The Crusader

At Gracemor we work together to be the best that we can be. We respect ourselves and others by being respectful, responsible, and ready to learn. I will respect myself by being the best that I can be.

• 26- Last Day of School; half day dismissal- 12:30 pm

• 5- 1st day of Summer School (see enrollment info below)
• 19- No summer school
• 29- Last day of Summer School

• 17- Back To School Night (time TBD)
• 22- 1st day of school (2023-2024 school year)

Parents- Grade cards are available for viewing in your PowerSchool Parent Portal.

Spend Your Summer with Friends – All Together Now at Mid-Continent Public Library

Summer is just around the corner, and we’re going to spend it celebrating kindness. MCPL’s Summer Library Program begins June 1st and will run until August 24. The Summer Library Program encourages families to spend at least 20 minutes a day reading or engaging with literacy.

Readers will log each day that they read to receive a daily reading badge. When readers aged 0-19 complete 20, 40, and 60 days of reading, they will earn a prize book from their local branch. Readers who are registered in Beanstack and log 60 or more days will also be entered to win a Grand Prize. MCPL Branches will award a Grand Prize in each of three age categories: 0-5 years, 6-12 years, and 13-19 years.

Adults aged 20+ can earn prizes, too! All adult readers who log 60 or more days will earn a prize.

During the 2022 Summer Library Program:

• Over 19,600 readers participated
• Over 933,000 days of reading were logged
• 30,579 books were given out to participants, local daycares, and summer schools
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If you are interested in supporting the Library’s annual Summer Library Program, learn more about MCPL’s Summer Reading Endowment Fund.

Check back soon for more details!

Summer School registration is now open through the Power School Parent Portal! https://www.nkcschools.org/Page/4411

In 2023, the June session will be offered four days per week, following this schedule:
Week 1: June 5-8
Week 2: June 12-15
Week 3: June 20-23
Monday, June 19 is a holiday with no summer school. Friday, June 23 will be a virtual attendance day for students and teachers in summer school.
Week 4: June 26-29

Our school day will run from 9:20am-3:20pm.

For frequently asked questions about Summer School, please go here:
https://www.nkcschools.org/site/default.aspx?PageID=6300

• Summer School Enrollment: Parent Tutorial Video

Mrs. Huntley wanted every student to have another free book to add to home libraries, so once again, every student at Gracemor will receive a free book. Mrs. Huntley started handing out free books during library lessons this week. Students were excited to hear they got to take a SECOND book home and keep it forever. Mrs. Huntley also gave everyone a free book in March during Read Across America Week. If you see a random book in your student’s backpack without a Gracemor Library barcode on it, that is a gift from the library. We tried to write student names inside the books for younger students. Happy Reading!

Reminder- Due to the amount of traffic surrounding our school at arrival or dismissal, NO bicycles or scooters are allowed to be ridden to and from school.

We have seen a few students arriving early to play with their friends before school starts.

This creates a safety issue as there is no supervision for students arriving before 9:00AM.

Any student that is at school unsupervised by an adult before our doors open at 9:00AM may be owing a portion of their recess.

Please make sure you are not sending your student to school too early. Our doors open at 9:00AM.

Thank you for helping us to keep our students safe!

Parents please remember it is important for your students success to be at school all day, every day. Please limit the times you're dropping off late or picking up your student early.

Thank you for helping us finish the school year with strong learners!

Student Attendance and Accountability

Attendance

Regular attendance is essential for a quality education. Parents are encouraged to schedule medical/dental appointments outside of the school day to provide students with as much learning time as possible. The principal is obligated to address unsatisfactory attendance. Action will be taken by the attendance staff, including contact with the parents, when chronic or multiple absences occur. Excessive absences may result in referral to the legal authorities.

Student attendance status is as follows:

• 98%-100% Excellent
• 95%-97% Satisfactory
• 90%-94% Marginal
• 89% and below Unsatisfactory

The Missouri Compulsory Attendance Act lists the following as acceptable reasons for an absence from school (School may request written verification):

• Personal illness Doctor/dental appointments
• Serious illness or death of a member of the family or close friend
• Emergencies at home such as fire or flood
• Religious holidays
• Professional appointments that cannot be scheduled outside the school day

These absences will affect your child’s attendance percentage.

Reporting Absences

All schools have a 24-hour attendance line. In the event that an illness or other reasonable circumstance prevents your child from attending, please inform the school. If your child will miss several days, you only need to call the first day. If no contact is made by 9:00 a.m. for early schools and 9:30 a.m. for late schools, every attempt will be made to reach a parent or emergency contact to verify the reason for the absence. Our intent with the requirement for verification of absences, late arrivals, and early departures is that parents and school personnel always know where every student is during school hours.

