central elementary - Grandville Public School District

CENTRAL ELEMENTARY
ATTENDANCE
LINE
254.6019
January 2015
Note from the Principal...
Upcoming Events
1/12
‘15-16 Kindergarten
Registration begins
PTC Mtg. (6:30pm)
1/12 to 1/16
District DIBELS &
MAP testing
1/14
Spelling Bee (1:30
pm in Gym/4th-6th)
1/15
All School Skate at
Tarry Hall (6-8 pm)
1/16
Parent Café (7:45
am in gym)
1/19
NO SCHOOL for
students
1/21
Bright Beginnings
Playgroup (10 AM)
1/30
PTC Popcorn Day
2/6
PTC Talent Show
Dear Parents,
Happy New Year and welcome back! I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season and enjoyed the extra time you were able to spend with your children. As a parent, I have always appreciated the slower pace that an extended vacation brought to my family. However, it is nice
when the routine of school returns!
The students seemed excited to be back at school on Monday morning! This time of year brings
a great stretch of learning time for students. Later this week and into next week, students will be
assessed to see where they are performing academically at this mid-point in the school year.
Students in Young Fives through third grade will have their reading knowledge assessed with the
Dynamic Indicators of Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS), students in grades 4-6 that receive reading
intervention will also be assessed with DIBELS, and students in second through sixth grade will
be assessed with the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) in both reading and math. The data
from these benchmark assessments will be used during our data meetings to determine core
classroom instruction for the reminder of the year as well as which students need to have their
intervention and/or enrichment adjusted.
Please note that Monday, January 19 is a professional development day for teachers, so students
will not have school. The focus of our professional development will be to continue our learning
with our new program, ‘Unlocking the Reading Code.’ I have been visiting the classrooms and
observing this new program quite often. It is exciting to see how far the students have come
with their reading skills using this resource!
Finally, I hope 2015 brings about many wonderful experiences for you and your families! Stay
warm during this arctic blast!
Best Wishes,
Mrs. Michelle Carter
Central Elementary Principal
CENTRAL BIONIC BULLDOGS COMPLETE AT STATE TOURNAMENT
NO SCHOOL
Due to a teacher In-Service
Professional Development
day, there will be NO
SCHOOL for all students
on Monday, January 19,
2015. Thank you.
Central’s Bionic Bulldogs competed in the State FLL Tournament held in Flint, Michigan on December 13
and 14. Although our team did not place in the tournament, they received the highest score of any
Central team. The team competed against many other teams from around the state. We are so proud of
our team members, coaches, mentors and all the support given.
Team members are: John Lawrence, Jessica Schick, Tommy Schick, Devin Niemi, Owen VanEck, Nathan
Veenstra, Kameron Montgomery and Jacob McKenney. We thank you for representing Central so well
and we also appreciate all the hours Mrs. VanEck and Mrs. McKenney (coaches), Mr. Price (Technical Support) and mentors Sophie Potter, Taylor Burns and Annajean Adams put in. Congratulations!!
CENTRAL ELEMENTARY
Come out for a night of food,
fun and entertainment
Date:
Time:
Place:
At The 14th Annual
Taste of Grandville
Monday, March 2, 2015
5:30—8 p.m.
Grandville high School (main doors off Canal or Wilson )
Come out and support the Grandville Education Foundation and learn more about how we are
raising money to fund grant requests for the Grandville Public School District.
Enjoy great giveaways, amazing entertainment provided by Grandville bands and outstanding foor
prepared by local establishments.
Winter Fun!
FEVER/SYMPTON
FREE FOR 24 HOURS
Please remember
that students
should be fever/
symptom free without
medication for 24 hours
before they return to
school. This recommendation comes from The
Center for Disease
Control and is in the best
interest of students in
your child’s classroom and
the building. Thank for
helping to keep Central
students healthy!
The Grandville Public
Schools provides access to services and
programs without regard to an individual’s
handicaps or disabilities. Reasonable accommodations can be
provided without
charge, including auxiliary aids and services as
necessary. If you have
special needs, please
contact Michelle
Carter at 254-6012 at
least 48 hours in advance to discuss accommodations. Thank
you.
