GECKO GAZETTE
GRANT SCHOOL - SANTA MONICA
WEEK OF JANUARY 10 - 16, 2022
~TRANSLATION OPTION INTO 100 LANGUAGES!~
~ ¡NUEVA OPCIÓN DE TRADUCCIÓN A 100 IDIOMAS! ~
Para leer la Gaceta Gecko en otro idioma, mire a la derecha del boletín y haga clic en "TRADUCIR EL BOLETÍN". ¡Ahora puede elegir entre 100 idiomas!
~ በ 100 ቋንቋዎች ውስጥ አዲስ የትርጓሜ ምርጫ! ~
የጌኮ ጋዜጣ በሌላ ቋንቋ ለማንበብ እባክዎን በራሪ ወረቀቱ በስተቀኝ በኩል ይመልከቱ እና “የትርጉም ጽሑፍ” ን ጠቅ ያድርጉ ፡፡ አሁን ከ 100 ቋንቋዎች መምረጥ ይችላሉ!
~ IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER ~
Please review these important dates:
- Thursday, January 13th: Weekly COVID testing
- Monday, January 17th, 2022: Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday: NO SCHOOL
- Wednesday, January 19th: PTA Executive Board Meeting @ 6:00 PM and PTA General Meeting at 6:30 PM
- Monday, January 24th: School Site Council Meeting @ 3:15 PM
- Thursday, January 27th: Transitional/Kindergarten Roundup: 4:00 PM This meeting has been moved to virtual. Contact Karen Miller for details: kmiller@smmusd.org
~UPDATE TO COVID QUARANTINE PROTOCOLS~
Dear Grant Families,
I hope this message finds you well. You may be aware that last week the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health updated the quarantine and isolation guidelines. This update allows school districts the option to shorten the quarantine for asymptomatic, unvaccinated, exposed students from 10 days to 5 days (with a negative antigen test on Day 5) for a return to school on the 6th day after exposure.
Our management team, which includes District and school site administrators and the nursing staff, have been working tirelessly to ensure our transition to this 5-day quarantine protocol is implemented smoothly, effectively, and as soon as is practicable. While there are a few schools in SMMUSD that will be piloting this new protocol this week, the majority of the schools in the District will tentatively enact the shortened quarantine protocol the week of January 18th, just after the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. The following will apply:
- Any student that was required to quarantine last week will continue to follow the 10-day quarantine and may return to school on the date listed on their COVID exposure notification letter, as long as they are symptom-free and have not had any additional COVID exposures.
- Students that are required to quarantine this week will not be eligible for a shortened quarantine. They will be required to quarantine for 10 days.
- Any exposed students who have submitted proof of full vaccination may return to school after an exposure as long as they do not have any symptoms associated with COVID and they pass the screening. *For elementary students, full vaccination is two weeks after their last COVID shot.
- Fully vaccinated, asymptomatic students who have a COVID positive household member are not required to quarantine, however, we strongly recommend these students stay home until the COVID positive household member is off isolation.
- This week, Superintendent Drati will provide further details of the new quarantine protocols.
While we know there is a desire to have all of our schools implement the new protocols immediately, we believe that a thoughtful and coherent plan will ensure the safety of all of the members of our learning community. Additionally, many of our schools have yet to receive the results of last week’s PCR testing because testing labs are extremely impacted by this latest COVID surge and we feel that data is valuable to implementing these new plans. We will notify you when all of the results are in but we ask that you please check your email inbox for your child’s results. Some of our families, out of an abundance of caution, have kept their children home since the winter break. If you are not comfortable with your child returning to school prior to receiving last week’s test results, we will count this absence as excused.
We appreciate your partnership in ensuring the health and safety of all of the members of our community and for your patience and flexibility as we continue to navigate these unprecedented times. As always, please contact us if you have any questions.
Take care, be well, and stay safe!
All my best,
Christian Fuhrer
Principal
Grant School
~COVID-19 STUDENT VACCINATION QUESTIONNAIRE~
~IF YOU HAVE NOT COMPLETED THIS QUESTIONNAIRE PLEASE DO SO AS SOON AS POSSIBLE~
Dear Grant Parents and Guardians,
On behalf of the entire Grant Staff, I want to wish you a Happy New Year! I hope you and your families have enjoyed the winter break and found time for relaxation, fun, and reflection as we enter 2022. Above all else, I hope that you have all stayed healthy.