Late to School Procedure

When a student arrives late, he/she must check in with the administrative assistant to obtain a pass to class, Tardiness/late arrival will affect your child’s attendance percentage.

Early to Leave Procedure

For the safety of the student and to verify the reason for leaving, parents must sign out their child in the office. The parent must notify the office in advance if someone other than the parent is picking up the child. Leaving early will affect your child’s attendance percentage.

3rd quarter grade cards are now available for parent viewing in your Power School Parent Portal.

Follow these steps to complete registration:

1. If you already have a parent account created, follow the link in the Parent Portal to complete the registration process.
   
   
2. If you do not have a parent portal account already created. Click here for directions on how to create your account in the PowerSchool Parent Portal. You must first receive your parent access letter from your student’s building to create an account in Parent Portal to complete the registration process.
   
   

Need additional information? Click here for complete details about Parent Portal and the online registration feature.

Forgot your password? See directions to reset your password here.

Our parent involvement in PTA had dwindled to 1-2 parents who are still actively participating. Our PTA has been strong in the past and is currently financially very healthy. However, we need to work hard this Spring to increase parent participation and rebuild the executive board. If you are interested in serving as board member of just and active member of PTA please contact me directly at either 816-321-6406 or matthew.wheeler@nkcschools.org.

Thank you for your help to rebuild our Gracemor PTA

The graph below show how our students are doing so far. It represents how many students have attendance over 90%, between 87.5-90%, 85-87.49%, and less than 85%

Collectively we are doing much better as a school community in attendance!

Hello, Gracemor families! If you have a student, or students who purchase snacks and extras from us in the cafe but want to limit on how many they can purchase at a time, please feel free to contact me via email at julian.aguilar@nkcschools.org, or by phone (816)-321-5114. Thank you!

Every school day counts in a child's academic life...

A missed school day is a lost opportunity for students to learn. In this era of increased accountability for states, districts, and schools, the connection between student attendance and learning is being studied more than ever before. As a result, education agencies are asked with increasing frequency to report attendance data in a standard manner to allow comparisons across organizations and jurisdictions.

The primary rationale for high-quality attendance data is the relationship between student attendance and student achievement. Teacher effectiveness is the strongest school-related determinant of student success,1 but chronic student absence 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 as well. 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 first grade than their peers who graduated from high school. In eighth grade, this pattern was even more apparent and, by ninth grade, attendance was shown to be a key indicator significantly correlated with high school graduation.

The effects of lost school days build up one absence at a time on individual students. Penalties for students who miss school may unintentionally worsen the situation. The disciplinary response to absenteeism too often includes loss of course credits, detention, and suspension. Any absence, whether excused or not, denies students the opportunity to learn in accordance with the school's instructional program, but students who miss school are sometimes further excluded from learning opportunities as a consequence of chronic absenteeism.

For instructions on how to set up a MyPaymentsPlus account, please click here! You can also contact MyPaymentsPlus for support at 1-877-237-0946.

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https://www.mypaymentsplus.com/welcome

We are not allowed to except, or allow cup cakes and other food not on the healthy snack list being sent to our classrooms. There have been a few instances that this has happened, despite the district policy prohibiting it. I am asking our team here at school and our families at home recommit ourselves to this district expectations.

Please see below for the district approved snack list.

Please refer to this list if you'd like to provide snacks for your child's classroom.

Please call 816-321-5112 to leave a message on our 24 hr attendance voicemail anytime you expect your student to be late or absent from school.

Doors open at 9:45 am on Late Start Thursdays. School begins at 10:00.

Any student checking into the office after 10:00 am is considered tardy.

Verified Absence- Parent has contacted the school regarding their students absence

Unverified Absence- Parent has not made an attempt to call the school regarding student absence

Excused Absence- Parent has notified the school of absence and provided documentation; i.e; doctors note, etc

For the safety of your child it's important to call the school attendance line when your child will be late or absent for any reason.

24/7 ATTENDANCE LINE- 816-321-5112

Free & Reduced Meal Program

Healthy and nutritious meals fuel student success. North Kansas City Schools’ Food and Nutrition Services Department is ready to serve your student each day for breakfast and lunch this school year! Now that the federal waiver has expired, school meals are no longer free and have returned to a pre-pandemic cost structure:

Elementary Breakfast: $1.65
Elementary Lunch: $2.90

Secondary Breakfast: $1.70
Secondary Lunch: $3.15

We strongly encourage you to apply for the free and reduced meals program if you believe that your family might be eligible. This program can help you qualify for benefits beyond nutrition for participating families, including fee waivers, activity scholarships and school supplies. We recommend that all families take advantage of this option if eligible.

