Dear Families,

As we welcomed our students back from break we have emphasized routines and procedures as they relate to our schoolwide expectations of being "respectful, responsible, and safe" in all areas of the school. Consider asking your child what some of the routines and expectations are in the different areas and tasks they engage in during the day! As we near the end of January we begin to resume the deep academic learning and begin the next phase of "middle-of-year" formal testing to gauge their progress and our supports in place to keep them growing.

This month's newsletter is jam packed with important information to keep you up to date while also supporting you at home. I thank you in advance for pressing pause and taking the time to thoroughly read as a strong partner of ours. Looking forward to connecting with all of you at the upcoming STEM night this month!

Take care and stay warm,

~ Dr. Upton

Regular attendance not only helps children develop a routine but also enhances their learning, achievement, and social skills as they interact with their peers daily. By 3rd grade, students who miss many days of school are less likely to read on grade level. By 6th grade, absenteeism is one of three signs that a student may drop out of high school. By 9th grade, attendance is a better predictor of graduation rates than 8th grade test scores. Missing 10%, or 1-2 days a month, can negatively affect a student’s academic success and their track towards graduation.

Beginning last week, each parent will be emailed a report monthly detailing how your child's attendance relates to our school goal. Please note that this report does not replace our district practices of sending specific and detailed letters to parents whose children may cross the threshold of our set attendance targets. In those cases, we will reach out to discuss further steps together. Also, this report generates automatically based on absent/tardy numbers only, and does not reflect any medical or excusals parents have provided. In these instances, please do not worry as we have your medical notes and other on our end to support these reports.

Thank you for your continued support in ensuring our students succeed!

If you did not receive an attendance report for your student by email or have questions, please contact the office at 701-323-4150.

Bismarck Public Schools has an updated page of student websites that your child can work on at home for extra practice. There are descriptions under each site icon, so that you are able to review what they are working on in school or at home. In the bottom right hand corner of the page is a translator button with multiple languages to choose from. In addition to the websites, there is information about the EL program, frequently asked questions and announcements.

Our next movie night will be in the Spring. We hope to see you there!

Kindergarten, 2nd, and 3rd graders welcomed Laura Hertz from Elevate Canine Academy and her dog RJ, into their classrooms. The goal of Laura’s presentations was to teach children how to be safe around dogs and prevent potential injuries.

In the month of December as a Grizzly family we discussed how we each celebrate during this time of year. We shared what holidays we celebrate, what we eat and what we do at the celebrations. Each classroom had great discussion and learned more about one another. All of the information shared was gathered and can be found at our Grizzlies Around the World board right in the front doors. Come and see what our students have shared. We would love to continue to expand on this to be able to share about all of the different cultures we represent at Grimsrud.

If you and your child would like to share more with us about a certain food, tradition, holiday, or activity you do at your celebrations please reach out to your child's classroom teacher so we can make a plan with you.

Our Grizzly Family is excited to announce the collaboration with the Century High School to offer high school mentors for our Grizzly multilingual students. What this means? We will be working to schedule with high school students that apply, interview and are trained to come to Grimsrud on a scheduled basis to mentor our students who are learning English as their second language. These high school students are currently taking level 3 or 4 of a foreign language in high school as well. So our hopes would be to help build meaningful relationships for all, build resiliency, and also help our mentors and mentees gain vocab and practice of a second language. We will be excited to share more in the coming months!

Thank you for coming to the January meeting! We are so excited to start planning all the fun events happening this year. If you missed the meeting, we approved funding for shirts for the peer to peer program as well as funding for a Gateway to Science STEM night. We also discussed upcoming events including our first annual Multicultural Festival, “Grizzlies Around World”. If you would like to be on a planning committee please email GrimsrudPTO@gmail.com. This event is proposed in order to celebrate Grimsrud’s diversity and be a fun way to educate the families of Grimsrud about the cultures of their fellow classmates. If interested in participating, please fill out this form before February 3rd: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfp9SSmNPLu7a7SW5EWD-fcMiJmKwDdx62vO-C9DEIcPzPr5g/viewform?usp=sharing If you have a business or know of a local group or business that would like to participate, please have them contact us by email.

Join our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/share/15ZsoHVYJh/?mibextid=K35XfP

Box Tops for Education: https://www.boxtops4education.com/s/

This month we are focusing our attention on recess procedures. We know that it is always good practice to review procedures and expectations after a long break like Christmas so as we return we will be reviewing in the classroom, in announcements, and on the playground. Our staff has committed to reteaching these expectations, actively supervising, praising positive behavior, and correcting misbehavior as it occurs. Please help us out by reviewing the link below together as a family and reinforcing your child for being a respectful, responsible, and safe Grizzly!

Click buttons below for needed support. These links will lead you to a quick form to complete that will reach out for the support needed. If you have other questions or needs please reach out to Mrs. Schmidkunz at (701)934-0826.

Horizon Middle School will be having a parent night for the incoming 6th grade parents on Monday, January 27th from 6-7pm in the Horizon Cafeteria

The winner of our January and July half Birthdays is Irieann Phillip! She will be bringing a birthday cake kit home to celebrate with her family!

-Mrs. Girodat, Title I Reading Specialist

Email: grimsrud_secretary@bismarckschools.org
Website: https://www.bismarckschools.org/grimsrud
Phone: 701-323-4150