Hello WB Team,
Welcome back, and Happy New Year! We have enjoyed time away with our loved ones but are eager to see our Gretchko students' smiling faces on Monday.
January is a great time to remind our families of some important procedures. Especially with winter snow and ice (hypothetically) arriving soon, please be sure that you are driving slowly and cautiously in our parking lots. Whether you are driving in the car line or parking in a designated space, be on the lookout for kiddos and open car doors. Additionally, please remember that the spots directly in front of the school are no parking zones at all times, including end-of-day pick-up time. If you are waiting on a shuttle from Scotch at the end of the day, please find a parking spot and walk over to greet your student(s). Thank you for helping to keep our parking lot safe for everyone!
Next Sunday (January 14, 2024), our school community will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with our United We Walk festivities. This is a wonderful opportunity to come together! We will meet at West Bloomfield Middle School at 1:00pm for a keynote by Jay Marks. We will then march along Orchard Lake Rd. starting at about 1:30pm and return to WBMS for service projects around 2:00pm. We would love our Gretchko families to join us, and your students can even help carry our banner in the march! As a reminder, there is no school on Monday, January 15th in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his life's work.
Our first late start of 2024 is this Wednesday, January 10. School will begin at 10:10 a.m.
As I shared before break, our winter NWEA testing will occur on assigned days between January 16th and February 2nd. Look for more information to come from your child's classroom teacher on their specific testing dates. When your days approach, we would love your partnership in helping students get a good night's sleep, a breakfast at home or at school, and a reminder to try their best.
See you soon!
Warmly,
Jen Teal
Principal
Featured Book
Shanté Keys and the New Year’s Peas by Gail Piernas-Davenport
Shanté Keys loves New Year's Day! But while Grandma fixed baked ham, greens, and other traditional foods, she forgot the black-eyed peas! Oh no―it'll be bad luck without them! So Shanté sets out to borrow some from the neighbors.
January 1 - New Year’s Day
January 4 - World Braille Day
January 13 - Korean American Day
January 15 - Makar Sankranti (Hinduism)
January 16 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
January 18 - Bodhi Day (Buddhism)
January 25 – Mahayana New Year (Buddhism)
January 27 (sundown to sundown): Holocaust Remembrance Day
