Message from the Principal
Dear Families:
April is underway and there is much happening at Grafton Village. The month includes two popular events, the Stafford County Fine Arts Festival and our PTA’s annual Grizzly Fest. The Fine Arts Festival is scheduled for April 12th and 13th at Colonial Forge High School and will feature artwork from many GVES artists. Grizzly Fest will take place on April 26th and features rides, games, and fun activities for all families.
April also marks the beginning of SOL testing. Our first tests take place on Wednesday April 23rd with the Integrated Reading and Writing SOL for 5th grade. Testing then continues on April 29th , with the 4th and 5th grade Reading SOL and April 30th for 3rd grade Reading. 5th grade Science and 4th grade Virginia Studies SOLs will take place on May 6th. The 3rd grade Math SOL test will take place on May 7th. Finally, 4th and 5th grade Math SOLS will take place on May 13th. These tests take place with very specific procedures from the state, so it is important that students arrive on time on testing dates and are able to remain until the test is complete. If at all possible, we ask that you check your child’s testing schedule and avoid scheduling appointments or activities on testing days.
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Recently, Stafford County began county-wide redistricting meetings as the division prepares to adjust all attendance zones for the 2026-2027 school year set forth due to the opening of two brand new elementary schools that school year. In all proposed scenarios, over 100 current GVES students are slated for redistricting to new schools, mainly Conway Elementary, Ferry Farm Elementary, and the new elementary school located next to Brooke Point High School. If you would like more information on proposed redistricting scenarios and ways to share your thoughts, check out the information found on this website.
With spring in bloom, sports and activities increase for our families. With this in mind, I want to take a moment to remind everyone of our office dismissal procedures. If you will need to pick your child up early, please send a note or call prior to 2:00pm so that we can coordinate the dismissal. If you need to pick up your child prior to dismissal, you must arrange pick-up no later than 2:30pm. Please understand that these procedures assist our office staff in making sure that students make it safely to the correct dismissal location. Afternoon dismissal is hectic and your help and communication are greatly appreciated.
Kindergarten registration is currently underway at GVES. If you have a rising kindergartener (or have friends and neighbors who have rising kindergarteners), please contact the school to begin the registration process. Our staffing and hiring of kindergarten staff is based on enrollment so the earlier students are registered, the sooner we can assign teachers and paraprofessionals for the upcoming school year. You can also begin the registration process online. A link is attached to this newsletter.
Respectfully,
Mike Sidebotham
Principal
April Calendar of Events
4/1 No school students
4/2 World Autism awareness day
MAP Reading 3rd- 5th all week
SOL tutoring 3:20- 4:15
4/3 3rd MAP Reading
Paraprofessional Appreciation Day
3rd Grade Music Rehearsal 7:30
SOL tutoring 3:20- 4:15
4/4 Book Fair starts, ends 4/11
4/7 SOL tutoring 3:20- 4:15
4/8 5th MAP Reading
4/9 4th MAP Reading
Purple UP Day wear purple
Awards 3rd 8:40- 9:15
Awards 5th 9:30- 10:15
Awards 4th 2:10- 2:45
SOL Tutoring 3:20- 4:15
4/10 3rd MAP Math
Middle school orientation
3rd grade music rehearsal 7:30
Awards 2nd 8:45- 9:20
Awards 1st 9:30- 10:10
SOL tutoring 3:20- 4:15
4/11 3rd grade music rehearsal 7:30
Fire Drill
Purple UP celebration/ parade 8:30
4/12 SCPS Fine Arts Festival @ CFHS 11- 4
3rd grade music festival 11:30- 12:00
4/13 SCPS Fine Arts Festival @ CFHS 11- 4
4/14 SOL tutoring 3:20- 4:15
4/15 5th MAP Math
FT- 3rd Grade National History Museum
4/16 4th MAP Math
SOL tutoring 3:20- 4:15
Tilly's Spirit Night 4- 8:30
4/17 Spring pictures
SOL tutoring 3:20- 4:15
4/18 Student/ Staff Holiday
4/21 Student/ Staff Holiday
4/22 Earth Day
School bus driver appreciation day
4/23 SOL IRW 5th Grade
National Admin Professional Day
SOL SOL tutoring 3:20- 4:15
4/24 Bus evacuation drills
SOL SOL tutoring 3:20- 4:15
4/25 VRC Voting party
4/26 Grizzlyfest 11- 2
4/28 MAP Math 2nd grade
4/29 SOL Reading 4th and 5th
4/30 SOL Reading 3rd
Ms. Counsell, Librarian
Book Fair
The Literati Book Fair begins this Friday, April 4th and concludes Friday, April 11th. We will be open to families on Sunday, April 6th from 10:00-2:00 as well. Student purchases can be made with cash, checks in the exact amount made payable to GVES, or Literati gift certificates. Students should bring shopping money in a baggie or envelope with their name and the enclosed amount on the outside. Your student will receive a schedule for shopping and a flier on Wednesday, April 2nd. We will share this information in an email as well.
VRC
K-2 library classes are more than halfway through reading VRC books from the primary list! Students will vote for their favorite later this month.
Students in grades 3-5 have until Wednesday, April 23rd to take quizzes on the elementary VRC books. Quizzes can be found on the library Canvas page. Students must read 4 to 10 books to participate in the voting parties on Friday, April 25th.
Library Checkout
Our last day for check out this year is Thursday, May 8th and will need all books returned by Thursday, May 15th. We encourage students to keep books in their backpack so they have them at school each day to read, renew, or return. Please do not place food and water bottles inside backpacks to prevent book damage.
Visit with Troy Cummings
In March, our Grafton Grizzlies had a wonderful visit with author and illustrator Troy Cummings! We truly appreciate the support of the PTA and our GVES families that make programs like these possible! Troy Cummings shared 3 different grade level specific programs with our students. He also signed books for our library and for student raffles, ate lunch with some 5th grade students, and left us with some special artwork.
Upcoming Events
Grizzly Fest! Saturday April 26th 11- 2pm
Join us for a free family friendly event at GVES! Games, activities, a cake walk, and more! Food will be available for purchase.
Tilly's Spirit Night Wednesday April 16th 4- 8:30 pm
Thank you for your donations to our Cereal Box Dominoes Drive. We were able to donate 1,455 boxes of cereal to the Fredericksburg Food Bank!
Rent the Rocks
Did you know you can rent "The Rocks" located in front of the school for special occasions? It is a great way to spread positive messages and increase excitement in our community. All requests must be made via email to graftonpta@gmail.com. Rock the Rental as the subject. The PTA will confirm approval of the rental date and rock message before the rock rental can be purchased.
If you have a Facebook Acct, please join our Facebook Group. You must answer the security questions to be approved.
PURPLE STAR SCHOOL
Virginia Council on the Educational Opportunity for Military Children voted on October 26, 2023, to approve Grafton Village Elementary as a recipient of the SY 2023-2024 Purple Star Award.
