DARE Essay Winner

Congratulations to Jordan for being chosen as Grainwood's DARE Essay Winner for the 2011-12 School Year.  Just last week, Grainwood 5th Graders, along with fifth graders from Westwood and Saint Michael's, participated in their DARE graduation ceremony.  Jordan had the opportunity to read aloud her well-written essay on her commitment to healthy life choices and we had a great turnout of families and friends to commemorate the students' work with Officer Johnson this year. Congratulations to all the fifth graders!

February is "I Love to Read" Month

February is "I Love to Read" Month. Grainwood's theme this year is "Vote for Books." Reading Bingo calendars will be sent home with your child on Wednesday, February 1st. More information will be included with the calendar. Calendars will be returned March 1st for a pencil prize. Students with a black out bingo will have their names entered in a raffle to win a book.

Wednesday, February 8th - DEAR - Buddy Read
Wednesday, February 15th - DEAR - Snuggle and Read
Wednesday, February 22nd - DEAR - Light up and Read
Wednesday, February 29th - DEAR - Read with a Buddy Classroom

Follow the GRAINWOOD GAB via EMAIL!

If you haven't done this already, please be sure to sign up! It is very simple to do!

As I stated in an earlier post, if you would like to receive all blog information via email, just enter your email address into the field in the upper left corner of the blog homepage titled, "FOLLOW BY EMAIL." Every time an article is posted from school, it will send you an email of that article to keep you most up-to-date on Grainwood information. (I have been using it for a few weeks now as a test pilot on my own email and it works wonderfully!) When you sign up, a confirmation email will be sent to you. Within that email, you must accept and activate the service with one simple click...Easy!

Patrick Glynn, Principal

2012 Inventor's Fair

The 2012 Inventors’ Fair is coming up on Monday, February 13th! All students, grades K-5 are encouraged to participate. If your child is interested in creating an invention individually, or with a partner, there is still time to register on the Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools Community Education site.

To view the 2012 Inventor's Fair flyer, please click HERE.

http://issuu.com/priorlake-savagecommed/docs/pls_commedbk_winterspring2012

SPAN (Synergy/SAGE Parent Action Network)

SPAN (Synergy/SAGE Parent Action Network) will have a meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 7pm in the WestWood Media Center; high school principal Dave Lund and high school Synergy specialist Jared Daggit will be in attendance. We will then have a meeting on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7pm in the WestWood Media Center; Superintendent Sue Ann Gruver and Curriculum Director Jeff Holmberg will be in attendance at this meeting.

We are excited to be sponsoring a social event titled “The Amazing Race” for Synergy/SAGE students and their families at 6:30pm on Friday, Feb. 24 at the high school. We would appreciate RSVP’s at http://mcgt.net/priorlake/calendar for families and high-school student volunteers so that we can plan accordingly.

We are also excited that our MCGT-sponsored CHAT night, title College Planning for High Ability Students, is coming up on Tuesday, March 13 at 7pm at the PL High School. Valerie and Donna from College Connectors (http://www.collegeconnectors.com/ ) plan to be at the CHAT night to provide information and facilitate discussion.

Please contact Apryl at span@mchsi.com with questions!

Click HERE for "The Amazing Race" flyer.

Community Education February News

To access the Community Education February News brochure, please click on the brochure picture link to the right.

For information or to register please visit the Community Education website http://www.priorlakesavagece.com/ or call 952-226-0080.

Pennies for Patients

Dear Grainwood Families,

February is an exciting month at Grainwood Elementary! All classrooms will participate in a service project with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Pennies for Patients program. We will be raising money to benefit children with blood cancers, including leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, and myeloma. Each day during the week of February 6-10, students will be encouraged to bring in designated coins (of course any money will be accepted any day).

Monday, Feb. 6-Pennies
Tuesday, Feb. 7-Nickels
Wednesday, Feb. 8-Dimes
Thursday, Feb. 19-Quarters
Friday, Feb. 10-Bring a Bill to Wear a Bill (Bring a dollar bill and wear a cap during the day!)

Grainwood’s goal is to raise $1,196.
The class that raises the most money will win a Domino’s Pizza party!

Thank you for helping! Remember, every penny counts!

Report Cards for 2nd Quarter

The second quarter ends on Thursday, January 26th. Teachers will complete report card work on Friday, January 27th, which is not a school day for students. Student Report Cards will be posted to Family Access on Wednesday, February 1st.

1. To access the report cards, go to the District or Grainwood web-site, click on Family Resources and then click on Family/Student Access. You must have your username and password to log in and view the report card for your child. If you are new to the system or have forgotten your username and password, there is a link to assist you.

2. Select Report Cards from the left-hand column under General Information.

3. You can open or save the report card as a PDF for viewing or printing.

Any families who do not have access to e-mail or internet will get a paper copy sent home with their child on Wednesday, February 1st.

Please call the school with any questions or concerns at 952-226-0300.

It's a Boy!

Congratulations to Mrs. Iverson-Egge and her husband, Mark, on the birth of their new baby boy, Keegan Mark! Keegan was born on January 14, 2012. He weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz. and was 20 inches long.

