Steve Minard, Principal

Kristi Bast, Secretary

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

Parents and Guardians -

Please make note that Wednesday, February 14, 2024 is a BIG DAY for us this week at North Godwin Elementary!

1. State of Michigan Student Count Day

All students should be in attendance ON TIME and ALL DAY, unless sick!

2. Early Dismissal

Parent pick-up begins at 1:30 PM. Buses Depart and the Final Bell rings at 1:45 PM.

3. Valentine's Day

Teachers will observe Valentine's Day with activities and small parties in the afternoon, just before our early dismissal. Please contact your child's teacher to learn how their class plans to celebrate and if items are needed.

There is an early dismissal for all students this week on Wednesday, February 14, 2024 (Valentine's Day and State of Michigan Count Day). Parent pick-up begins at 1:30 PM. Buses depart and the final bell rings at 1:45 PM! Please plan ahead and arrive on time! Thank you!

North Godwin Elementary considers it a privilege and honor to welcome a new CANINE member of our fine staff! She visited for the first time on Friday, February 9, 2024 and attended our bi-monthly PRIDE assembly. Monday, February 12, 2024 was her first official day as our Chief Happiness Coordinator!

In February of 2024, a Golden Doodle named Meeka will become a member of our full time staff. She will be working as a facility dog under the care of her handler, our social worker Kaleigh Salata. Meeka will live with Mrs. Salata and become a part of her family, but will travel back and forth to North Godwin Elementary with Mrs. Salata on school days where she will work as a facility dog. Social worker, Maddy Mullane, will also assist with handling Meeka while she is at school. This wonderful opportunity for our school is a gift from Priority Health's program called Priority Pups. Meeka has been diligently training in Lansing, Michigan since her birth with an organization called Canines for Change.

Canines for Change is one of the few organizations who provide highly trained dogs to work in schools. These dogs work with children of all ages with a variety of academic, social and emotional needs. Their volunteers and trainers have extensive knowledge working in schools — in fact, they have several retired teachers on staff who help train the facility dogs in their Dogs In Schools program, along with trainers who train service dogs for children who attend school and have special needs. Their executive director is uniquely qualified to run this program with her 20 plus years as a school psychologist working in an inner-city school district.

Meeka will be a highly trained facility dog that will support the social and emotional needs of our North Godwin Elementary students on a day to day basis. Her interaction with students is highly organized with clear expectations, goals, boundaries, and procedures. In turn, our students will all be properly trained on how to carefully and responsibly interact with Meeka while she is working. Yes, she is an employee and she had a very important job to do!

This incredible opportunity for Meeka and our students was made possible by Priority Health's "Priority Pups" —a signature program of Priority Health for Good—sponsoring trained facility dogs to be placed in select school districts to ease anxiety and support kids as they learn. Priority Health for Good is our company’s promise to improve health equity through advocacy, employee citizenship and investing in the community.

We are super excited for Meeka to start work here at North Godwin in February! Isn't she sweet?

Parents and Guardians,

While your student is in our care, it is required that we have your most up-to-date address and telephone number on file in our school system. If you have moved or changed your telephone number, please contact our school office immediately to update your student's records.

If you have moved to an in-district address, you will need to provide (2) new proofs of residency.

If you have moved out of the district, you will need to provide (1) new proof of residency. You will also need to complete a School of Choice application for the 2024-2025 school year. Applications will be available after spring break in April 2024.

Thank you!

Parents and Guardians,

Click on the links below to learn more about FREE educational opportunities for our parents. Parenting classes, health and wellness, and English classes!

During the month of February our students will be celebrating Black History Month with special lessons and reminders about the impact and contributions that Blacks have made in our country and around the globe.

Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. Also known as African American History Month, the event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating Black history.

Our staff and students will enjoy a short mid-winter break soon!

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

HALF DAY of school for all students (no TEAM 21) with parent pick-up beginning at 11:30 AM. Buses depart and the final bell rings at 11:45 AM.

