North Godwin News
Week of February 26, 2024
Steve Minard, Principal
Kristi Bast, Secretary
Telephone (616) 252-2010 and Fax (616) 252-2011
Thursday, February 29, 2024 -- Family Reading Night at North Godwin!
Parents and Guardians,
Our annual Family Reading Night will be held this week on Thursday, February 29, 2024 from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. This event is a kick off to the upcoming national March is Reading Month. There will be games and activities, snacks, and fun for the whole family!
Have you MOVED?
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!
FREE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR PARENTS!
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!
February is Black History Month!
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.
Spring 2024 Parent / Teacher Conferences
Parents and Guardians --
Please mark your calendars for our upcoming Parent and Teacher Conferences at North Godwin Elementary. In early March you will receive a conference sheet from your student's teacher wherby you can select preferred dates and times for your conference. Conference will be held before and after school.
Early Dismissals during the week of Parent/Teacher Conferences will be as follows:
Monday, March 25, 2024
Normal School Day (8:15 AM - 3:15 PM)
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Normal School Day (8:15 AM - 3:15 PM)
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Early Dismissal for all students beginning with parent pick up at 1:30 PM!
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HALF DAY OF SCHOOL for all students with parent pick up beginning at 11:30 AM!
Friday, March 29, 2024
NO SCHOOL! Spring Break Begins!
Our Spring Scholastic Book Fair is Coming to North Godwin in March 2024!
Parents and Guardians,
Our spring 2024 Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held during the last week of March. During that week we will host a spring Scholastic Book Fair. Shopping dates/times will be announced very soon!
The book fair is an excellent opportunity to not only buy new books, but to also support our school. We are looking forward to this exciting event!
The Scholastic Book Fair will be held in the Library at North Godwin. In-person shopping days will be March 25th, March 26th, March 27th, and March 28th. Please stay tuned for the exact times that the book fair will be open for shopping.
We have a website for our school and it can be found at this link: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/NorthGodwinWeRock
You may purchase books online or in-person at our book fair. Online shopping will be open on March 25th. Forms of payment accepted include cash, credit cards, and checks.
If you have any questions, please contact Hannah Eichhorst at hannah.eichhorst@godwinschools.org or by calling (616) 252-2010 ext. 6120.
Summer 2024 North Godwin Soccer Camp
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!
March is National Reading Month!
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....
A Parent's Guide to Keeping Kids Home From School
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!
FEEDING AMERICA MOBILE FOOD PANTRIES
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!
Godwin Heights Public Schools Health and Wellness Committee Meetings
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!
"UP CLOSE & WILD" Hosted by the OUTDOOR DISCOVERY CENTER is COMING TO NORTH GODWIN 5th GRADE CLASSROOMS in APRIL!
On Friday, April 19, 2024, our North Godwin Elementary 5th Grade classrooms will be treated to a special animal program, right here at school! The Outdoor Discovery Center's "Up Close and Wild" program aligns with our 5th grade curriculum where students are learning about ecosystems and animal adaptations. The program supports 5th grade science units and upcoming STEM projects. Animal handlers and wildlife experts will bring a falcon, an owl, at least one mammal, and several reptiles into the 5th grade classrooms for this amazing hands-on experience! This program is provided FREE to our 5th graders through the generous contributions of Godwin Plumbing & Hardware and Chow Hound Pet Supplies!
Godwin Heights 2023-2024 School Year Calendar
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
Click below!
STRIVE FOR LESS THAN 5 DAYS ABSENT!
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.
Attendance Policy
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
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/