Grant's News

October 8: PTA meeting, 6 pm, Cafeteria, use door 2 to enter, beverages & snacks provided. Gym will be open for supervised play.

October 8: Fire prevention assembly and fire truck outside with Lakewood Fire Dept.

October 11: NEOEA Day - No School

October 16: Quarter 1 Ends

October 18: PTA Trunk or Treat, 6:30-7:30 pm, Sign up to host a Trunk: https://bit.ly/GrantTrunkorTreat2024

Oct. 22-23: Grade 3 Fall AIR ELA testing (email sent to families on 10/17)

October 23-25: Conferences (Oct. 23 Conferences Start at night, Oct. 24 No School, Oct. 25 No School)

Grant Elementary Conference Link

November 1: Join along to watch our K-5 Fall Parade at 2:45 pm outside on sidewalk around the school's perimeter, classroom parties before the parade organized by PTA, if inclement weather, fall parade will be canceled. See below for more details.

November 4: Picture retake day - see below (must bring back previous photos to get retakes)

November 8: Veterans Day Breakfast for veterans in our Grant community (see below for details and the flier that went home in backpacks on 10/14) Students wear red, white, or blue!

November 14: Family Night with guest speaker (see below for details and the flier from 10/14 backpacks)

Listen & Learn Oct. 17

Come share your thoughts, ideas and concerns about the Lakewood City Schools with Superintendent Niedzwiecki at her first Listen & Learn session of the school year on Thursday, Oct. 17 from 6-7 pm in the Ranger Cafe at Lakewood High. Enter at the flagpole entrance in front of the school. Treasurer Kent Zeman will join the superintendent to provide a brief financial update on the District. These sessions are informal one-hour discussions and community members may drop in any time during the hour.

Elementary Community Conversations

The District's Elementary Planning Task Force will be holding Community Conversations at our seven elementary schools over the next few months to gather input on a potential redistricting and repurposing of our elementary boundaries and buildings. We hope you can attend one of the conversations. Learn more about the task force on the Elementary Planning Task Force page of the District website.

• Students can wear a costume or dress like a favorite book character on Nov. 1 (PreK will dress up and have a class party on 10/31, no school on 11/1 for PreK).
  
• Students should be able to move around freely and comfortably in their costumes/book character
• They should be able to wear proper outerwear for the parade, if needed (outside parade, no rain date, see below for details)
• The following are NOT permitted: scary or gory costumes, wigs, costume masks, props, face/body paint, and makeup. Hats are permitted
• Costumes/Book Characters will be worn in the afternoon only for the classroom parties and the fall parade at 2:45 pm outside (students should be able to get the costume/book character outfit on by themselves before the parade)

We will parade around the outside of the school in our costumes/book characters, stepping out the main office door at 2:45 pm with 5th grade down to KDG. We will walk along the front of our building, head towards Elmwood Ave, towards the playground area, towards Victoria Ave., and re-enter Grant via the courtyard door #9. Families are invited to line the route around the school to watch the parade. Please abide by all city traffic and parking laws. In the event of inclement weather, the costume parade will be canceled and communicated to families via email by 1:30 pm.

Grant Elementary's composting efforts are well under way this school year. To date, Grant students have diverted 6,537 pounds of food scraps from landfills which avoided 5,753 pounds of CO2 from polluting the environment. This created 15 yards of compost to be used to grow plants and flowers. Once again, funding was provided by the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District.

Our fall conferences are coming up soon! These conferences are designed to provide you with information about your child from this first quarter of school. Grant Elementary Conference Link

Parent-Teacher conferences will take place on 10/23/24, 10/24/24, and 10/25/24.

School is in session as a normal day on the first day of conferences, Wednesday, 10/23/24. There is no school for students on Thursday, 10/24/24 and on Friday, 10/25/24.

Please read this document to find out more information about grades and standards based report cards.

We continue our focus on building empathy, as it relates to our Vision of a Lakewood Ranger and our diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging for all students. Each student will be bringing home the book, We're All Wonders, in the first semester to read with families. There is a laminated page in the back of the book to provide some family discussion topics along with the Home Activity Pages . Please take the time together as a family to read the book and talk about what empathy looks like, feels like, and sounds like.

