North Godwin News

Steve Minard, Principal

Kristi Bast, Secretary

Telephone (616) 252-2010 and Fax (616) 252-2011

North Godwin Elementary fall Parent and Teacher Conferences will held this week; October 16 -- October 20, 2023.

Students will have an altered schedule this week as follows:

Monday, October 16 (normal school day)

Tuesday, October 17 (normal school day)

Wednesday, October 18 (EARLY DISMISSAL with parent pick up beginning at 1:30 PM; final bell at 1:45 PM)

Thursday, October 19 (EARLY DISMISSAL with parent pick up beginning at 1:30 PM; final bell at 1:45 PM)

Friday, October 20 (HALF DAY OF SCHOOL with parent pick up beginning at 11:30 AM; final bell at 11:45 AM)

Please be sure to arrive on time for your scheduled conference/s. It is important to keep your scheduled time, as our teachers and translators have very full schedules to accommodate every student family. Thank you for your understanding!

Thank you to all who have participated in our Fall Scholastic Book Fair this year! We loved seeing students and families visit during conferences. If you were unable to make our book fair, or were unable to get something that you had wanted, you can still order online. By visiting our school link below, you can find the scholastic store near the bottom of our page by clicking on the "shop now" button. The online store is open until October 20th for North Godwin!

School page: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/NorthGodwinWeRock

North Godwin Elementary welcomes the Cherry Street Health Services "See to Succeed" Vision team to our school beginning on Thursday, October 19, 2023. The vision team will be onsite performing eye exams for qualifying students whose parents opted into the program during school registration. Cherry Street Health's team will be onsite until approximately Friday, November 3, 2023.

See to Succeed Program (STS) is a safety-net vision program that provides comprehensive free eye exams and eyeglasses to those who have failed a school screening, but cannot access optometry services. Each year this high impact program eliminates barriers to learning and academic achievement by helping children to realize their full vision potential, with documented improvements in their academic and behavioral performance.

If your student/s were absent on School Picture Day, or you were not satisfied with their original photo, they will have an opportunity to be photographed again on Thursday, October 26, 2023. If you received your photo packet and desire retakes, send the packet back to school with your student on Thursday, October 26, 2023.

Godwin Heights Public Schools has a proud partnership with Feeding America West Michigan. They provide mobile food truck pantries to our school district once a month.

One in every 9 people. At least 261,000 people in West Michigan and the Upper Peninsula are food insecure—meaning they don't have consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food insecurity exists for a variety of reasons, and anyone can experience a bout of it. Feeding America West Michigan, believes hunger is unacceptable and that their community has the power to change lives—one meal at a time. That’s why they've assembled a network of partners that they work alongside on their mission to relieve hunger and increase food security in West Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.

Our Godwin Heights Feeding America truck distributions will now be every month on TUESDAYS! Same time, same place, 4:00 pm in front of the high school, just one day later each month. Here is the schedule for the rest of the year:

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

If you have your own bags, please bring them!

Parents and Guardians,

Our quarterly district newsletter, Godwin at a Glance, has progressed to digital format. We will no longer be printing hard copies of this publication for mail and building distribution. A digital format allows our families to read our articles in ANY language, just like our weekly school building newsletters. In addition, we are proud to provide information to our families in an eco-friendly, sustainable manner. Sustainable publications are important. It's obvious why: printers consume paper, toner chemicals, and power. By reducing printing we directly reduce the impact of all three on the environmental footprint. Lastly, a digital newsletter allows internal communications to shorten publishing cycles and provides readers with more up-to-date content in every issue.

Our Godwin at a Glance publication has a long, rich history in the Godwin Heights community. It is a pleasure for us to highlight the many wonderful things that are happening in our schools, and to keep parents and guardians informed of the direction and progress of education in our fine school system.

Please take a moment to read our AUTUMN 2023 edition of the Godwin at a Glance, linked below.

https://www.smore.com/app/pages/preview/w9c251

North Godwin Elementary participated in "The Great Apple Crunch" on Thursday, October 12, 2023! During all lunch periods, students were served homemade apple crunch baked with apples from Michigan orchards!

The Michigan Apple Crunch is an annual event hosted by MSU Extension and the Michigan Farm to Institution Network to promote National Farm to School Month and celebrate the iconic Michigan Apple. Thousands of participants from K-12 schools, Early Care and Education sites and other institutions and organizations across the state and Great Lakes Region register to crunch into a local Michigan apple on Crunch day. Apples provide a great way to get local schools and institutions excited about supporting local farmers and they are a nutritious snack that is available in Michigan eleven months of the year.

Our staff and students had a lot of fun serving and eating this yummy fall treat!

Parents and Guardians,

Autumn temperatures are getting colder. Please be sure that your student comes to school every day appropriately dressed for outdoor weather. Sweatshirts, light jackets, socks, long-sleeve shirts, and pants.