Your children may qualify for free or reduced price meals if your household income meets the Federal Income Eligibility Guidelines. Families receiving SNAP, FDPIR, or TANF assistance are also eligible, as well as all foster children and those who meet the definition of homeless, runaway or migrant. Submit your form online here.

Click here for assistance and more information from North Kansas City Schools’ Food and Nutrition Services Department.

Internet Benefits: Affordable Connectivity Program

The Affordable Connectivity Program is a new Federal Communications Commission program that helps connect families and households struggling to afford internet service. This benefit provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands. Eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers.

You can enroll through a participating broadband provider or directly with the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) online or via mail.

Click here or call 877-384-2575 to learn more about the benefit, including eligibility and enrollment information.

Additionally, please note that this benefit is not considered income for purposes of determining eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals.

Every student has the Sora app on their iPads. Sora is identical to the Libby app through Mid-Continent Public Library; however, it has a filter built in based on the age of each student to filter out inappropriate content. Through Sora, students have access to THOUSANDS of ebooks and audiobooks from the public library. It is a fantastic tool!

No wifi at home; no problem! If students download books at school, the book is ready to read on their iPads no matter where they are.

More Filters—Sora has lots of great ways to filter books for each individual child. MCPL has books in Spanish, audiobooks, read-along books, graphic novels, etc.

Below are screenshots to show how to filter books to read-along books.

North Kansas City Schools needs your input! Please take the Family Survey online to share your feedback on school environments, communication, your priorities and more. Responses are completely anonymous and help us to better serve students across the district now and in the future.

Recess during Extreme Temperatures

Students should come prepared to go outside for recess. However, as a general guideline, if the temperature/wind chill is 25 degrees (or less), students may have a shortened outdoor recess period or recess will be held indoors.

When the heat index is 95 degrees or greater, students may have a shortened outdoor recess period or recess will be held indoors.

Click the link below for information on inclement weather days.

https://www.nkcschools.org/domain/96

As the North Kansas City School District continue to provide the safest, most enjoyable experience at our athletic and activity events, we are adding a few additional procedures moving forward for the remainder of the 22-23 school year:

1. Middle school and elementary school students may only gain admittance to events when accompanied by an adult. If students arrive to the entrance gate without an adult, they will be asked to contact an adult immediately and will not be allowed entrance into the event.

2. All middle school and elementary school students will be asked to remain with an adult OR in the assigned seating area determined by the school for the duration of the event.

3. All students will be asked to remain in the stands during games and will not be allowed to loiter in the concourse or restroom areas.

4. Students who are unwilling to comply with the directions of the on-site administrators, supervisors or law enforcement will not be able to attend athletic or activity events for the remainder of the 2022-23 school year.

5. All students should leave immediately following the conclusion of all school events.

6. All school district policies remain in effect during all activity and athletic events.

Love Pops Out All Over!

At Ronald McDonald House, love comes in all shapes and sizes. Love is made out of chocolate, flowers, pop-tabs, diamond rings. Wait a minute! Pop-tabs? Those aluminum rings on beverage and food cans? How on earth do pop-tabs support Ronald McDonald House? What can you do with a pop-tab?

Why Pop-Tabs?

Pop-tabs remind us of an important lesson: even little things make a big difference. We collect pop-tabs for three reasons: (1) Recycling is good for the environment. (2) Pop-tabs help pay the bills. In 2019, we recycled more than 16 tons and raised more than $14,000 from the aluminum proceeds. (3) Pop-tabs are friend-finders. Pop-tabs are worth more than the entire can because they are made of higher quality aluminum. Collecting pop-tabs is a popular volunteer opportunity that benefits RMH families and is easy to organize. Look at our website for more pop-tab information: https://rmhckc.org/how-you-can-help/poptabs/

How Can You Help?

Collect pop-tabs in zip-lock bags, cardboard boxes, coffee cans or plastic trash bags – anything easy to empty. Please do not use plastic soda bottles, water jugs or milk jugs; they’re hard to empty! Please don’t put keys into the same container. We must keep the metals separate.

Please do not collect steel pop-tabs; we can only take aluminum. How to tell? If the tab sticks to a magnet, it’s steel. If it doesn’t, it’s aluminum! It doesn’t matter what color the tabs are so long as they are aluminum – soda, fruit, vegetables, soup, tennis balls… any aluminum tabs!