Thursday, February 22, 2024

NO SCHOOL

Friday, February 23, 2024

NO SCHOOL

Classes resume as normal on Monday, February 26, 2024!

We are pleased to announce our 2nd annual Godwin Heights summer soccer camp for third, fourth and fifth graders. Godwin Heights High School soccer players and coaches will be helping to run the camp. This program will introduce your student to the sport of soccer. It will also improve their skills. They will work hard, make new friends and, most importantly, have fun!

Camp Details

Location Godwin Heights Football Field

3501 Hillcroft Ave SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49548

Date Monday, June 10, 2024 – Thursday, June 13, 2024

Time 9am -11am (June 13th ending time will be 12 pm for lunch)

As part of the $10.00 fee that was paid for your child to attend, they will be given a T-shirt and a new soccer ball. We will also provide lunch to our camp participants on the last day, which is Thursday, June 13, 2024.. If you have any questions please email: jen@godwinschools.org, or call our school office at (616) 252-2010.

Permission slips were sent home last week on yellow paper. To sign up, you will need to complete and sign a permission slip for your student and send it to school with the $10.00 fee. No checks, please.

LAST DAY TO REGISTER IS FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2024!

Parents and Guardians,

We are gearing up to celebrate "March is Reading Month" in a few weeks! There will be special dress up days, pizza parties, "Drop Everything and Read" moments during the school day, a Scholastic Book Fair, and much more! We encourage our students to read as much as possible during the month of March to meet their reading goals. Stay tuned for more details....

Parents and Guardians,

When your child is sick, it’s important to know when they should stay home from school. If they have a contagious virus or disease, keep them home. This will help them get better faster and keep their teachers and classmates from getting sick.

Talk to your child’s doctor or health care provider if you are unsure if they should stay home from school. As a general rule, your child should not go to school if they have:

• A fever over 100.4° Fahrenheit (F) or 38° Celsius (C) – Your child can return to school after they’ve been fever-free for 24 hours without antipyretics. Antipyretics are medicines that treat or prevent fever.
• Signs they are weak and tired. This is common with the flu.
• Diarrhea – Having loose poop (stool) more often that isn’t caused by a change in diet.
• Throwing up (vomiting) – More than 2 times in a 24-hour period.
• Coughing that disrupts normal activity.
• Wheezing or get short of breath.
• Pain from earache, headache, sore throat, or recent injury.
• Yellow or green drainage from the eye(s).
• A new rash – Not all rashes mean your child must stay home from school. Check with their doctor or health care provider.

If your child has a fever, they must stay home from school until they have been FEVER-FREE for 24 hours WITHOUT medication! Thank you!

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:

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Wednesday, August 7, 2024

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

If you have your own bags, please bring them!

Parents and Guardians,

Please mark your calendars for Thursday, February 29, 2024. North Godwin will hold our annual Family Reading Night that evening. This will kick off the upcoming national March is Reading Month. More details will follow and we hope that you can join us!

Parents and Guardians --

School community stakeholders (parents and community members) are welcomed to participate in the wellness policy process at Godwin Heights. The upcoming meetings are posted above. Please join us!

In an effort to provide quality education to English language learning students, the World-Class Instructional Design & Assessment (WIDA) consortium has developed 5 English Language Development (ELD) Standards to help students understand English in both a social and academic context. The annual WIDA test is designed to help measure the academic progress of English language learners. Students identified as English learners (ELs) are assessed annually to measure their English language proficiency and determine eligibility for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) services.

Testing at North Godwin begins on February 5, 2024 and will last for approximately 3-4 full weeks. Teachers will be notified regarding what days that their ELL/MLL students will be tested. It is important that our students get a good night's sleep the night before their tests so that they perform at their best level. Parents, thank you for supporting our students on this important test!

If you have further questions about WIDS testing, please call our school office at 616-252-2010, or email our ELL/MLL Teacher, Mrs. Mindy Lange at: lange@godwinschools.org

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

February 14 ~ Early Release @ 1:45 PM (State of Michigan Student Count Day)

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/