Advance Tickets available:
~Community Education, at 3843 Prairie/Middle School, at 3535 Wilson and at High
School, 4700 Canal
~By mail: Grandville Education Foundation, 3843 Prairie, Grandville, MI 49418
(Please include check and SASE)
~Online: GrandvilleEducationFoundation.org
2015 - 2016 KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
It’s already time to think about enrolling your child in kindergarten! Our goal is straightforward: We endeavor to develop your child’s capabilities and instill a lifelong love of learning. We can’t wait to partner with you
and your child to provide an excellent education.
Registration begins January 12 for children 5 years old by September 1, 2015 (“see below).
Grandville Public Schools will continue to offer the following Kindergarten Programs in 2015-2016:
 Full Day: Every day in all elementary schools.
 Half Day “Young Fives” option: open to all kindergarteners (usually fall birth dates) but the program will
not be housed in all schools due to limited classroom availability.
Please call to register your child for Kindergarten by contacting the location nearest your residence:
 For Cummings call (616) 254-6041
 For Central, East, South and West call (616) 254-6251
 For Century Park and Grand View call (616) 254-6840 (families living south of 44th Street/Rivertown
Parkway)
After calling to register your child, save the following dates for parent orientation/information
meetings:
Tuesday, March 10th at 7:00 pm OR Wednesday, March 11 at 1:00 pm or 7:00 pm
Kindergarten Orientation/Informational Meetings for Parents will be held at Grandville Middle School
Auditorium, 3535 Wilson Avenue (Please choose the most convenient date/time above)
*According to statute, children with a September, October or November birth date that will be five
years old by December 1, 2015, are eligible for Kindergarten if the parent submits a written request to the
district (a form will be available) no later than June 1, 2015.
2015-16 Preschool Open House & Registration
Parents may register for the Community Education tuition-based programs for children ages three-five at
the open house events with a $50 non-refundable enrollment fee. The Great Start Readiness Preschool
(tuition-free, application required) will also hold an open house, but there is not an enrollment fee. Plan
to attend our open houses to learn more.
Please note that registrations taken the night of open house will only pertain to the host building. In other
words, if you want to register your child for preschool at a particular building, you must attend that building for their open house rather than another building’s open house. After all open houses are held, we
will begin to take enrollments for any of the tuition-based preschool locations on a first come, first served
basis in the Community Education office.
3 year olds must be 3 by September 1, 2015
4 year olds must be 4 by September 1, 2015
January 15, 2015
6:30 – 7:30 pm
Cummings Elementary – Will offer a T/TH pm 3 year old class and a M/W/F pm 3 and 4 year old
combination class.
South Elementary – Will offer a T/TH am 3 year old class, a M/W/F am 3 and 4 year old combination
class, and a M –TH pm 4 year old class.
January 22, 2015
6:30 – 7:30 pm
Century Park Learning Center – Will offer a morning and an afternoon M-TH 4 year old class.
Grand View Elementary – Will offer a T/TH am 3 year old class, a M/W/F am 3 and 4 year old combination class, and a M – TH pm 4 year old class.
January 29, 2015
6:30 – 7:30 pm
Central Elementary – Great Start Readiness Preschool, a tuition free program for children who are 4
years old by September 1, 2015. For more information on this program, please call 254-6554 (Option 2).
Please Note: Preschool sections must have a minimum number of 10 students in order for the session to
run. You will be notified in August if we foresee any problems. The locations of the preschool classroom
for the 2015-2016 are tentative and will be finalized at a later date.
____________________________________________________________________________________
There are still openings in our Community Education preschool for both the 3 and 4 year
old programs for the current year. For more information, please call 254-6554 (Option 1).
CENTRAL ELEMENTARY
GRANDVILLE HIGH SCHOOL THEATER DEPARTMENT PRESENTS:
“Diary of Anne Frank”
CENTRAL
ELEMENTARY
4052 Prairie St., SW
Grandviille, MI
Phone: 616.254.6010
Attendance: 616.254.6019
Mrs. Smith: 616.254.6011
Fax: 616.254.6013
Michelle Carter, Principal
www.grandville.k12.mi.us
Please join us for an evening of entertainment from the Grandville High School Theater Department winter
production
Dates:
February 5th, 6th and 7th, 2015
Where:
Grandville High School Auditorium
Time:
7:00 PM (each night)
Ticket Office:
254-6334 (to order tickets or for questions)
STUDENT TRANSPORTATION CHANGES
Please remember to send a note with your student if there is going to be a change in transportation on a particular day. If no note is sent with students or no phone call received, we
will expect the student to take their normal way home. *After 3:00 pm we cannot guarantee
but will make every attempt to deliver messages to students since this is one of the busiest
times of the day. Thank you for your help and understanding.
