Dear Graden Families,

We are eager to welcome everyone back! We hope you had a wonderful summer. As always, we are looking forward to the start of this new academic year. Each new school year brings opportunities for academic growth and growth in all areas of development and our staff can't wait to have an amazing 2024-25 school year!

Our Hornet staff and community have done an outstanding job the past 89 years creating a sense of belonging, providing a safe, respectful and caring environment and most importantly helping students learn. We cannot wait to continue this tradition of excellence this year.

I look forward to seeing our Hornets on Thursday, August 15th at our Back to School Night from 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm. This is an evening dedicated to meeting your teacher, asking questions, and dropping off school supplies. Families are welcome to visit Graden on the 15th anytime between 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm.

Important Dates:

• Monday, August 12th: Class Placement Letters Sent Home by 4:00 pm
• Monday, August 12th: PTA Meeting - 6:00 pm - Library
• Thursday, August 15th: Back to School Night - 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
• Monday, August 19th: First Day of School!
• Monday, September 2nd : No School - Labor Day
• Tuesday, September 3rd: Fall Pictures
• Tuesday, September 3rd: Parent Orientation (two sessions: See more information below)

It's A Great Day to Be a Hornet!

Dr. Easley

Principal, Graden Elementary - Home of the Hornets

School Hours: 9:10 am - 4:05 pm

Doors open at 8:55 am for breakfast

Principal: Vanna Easley

813-359-4340

easleyv@parkhill.k12.mo.us

Assistant Principal: Megan Brethower

816-359-4340

brethowerm@parkhill.k12.mo.us

Executive Administrative Assistant: Nikki Suchanick

816-359-4340

suchanickn@parkhill.k12.mo.us

Graden Registrar: Angy Bullin

816-359-4340

bullina@parkhill.k12.mo.us

If your family has completed the annual residency verification process, you will receive class placement information on August 12.

All Park Hill families are required to complete the online residency verification process before student enrollment is finalized and class placement is made. We are unable to send classroom placement information to households who have not verified residency.

If you have questions about this process please call the school office at 816-359-4340.

***All Park Hill families must provide a copy of your lease or mortgage statement and one utility bill. Additionally, please ensure your child's immunizations are up to date with our school nurse. Students will not be permitted to begin the 2024-2025 school year without having this verification of residency and updated immunizations.

The following staff members will join Graden in new positions and/or new name changes for the 2024-2025 school year:

• Dr. Megan Brethower will join Graden as our assistant principal
• Mrs. Lindsey Jones(Ziefle) will join Graden as our music teacher
• Ms. Erica Sellars will join our kindergarten team
• Ms. Jennifer Moenning will join our 5th grade team
• Mrs. Magan Williams will join our 5th grade team
• Dr. T'Nisha Andino will join our 5th grade team
• Mrs. Emma Ross(Roberts) will join our 2nd grade team
• Mr. Matt Hamblin will be Graden's bridges teacher
• Mrs. Erin Hladik will rejoin Graden as our library media assistant
• Mrs. Sara Becker will join Graden as our instructional coach
• Mrs. Kelly Samborski will move into our certified recess teacher position
• Mr. Nicholas Casale will join our recess team as a recess supervisor
• Ms. Regan Myers will join our recess team as a recess supervisor

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope this finds you well and enjoying a restful summer break with your families. My name is Megan Brethower, and I am honored to introduce myself as the new Assistant Principal at Graden. It is with great excitement and enthusiasm that I join the Graden community, and I look forward to partnering with you to ensure a successful school year ahead.

I bring with me experience as a classroom teacher and assistant principal in the Park Hill School District. As Assistant Principal, I am here to support the educational journey of each child, ensuring that they have the resources and encouragement needed to achieve their full potential. I believe that a strong partnership between home and school is essential for the success of our students. I encourage open communication and collaboration. I am committed to building strong relationships with each of you, and I encourage open communication and feedback throughout the school year.

As we prepare for the upcoming school year, I am filled with optimism and enthusiasm for the opportunities and experiences that lie ahead. Together with the dedicated staff at Graden, I am committed to providing a safe, nurturing, and inspringing environment where every child can grow academically, socially, and emotionally.

I look forward to meeting each of you in the coming weeks and months. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me at brethowerm@parkhill.k12.mo.us or at (816) 359-5970 if you have any questions.

Thank you for the warm welcome to the Graden community! I am excited to embark on this journey with you and your children and contribute to a memorable and successful school year!

Sincerely,

Dr. Megan Brethower

Assistant Principal

Graden Elementary

We are working diligently to place all students in classes. Class assignments will be emailed to families on Monday, August 12th. You will receive an email with your child’s teacher as long as you have proven residency. If you have questions, please call the Graden office, 359-4340. We are here to help!