In October and November, our area of focus for social emotional learning is self-management. This is a very important theme, and is consistently the weakest skill set based on our Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) screener. Lesson topics - differentiated by grade level - may include self-control, stress management, focus, problem-solving, goal setting and resilience.

We invite our Grant Veterans to join us for pastries and coffee on Friday, November 8th from 8:15 am to 9 am. Students should accompany their Veteran for this special event, and the child's family is welcome, as well. The Veteran could be a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, neighbor, friend, sibling, etc. The event entrance will be through door #2 off the back lot (north side of the building, near gym). This celebration will conclude at 9 am with our annual "clap out" event. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all our Veterans for their service and sacrifice. The RSVP form will be coming out soon for families to note their attendance (sent on 10/14 in backpacks).

Our PTA wants your feedback.

We had an exciting 1st member meeting in September with tons of great ideas. Please complete the

Parent Survey. Click here to take the survey to tell us what you want to see the PTA do this year.

(Every respondent before October 8 gets entered in a drawing for a $25 Starbucks gift card.)

Our PTA NEEDS YOUR HELP.

If we do not secure 2-3 lead volunteers for each of these events by October 7, they will be cancelled.

Lead volunteers coordinate simple event planning and on-site logistics. Both are repeat events, and you

will be given planning guidance. Email Rae Lynn LaBoy at Raelynnlaboy@gmail.com for details.

1. Trunk or Treat is set for October 18 at 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Sign up to host a Trunk: https://bit.ly/GrantTrunkorTreat2024 1st, 2nd and 3rd place Trunk Winners! $50 Amazon gift card to the 1st place winner. Please remember this is NOT a drop off event. All children must be accompanied by their own parent or guardian. Grant families only, please.

2. FREE Family Photos & Hot Cocoa Social is scheduled for November 9

Our MUM SALE was a big success.

Thank you to everyone who sold and bought mums. We netted almost $3,000! These funds will be used

to fund extra fields trips and teacher classroom grants.

Big Thanks to the PTA Board for planning the Mum Sale!

Danielle and Bill Locke

Jen Silvis

Meghan Foster

Eileen Hailey

RaeLynn LaBoy

Julia Wallace

Kate Weaver

BIG THANK YOU to the Mum Delivery Day volunteers - most of whom unloaded in the pouring rain!

Sharyn Arai

Monica Bruaw

Francesca Brunello Nomina

Matt Clark

Jess Edmonds

Tana Gargalianos

Allison Graff

Theresa Gromek

Mindy Harrison

Kate Ingersoll

Brandi Larsen

Owen McNaughton

Kaitlin Miele

Rebecca Miller

David Morey

Matt Ocasio

Carrie Pleasants

Jeff Ruwe

Carrie Sheehan

Christa Sweeney

Jacob Tyna

Grant Singers Choir has now begun under the direction of Mr. Waryk. Mr. Waryk teaches all of our Harding middle school choirs and is very happy to be at Grant this year as well. Rehearsals are every Thursday morning from 8:15-8:45. Any student in grades 4 or 5 who loves to sing may join! See Ms.Smith for a QR sign-up sheet.

Here is a preview of music performance dates for your family calendars. Details for each event will be forthcoming as we near each date.

LAKEWOOD SINGS! Grant Singers will perform on Wednesday, February 12th, 7:00 pm

at the LAKEWOOD CIVIC AUDITORIUM.

LIGHT UP LAKEWOOD Grant Singers will perform on Saturday, December 7th (times and locations TBA).

GRANT SPRING CONCERT Students in grades, 3, 4, Choir, and grade 5 Band and Orchestra will perform at GRANT ELEMENTARY on Wednesday, March 5th, 2:00pm.

DISTRICT GRADE 5 INSTRUMENTAL CONCERT All Grade 5 Band and Orchestra students will perform on Tuesday, May 20th 7:00 pm at the LAKEWOOD CIVIC AUDITORIUM.

