Weekly Update: September 1, 2017
Weekly Update: September 1, 2017
Dear Grinnell-Newburg Families and Friends:
Our students and staff are in the swing of things as we just completed our seventh day of school for the 2017-18 school year. There is a lot of high energy, positivity and passion as I walk through the halls of our schools. During this past week our community came together for a few school related events, our Director of Education for the State of Iowa visited our schools, and we welcomed our pre-schoolers at open house. I hope you enjoy this week’s highlights.
On another note, I have learned that many community members may not have full access to my weekly updates via the Internet. We are working on a plan to create an “update paper packet” that can be placed in several locations throughout the community so that members of our community do not miss out on any of our school information. If you know of a prime location that we could place our updates for community members to read please contact me at janet.stutz@grinnell-k12.org. We will let you know in an upcoming update the locations of the “update paper packet”. Please feel free to share this information with those that may not have access to the Internet. Thank you to those members of the community who reached out to us!
Visit from Director Wise:
The best part about hosting the Director of Education was that the administrative team, staff and students had an opportunity to share our story and highlight our work. He was pleased to learn about our efforts in the area of professional learning communities, literacy, instructional coaches collaboration, 1:1 resource for students, efforts in the area of professional development, Spanish at the middle school, and our high school course offerings. He was most impressed with our TLC work and even tweeted: (link to tweet)
Classroom Learning Environment Session went well!
About 50 community members joined me along with CMBA Architects at the Drake Library this past Wednesday to provide input into what is important when it comes to educating our students here in Grinnell, and what should our facilities provide in order to meet the those educational priorities. Next week on September 6, 2017 we will host our final session at the Drake Library beginning at 6:00 pm. We hope that you will join us for this session.
Board of Education Candidates Night:
Another school related activity this past week was the Board Candidates’ night that was sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and the League of Women Voters.
Another wonderful turn out. I had an opportunity to attend this session and was impressed with the candidates and the positive feedback from our community. Remember that September 12, 2017 is election day.
Listening Tours:
During the month of September and early October, I have schedule listening tours with staff at each of the buildings. Please know that representatives from the Tiger Pack’s program and AmeriCorps grant writing team will join me to gain insight from our staff on ways that these programs and other community efforts can best support our students. I will also spend some time with staff and asking for some feedback in the areas of facilities and curriculum. This is a volunteer activity. We will begin at 3:30 on the following days:
9/5 Fairview
9/18 Davis
9/25 Bailey Park
10/2 High School
10/4 Middle School
A Message from our Police Department: Student Safety near GMS
Recently, the Grinnell Police Department met with residents near the Grinnell Middle School regarding concerns of excessive speeding traffic down the alley. Vehicles are using the alley along East Street, between Washington Ave and Garfield Ave, to avoid traffic on East Street during parent drop off and pick up at Grinnell Middle School. Please know that the speed limit in the alley is 15 miles per hour. Many of our students use the alley to get to school via walking or biking. Please help us keep our students safe and use caution during congested times. Please know that the Grinnell Police Department has informed the district that they will be enforcing the speed limit in the alley. Thank you for keeping our students safe and adhering to the speed limit.
Football Team Greet Elementary Students!
I want to thank our Football players for being such awesome role models to our younger students this morning. Our Tigers were out at our Elementary Schools welcoming students to school with high fives! They even had a chance to entertain the students with a little four square! We are so proud of our student athletes for taking the time to be great role models for our elementary students. Way to Go Tigers! Good luck tonight at your first home game!
Football players at Davis Elementary
Preschool Open House:
Our youngest students were welcomed today at the preschool open house at Fairview Elementary. Many young faces explored their classroom and had a chance to meet staff.
AG Day Event:
It was wonderful to see so many of our students celebrating AG day this past Thursday Night. What a great day for this activity. I hope you had a chance to catch the tractor parade.
I hope that you have an opportunity to come out to the Grinnell Tiger Football Game this evening! Remember the Booster Club will have their BBQ dinner available beginning at 5:00 PM.
Other important dates:
September 5 - First Day of Preschool
September 5 - Instrument Night
September 6 - LAST CHANCE: Classroom Learning Environment Session
September 13 - Board of Education Meeting
September 28 - Homecoming Parade
September 29 - Homecoming Game
Enjoy your three day weekend.
Sincerely,
Janet
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Dr. Janet M. Stutz
Superintendent
Grinnell-Newburg Schools