Grade 1-2-3 Music Program

Children in grades 1, 2 and 3 are busy working on their music concert that will be held on Friday, February 24th at 1:00PM. They are getting very excited to perform for you! To practice their song words at home, they can visit Mrs. Geske's teacher page and click on the link on the left hand side of the page that says Grainwood 1-2-3 Concert Songs. They can print the words off and practice as needed.

We hope to see you at our music concert!

Paraprofessional Recognition Week!

On behalf of all Grainwood staff, we want to recognize this week, January 16-20, the work Paraprofessionals and other Support Staff carry out throughout our building supporting our general education and special education students and staff.  We know how valuable paraprofessionals, Title One tutors, noon supervisors and media center assistants are in our district and how much they contribute to the fabric of our school community.  We appreciate all the work they do with our students and teachers, in connecting with students in ways that not everyone can.

Geography Bee

On Thursday, January 12, fifteen Grainwood fourth and fifth graders participated in our annual Geography Bee. There were seven rounds of questions and each participant was asked one question in each of the seven rounds of competition (much like a spelling bee). Questions ranged from choosing between United State's cities and states, to providing answers related to continents and other countries. Congratulations go out to fifth grader Chase for winning the competition. Chase will now take a written test and the 100 top scorers (open to grades 4-8) in the state will advance to a state competition later this year. We wish him the best!

Target RED Card = Dollars for Grainwood

Target is a huge supporter of schools and each year Grainwood receives thousands of dollars in donated funds due to families using their REDcards. Earlier this year, Grainwood received a check for $3441.40 from Target from the families who linked their REDcard to our school through their "Take Charge of Education" Program. (We have received a total of $29,689.99 to date since the program began!)  Target donates 1% of all REDcard purchases at Target or Target.com to Grainwood. Thank you to everyone who has made the commitment to link their REDcard to our school. As of January 10, 2012, we have confirmed that 87 families dedicate their card accounts to GW and $1616.12 is already accumulated towards next September's distribution!  If you have not earmarked Grainwood as your school of choice associated with your REDcard (either debit or credit), please do so by clicking the following Target picture link and follow the simple directions. Thanks again for your support!

My Coke Rewards

Thank you to all who have donated or dropped off Coke Rewards. Currently 8,400 points have been collected this year that will benefit Grainwood by purchasing school supplies and playground equipment.

Last year we redeemed points for two megaphones and we also received a Flip Video Camera that is useful for the school blog.

Now it’s easier than ever to get and donate Coke points, here’s how:
• Purchase participating Coca-Cola beverages to get My Coke Rewards codes
• Go to mycokerewards.com/schools (register if you are not already a member)
• Enter your codes to get points – find our school then enter the points you would like to donate
• Or drop off the points in the collection bin at school.

For more information and to turn My Coke Rewards points into rewards for our school visit: http://www.mycokerewards.com/schoolsLanding.do

NO SCHOOL & EARLY RELEASE

There will be NO SCHOOL on:
Monday, January 16th - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Friday, January 27th - Staff Day
Monday, February 20th - Staff Inservice

We will have a 2-Hour Early Release on Wednesday, February 8th (students are out at 1:00PM).

It's a Girl!

Congratulations to Mrs. Buck and her husband, Jeff, on the birth of their new baby girl, Addison Danielle! Addison was born on December 21, 2011. She weighed 7 lbs. and was 20 inches long.

SPAN (Synergy/SAGE Parent Action Network)

SPAN (Synergy/SAGE Parent Action Network) will have its next meeting on January 31 at 7pm in the WestWood Media Center. Please note that we have switched our plans for our January and February meetings. On January 31, we will have high school principal Dave Lund and high school Synergy specialist Jared Daggit in attendance to talk about gifted education at the high school level. Superintendent Sue Ann Gruver and Curriculum Director Jeff Holmberg will attend our February 23 meeting. Also, exciting plans are in the works for a social gathering for Synergy students and their families at the end of February; watch for more details! Please contact Apryl at span@mchsi.com to be placed on the SPAN email list or with questions/concerns.

2012-2013 Kindergarten Options Meeting

The District Kindergarten Options Meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 17th from 7:00-8:00 p.m. in the Twin Oaks Auditorium. At the meeting, the half day and full day kindergarten programs will be explained.

District wide Kindergarten Registration will be held on Tuesday, February 21st at each elementary school and Edgewood school. Prior to registration, district families whose children turn 5 on or before September 1st will receive a Kindergarten Registration Manual in the mail. Please notify the Grainwood school office if you are new to our district or if you do not receive a Kindergarten Registration manual by mid-February. Parents requesting early entrance for their child must file a written request to the principal by June 1, 2012. Children who turn 5 between September 2nd and October 15th may apply for the early entrance testing.

January 2012 Nurses Notes

Reminder - If your child is not feeling well, please keep them home for the following:

- If the student has had a fever of 100 degrees or more, the student should stay home for 24 hours after the temperature returns to normal without medication.

- If the student has vomited or had diarrhea, he/she should stay home until 24 hours after the last episode.

- If the student has any rash that may be disease-related or the cause is unknown, check with your health care provider before sending him/her to school.

- If the student has open/draining skin sores, or inflamed/draining eyes or ears the student should stay home until seen by your health care provider.

For information on additional childhood conditions, please check “Is My Child Ill?” on the Health Services website.