Tree of Warmth

The Tree of Warmth is sponsored by the Prior Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.  Please bring NEW boots, snowpants, waterproof mittens/gloves, hats or warm socks by December 12th.

All donated items will go to children in the Prior Lake-Savage School District.

Locations for Drop off:
City of Prior Lake, Home Accents ETC, Prior Lake Chamber, Prior Lake-Savage Schools District Office, Village Market

Click HERE to view the flyer.

Optimist Club Honerees

Each fall, the Optimist Club of Prior Lake recognizes a few students from each school in the community for, "demonstrating sincere devotion to the welfare of others through their service to fellow students, school, community, or city" during their annual Youth Appreciation Week.  This year, Alissa and Julia were chosen as Grainwood's Fifth Grade Honorees!  Congratulations girls and congratulations to all the other Honorees!

Three Day Holiday Give Back Event

Prior Lake Downtown is hosting a Three Day Holiday Give Back Event on November 29, 30 and December 1.  A portion of the proceeds from sales will go to benefit select Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools students and their families to make their 2012 Christmas special.

Good will donations accepted.

Click HERE to view the flyer.



Participating Prior Lake Downtown Retailers and Businesses
Camille on Rouge | D Copperfield Jeweler | Edelweiss Bakery
Flowers Naturally | Giggle Gals | Hair Mate | Home Accents | Kramer Chiropractic
Name Sake Embroidery | Prior Lake Spine | Stems and Vines | The Art Closet
The Laker Store | The Vintage Gypsy | Twisted Loop Yarn Shop

Help Find a Cure for Diabetes-Bring $1 to Wear a Hat (Friday, November 30th)

Wear a Hat,

Help Find a Cure

Friday, November 30^th

^$1

Bring $1 to wear a hat to school.  All proceeds will go to support a Grainwood first grader with diabetes who will be walking in the Walk to Cure Diabetes for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

SPAN (Synergy/SAGE Parent Action Network)

Reminder that SPAN (Synergy/SAGE Parent Action Network) will be hosting an MCGT-sponsored CHAT night on Tuesday November 27 at 7pm in the WestWood Media Center.  The title of of the CHAT night is “The Social and  Emotional Development of Gifted Kids Throughout Childhood.”  Our facilitator will be Dr. Teresa Boatman, a Twin Cities psychologist who focuses her practice on  gifted kids.  Please contact Apryl at span.priorlake@gmail.com with questions or for more information.

School Closing

For information on emergency school closings or delayed starts, tune into WCCO radio (830 AM) and WCCO TV (channel 4), KARE 11 TV (channel 11), KSTP-TV (channel 5), KMSP/FOX TV (channel 9) and also KCHK radio (1350 AM).

The announcement would indicate that all Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools are closed or beginning late.  If for any reason school would need to close early, the message would be similar.  Officials attempt to make this decision as early as possible in the morning.  The message will also run on the school district website, http://www.priorlake-savage.k12.mn.us/, parent emails are sent and phone calls are made to parents via our rapid-dial phone system.

Parent's Night Out

The winter holidays are just around the corner and many of us still have things to do.  Still looking to go out and buy a few presents? Or simply want a Friday night out? Prior Lake High School's National Honor Society will be hosting a Parent’s Night Out at Prior Lake High School on December 7th from 6:00pm to 10:00pm. Parent’s Night Out is open to children in kindergarten and up. Pre-registered, your first child’s care will cost $15 and each additional child’s care will cost $10. Pre-registration is due to your child’s school by Monday, December 3rd. If you miss the pre-registration date, you can sign up at the door. The price will be elevated to $20 for the first child and $15 for each additional child. Have students bring permission slips and money into school.  There will be crafts, games, healthy snacks, and more.  Permission slips can be found on the Prior Lake website, through emails, and are going home with each child. Happy Holidays!

Getting Home Safely

Winter road conditions are here!  As the icy roads make driving the buses more of a challenge to the drivers, it's time to review the bus safety procedures.

Each student received training from their classroom teacher and the drivers themselves.  Each student took a bus safety test (which State Law requires each to pass).  The test and their lessons demonstrate that they understand:

1.  Transportation is a privilege and not a right.
2.  Danger zones surrounding a school bus.
3.  Procedures for safely boarding and leaving the bus.
4.  Procedures for safe street and road crossing.
5.  School bus evacuation and emergency procedures.

Also with the winter road conditions, it becomes even more important that students monitor themselves so that everyone can have a safe and timely ride to and from school.  Thank you for your support and reinforcement of these procedures with your child.

Notes from the Office

ATTENDANCE
If your student is absent or going to be late, please be sure to call our 24-hour Attendance Line in the morning: 952-226-0301.

STUDENT PICK-UP
When students are not getting picked up in a timely manner at the end of the school day (3:00PM), they will be taken to Kid's Company for supervision. Our work day ends at 3:30PM and the office staff and teachers end their day at that time. The child's parent/guardian will need to sign them out at Kid's Company and will be responsible to pay a fee for their child's attendance.

WINTER IS COMING...
Please talk with your child about the importance of coats, hats and mittens to stay warm in this frozen tundra that we live in. You would be surprised how many attempt to go without their outerwear at recess and when heading to the buses.

Students will be going outside for recess unless the "Feels Like" temperature falls below a -5 degrees or it is steadily raining. All elementary schools will use the KARE 11 website to determine the "Feels Like" temperature.

