August 29 & September 1 - No School - Labor Day Weekend
September 11 - Picture Day
September 16 - PTA Meeting 6:00 pm
October 1 - Student Count Day
October 3 - No School - Staff PD Day
October 21 - PTA Meeting 6:00 pm
November 7 - No School - Staff PD Day
November 11 - Parent Teacher Conferences 5:00-8:00 pm (In Person)
November 13 - Parent Teacher Conferences 5:00-8:00 pm (In Person)
November 14 - Half Day for Students - Dismissal at 12:10 pm
November 14 - Parent Teacher Conferences 1:00-3:00 pm (Virtual)
November 18 - PTA Meeting 6:00 pm
November 26-28 - No School - Thanksgiving Break
December 1 - No School - Staff PD Day
The Principal's Pen
Welcome to the 2025-2026 school year! We had a great first week of the school year and the staff are diligently working to establish a relationship with your children. My door is always open and I welcome the opportunity to build school and community relationships with the families of Willow Ridge.
Our goal here at Willow Ridge is to create a culture of competency and safety within our school. To help do so, we have implemented a common set of behavior expectations referred to as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. Through PBIS, we have adopted the acronym: HERO. The acronym stands for Honesty, Encouragement, Respect, and Ownership. We have expanded HERO into specific, observable behaviors and rules. We will teach these rules and behaviors to all students throughout the first couple of weeks.
For those of you new to our building, I will generally use this weekly column each Friday throughout the school year to inform students and their families about our school and our programs. The intent is to provide regular, ongoing communication between home and school. My “Principal’s Pen” should also help the reader know who we are and what our school is all about. I hope you will find this informative and helpful. Dates to Remember will be published and updated frequently throughout the year. School Calendars are available from the office and online at www.glcomets.net.
REMINDER - THERE IS NO SCHOOL TOMORROW OR MONDAY!! WE WILL SEE EVERYONE AGAIN ON TUESDAY!
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.
ARRIVAL
If you are dropping off your child (grades 1st - 4th) in the morning, please follow the drop off route explained below.
First - Fourth grade parent drop-off traffic, whether northbound or southbound on Nixon should only turn at the new entrance by the ball fields at Hayes.
Traffic should follow the road behind Hayes Intermediate school heading north towards Willow Ridge Elementary.
Traffic will stop at the intersection and then proceed to the parent loop in front of the Willow Ridge. Cars need to pull all the way forward inside the yellow striped loading zone to drop off their students. There should be no Willow Ridge parent traffic on Penny Lane.
If you are dropping off your child who is in Begindergarten or Kindergarten in the morning, please follow the drop off route explained below.
Kindergarten students (and any siblings) will be dropped off in our Kindergarten parent lot. Parents can park in a space and help get the child out of the car. There will be staff members there to make sure your child gets into the school. Parents will not be permitted to walk their children down to the classrooms.
Students arriving at school, whether by parent or bus, will go to one of two designated areas. Kindergarten lot students and bus riders will line up at the entrance just left of the office windows.
Students dropped off from the parent loop will line up at the main entrance of the building.
DISMISSAL
If you are picking up your child and they were dropped off in the Kindergarten lot, you will pick them up there. Kindergarten teachers will walk them out to that lot (this will include any older siblings) to get them to you. You may park in that lot to get your child(ren).
If you are picking up your child (first-fourth grade) at the end of day,follow the parent loop (as explained in the arrival section of this letter). There will be grade-level cones along the loading/unloading zones (yellow striped section). Students will be at their respective grade-level cones. Siblings will all be at the youngest family member’s cone. Adults will help direct traffic forward and help students connect with their parents. No parents are to get out of their car to pick up their child. We want to keep this moving as smoothly as possible. Students must be picked up no later than 4:05.
Food Service News
GLPS will offer free meals to students at least through September 30, 2025, as part of the Michigan School Meals program, which was funded through the last state budget. GLPS will have a better idea about the future of the Michigan School Meals program and whether free meals will be provided to students once the state government agrees on a new budget (for the state fiscal year 2026). GLPS will communicate more about school meals as we learn more.