All students are required to go outside during the school day UNLESS:

• the temperature is below 16 degrees
• the wind chill is below zero
• it is raining
• there is a severe thunderstorm warning in effect for our area
• the student has a physician's note on file for medical exemption from outdoor activity

If you need any assistance with these types of clothing items, please contact our school office at 616-252-2010.

https://4.files.edl.io/ba26/07/25/23/152431-cecb8d91-7012-4d74-91c7-33914a6243a4.pdf

October 18 ~ Early Release @ 1:45 PM -- P/T Conferences

October 19 ~ Early Release @ 1:45 PM -- P/T Conferences

October 20 ~ 1/2 day of School @ 11:45 AM -- P/T Conferences

October 25 ~ Early Release @ 1:45 PM

November 8 ~ Early Release @ 1:45 PM

November 15 ~ Early Release @ 1:45 PM

November 22, 23 & 24 ~ No School THANKSGIVING BREAK

December 13 ~ Early Release @ 1:45 PM

December 22 ~ 1/2 day of school Dismissal at @ 11:45 AM

December 25 - December 29 ~ No School CHRISTMAS BREAK

January 1 - 5 ~ No School CHRISTMAS BREAK

January 8 -- FIRST DAY BACK TO SCHOOL AFTER CHRISTMAS BREAK

January 15 ~ No School

January 24 ~ Early Release @ 1:45 PM

January 31 ~ Early Release @ 1:45 PM

February 14 ~ Early Release @ 1:45 PM

February 21 ~ 1/2 day of school -- Dismissal at 11:45 AM for MID-WINTER BREAK

February 22 ~ No School MID WINTER BREAK

February 23 ~ No School MID WINTER BREAK

March 6 ~ Early Release @ 1:45 PM

March 20 ~ Early Release @ 1:45 PM

March 27 ~ Early Release @ 1:45 PM -- P/T Conferences

March 28 ~ 1/2 day of school -- Dismissal at 11:45 AM -- P/T Conferences

March 29 ~ No School SPRING BREAK

April 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 ~ No School SPRING BREAK

April 17 ~ Early Release @ 1:45 PM

May 1 ~ Early Release @ 1:45 PM

May 22 ~ Early Release @ 1:45 PM

May 24 ~ 1/2 day of school -- Dismissal at 11:45 AM MEMORIAL WEEKEND

May 27 ~ No School -- MEMORIAL DAY

May 31 ~ 1/2 DAY OF SCHOOL -- DISMISSAL AT 11:45 AM -- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

https://ghathletics.com/

The data for students who are chronically absent is clear: Students who miss more than 10 percent of school time, just two days a month, are far less likely to be proficient than their peers who regularly attend school.

Across Kent ISD, approximately 13 percent of students are chronically absent. Like the national studies, the prevalence of chronic absenteeism varies widely from school building to building and district to district but, in virtually every instance, it is greater in buildings and communities serving the economically disadvantaged.

The effects of chronic absenteeism are profound. Kent ISD researcher Sunil Joy found these students are much less likely to become proficient in math or reading. Just one in four are likely to be proficient in math at eighth grade. Worse, low-income students who are chronically absent have just a 10 percent chance of being proficient. Even more startling is the effect on African-American students, with just 3 percent likely to be proficient if they are chronically absent.

While truancy is well known and understood, chronic absenteeism is less familiar, as most absences are excused by parents and, until recently, were rarely challenged by educators. That began to change approximately a decade ago through the work of education researcher Hedy Chang, who is now the executive director of Attendance Works, a national nonprofit seeking to help schools and communities combat chronic absenteeism.

Chang’s research led to the publication in 2008 of “Present, Engaged and Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades.” This report revealed that one in 10 kindergarten and first-grade students nationwide miss nearly a month of school each year. In some cities, the rate is as high as one in four elementary students. Research across Kent ISD reveals just 40 percent of chronically absent children in kindergarten through second-grade are proficient on third-grade reading tests.

Our district is working hard to get at this problem. The value of the Strive for Less Than 5 campaign is its uniform message to all children, families and community partners. Attendance is important, and parents and their children should strive for fewer than five absences a year.

As a public school, we are held accountable to public school laws that govern attendance. The Kent Intermediate School District oversees all public schools in Kent County to be sure that all are operating under the laws and of the Michigan Department of Education.

The normal attendance expectations for any given child in the Kent County Intermediate School District are as follows:

> that a child miss not more than 10 days of Excused Absences for the entire school year,

> that a child have no Unexcused Absences for the entire school year

> that a child have not more than 5 Tardies combined with Leave Early check-outs per semester.

> that a child have no Suspensions for the entire school year.

Godwin Heights Public Schools are held by law to report tardies and absences in excess of the guidelines listed above to the Kent Intermediate School District Office of Truancy and School Attendance-State Law Enforcement Division.

The primary rationale for positive attendance is the strong relationship between student attendance and student achievement. Chronic student absences reduces even the best teacher's ability to provide learning opportunities. Students who attend school regularly have been shown to achieve at higher levels than students who do not have regular attendance. This relationship between attendance and achievement may appear early in a child's school career. A recent study looking at young children found that absenteeism in kindergarten was associated with negative first grade outcomes such as greater absenteeism in subsequent years and lower achievement in reading, math, and general knowledge.

Poor attendance has serious implications for later outcomes. High school dropouts have been found to exhibit a history of negative behaviors, including high levels of absenteeism throughout their childhood, at higher rates than high school graduates. These differences in absentee rates were observed as early as kindergarten, and students who eventually dropped out of high school missed significantly more days of school in elementary school than their peers who graduated from high school.

North Godwin Elementary is home to Godwin Heights Public Schools’ 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders!

Email: bast@godwinschools.org
Website: www.godwinschools.org
Location: 161 34th Street Southwest, Wyoming, MI, USA
Phone: 616-252-2010
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NorthGodwin/