Learn more at
www.grandville.k12.mi.us
TITLE I TIDBITS
Three family routines help you get your child to school on time
School Day Hours
Our entry/warning bell
rings at 8:25 am with the
student instruction bell
ringing at 8:30 am.
Students are dismissed at
3:38 pm. *will dismiss at
11:36 am.
Students should NOT
arrive at school
before 8:20 am*.
Students are late for school for all kinds of reasons--missing the bus, oversleeping and being
unable to find something important. Some tardies are unavoidable, of course. But others are
easily prevented with daily habits, such as:
1. Homework routines. Your child should do her homework at the same time, and in the
same place, each day. Have her check her school bag for anything she needs you to read or
sign. When study time is over, she should pack her bag and put it by the door.
2. Nighttime routines. Stick to a regular bedtime each night. Your child might brush her
teeth, select the next day's outfit, put on her pajamas, pack her lunch and set her alarm
clock. Any late-evening activities should be relaxing, such as listening to music or reading.
Morning routines. Post a checklist of your child's responsibilities, such as getting dressed,
having breakfast and brushing teeth.
Reprinted with permission from the January 2015 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition)
newsletter. Copyright © 2015 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc.
*Breakfast will be served
beginning at 8:00 am*
Lunch times:
A Lunch 11:25-12:25 pm
(grs. 3/4/5/6)
B Lunch 11:40-12:40 pm
(grs. K/1/2)
SPELLING BEE
Central’s 4th, 5th and 6th grade students will participate in the Scripps Spelling
Bee on Wednesday, January 14th at 1:30 PM in the Gym. The top two finalists
will then compete at the Regional Spelling Bee on February 10, 2015. Parents are
welcome to attend.
NOTES FROM THE NURSE:
Parents: A New Year’s Resolution-The best way to prevent pertussis (whooping cough) among infants, children, teens, and adults is to get vaccinated. In the United
States, the recommended pertussis vaccine for infants and children is called DTaP. This is a combination vaccine that protects
against three diseases: diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. But, vaccine protection for these three diseases fades with time. Before
2005, the only booster available contained protection against tetanus and diphtheria (called Td), and was recommended for teens
and adults every 10 years. Now there is a booster for preteens, teens and adults that contains protection against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap).
Babies are very susceptible to pertussis, and it can be deadly. See this link: http://frannystrong.org/ to learn about how dangerous
pertussis can be.
The easiest thing for adults to do is to get Tdap instead of their next regular tetanus booster-that Td shot that they were supposed to get every 10 years. Make it a New Year’s goal to talk with your healthcare provider about your Tdap soon.
Source: Centers for Disease Control, Fanny Strong Foundation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CENTRAL HOLIDAY CARE TREE
The Student Council, PTC and staff would like to send a heart felt “thank you” to all that participated in Central’s Care
Tree gift tree! Your donations were extremely generous and exceeded our expectations! Several Central families had a little
more cheer around the Christmas tree this year due to your efforts! Thank you so very much.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PRINCIPAL’S BIRTHDAY CLUB
Mrs. Carter would like to wish “Happy Birthday” to students who had December birthdays. They enjoyed having a treat with
Mrs. Carter. Students are Jabes Perez, Amari Lichner, Javery Oles , Lola DeYoung and Martell Hunter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
STUDENT COUNCIL SPONSORED COIN DRIVE
Thank you to everyone who contributed to our Coin Drive to benefit Grandville’s ‘Shop with A Cop’. Your generosity helped
several families to have a wonderful holiday season.
SANTA SECRET SHOP APPRECIATION (HO! HO! HO!)
Central students enjoyed shopping at our Santa Secret Shop to purchase gifts for their families. A big ‘Thank You’ to Jill Crame for
coordinating this great event and for all the volunteers who helped make it so much fun for our students.
COLD WEATHER
Winter is here and children must wear outdoor wear during recess. Please remember to be sure that your child has ample clothing
(mittens, hats, etc.) when they leave for school during the cold months ahead. We use the following degree criteria to help as a guideline
to determine indoor or outdoor recess:
Wind Chill 0 or above: Outside Recess
-1 to -10: Outside for 20 minutes (monitored closely by staff)
-11 and lower: Inside Recess
*All students attend recess unless they have a documented medical condition by their physician.
