Garden Road Family Newsletter #26

February 17 - 21 No school

March 3 PTA Board Meeting

March 6 Earth Made Snow Cones

March 10 Foundation Meeting

March 17 - 19, 21 Lunch with a Loved One (every day but not on Thursday)

March 29 Foundation Auction Boots and Bling

• "Boots & Bling" Adults-Only Garden Road Auction on Saturday, 3/29 5:30-9:30 p.m. Childcare during the event is available for only $20 at Impact Martial Arts! (Sibling discount)

• Purchase auction tickets & childcare at Impact Martial Arts NOW! Funds raised support our music, art, library, and more!

Get ready for an unforgettable evening at our school auction, a major fundraising event for Garden Road Elementary! We have incredible baskets and items put together by each class to auction off during the event. Many families have generously donated items and experiences. Thank you so much for all of your contributions!

BUT wait, we still need more items to make this auction even more spectacular. Can you help?

We are looking for families with any connections to try and get some of the following items:

• Sports tickets
• Concert tickets
• 1:1 opportunities with retired or active sports professionals (e.g., an NFL player offering 30 minutes of training or a motivational pep talk)
• Behind-the-scenes access to venues, restaurants, or private experiences
• Summer camps
• Weekend getaways (timeshares, AirBnBs)
• Golf packages
• Hotel stays
• Private lessons from a pro (e.g., pickleball, tennis, golf, piano, baseball, basketball)
• Private dining experiences or gift certificates for restaurants/catering
• Opportunities to have dinner with or bid on influential San Diegans to visit your child’s class as a special guest (e.g., retired or active politician, musician, athlete)

Don't miss out on the fun! This event is for all families at the school (adults only), and we’d love to see some new faces for a fun night! Buy your auction tickets here https://givebutter.com/c/GRESBOOTSBLING for an unforgettable time and experience whiskey tasting, line dancing, hat making, and more! Contact gresfoundationauction@gmail.com for questions and to share your connections with us!

Dear Garden Road Families,

The Philanthropy Team did an excellent job spearheading our food drive. We filled 250 bags with yummy food and kind notes from our students! These bags were handed out today to our Youth in Transition students. The food will help to keep their families fed through the week that school is out! Many students get their lunch and breakfast through school, and this helps to provide food when school is closed. Thank you for your generous donations! Pictures of the students packing the bags of food are below!

The Sunshine Cart was also a huge success this week. The teachers loved getting a treat each day as the cart came to each classroom. Our student leaders enjoyed spreading kindness and taking the cart from class to class. Thank you for your donations!

NEW INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS FOR ADOPTION -

Learning Support Services is pleased to announce that our Middle and High School teams have recommended new instructional materials for adoption. Our Middle Schools are recommending Amplify for English Language Arts in grades 6-8, and our High School team is recommending McGraw Hill’s Economics for economics courses. Both teams conducted thorough reviews to ensure alignment with state standards. ELA materials were evaluated using the CA ELA/ELD Framework and CA Common Core Standards, and the Economics materials were assessed based on the CA History-Social Science Content Standards and Framework. Poway Unified School District invites you to review these materials and provide feedback. The links below will take you to the pages where you can log in, review materials, and provide input (through March 10th).

• Middle School English Language Arts, Amplify

• High School Economics, McGraw Hill

ENGLISH LEARNER FAMILY ENGAGEMENT SURVEY

Parents of English Learners: Today through Friday, February 28th, Poway Unified will be conducting our Family Engagement and Accountability survey to gather input from all families of English Learner students. This survey helps shape the District’s goals and guide priorities for the 2025-2026 school year. Your feedback is extremely helpful as we continue to seek ways to better our English Learner program. Please click HERE to complete the survey.

Have a wonderful week off! We will be back at school on Monday, February 24, 2025.

Sue Melnick

Principal

We celebrated kindness and love in the library this week ❤️

The younger grades enjoyed a sweet book called Love, Z. A small robot named Z discovers a note with the word "love" and embarks on a journey to understand what it means. Z meets a crow who explains that love is sharing your food, even when it is delicious. Z also meets a baker who shares that love is when someone is patient and takes the time to teach you new things. This book was a good springboard for kids to talk about what love means to them.

Third graders enjoyed a class read-aloud on a rainy picture day. Grounded in mindfulness and wellness, I Am Love asks readers to look inward when they feel afraid, angry, hurt, or sad. When a storm is brewing inside us and the skies grow dark, the transformative power of love lets the light back in. We also tried heart-opening yoga poses and a heart meditation.

Happy Valentine's Day to our GRES families! I hope you all enjoy the break and please leave the library books behind if traveling.

Regards,

Tuhina Lal

Library Media Tech

TLAL@powayusd.com

​(858) 748-0230 x 2160

Garden Road Mission: We are empowered learners, who lead ourselves and others, to contribute to a better world.

Email: smelnick@powayusd.com

Website: https://gardenroad.powayusd.com/

Location: 14614 Garden Road, Poway, CA 92064

Phone: 858-748-0230