- On September 18, students in grades K-3 learned about bus safety

- October 8: Students in PreK-5 will see the fire truck in action outside in the morning

- October 8: Students in grades 3-5 will have an assembly with Lakewood's Fire Chief and learn about fire prevention and safety. Congratulations to Whitney, Claire and Jude on their winning essays for grade 5!

- Personal Safety Assemblies for K-5 will occur later this month with our Bellefaire Counselor.

Perfectionism in Gifted and Anxious Kids

Kate Boylan, LPCC-SUPV, MS, of Larchmere Center for Well-Being, will discuss how parents can help alleviate the pressure a child feels to be perfect through healthy communication and attachment. Learn how to boost your child’s self-confidence, foster pride outside of achievement and guide them in building relationships with peers. Thursday, Oct. 10, 6:30 p.m. Lakewood Public Library, Main Branch. Free, supervised children’s activities are available but adults and children must register separately. connectingforkids.org/speakerseries

Please click this link to find a downloadable flier for the October programs: https://www.connectingforkids.org/MonthlyFliers/

Each night students in grades 1-5 must charge their device to be ready for school the next day. Families should set a nightly routine with homework time, reading time, and charging the device time. Each morning students should bring the device back to school with their chargers, too. This process is an important part of being responsible and ready to learn at Grant.

- Grant continues to go green! Our PBIS "Behavior Bucks" are now tickets, as this uses less paper/trees. We are continuing our important composting efforts this year in the cafeteria, too!

- Car riders MUST utilize the car line, as this keeps all students safe with our car rider process. Do not park and walk your child up to the door, and NEVER cross in front of cars or cross without a cross walk. Please remember that you are always modeling behavior for your child, even when you think they are not paying attention to you (That's when they are most focused on your words and your actions).

- Breakfast is available daily at 8:30 am, enter from door #8.

- Each Friday is Ranger Day (wear your Grant or Lakewood t-shirt).

- School arrival is at 8:45 am, please be prompt and arrive before the 9 am tardy bell.

- Students who wish to play on the playground after school must be supervised by a parent/guardian. The playground is closed when it is being used by our YMCA aftercare program. This is usually between 4pm and 6pm each day.

We each have a role to play in combating bias as a means to stop the escalation of hate. No Place for Hate® is a school program helping all members of our school community do just that and stop the escalation of hate. Based on our many school efforts, Grant was awarded both a 2022 and 2023 No Place for Hate award. Our banner now hangs proudly just outside the front of the building (to the left of door one) and inside the cafeteria. Students took the No Place for Hate pledge again this fall and work towards kind, respectful actions in our school community where all students belong.

Once again our Rotary Club has donated dictionaries to each third grader at Grant. These dictionaries will be helpful as third graders learn the process for looking up words and definitions. Extending our vocabulary usage is an important part of learning, and this generous donation from the Rotary Club helps make this possible.

The America 250-Ohio Commission and history-related museums and sites recently introduced the new 4th Grade History Pass – a special program that allows Ohio 4th grade students the chance to attend participating history museums and historic sites free of charge, with a paid adult*.

Who is the program for? Any Ohio 4th grade student for the 2024-2025 school year can take advantage of the pass. Questions? Go to the FAQ's

School attendance is the most important factor in your child's school success! As attendance is of critical importance, Ohio schools must report student absences as part of House Bill 410. Schools are required to develop Absence Intervention Plans for students who exceed absence limits outlined in the law. Families will receive auto generated letters as notifications from the district indicating the number of hours your child has missed in accordance with these laws. Absences exceeding 38 hours in a month, or 65 hours in a year will require medical documentation in order to be considered excused. Should you have an ongoing medical concern, please contact our office.

Excessive Absence is defined as (1) absent 38 or more hours in a month with or without an excuse or (2) absent 65 more hours in a year with or without an excuse

Habitual Truancy is defined as (1) absent 30 or more consecutive hours without a legitimate excuse, (2) absent 42 or more hours in one month without a legitimate excuse, or (3) absent 72 or more hours in one year without a legitimate excuse.

Family vacations are counted as UNexcused absences, so please aim to schedule these trips during our many school breaks. School attendance is key for success.

*Hours also include total number of minutes tardy to school and early dismissal.