Weekly Update: April 14th, 2023
Weekly Update: April 14th, 2023
Dear Grinnell-Newburg Board of Education, Staff, Families, and Friends:
Happy Friday! The weekly update includes a notice to parents about the upcoming Social and Emotional learning survey. Principals will also be sending this to our families. Please know that you will find the permission slip included if you want your child to opt out of the survey. Here is the letter that will be sent to families. You can find the link to the permission slip and the letter that has been translated into languages that represent the district here.
Dear Grinnell Newburg Families:
We thank you and your family for being our valued partners as we work together to
educate the children in our district. As you already know, building our social-emotional
learning skills is an important goal for our school this year. In October, students in
grades 3-12 participated in a Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) survey to reflect on their
own mindsets and approaches to learning. In order to learn more about student
experiences at school, we will be asking for your child’s feedback again in an end-of-year
online survey that students in grades 3-12 will complete at school during the week of
April 24th. The survey content will ask students to self-reflect on emotion regulation,
self-management, social awareness, supportive relationships, and learning strategies.
This second survey will assist our district in determining student growth in Social
Emotional Learning skills this school year and help us identify additional support needs.
We are asking that all of our students participate in the surveys, as their responses will
provide invaluable insights into their experiences with an increased focus on SEL this
school year and how we can improve and adapt our district to their needs. If a student
doesn’t feel like they have enough information to answer a question, they will be able to
skip the item altogether. The responses to these surveys will be completely confidential.
We are partnering with Panorama, a third-party vendor, to support us in administering
these surveys.
If you would prefer your student not complete the survey, please complete the attached
opt-out letter and send it to the building principal by April 24th. If you’d like to review
the survey ahead of time, a copy is available in each building’s main office. We thank you
for your support as we strive to support students’ social-emotional learning!
Sincerely,
Dr. Janet Stutz
Superintendent
Reconsideration of Instructional Materials Committee Meeting April 19, 2023. The second meeting will be held on May 3, 2023. Drake Library 6:30 PM Community Room.
The first meeting to review the instructional materials for “The Glass Castle” will be held on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. The committee meeting will be held at the Drake Library at 6:30 PM. The committee consists of students, staff, and community members selected by the board committee. Here is the agenda that may be considered by the committee for the meeting.
Draft Agenda:
The Reconsideration of Instructional Materials Review Committee will meet on April 19, 2023, at 6:30 PM in the Drake Community Library’s Community Room. The committee will determine its agenda, which may/will include the following after selecting a chairperson and secretary:
- Distribution of copies of the completed Reconsideration Request Form “The Glass Castle.”
- An opportunity for individual or group spokespersons to discuss or expand on the Reconsideration Form. (For or against the material)
- Distribution of reputable, professionally prepared reviews of the challenged instructional materials, if available
- Distribution of copies of the materials
- All committee members should read the text/materials being reconsidered and any other materials supporting or opposing the curriculum materials prior to the May 3, 2023, meeting. This initial meeting will gather information and hear from the public regarding the reconsideration.
The committee may review the selection process for the challenged instructional material and may, to its satisfaction, determine that the challenge is without merit and dismiss the challenge. The committee will notify the individual who filed a reconsideration form and the superintendent of its action.
If no determination has been made at the first meeting, a second meeting or subsequent meeting will be held on May 3, 2023, at 6:30 pm in the Drake Community Library’s Community Room. Any further oral presentations will be completed at this meeting before a decision by the committee is made. After hearing supporting or opposing views, the committee will deliberate without the public and then make a determination and present findings to the superintendent.
Journey to Distinguished Mentor Program Graduation
On April 5th, 2023, the following second-year teachers celebrated completing their mentoring program. Pictured L/R: Bobbie Hilmer, Brittany Annee, Samuel Watts, Zac Ceresa, Reagan Mackie, and. Robert Menner. We are grateful to these Grinnell Teachers for all that they do for our students and families.
Law Enforcement Update:
Our families are encouraged to hear from our Grinnell Chief of Police and Poweshiek’s Sheriff about what is happening in our community related to law enforcement. You may submit questions ahead of time for this event that will be happening on April 20, 2023, at 7:00 PM.
See flyer here.
Above and Beyond Nominations
We recognized Jan Phifer and Scott, and Jamie Durr at this week’s board meeting on April 12th. These individuals are incredible assets to our community and Grinnell-Newburg Schools. Well deserved!
Middle School Track Meet
Action shots from the boy's middle school home track meet Thursday evening.
Way to go, Tigers!
UnityPoint Health, Grinnell - The More You Know…
The next class will be held on April 27th, 2023, from 5:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., located at the Prairie Lakes Church, 925 E. Street, Grinnell, IA. This session will be on tobacco and vaping. We are fortunate that these series for families are available to support our families.
For more information, check out the flyer here.
LINK Summer 2023 Registration
Summer registration is officially open! This program collaborates with our summer SLICK program. Our cooperation to support student learning over the summer is valuable, and we hope that you consider participating. It is held at Davis Elementary School.
For more information, check out the flyer here.
24-Hour Attendance Line:
Parents, please feel free to call the district’s attendance line, 641-236-1414, to report your student’s absences. You do not have to wait until the office is open.
GEP Summer Learning Americorp Position Opportunity:
Summer learning is just around the corner, and the Grinnell Education Partnership is looking for qualified candidates to work with our students throughout the community. The link to the flier is listed below. For more information, check out the flyer here.
23-24 School Registration
The 2023- 2024 Online Registration is now open. Every student needs to complete online registration each year. This ensures that all information in Infinite Campus is up to date, especially in case of an emergency.
For current families, please log in to your parent portal account, select the 2023-2024 year, and follow the prompts. If you are having issues logging into your account, please reach out to me at katie.osborn@grinnell.k12.org.
For New Families or students who are not currently enrolled in the district, click HERE.
Parents will want to select New Student Registration and then select 2023-2024. The first series of questions will ask for the parent's first name, last name, email, confirm email, enter the "I'm not a robot code," and a separate link will be sent to the email provided. That link is the Infinite Campus link and official registration. Parents will not need an activation code. If asked for one before starting, they selected the incorrect area and will need to select NEW STUDENT REGISTRATION.
Grinnell Newburg School Foundation (GNSF):
The GNSF supports our students, teachers, and school district in a variety of ways. Their support supplements the needs of our classrooms and programs. We are grateful for all they do. Below is one way that you can help support our students through the GNSF campaign.
Members of the GreenState Credit Union may make a donation to the Grinnell-Newburg School Foundation, and GreenState will match it! Double the impact of your giving through the end of the month. Visit https://www.greenstate.org/give-and-grow-initiative.html
The virtual Backpack can be found here:
The activities Calendar can be found here:
Have a wonderful weekend!
Janet