Sammy Naranjo
Josie Pehlivanoglu
Charlotte Schaberg
Breslyn Stock
Sanay Watts
William Wotring
Second Grade
Antonio Aguinaga
Ophelia Austin
Virginia Austin
Eden Bushnell
Lincoln Checo
Kyler Daggett
A'Melia Davis
Dylan Dayton
Calvin Black
Melanie Fox
Harper Hall
Caroline Hoffman
Sawyer Janetzke
Kora Krauss
Samuel Lindsey
Cruz Mazuca
Emersyn McFarland
Sydney Patterson
Nikolas Peeper
Calvin Perry
Declan Rambo
Brezlyn Ream
Lincoln Roth
Cora Schuettler
J.D. Senger
Korynn Watts
Kinsley Ybarra
Jaxon Adams
Benny Allison
Aaliyah Brown
Zhane Dalagan
Maddox Dutton
Shanti Goodwin
Vanessa Hernandez
Ben Kanaby
Julian Kildee
Lennyx Lee
Hudson Lyons
Piper Martinez
Iris Meeder
Zinaya Alamia
Selena Nassery
Miles Oosterhoff
Elliott Rickstad
Emma Rizzo
Coral Schmidtman-Holloway
Saindhavi Senthil Pandian
Ruth Sims
Ava Thompson
Marshall Urbina
Ivy Vue
Karis Algrim
Cora Burns
Charlotte Calabro
Jack Clarke
Hannah Detering
Lacey Harrison
Skye Hayhoe
Peyton Hughes
Ozias Jones
Nora Khaled
Laila Shaker
Nolan Thackthay
Yoshitha Vinothkumar
Third Grade
Eleanor Allison
Zachary Bock
Sydney Brown
Lily Browning
Breslyn Hansbarger
Elnaz Ibrahim
Harper McMillan
Madelyn Sowash
Madison Toomey
Harper Wedell
Josephine Daskaluk
MJ Debar
AddiLynn Decker
Keaghan Howland
Alexis Jensen
Ava Kahl
Madison Kwiecien
Olivia Lee
Gabe Loar
Rowan Martin
Harlee McDonald
Arlo Mecum
Carter Pearson
Chris Ptaszynski
Antonio Rouphael
Alba Smith
Ashlyn Stowell
Amelia Tate
Isabella Than
Ezra Wixson
Caius Yang
Noah Kouider
Westley Bock
Bexley Bouwens
Piper Brown
Greyson Davis
Analiyah Fischer
Carson Hayden
Callie Henn
Ethan Herman
Aislynn Huhn
Kelsey Jacobsen
Ronald Kendall
Liliana MacMillian
Zachary Moreno
Libby Phillips
Julissa Renderos
Clare Schmidtke
Jerica Schmidtman
Reese Sinclair
Aaliyah Taylor
Oliver Thelen
Harrison Winters
Luke Wright
Sophia Yang
Dax Behnke
Beatrice Cleveland
Van Field
Liam Frazee-Landry
Fela Garza
Addilyn Gilmour
Tyson Guillen
Kaden Haskell
Persephone Kemmer
Calvin Kuhlman
Ethan Lee
Fischer Lichtenberg
Julian Lusk
Quinn McKenna
Jordan Morris
Alice Nelson
Avery Onan
Nathan Richards
Liam Richardson
Keegan Schutt
Gracelyn Shaw
Oaklyn Suchecki
Winter Waters
Jillian Williams
Brylee Wingeier
Fourth Grade
Charlotte Alward
Elizabeth Anderson
Abu Balavelu
Raylan Barba
Arthur Beaty
Aiden Benjamin
Sylvia Brokstand-Franks
Colden Castelein
Tyson Chernacki
Brayden Doig
Natalie Engler
Piper Ference
Kristin Humphrey
Harper Morden
Theron Niska
Rileigh Scutt
Charley Wolscheid
Barbara Zurek
Jayna Buzun
Chase Downey
Natalia Dungey
Amelia Ghastin
Brice Gribble
Kinleigh Nelson
Eldaiah Robbins
Aria Saunders
Ruby Schupbach
Braxton Stock
Emily Wittenbach
Abigail Yang
Lexi Anderson
Norah Batten
Ella Behnke
Violet Fredericks
Alex Keller
Ana Loveless
Lily Redman
Josiah Salazar
Selah Temple
Evanna Thackthay
Elias Bryan
Brennan Cobb
Gracie Croston
Luke Flammer
Victoria Hall
Remy Lacross
Emma O'Connor
Emerson O'Keefe
Paddy O'Keefe
Michael Organek
Emmy Smith
Chelsea Xiong
Of those students named by the teachers, two from each class were chosen to play Slip n' Slide kickball with me on Wednesday afternoon. The winners and I had a blast with this. Here are the lucky winners:
First Grade - Tilly Byrens, Riley Earley, Silas Nykamp, Hudson Vue, Ava Grow, Oliver Lee, Joshua Morehouse, Charlotte Schaberg
Second Grade - Kora Krauss, Cruz Mazuca, Hudson Lyons, Ruth Sims, Ivy Vue, Karis Algrim, Cora Burns, Nora Khaled
Third Grade - Elnaz Ibrahim, Harper Wedell, Ava Kahl, Chris Ptaszynski, Zachary Moreno, Aaliyah Taylor, Persephone Kemmer, Winter Waters
Fourth Grade - Raylan Barba, Arthur Beaty, Jayna Buzun, Chase Downey, Natalia Dungey, Brice Gribble, Norah Batten, Josiah Salazar, Elias Bryan, Michael Organek
Next School Year
We are planning for next year. If you know your student(s) will not be attending Willow Ridge next year, please contact our office at 517-925-5775.
Medication Pick Up
Your child’s medication(s)
must be picked up at school
on or before June 5.
PTA News
The PTA would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our outgoing officers: President Ashley Gilmour, Vice President Colleen Lee, and Secretary Jessica Buckman, for their dedication and hard work the past several years as officers. We are so grateful for all they have done for our school community!
Congratulations to our 2026–2027 PTA officers: President Jamie Lyons, Vice President Krista Dayton, Secretary Spencer Austin, and returning Treasurer Megan Sowash. We are excited to welcome new leadership while also continuing to benefit from Megan’s experience and support. We look forward to another great year ahead and continuing to support our school community together.
As we begin planning for next year, we would love your feedback. Please take a moment to complete our Google Form survey here:
We are now down to 23 books checked out to students! If you find your book before June 18, email me at garnaatd@glcomets.net to make arrangements to return it. Books found over the summer may be returned in August when we come back to school.
Looking for a book recommendation for summer reading? Check out the ALA’s 2026 Summer Reading Lists here
Remember to visit your local public library this summer for books, activities and programming. Many libraries also have passes to local attractions, “library of things” from which you can borrow tools, baking equipment and more, seed libraries and little free pantries.
I hope everyone has a safe, relaxing, fun, creative summer.
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 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.