In the meantime, you can DO YOUR PART, CHECK THE CHART – your family might qualify for education and meal benefits. The Education & Meals Benefit Application helps our schools get state and federal funding for education programs. This application must be completed annually in order to qualify for the education and meal benefits that help both your family and the school district. The Application for the Michigan School Meals Program collects information needed to ensure the school receives state and federal funding for education programs. Without this information, Grand Ledge Public Schools could lose critical state funding for educational programs that our students are entitled to.
BREAKFAST IS ONLY SERVED UNTIL 8:55.
What else might my student or household be eligible for? By filling out the School Meals Application, your child may qualify for other programs such as:
Summer EBT money
School sports fees waived
Programs that provide food support
Programs that assist with school fees
Potential household support for cable and internet
Paper applications are also available in all school offices or by calling the food service office at (517) 925-5733.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with Darrin Gyurich at 517-925-5733.
If you arrive
after 8:55,
you will not
be able
to get
breakfast.
PTA News
Thank you to everyone who donated items to the staff lounge at Open House!
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.
Forms to be Returned
Blessings in a Backpack
Picture Day
There two forms given out at Open House or sent home on the first day of school that need to come back to school.
Emergency Contact Form - changes should be written clearly on the form. If there are no changes, please sign and date the form and send it back to school.
Field Trip Form - fill out the form and return to school.
If your student could benefit from extra food over the weekend, the Grand Ledge Blessings in a Backpack program is here to help. For over a decade, this program has been supporting students in need by providing bags of food for weekend meals at no cost. Each week (excluding school breaks), students attending in-person classes will have a bag of nutritious, kid-friendly food discreetly placed in their backpack or locker. Some of the food items may include: macaroni and cheese, canned vegetables, soup, oatmeal, granola bars, fruit cups, and beef ravioli.
If you’d like your student to participate, please complete the permission form that was sent home or request one from the school office. Kindly return the form by Wednesday, September 10, so that your child can receive their first bag on September 18.
Fall pictures are scheduled for Thursday, September 11. Ordering information will be sent home soon. Stay tuned for updates!
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.
Welcome to the 2025-2026 school year, HEROes!
If you were here for Open House, you may have seen my signs indicating that the library will open in mid-September. Due to the construction that took place last school year and throughout the summer, the library space has been serving other purposes and is not yet ready for student or class visits. In the meantime, along with rearranging the space and getting it cleaned up and organized, I’ve been working on adding some new books to our collection. I’m looking forward to beginning our library visits and sharing these new books with our students in just a few weeks!
Thanks to everyone who has donated tissue, hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes to the library, as well as those who have donated books from the Willow Ridge Library Wish List on Amazon. This list will remain active and will be periodically updated, so feel free to check it out any time during the school year.
“You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book.” ~ Dr. Seuss
~ Mrs Garnaat
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!
Sep. 30 » National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Canada)
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.
GLPS will offer free meals to students at least through September 30, 2025, as part of the Michigan School Meals program, which was funded through the last state budget. GLPS will have a better idea about the future of the Michigan School Meals program and whether free meals will be provided to students once the state government agrees on a new budget (for the state fiscal year 2026). GLPS will communicate more about school meals as we learn more.
In the meantime, you can DO YOUR PART, CHECK THE CHART – your family might qualify for education and meal benefits. The Education & Meals Benefit Application helps our schools get state and federal funding for education programs. This application must be completed annually in order to qualify for the education and meal benefits that help both your family and the school district.
The Fledge Foundation in Lansing is hosting another FREE 9-week Youth Entrepreneur Program for students in grades 5-12. The program includes 8 weeks of learning how to apply the Business Model Canvas to their idea, working one-on-one with a coach/mentor, pitch writing and presenting, free dinner weekly, and at Week 9, an opportunity to pitch their idea to a panel of local leaders for a $1,000 prize.