HOT LUNCH MENU AFTER A SNOW DAY
In the event of a Snow Day, the menu may change the day the students return. Typically, the menu items
are “prepped” in advance, and in the event of a snow day the choices that were to be offered for the day we are not in
session will be offered on the first day back. After that, the choices usually return to the normal menu offerings for
each day as published in the menu. If your child becomes concerned about menu changes, you may want to plan on packing them a lunch from home after a snow day.
CENTRAL GOES GREEN!
GO GREEN! Wondering how you could be a little GREENER? Central has many opportunities for doing just that. We now offer
these GREEN options:
1. The Paper Gator: there is a large dumpster located behind our school, simply “dump” all of your unwanted papers, phone books,
and magazines from your home into the gator anytime!
2. Get the monthly school newsletter by email: let the office know you would like to receive the newsletter through email and an electronic version will be sent to your email once a month. . You may read it at your convenience!
3. Printer Cartridges and Cellular Phone: drop off your empty printer cartridges and old cellular telephones and Central will send them
to a recycling company.
4. Batteries: drop off your old batteries and Central will send them to a recycling company.
5. Plastic Bags: drop off Meijer, Walmart, D&W, Dollar Tree, etc., any WHITE plastic bags to Central and we will send them to a recycling company. GO GREEN-REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE!
Please look in the front lobby near the Lost and Found for the designated labeled containers:
~Container 1: Cartridges/Cellphones
~Container 2: Batteries
~Container 3: Plastic Bags
GSRP PRESCHOOL PROGRAM
Do You Know Someone with a 4 -Year Old?
GSRP (Great Start Readiness Preschool Program) is a tuition-free, state grant funded preschool program for students who
will be four by October 1st. We offer morning (8:00-11:00) and afternoon (12:00-3:00) sessions. All sessions are located
at Central Elementary School. Please call the hotline at Kent Intermediate School District (who oversees enrollment) at
616.447.2409 for information or an application.
CENTRAL SNACK SHACK
The sixth grade is selling snacks during the lunch hour on Wednesdays in the cafeteria. All proceeds will
go to help fund our sixth grade trip to Camp Pinewood this Spring. Please help support the sixth grade
and enjoy a snack from "Central Snack Shack." Available snacks include chips and fruit snacks for 50
cents and giant pickles for $1.00. Thank you for your support!
BRIGHT BEGINNINGS PLAYGROUP
Bright Beginnings January/February playgroup schedule is as follows:
January 21, 10-11am at Central Elementary
Theme: Winter Wonderland
February 18, 10-11am at Central Elementary
Theme: Happy Hearts
Play Groups are free and available to all children 0-5. Join us for an hour of fun with your child. If you have any
questions, please call Laura Fasel at 616.291.6501.
ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER/NOTES
If you are receiving a paper copy of this newsletter that means you are not on our list to receive them via email, which results in a savings of both time and paper at our school. If you’d like to receive your notes in this
manner, please call the office letting us know your name, child’s name and your e-mail address. If your email
address changes, please use the Grandville Campus Parent Portal to update your email address. To enter or update your e-mail address on the Grandville Campus Parent Portal, log in to your Portal account, select Change
Contact Info on the left side of the Portal page, enter your e-mail address and select Save, put a checkmark in
all of the message type options and select save again. If you need to set up a Parent Portal account, please
contact the office at Central. Grandville Public Schools does not update parent e-mail addresses.
Recycle . . . Recycle . . . Recycle
Did the holidays leave you with dead batteries, bunches of plastic grocery bags, empty ink cartridges
and unused cell phones? The Central Elementary Recycling Center can help! Just deposit those
items in the marked containers in the front hall. What about all those newspapers and other paper
products accumulating around the house? We’ve got a bin for that! It’s the Paper Gator located out side at
the entrance to our rear parking lot.
CHARACTER REWARDS LUNCH AT McDONALD’S
Congratulations to our “Character” winners for the month of December. Hunter Persing, Cora
Kaiser, Tristan Bartz, La’Najha DeYoung, Avery Gildea and Gabriella Guerrero enjoyed lunch on
December 19th with Mrs. Carter and a staff member at McDonald’s in Jenison.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2015