Enrolling for Next Year: Kindergarten Registration and More...

With the beginning of March comes the hint of spring and warmer weather (and an occasional heavy snowfall). Also, with about one-third of the school year remaining, the school district and families are beginning to plan for next year. Kindergarten registration happened this past Tuesday evening at Grainwood for families planning to send their future students to an All-Day kindergarten program. We had a great turnout and look forward to seeing the new students and families real soon. If you have a kindergartener starting next year and you have not yet registered him or her, please contact Connie in our main office ASAP. We certainly do not want any families to miss the March 15 deadline, in case there is the need for a drawing if too many families register for our 44 all-day kindergarten class seats.

For those families whose children attend Grainwood through an In District Transfer Request, please be aware that you do not have to fill out a new request for the coming year. Requests in place will be honored through the 2010-2011 school year. Families that might be requesting a change for next year, possibly due to a daycare change, will have to fill out a new In District Transfer Request form. These forms are available in the Grainwood office. Please contact Connie or Arine for assistance. All new requests are due by April 1 in any of the Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools.

Pennies for Patients

The Grainwood student council just wrapped up its Pennies for Patients drive this week by collecting $685.04 for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. With Leukemia being the most common form of cancer in children and young adults less than 20 year old, our student council wanted to give to the youth in need. Thanks families, students and staff for giving to this service learning collection. A special congratulations to Mrs. Floden's fifth grade class for collecting the most coins, totaling $99.09.

100th Day of School

Today at Grainwood, many classrooms celebrated the 100th Day of School. For the kindergarten and first grade students, this is an important day! Students could be seen wearing paper hats showcasing the number 100, some classrooms brought collections of 100 items from home, snacks of 100 pieces were weighed (and then eaten), 100 math facts were practiced, and many other "I'm 100 Days Smarter" activities. Thanks families for helping support this special day and Happy 100th Day to all!

Thanks also to Superintendent Gruver for visiting Grainwood and joining the kindergarteners for lunch.

"I Love to Read" Month

As many of you know, February is "I Love to Read" month. At Grainwood, we kicked off the month with TC Bear from the Minnesota Twins visiting us at our all school meeting. He brought with him a story that I read aloud and he acted out. Today, at 9:3o AM, all of Grainwood participated in our building-wide D.E.A.R., or Drop Everything And Read, event. (It sure was quiet around here!) Each grade level is totaling the amount of minutes they are reading throughout the month and then graphing those minutes on an olympic themed poster outside of the lunchroom. We're not even half way through the month and the students will easily reach their goal of 10,000 minutes! Thanks for supporting your readers at home. Nothing replaces your time reading with or to your child.

My First Blog

With the intention to communicate with the families of Grainwood on a more frequent basis, I have ventured into the realm of blogging and hope to use this 21st Century Skill to share our weekly news. With the help from Mr. Richardson at Glendale (my blog mentor), I intend to enhance the way information about our school is publicized. Stay Tuned!