Box Tops

Just recently, the collection of box tops gathered from our front entryway were submitted for redemption = $1000+.  Thank you families for sharing your collections with us! Just a reminder that collection sheets are available at BoxTops4Education.com.  Look under EARN, then CLIP BOX TOPS, then COLLECTION PROJECTS at the left of the page for themed collection pages (in PDF form) to print at home for collecting.  Or, just tape your boxtops to a piece of scrap paper in groups of ten.  Pre-grouped box tops are greatly appreciated, for this is how they need to be organized when redeemed.  Also, make sure you are only submitting box tops that have not expired and do not forget to put your child's classroom teacher's name on all donations.  Keep those collections going!

Grainwood Davanni's Night

On Monday, November 19th, Davanni's in Savage is hosting an evening for Grainwood families and friends from 4:00-8:00 p.m. This is a partnership between Davanni's and the local area schools. For our participation, we receive a portion of their revenue that evening and dedicate all those funds towards our Healthy Snack Program. Flyers about the event were sent home this week to all students. Please bring this ticket with you and present it when ordering. If you need additional copies of the Davanni's ticket, please call the Grainwood office at 952-226-0300.  Thank you for your support!

No School

There will be NO SCHOOL on Wednesday, November 21st, Thursday, November 22nd and Friday, November 23rd for the Thanksgiving Break.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Wolf Ridge ELC

For those of you who have 5th graders, it is no surprise that they are headed north for a terrific week long field trip from December 3rd - 7th.  All 5th graders, their teachers and parent chaperones will head north along the beautiful North Shore to Finland, MN to Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center for a week long experience.

As the 5th graders are busy getting ready for their exciting trip to ELC, if you have any items you wish to donate such as winter boots, long underwear, sweatpants, sleeping bags or other items for those who do not have the supplies needed, please contact Cheryl Wendt, our Social Worker, by Tuesday, November 20th at 952-226-0367.

Safe Spaces

We will be having a guest speaker from Safe Spaces, a non-profit agency, in each classroom during the month of November.  She will be speaking to our students about personal safety and violence prevention.  This will involve discussion around making appropriate choices and understanding personal safety issues.  It is important that each child feels emotionally and physically safe when he/she comes to school.  It is also helpful for all children to be taught a basic awareness of personal boundaries and appropriate behaviors related to good/bad touch.

As the parent/guardian, you can play a key role in talking to your child in a supportive, encouraging atmosphere and answering any questions he/she may have.

These presentations have been well received and are very age appropriate for K-3 graders.  The presentations for 4th and 5th grade classrooms are a bit more involved, and the discussion time is longer since these students are nearing adolescence and there are many issues that come up for that age group.

Safe Spaces classroom visits are paid for through a grant and are presented in all District 719 elementary schools.  If you have questions, please feel free to contact the Safe Spaces presenter (Claire Neuman) at 612-210-2179, visit their website at www.safespacesmn.org, or you may contact Patrick Glynn (Principal) or Cheryl Wendt (School Social Worker) at Grainwood.

Kids Voting Results and Thank You

Thank you to all of you who volunteered to make Kids Voting a success!

Almost 2,000 votes were collected in our Prior Lake-Savage Kids Voting ballot boxes!  The election results, including information regarding how many students voted from each school and grade level across the district, can be viewed by clicking HERE.

SPAN (Synergy/SAGE Parent Action Network)

SPAN (Synergy/SAGE Parent Action Network) will have its next meeting on Tuesday November 27 at 7pm in the WestWood Media Center. The event will be an MCGT-sponsored CHAT night titled, “The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Kids Throughout Childhood.” The facilitator will be Dr. Teresa Boatman, a psychologist from the Twin Cities area who focuses her practice on gifted kids. The event is free and open to the public. Please see our website www.mcgt.net/priorlake for more information about SPAN. Contact span@mchsi.com with questions/concerns.

New Outdoor Weather Policy

Students will be going outside for recess unless the "Feels Like" temperature falls below a -5 degrees or it is steadily raining.  All elementary schools will use the KARE 11 website to determine the "Feels Like" temperature.

Students must have snow pants and boots on in order to play in the snow at school.  Students without snow pants and boots are limited to playing on the blacktop area.

Keeping track of hats, gloves, boots and even coats can be challenging for our students.  It would be very helpful if you could please write your child's name on their outdoor clothing.

If you are missing any items, please remember to check the "Lost and Found" benches in the entryway at school.  There are many items in the Lost and Found, so please take a look when you are in the school and claim your lost items.

Minnesota Chemical Health Week

Chemical Health Week is November 12th-16th, and once again Grainwood has a few activities planned to help students understand how to make positive and healthy choices for their bodies.  Our theme this year is "Be a Smartie, don't Startie."  Students will be learning and talking about how we can demonstrate our CARES when it comes to drug prevention.  We have 5th grade students that will be making a daily announcement, and classroom activities throughout the week that will focus on saying no to drugs and what healthy habits look like.  Students will receive a treat of Smarties, and on Friday, November 16th students and staff are invited to dress in their favorite Smartie color.  We appreciate your support as we raise awareness on this important topic.

Wednesday, November 14th - WEAR RED DAY

Friday, November 16th - Wear your favorite "Smartie" color

Kindergarten Live!...Grainwood Open House

A general Open House for all 2013-14 Kindergarteners and their families will be held at each district elementary school on Thursday, November 29th, from 10:00-10:45 a.m. and 6:00-6:45 p.m.  Tours and information will be provided as well as an opportunity for children to experience story time and the Kindergarten classroom.  Please help us spread the word to families of incoming Kindergarteners who may be wondering what Grainwood or our other elementary schools have to offer.  We look forward to seeing our future students and families.

For more information regarding Kindergarten Live, please click HERE.