December 3 - Parent Teacher Conferences 5:00-7:00 pm
Dec. 23-Jan. 3 - No School - Winter Break
January 6 - No School - Teacher PD Day
January 20 - No School - MLK Day
February 14 - No School - Teacher PD Day
February 17 - No School - President's Day
March 7 - Half Day for Students - Dismissal at 12:10
The Principal's Pen
Thank you to everyone who made it to conferences this week. When families and schools work in collaboration, the child grows significantly. We still have virtual conferences on December 3rd. If you still need to sign up, do so here:
Thank you to the Ahmed family who provided Toarmino's Pizza for the staff on Tuesday night before conferences and to the PTA who provided Cugino's for teachers prior to Thursday night's conferences. This is so appreciated by the teachers and staff who put in long days of teaching and meeting with parents.
We had our first of three state required lock down drills. Mr. Chris Chester is our School Safety Supervisor and he helps coordinate the drills with school personnel and local first responders. He relays updated best practices with me and our staff and we practice those with feedback from him and the first responders.
This week we had a fun magic show assembly called Laugh Factory. Magician Doug got kids involved in hilarious magic tricks and wowed the audience. Thank you to Mrs. Austin for helping to organize this event and to our PTA for sponsoring it.
We will not be publishing a newsletter next week since we are only in school Monday and Tuesday.
I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!
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.
Parent Teacher Conferences
Parent Teacher Conferences will be held:
Tuesday, December 3 from 5:00 - 7:00 pm - VIRTUAL
Here is the link, or you can click on Parent Teacher
Thank you to everyone that donated to the teachers conference meal. They all enjoyed the Cugino's and goodies!
Have you placed your Charleston Wrap fundraising order yet? Need gift wrap? Gift ideas for the holidays. Want to treat yourself? Check off your holiday gift list today! Only 4 more days to order!
Santa’s Secret Shop is back this year headed again by Kelli Bohnet. This PTA event will be held in the Art Room on December 11 and 12 during the school day. Information on this event will be coming home in next week's Friday Folders. This is a good opportunity for our students to purchase that special gift for their parents and other family members in a safe, controlled environment. All students will have a chance to visit the shop during these days. Volunteers are needed to work at the store. Please use this link to sign up. Make sure you are signed up and cleared through the volunteer registration process or you won’t be able to help out!
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
Thank you for your support of our Scholastic Book Fair! Because of your purchases and donations, we were able to help provide books for many students who might not otherwise have been able to shop the fair, and also purchase books for our library, classroom libraries and the winners of our HERO gift certificates. All remaining funds raised from the Scholastic Book Fair will be used to purchase library supplies used by students and teachers.
Due to the construction related moves happening in our building, library time may be limited or look a little different for the next several weeks as we all get settled into our new spaces. I will use this newsletter to communicate changes as they come along. For now, the plan is to remain closed to students until December while we rearrange the collection to accommodate the third grade class sharing the library space. I have appreciated our students’ patience and flexibility as we have discussed the move and the changes that come with it, and look forward to getting into our new routine soon!
~ Mrs. Garnaat
Safeties of the Week:
Bryson Hensley
Emma Jones
Brody Miller
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.
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!
Nov. is National Native American Heritage Month
Nov. is National Youth Homeless Awareness Month
Nov. is Child Safety and Protection Month
Nov. 18-22 » American Education Week
Nov. 22 » Substitute Educators Day
Nov. 25 - 29 » National Family Week
Nov. 28 » Thanksgiving Day
Dec. 1 » World AIDS Day
Dec. 2 » National Special Education Day
Dec. 2 » International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
Dec. 3 » Giving Tuesday
Dec. 3 » International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Dec. 7 » Pearl Harbor Day
Dec. 9 » Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Dec. 10 » Human Rights Day
Dec. 15 » Bill of Rights Day
Dec. 21 » First Day of Winter, Winter Solstice, Yule
Dec. 25 » Christmas
Dec. 25-Jan. 2 » Hanukkah (Festival of Lights)
Dec. 26 - Jan. 1 » Kwanzaa
Dec. 31 » New Year’s Eve
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.
