March 7 - Half Day for Students - Dismissal at 12:10
March 11 - In Person Parent Teacher Conferences 5:00-8:00 pm
March 13 - In Person Parent Teacher Conferences 5:00-8:00 pm
March 18 - Virtual Parent Teacher Conferences 5:00-7:00 pm
March 18 - PTA Meeting 6:00 pm
March 21-28 - No School - Spring Break
March 31 - No School - Teacher PD Day
April 1 - Classes Resume
The Principal's Pen
The teachers and I have been meeting this week analyzing the results of the NWEA, Acadience, and IXL assessments we conducted the last few weeks. We will be wrapping those up next week. I will be sharing the full progress of goals that were set in the fall in upcoming newsletters, but here are just a few celebrations from those meetings:
Kindergarten- 94% of students are at or above grade-level in foundational reading skills (phonemic awareness, letter sounds, consonant-vowel-consonant words) (As measured by Acadience).
1st Grade - 73% of students are at or above grade-level in accurately reading words (As measured by Acadience).
2nd Grade - 81% of students are at or above grade-level in foundational reading skills (oral reading fluency, accuracy, retelling of the passage) (As measured by Acadience).
3rd Grade - 79% of students are at or above grade-level in numbers and operations (As measured by IXL)
4th Grade - 77% of students met, surpassed, or far surpassed their expected growth in math from fall to winter. This resulted in the grade-level going from 44% of students scoring at grade-level in the fall, to 69% in the winter. (As measured by NWEA).
Grand Ledge will be hosting a Cool School Polar Plunge this year. This exciting event is a wonderful opportunity to support the Special Olympics, helping to fund unified sports as well as their winter and summer games—a truly worthwhile cause.
Myself and several staff member are participating in this plunge next week! If you would like to participate in the plunge and/or make a donation towards this cause, you can click here for more information.
This is National School Counseling Week. We are so thankful for our awesome counselor, Ms. Reik. She is a valued member of our staff and we are so grateful to have her at Willow Ridge!
Main Entrance / Office
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.
Willow Ridge PBIS H.E.R.O. Headquarters!
Today we recognized our January H.E.R.O.'s of the Month!
These students were recognized for being a HERO by exhibiting Honesty, Encouragement, Respect and Ownership
Sai Charan Akula
Lysander Austin
Ophelia Austin
Saylor Bair
Levi Bedard
Ella Behnke
Maria Bourgeois
Levi Clayborn
AddiLynn Decker
Olivia Dodd
Kamden Efting
Natalie Engler
Drew Flammer
Jeremiah French
Ava Grow
Landon Hart
Carson Hayden
Riley Hemmes
Cooper Hillard
Jackson Hillard
Vincent Hong
Edison Horn
Peyton Hughes
Arvin Ibrahim
Josephine Junak
Cali Kimmey
Madison Kwiecien
Lake'lyn Lee
Gabriel Loar
Adalai Lopez
Sawyer Maidrand
Seraphina Maidrand
Koda Martin
Wendy Martin
Piper Martinez
Mila McGowan
Harper Morden
Jordan Morris
Finn Niska
Calvin Perry
Mia Phillips
Liliana Redman
Kambrie Robbins
Westley Schaberg
Clare Schmidtke
Jerica Schmidtman
Kennedy Schultz
Yuvaan Shrestha
Rowan Sinclair
Emmy Smith
Madelyn Sowash
Braxton Stock
Coltyn Suchecki
Oliver Thelen
Eero Waltz
Barbara Zurek
PTA News
The Daddy Daughter Dance is February 28th. The deadline for online registration is February 14th. We still need volunteers for this event before, during, and after. Please help make this night fun and sign up to help!
Please join us on Tuesday, February 18th at 6:00 pm in the Willow Ridge Art room for our February PTA meeting. Dr. Barnes will be at this meeting to give district updates and answer any questions.
We are looking for volunteers for Maker Space. Please see the link below to sign up.
Yearbook orders are being placed online with Geskus Photography. Please use the link below to place your order. Yearbooks were not included in the fall picture package. So if your child wants a yearbook, you must order now! The yearbooks will be printed and delivered to the school. They will be sent home with students who ordered them at the end of the school year. Order Deadline is 2/28/25.
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!!
Counselor's Corner
Between testing days, sick days and snow days, our library schedule has been less than consistent these past few weeks. The students have handled it so gracefully, and I am hopeful that we will be able to maintain our schedule moving forward.
I will begin reading chapter books with second through fourth graders soon. We will read and discuss a chapter or two each week until we’ve finished the book. Begindergarten through first grades will continue with picture books. All students will continue to visit the library to check out books through early May.
Library Schedule:
Monday - BK and Kindergarten
Tuesday - First and Second grades
Wednesday - Third Grade
Thursday - Fourth Grade
~ Mrs Garnaat
Snow Day Menu Changes
It's that time of year for possible snow days. In the event of a snow day, the menu for the day students return will be what was planned for the snow day. The scheduled menu will resume the day after we return. This is done to have the least amount of waste.
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. The approval is good for one calendar year. After that year is up, you will need to reapply.
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!
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.
ProtectMIChild.com – FREE State of Michigan Resource
GLPS Supervisor of Student Safety Chris Chester is sharing this FREE State of Michigan resource with you. Visit ProtectMIChild.com to learn more about the program.
RELAX & RECHARGE EVENT » Relax and Recharge at the Resiliency Center every Monday from 7-9 p.m.
988 offers 24/7 judgment-free support for mental health, substance use, and more.