Next Steps

Please deliver your pop-tab containers to the Longfellow Ronald McDonald House at 2502 Cherry Street, Kansas City, Mo. 64108. We have three Houses on Cherry Street; Longfellow is the largest one, on the west side, with a large parking lot. There is a “little house” near the front glass doors; lift up the “roof” and put the tabs into 2 bins inside. If you have a large quantity, please email Alan Lubert, information below, to arrange a time to meet to accept the tabs. Or, you may mail your tabs to Alan Lubert, RMH, 2502 Cherry Street, KCMo 64108 address.

For information, or a presentation about Ronald McDonald House and pop-tabs and keys, or a speaker for your school or group (on zoom at this time):

contact Alan Lubert, Community Outreach Manager, at alubert@rmhckc.org

Ronald McDonald House: Where hope finds a home. Thanks for helping families and children.

If you have had your ID scanned at any North Kansas City Schools prior to the date of the event AND you RSVP, we can have your visitor badge preprinted and ready for pick up upon arrival. Therefore, all we will need to do is have you sign in and grab your preprinted badge and you’ll be good to go!

If you have not had your ID scanned at any schools prior to the event, please prepare to wait in line for a few minutes.

Thank you for working with us to ensure the safety of our Gracemor students and helping make our safety system as effective and efficient as possible!

This year we will be allowing 5 parents per classroom. All parents planning to come to the winter party must RSVP.

SAFETY AND SECURITY

North Kansas City Schools screen all visitors to our schools using a web-based safety system. This system, RAPTOR, is a visitor registration system that enhances school security by reading visitor drivers’ licenses, comparing information to a sex offender database.

While the screening process is not lengthy, when a large number of visitors arrive to a school at the same time, visitors could experience a delay in gaining access to the school. In an effort to protect visitor’s time while ensuring staff and student safety, we have created a process to help expedite the screening process when sponsoring a grade level or building event.

Be RAPTOR Ready!

If you have had your ID scanned at any North Kansas City Schools prior to the date of the event AND you RSVP, we can have your visitor badge preprinted and ready for pick up upon arrival. Therefore, all we will need to do is have you sign in and grab your preprinted badge and you’ll be good to go!

If you have not had your ID scanned at any schools prior to the event, please prepare to wait in line for a few minutes.

Thank you for working with us to ensure the safety of our Gracemor students and helping make our safety system as effective and efficient as possible!

Your input as a parent is critically important for us a school to best develop our plans and ensure that we are providing the programing and community climate that you want for your children.

Please take a few minutes to complete our Fall Title I Survey.

It can be accessed through the link below, or the QR code below.

https://forms.office.com/r/s1bAePYjSt

We are approaching the winter season and the potential for winter weather to disrupt school. The North Kansas City School district, and Gracemor, will begin sending iPads AND charging blocks/cords home every day beginning October 17th. We will ask parents to send their child to school each morning with their iPad fully charged in their backpack along with the charging block and cord. Each child’s iPad, charging block, and cord have been labeled with their name on them.

Families can purchase insurance to cover the iPad, charging block, charging cord can be purchased for $20.00 and can be used to cover damage to items. The cost of lost charging block or cord is $19.00 each.

If a family has a compatible charging block and cord at home and wish for the school’s charging block and cord stay at school, they need to communicate directly with their child’s teacher.

Online payments for insurance is now closed.

Parents may purchase iPad insurance in the Main office by cash or check. Below you will see what is covered under the district technology insurance.

iPad Risk Management Form

Risk Management Details:

$20 annual payment for participation in the Risk Management Program.

This must be purchased prior to or at the time of receiving devices or any time after an inspection, but prior to any damage incurred.

• Up to two incidents of accidental damage per year with no fee. Each additional incident will incur a $49 fee.

• Damaged cables and power cubes replaced with no fee and not inclusive of the two incidents per year.

• Damage fee schedule for current school year is on the 2nd page of this document.

• Lost/Stolen devices, cables or power cubes are not covered within this program.

If device is lost or stolen, immediately contact the HelpDesk at 816-321-4357

Parents and guardians are encouraged to sign up to receive text alerts from their student's school and the district. To opt in, text YES to 67587. Text messages are used to provide inclement weather updates and important reminders, and can be opted-out at any time.

We have seen an increase in Tardy students this year. We think it's important for parents to know that learning begins at 9:15am & 10:00am on late start Thursdays.

When they are late to school they are missing important classroom work needed to be a successful student.

