Early Childhood Screening

Do you have a child that will be entering Kindergarten in the 2011-2012 school year? Start preparing for this now! The state of Minnesota, as well as District 719, requires that early childhood screening be completed prior to entry into Kindergarten. Appointments are required for the screenings that take place on selected Tuesdays and Fridays. If your child has not been screened, call (952) 226-0975 to make an appointment. Please feel free to leave a voice message and the early childhood screening scheduler will return your call to assist you in making an appointment. You may also email the screening office at ecscreening@priorlake-savage.k12.mn.us.

Early childhood screening is a comprehensive review of children in three developmental areas as well as a review of their health, immunizations, hearing, vision, speech, height and weight. The actual screening process takes place at Edgewood School, 5304 WestWood Drive, in Prior Lake. The early childhood screening phone number (952-226-0975) may also be called for exemption information if you are conscientiously opposed to screening.

Call or email Early Childhood Screening today!

P.B.I.S. and C.A.R.E.S.

With Grainwood's adoption of P.B.I.S. (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports), you may see a change in communication home to families pertaining to behavior. While Responsive Classroom functions as our social skills curriculum and classroom behavior model, P.B.I.S. establishes school-wide behavorial norms for all students in all other areas of the building. Within P.B.I.S., it is the C.A.R.E.S. components (Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy and Self-Control) that function as our school norms. We have started to increase signage throughout our building, including the addition of the 5-Point scale (a self-regulation visual tool), and have recently launched "HERO Tickets" to reward students who show good behavior throughout the school day.

While students are learning in great detail about these attributes, we are well aware it will take time, maybe up to a year or two, to embed C.A.R.E.S. to be our behavior identity. Thank you for your support and patience as we "tighten-the-ship" with behavior expectations at Grainwood. Please check out the following links below for the newest videos we have been using with the students. (The Assertion and Responsibility clips are now live!) Also, check out the new written communication forms we will be using if C.A.R.E.S. are not being followed. Our fix-it plans have been eliminated and we are now using a "Better Choices" sheet and one "Office Referral" form school-wide. If you have questions about either of these documents, please contact me at your convenience. Thanks! Patrick Glynn

C.A.R.E.S. Video - Assertion (Has Arrived!)

C.A.R.E.S. Video - Responsibility (New This Week!)

Better Choices Sheet

Office Referral Form

Thanksgiving Feast

Last Wednesday, Grainwood Kindergarten students celebrated their annual Thanksgiving Feast. Kindergartners spent the week learning about the purpose of Thanksgiving, decorating for the event (including costumes) and making butter. During the feast, students also had the opportunity to taste many of the traditional foods that would be served on Thanksgiving Day. Thank you to all the parents and volunteers who helped make this special event complete. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Report Cards

The first trimester ends on Thursday, December 2nd. Teachers will complete report card work on Friday, December 3rd, which is not a school day for students. Student Report Cards will then be sent home with students on Friday, December 10th. ELC students' report cards will be sent home with 5th graders on Monday, December 13th. If you do not receive your child's report card, please contact the school at 226-0300. You can also view your child's report card online through Family Access. Report Cards at the end of second and third trimesters will only be posted via Family Access. No hard copies will be sent with students for the remainder of the school year. Here's to going paperless!

Early Childhood Family Center News

To access the Early Childhood Family Center News Brochure, please click on the brochure picture link to the right.

No School

There will be NO SCHOOL on Thursday, November 25th and Friday, November 26th for the Thanksgiving Break. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

There will also be NO SCHOOL on Friday, December 3rd.

Community Education December News

To access the Community Education December 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 952-226-0800.