New Universal Flu Vaccination

Please check out information about a Universal Flu Vaccination at the Grainwood School Homepage.

Peaceful Playground Dedication

Today we dedicated the Grainwood Peaceful Playground at our outside September all school meeting. The weather cooperated beautifully, minus a noticeable breeze, as students and staff participated in a simple THANK YOU to staff and parent volunteers who helped make it a reality. A very special thanks to the dedicated parents who participated in the numerous painting sessions adding color to the blacktop. This was quite an undertaking and would not have been completed this fall without your help!

To support the Peaceful Playground activities, Mr. Larson also has taken time out of his Physical Education classes this September to explicitely teach some of the games. Having recently started our PBIS initiative (previous blog post), our implementation of the Peaceful Playground is timely and will help Grainwood stretch its C.A.R.E.S. theme throughout recess too.

PLSAS Healthy Food Choices

At Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools (PLSAS), learning doesn't stop when students enter the lunch line. The food services program is helping students make healthy choices that are good for kids and the environment.

With childhood obesity rates soaring, choosing healthy meal options is becoming more important than ever before. That is just one reason PLSAS is launching a new initiative to offer healthier foods that are lower in fat, salt and sugar while serving meals kids love to eat.

The following are some ways PLSAS is beginning to change the way they offer school lunch to students:

* In all six of the district's elementary schools, the a la carte options including fruit roll-ups, baked chips, flavored water and more are no longer being offered.

* Schools, K-12, are no longer offering 2% milk. The three choices available are skim white milk, 1% white milk, and skim chocolate milk.

* All schools are embracing the Farm to Table philosophy of supporting locally based agriculture through purchasing apples from AppleWood Orchard in Lakeville, watermelon from Prior Lake and rice blends from Indian Harvest in Bemidji.

* Grainwood and Redtail Ridge Elementary have implemented a Birthday Book Club to replace student birthday treats. Instead of students bringing treats to school, they now have the option of purchasing a "birthday book" for the media center with the child's name featured in the front of the book.

*Grainwood is a host school for a Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) Grant and will be working this fall and winter to develop a sustainable healthy breakfast or snack option for students during the school day.

"These are just a few initial steps we are taking to get students to think before they select a food option and strike a healthy balance in their food choices," says Director of Food Services, Jean Winters.

PLSAS is also working to reduce its impact on the environment. All schools have switched from using Styrofoam trays when dish machines are down to a totally compostable tray. PLHS is also using eco-friendly cleaning agents in its kitchens from Minnesota-based company, Sunburst Chemicals.

These are some of the ways PLSAS is working to improve healthy choices and educate students throughout the district.

2010-11 Junior Naturalists

The Junior Naturalists (JN) will begin another season at Grainwood very soon. Each classroom in Grades 3-5 has between 2-4 representatives participating in this eco-friendly leadership program. Junior Naturalists exhibit the following characteristics:

• Have strong environmental ethics and can be a role model of environmental stewardship for the Grainwood community, as well as all of Prior Lake-Savage.
• Follow the Grainwood C.A.R.E.S. at all times and in all places.
• Are willing to speak in front of the classroom.
• Are organized and have good teamwork skills.
• Are up-to-date with classroom work and assignments.
• Are responsible, respectful, listen well and follow directions.
• Enjoy being outside.
• Are willing to get dirty!
• Are a hard worker.
• Are able to attend monthly meetings after school.

We are grateful to the Junior Naturalists, their advisors: Jill Kufrin and Andrea Swanson, and PLSAS's commitment to environmental education.

Homecoming Visitors

Last week, Prior Lake High School Students visited Grainwood as part of their homecoming activities. On Tuesday, the Homecoming Royalty Court stopped by and peeked into a few classrooms. On Friday, football players, some of them past Grainwood students, joined us for lunch. They were present in the lunch room, on the playground and even as part of the food serving line. What a treat to have students serving students!

Newspaper Photographs & Student Information

The Prior Lake American and Savage Pacer newspapers often send photographers to school to take pictures during special events and other learning experiences. Most students are pleased and excited to see themselves pictured in a community publication. However, if you prefer that your child’s picture not appear in the newspaper, or in our school blog, please inform the principal, Patrick Glynn, in writing by October 8, 2010.

In addition to this request, parents may also request that the school not release specific student directory information. Please refer to the Grainwood Parent/Student Handbook for a listing of the student information that is regarded by state law as public information. District #719 does not provide lists of students’ names, phone numbers or addresses to any other organizations or individuals. Thank you for your assistance in this matter!

Written requests regarding release of student information and photographs are due by October 8, 2010.

Box Tops 4 Education

Box Tops 4 Education provides a Grainwood an opportunity to earn extra cash to help fund student activities throughout the year. We are very appreciative of all the families who have taken the time to collect their box tops, cut them out, and send them to school. The collection box by our front entrance to the gym is filled and unfilled throughout the year (Thank You Mrs. Fowler for all your help!) and individual classrooms are recognized monthly at our All School Meeting for having the most box tops each month. (Hosting Thunder and Lightening, Grainwood's pet stuffed horses, is a big deal around here!) To help with the collection of the boxtops, collection sheets are available at BoxTops4Education.com. Look under EARN, then CLIP BOXTOPS, then COLLECTION PROJECTS at the bottom of the page for themed collection pages (in PDF form) to print at home and begin collecting. Or, just tape your boxtops to a piece of scrap paper in groups of ten (just like in the picture). Pre-grouped box tops are greatly appreciated, for this is how they need to be organized when redeemed. Also, please put your child's classroom teacher's name on all donations. I wonder which class will be the recipient of Thunder and Lightning this month? We will soon find out!