Student handbooks are a compilation of specific school-related information in one section, and district-wide information every parent and student should know. Each contains an academic year calendar and an Acknowledgment Signature Page for parents to sign, acknowledging that they have read the student handbook.

GRACEMOR BELL TIMES:

MON, TUES, WED, FRI; 9:15 a.m.- 4:10 p.m. (doors open at 9:00 a.m.)

THURS; 10:00 a.m.- 4:10 p.m. (doors open at 9:45 a.m.)

All students are offered a grab and go breakfast at no charge that they are allowed to eat in their classroom.

Our 1st late start Thursday will be September 15th.

Gracemor PTA needs YOU!

No matter your availability or skills, there is a place for you!

Please contact gracemor.pta@gmail.com if you would like to become involved this year! It truly takes a village, and it is a great way to meet others and be involved in what happens at Gracemor!

To join Gracemor PTA this year, please visit https://gracemorpta.square.site/

Gracemor PTA Membership is $6.00, and memberships will be online only. Click the link above and follow instructions.

You can pay your dues by venmo as well!

@gracemor-PTA

In the Notes section, please include:

-Your Name
-Your Student's Name and Grade (List all students if more than one.)
-Your Email Address

Thank you!

• Office: 816-321-5110
• Attendance Line: 816-321-5112
• Gracemor FAX # 816-321-5111
• Nurse: 816-321-5113
• Café: 816-321-4014
• Adventure Club: 816-321-5017

Accidents happen--- for this reason we are asking our families to pack an extra set of clothes to keep in your child's backpack.

We would like for every student to have an extra set of clothes in their backpack in case of accidents, including food that has been spilt, accidents outside, etc...

This is especially important for our youngest Crusaders. Our nurses office is running very low on extra clothes so please make sure you send extra clothes with your student every day.

Our car-rider lines are both very long and stretch down the street. Please make every effort to not block the driveways so our neighbors can get in and out of their driveways.

I wanted to take a moment and remind families that students should not be bringing footballs,

toys, fidgets, Pokemon cards or the like from home. They become a distraction and

at times are lost. We are not responsible for lost items. Please have students keep them at home.

Thank you!

New help videos for Canvas, Microsoft Teams, and PowerSchool are now available in Spanish, Somali, Arabic, Karen, and Vietnamese. Check out the YouTube channel here: https://tinyurl.com/NKCvideos

THE LINKS:

(Padlet) Multilingual Support Video Links

NKC Schools Multilingual Support YouTube Channel

• (YouTube Playlist) Arabic
• (YouTube Playlist) Spanish
• (YouTube Playlist) Somali
• (YouTube Playlist) Vietnamese
• (YouTube Playlist) Karen

NKC Schools is committed to supporting all of our students throughout this time. School counselors have compiled several resources to support students’ social-emotional health at nkcschools.org/Page/5195. Families are encouraged to use this website as a resource for information and reach out to their school counselor with any questions.

As one of the largest, most diverse school districts in Missouri, North Kansas City Schools serves nearly 21,000 students. As champions for all students, NKC Schools' mission is to ensure that all are life-ready and ethically grounded in an ever-changing world through innovative educational experiences that inspire lifelong learning, embrace inclusion, and forge a unified community. In seeking to continually improve our systems and serve students, NKC Schools will employ change and innovation processes that boldly redefine the high school experience.

Over the course of several months during the 2019-2020 school year, NKC Schools brought together a Portrait Design Team to bring this vision to life. This team was a diverse group of individuals representing all stakeholder groups: students, staff members, teachers, district leaders, parents, Board of Education, business partners and community members. The Portrait Design Team identified the seven key competencies for our Portrait through a rigorous process, including research, concept design and development, and broader community outreach. This group's charge was to "develop a collective vision that articulates our community's aspirations for all of our students."

​North Kansas City Schools is committed to engaging all stakeholders in the education of our children. Only when we build strong relationships with our staff, students, families and community members can we best meet the needs of each and every student.

We invite you to send us your questions, concerns, suggestions and/or compliments. Once you click on a topic below and make a submission through Let’s Talk!, the school district employee who can best address your comment will be notified. If you request a response, you will hear back from us in a timely manner.

https://www.k12insight.com/Lets-Talk/embed.aspx?k=WF7R4NLT

We look forward to hearing from you!

In the event of an emergency, please call 911 or contact our district office at (816) 321-5000.

Check out our website or follow us Twitter!

Website: https://www.nkcschools.org/Domain/18
Location: 5125 North Sycamore Drive, Kansas City, MO, USA
Phone: 816-321-5110
Twitter: @gracemorNKC