Families, please join us for a much-anticipated evening with the opportunity to meet our Graden staff. There will be opportunities to sign-up for PTA, purchase shirts, take photographs, meet your teacher, practice getting on and off a bus, and drop-off school supplies.

If you did not pre-order school supplies, please use the 2024-25 Park Hill school supply list to purchase the correct supplies for the school year. Click picture to receive school supply list.

ALL students at Graden Elementary will receive a photo badge and lanyard which they will use each day to access their lunch account, check out library books, access print jobs and ride the bus. Students will be responsible for bringing their ID badge and lanyard to and from school each day. Students will wear badges all day. If a student loses their badge, there will be a $5.00 replacement fee. Your help with this process is very much appreciated.

Throughout the school year, the district or school might take a picture or video and release personal information about students. This could be to a local newspaper, Graden newsletter, or on Park Hill channel 18. The district or school might also post pictures on web pages. Additionally, Graden PTA publishes a school directory (BUZZ book) so that parents can reach each other. The school provides contact information for this directory, including but not limited to names, address and telephone numbers. If you DO NOT want your child’s image, or your family’s contact information released, please contact your child’s teacher or the office to fill out an Image/Contact Information OPT-OUT form.

Students may bring birthday treats into class to celebrate their birthday as long as they come from our list of treats that contain none of the major allergens.

Thank you for understanding that all classroom treats must come from this list, because we do not have the staff capacity to check for allergens that could threaten the health of some students.

Each classroom celebrates birthdays at a time that is conducive to their schedule. We do not allow parents or families to join classrooms for birthday celebrations as these are opportunities for students to celebrate with the teacher and classmates.

Approved Birthday Treats:

Please bring birthday treats ahead of time (two hours after the start of school, at the latest).

• Stickers
• Erasers
• Pencils
• Crazy straws
• Blow Pops
• Juice boxes
• Popcorn
• Smarties
• Dum Dum lollipops
• Jelly Belly
• Nerds
• Ring Pops
• Skittles
• Sour Patch Kids
• Starburst
• Swedish Fish
• Life Saver Gummies

• Supervision of the students begins at 8:55 am. Please do not drop off students prior to 8:55 am
• Only students eating breakfast should report to the cafeteria at 8:55 am
• Students are not allowed to roam the hallways before classes begin
• Students arriving after 9:10 am will be counted as tardy and will need to report to the office to receive an admit slip

All Graden students are provided with bus transportation at no cost. At times, students may need to ride a bus different than the one they are normally scheduled to ride or get off at a different stop from their regular bus. In that case, you must request an alternate bus transportation form and meet with Nikki or Angy in the office prior to the change in transportation. These requests are not intended for students going over to play at a friend’s house. Bus changes are designed for changes in daycare or for the safety of the student.

Any time your child will be going home a different way than usual, please send a note or an email to the teacher or give us a call. We would appreciate a phone call no later than 3:00 pm for transportation changes.

Bus riders will be dropped off and dismissed through the doors at the center of the building.

Car riders will drop off and pick up in the back of the building on the upper playground (North side of Graden). All car riders will be given a car rider placard to be placed in the car window. Please have this placard visible beginning the second day of school to help expediate our dismissal process. Please read the below information regarding arrival and dismissal expectations. Your patience is much appreciated the first two weeks of school as we work on establishing smooth routines and procedures to ensure all students get home safely.

• Arrival:
• Form one line and drive to the back of the building
• If you are the first car in line, stop at cone 1
• Wait until a Graden staff member opens the door to begin arrival
• Once the door is opened students may begin exiting cars
• Have students ready to exit the car with bags in hand
• PARENTS: please stay in your car. If your student needs support, a Graden staff member will help

• Dismissal:
• Form one line and drive around to the back gate.
• If you are the first car in line, stop at the gate prior to entering the upper playground.
• Place the name placard in your window
• Follow in line as the cars move to stop at the cones in the back of the building
• PARENTS: please stay in your car. If your student needs support getting into the car, a Graden staff member will help

All walkers will exit out the art room door (west door). A staff member will walk all students out and escort them across the crosswalk to families. Once students are across the crosswalk, they may walk to meet families or walk home.

We are looking forward to having parent volunteers support our classrooms this year. If you would like to volunteer in your child's classroom or on field trips, you will need to complete the volunteer screening process below.

Volunteer Screening Information:

• Any volunteer who will be alone with students must have a full screening, which includes a criminal background check, a check of the child abuse and neglect registry, and a check of the sexual offender registry. Volunteers must complete the paperwork (attached below) and return to the Park Hill Communications department or to the Graden office.

