June 6 - Last Half Day of School - Dismissal at 12:10
~ SUMMER ~
August 21 - Kindergarten Open House 4:30-6:30
August 21 - First-Fourth Grade Open House 5:30-7:00
August 26 - First Day of School - Dismissal one hour early (first day only)
August 29 & September 1 - No School - Labor Day Weekend
The Principal's Pen
As we are winding down the year, students can often start to act out at school. Please help us end the year on a great note by reinforcing our behavior expectations. There are a plethora of fun activities scheduled for the remainder of the year and I would not want a student to not be able to participate due to their behavior.
If you have a new student to enroll in BK or Kindergarten for the 2025 - 2026 school year, please Enroll Today!. Once your child is registered, you will receive information about a parent meeting and Kindergarten Launch.
I hope everyone has a safe Memorial Day weekend!
Special Person Lunch Day
On Wednesday, June 4, we are having "Special Person Lunch Day" at Willow Ridge. Each student can invite ONE special person to come eat lunch with them. The student can order a school lunch or the adult can bring fast food, pizza, cold lunch, etc. Space in the lunchroom will be at a premium so bring blankets and chairs and hopefully enjoy your lunch outside. We also have parking constraints to keep in mind. Our 1st and 2nd graders eat lunch at 12:07, our BK/K students eat at 12:27 and our 3rd and 4th graders eat at 12:43.
Due to security issues and for everyone's safety, we will need to have all guests check in at the office and be issued a visitor badge. Please fill out the attached Google Form so we can have badges ready for those people who have already been cleared in our system. We are trying to streamline the process as we anticipate many guests that day. If you have not visited or volunteered at the school this year, you are welcome to stop by between now and June 4 to have your ID scanned so we can have a visitor badge pre-printed to save you some time in line. Everyone who attends must bring their state issued ID or license. If you don't have it, you will be turned away. PLEASE REMEMBER - only one guest is permitted per student.
All students who ordered a yearbook will receive it on the last day of school - Friday, June 6. There will be a yearbook signing time that morning. We have some extra yearbooks for sale if you did not order one. They will be available (first come, first serve) for $10 – CASH ONLY – in the office. To check if you purchased a yearbook, please email Mrs. Lee at leel@glcomets.net. If your child does not have a yearbook, we will have some autograph pages available for them to use for the signing time on the 6th.
Field Day 2025
Field Day is scheduled for Monday, June 2 with a rain makeup day scheduled for Tuesday, June 3. Please use the link below to sign up if you would like to volunteer.
I want to congratulate all the heroes for a wonderful season of mileage club!!! Great job to everyone and especially the BK-2nd graders who finished this week! We observed a lot of positive attitudes, heard thank yous and grew together. There is so much determination amongst these kids! The following kids in BK-2 will earn an "awesome" Toe Token for being in 1st through 3rd place!!!
We celebrated with popsicles on Wednesday for 1st/2nd. The other grades will get theirs next Wed!
In BK (Mrs. Bedard) 1. Judson B with 11.4 miles 2. Mason L with 10.8 miles 3. Oscar B with 10.4 miles
In K (all in Mrs. Toomey) 1. Theo S with 16 miles 2. Autumn E with 13.8 miles 3. Jace A with 12.4 miles
In 1st 1. Sawyer J with 18 miles (Mrs. Grass) tied for 2. Charlotte C (Mrs. Weidenbach) and Ozias J (Mrs. Grass) with 14 miles tied for 3. Scarlett H (Mrs. Weidenbach) and Julian K (Mrs. Smith) with 11.2 miles
In 2nd 1. Ethan H with 26.4 miles (Mrs. Austin) 2. Harrison W with 26 miles (Mrs. Austin) 3. Greyson G (Mrs. Sampson) and Chris P (Mrs. Austin) with 20.8 miles
(not final rankings- still one more mileage club 5/28 for 3rd/4th) In 3rd 1. Brennan C with 45.2 miles (Mr. Terranova) 2. Elias B with 43 miles (Mr. Terranova) 3. Xavier S with 41.8 miles (Mrs. Sweet)
In 4th (all with Mrs. Nelson) Reid D with 49.6 miles Claire P with 28.8 miles Drew F with 28.6 miles
Sam B and Michael O in 3rd grade earned their 30 mile MSU backpacks this week! Way to go!!!
PTA News
We are happy to announce that the 2024–2025 PTA Board has been re-elected to serve for the 2025–2026 school year. Thank you to everyone who participated in the recent PTA meeting and voted to support this wonderful team. Please join us in welcoming back our dedicated board members:
• President: Ashley Gilmour
• Vice President: Colleen Lee
• Treasurer: Megan Sowash
• Secretary: Jessica Buckman
We are incredibly grateful for their continued commitment to our school community. Their time, energy, and passion make a lasting impact, and we look forward to another great year ahead!
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 925-5775.
Medication Pick Up
Your child’s medication(s) must be picked up at school on or before June 6. If your student is attending summer learning, contact Mrs. Douglas to make arrangements for summer medication.
REMINDER: ALL LIBRARY MATERIALS ARE NOW DUE. Email reminders have been sent to families with overdue library materials. Printed notices are being sent to those with no email on file. As of the writing of this article, there are still 181 books checked out. Please return library books on Tuesday when we return to school. Replacement requests will be sent beginning Wednesday, May 28.
Reminder of this invitation from Holbrook Media Secretary Mrs. Morgan:
HOLBROOK will be hosting a BOGO Book Fair the last week of May! EVERYTHING - ALL BOOKS AND OTHER ITEMS - will be BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE!!
BOGO BOOK FAIR SHOPPING HOURS will be:
Tuesday, May 27th- Thursday May 29th, 8am - 7pm
Friday, May 30th, 8am - 4pm
PLEASE NOTE: If you plan to shop during school hours, you will need to bring your ID and check in in the office! You are invited to come and enjoy the Book Fair and stock up on books for summer reading!
The BOGO Book Fair is not a fundraiser for any school or organization. It is just a fun shopping opportunity Mrs. Morgan is offering to our community. Thank you, Mrs. Morgan!
-Mrs Garnaat
Morning Drop Off Line
A couple of drop off notes:
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!!
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, stickers, 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.
Sign up started May 8th at 8:00am and will close at 3:00pm May 23rd. There will be no Late sign ups this year. The sign up will be through PowerSchool – you cannot use the app; you will need to use a computer. This will be on a first come first serve basis. If there are no sections to sign up for, that means that all sections for that week are full.
The GLPS summer learning program is open to all students enrolled at Grand Ledge Public Schools during the 24-25 school year. It is not available for students from other school districts or students who will be starting for the 25-26 school year. Incoming kindergarten students are not eligible unless they are GLPS current Begindergarten (BK) students.. Students will sign up based on the grade level in which they are currently enrolled (BK students, they will sign up for kindergarten.) Based on space and staffing, students will be placed on a first come, first served basis. All placements will be finalized and communicated via PowerSchool to families on or before June 20th.
SUMMER LEARNING CONTACT INFORMATION
The Summer Learning office can be contacted by email at GLPSsummerlearning@GLcomets.net. Please note this email address will be active now through July 31st.