• Any volunteer that plans to attend a field trip with students must have a full screening completed which includes the above information.
• If you completed a background check with Park Hill before March 2020, you must do it again, because the earlier screening process did not include the criminal background check.
• If you have completed the full screening, you will NOT need to do it again.
• All volunteers must read and agree to the rules in our policy and procedure, and each volunteer will sign in and reaffirm the rules each time they arrive at a school to volunteer.
• The district will receive updates if a volunteer’s screening status changes. Someone’s volunteer status can change at any time.

• The district must pay a fee of $42.75 for each background check, as required by the state. If you would like to donate to help defray this expense, please enclose a check made out to the Park Hill School District for this amount with your screening form. This donation is not required.

The screening process can take up to two weeks or longer, depending on the time of year. Please be aware of this when submitting your application in anticipation of volunteering for specific events.

If you are bringing your student to school late, please accompany them into the office so they can officially check in for the day. For early pick-ups, parents are required to check their student out in the office upon arrival. Once you arrive, we will call your student to the office for dismissal. Please do not call ahead requesting that your student be called down prior to your arrival, as students cannot wait in the office for extended periods. Our office staff have other responsibilities and are unable to supervise students while they wait. Per district policy and Board Policy JEDB, any person requesting the release of a student must present proper identification. Thank you for planning your pick-ups accordingly!

Please access the Nutrition Services Website for any questions you have regarding breakfast and lunch options at Graden.

Elementary Meal Prices 2024-2025

• Breakfast @ $1.75
• Lunch @ $2.95

Lunch visitors are welcome each day at Graden. If you would like to join your Hornet for lunch, please bring your license upon check-in at the Graden office. If you plan to purchase a school lunch, please have funds in your student's account or bring payment with you.

Visitors may also join recess after lunch. Please head immediately to the Graden office after recess to check-out.

Graden Lunch Schedule:

Kindergarten: 11:00 am -11:20 am

1st Grade: 11:20 am - 11:40 am

2nd Grade: 11:40 am - 12:00 pm

3rd Grade: 12:20 pm - 12:40 pm

4th Grade: 12:00 pm - 12:20 pm

5th Grade: 12:45 pm - 1:05 pm

SAVE THE DATE

The Park Hill PTA Clothing Center, in partnership with Replenish KC, is having a

Backpack/Socks/Underwear giveaway event on

Tuesday, August 6

from 6:00pm - 8:00pm

at 8009 N. Atkins Place.

They will be giving away new socks, underwear, and backpacks full of school supplies!

*Please bring proof of Park Hill School District enrollment.

The Park Hill School District will offer before and after school child care at Graden Elementary. Arrangements can be made by calling the Adventure Club office at 359-4064. Students who attend Adventure Club should drive around to the back of the building and enter through the cafeteria doors.

Parents can purchase additional insurance protection for accidents that occur during school classes, while students are away from school, at home, during the weekends, and vacation periods, including summer months. The cost of this insurance is a one-time payment of $40.00. For information regarding this optional coverage, contact KidGuard Insurance at 1-800-432-6915 or email a request for information to contact@kidguardinsurance.com.

School Office (816) 359-4340

School Fax (816) 359-4349

Attendance Line (816) 359-4341

First Student Bus Company (816) 359-4560

Adventure Club (816) 359-5015

PTA is excited to kick off a new school year! We welcome all families to sign up for PTA. Please go to: PTA Membership ‘24-‘25 to complete your membership!

PTA meetings this year will be the second Monday of each month from 6:00-7:00 pm. Childcare is provided for PTA meetings. Involvement in PTA can range from attending meetings to volunteering for small tasks to chairing committees and so much more. We are looking forward to seeing new and familiar faces in August!

The first PTA meeting of the year will be held on August 12th from 6:00-7:00 pm in the Graden library. Bonus: stay after the meeting for a tour of the renovations with Dr. Easley!

Important dates:

August meeting 8/12

September meeting 9/9

Silent Auction: 9/16-22

PTA Board Members:

President: Brittany Conklin

Vice President: Angie Liberty

Treasurer: Brooke Harvey

Parliamentarian: Betsy Verhoeff

Teacher Representative: Maggie Wright

PTA is excited to announce a new initiative to give back to our teachers this year: the Gift of Time. We are asking for screened family members to volunteer to cover teacher’s classrooms for one hour this fall semester. These one hour blocks have been scheduled to give teachers a chance to get much needed tasks done, collaborate with their teams, and get back some time they would be working before or after school. In September, fourth and fifth grade teachers will be receiving the Gift of Time. Look in your email for a sign-up genius to help support our staff!

Email: easleyv@parkhill.k12.mo.us
Website: https://graden.parkhill.k12.mo.us/
Location: 8804 NW Highway 45, Parkville, MO 64152
Phone: (816) 359-4340