On December 30th, Superintendent Drati sent the community a message containing information regarding our return from winter break and the COVID mitigation strategies the District will continue to employ as we enter a new phase of this ongoing pandemic.
You can read Dr. Drati's message by clicking the following link or reading the attachment: SUPERINTENDENT'S MESSAGE 12/30/2021
We at Grant School will continue to strive to keep all of our students and staff healthy and safe as we navigate the latest iteration of the COVID-19 virus. To help us in this effort and to minimize any potential student or class quarantine we are asking you to provide us with your child's proof of COVID vaccination by filling out the following questionnaire for Grant students only.
The questionnaire can be accessed by clicking the following link: GRANT SCHOOL STUDENT VACCINATION QUESTIONNAIRE 1/2022
*All vaccination information will be cross-referenced with the State of California's immunization registry (CAIR) by our health office staff.
If your child has not yet been vaccinated we ask that you please fill out the questionnaire and answer "NO" to the question "Has your child received the first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine?"
Thank you for your continued partnership in ensuring our entire learning community can remain healthy and safe! We look forward to the opportunity to provide our students with an uninterrupted educational experience!
Go Geckos!
All my best,
Christian Fuhrer
Principal
Grant School
~ WEEKLY REMINDERS ~
Check your email every night...
Please check your email daily, including each night and each morning before coming to school, to see if a positive COVID-19 case has been identified in your child’s class and if your child needs to follow the quarantine protocols. Sometimes we are informed of a positive case late at night, and we need to inform multiple families as quickly as possible that their child needs to quarantine. If a positive case is identified in your child’s class, please know that district nursing staff will follow up with you as part of contact tracing.
~GRANT'S SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL LEARNING FOCUS~
DECEMBER SCHOOL READ-ALOUD: FOCUS >>> INCLUSION
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and award-winning artist Rafael Lopez create a kind and caring book about the differences that make each of us unique.
The Grant School Social and Emotional Learning Committee has planned all-grade read-alouds once per month that focus on empathy, bullying, diversity, inclusion, equity, and other important topics. The purpose is to have all students read (or be read to) a specific SEL-focused book on the same day and have discussions in classrooms that same day. Ideally, we believe this strategy will foster greater empathy and understanding among students and also encourage conversations in their homes.
~FARELESS GOPASS PROGRAM FOR ALL SMMUSD STUDENTS~
~STUDENT PERSONALIZED EMERGENCY KIT~
Dear Grant Families,
As you know, one of our goals as a school is to create a safe and caring learning environment for all of our students. As part of that goal, we prepare and practice in case of an emergency. In order to ensure that all of our students have what they need in an emergency situation, we ask each family to fill out a Student Emergency Information Sheet and provide a Personalized Emergency Kit for their child. We asked for this in our First Day Packet, but upon inventory, we have noticed that many children have not brought this in yet. If you have not done so already, we encourage you to supply the following for your child.
GALLON ZIP LOCK BAG containing:
Student Emergency Information Sheet (click here for a printable form or pick up a hard copy in the office)
Extra change of clothes
Water
Non-perishable food item
Comforting note and/or family photo
Note: Students without a ziplock bag by January 10th will receive one from the PTA containing a granola bar and water bottle).
*Students enrolled in Grant School are not required to pay any fee, deposit, or other charge for participation in an educational activity offered by the school or the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, except as authorized by law. Donations are sought and accepted for various activities and supplies and are at times critical to the continued success of classes and activities, but donations are voluntary.
~WeTip School Safety Program~
~GRANT RANKED #2 SCHOOL IN SANTA MONICA BY US NEWS & WORLD REPORT~
GRANT ALSO RANKED #343 OUT OF 5,887 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN CALIFORNIA.
CALIFORNIA — More than 7,850 elementary and middle schools in the Golden State have been ranked among the best in California, according to a brand-new ranking released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report.
Nationally, California has 5,534 ranked elementary schools — the most of any state — followed by Texas at 4,446; New York at 2,211; Florida at 2,128; and Illinois at 2,038 schools. California also has the most ranked middle schools with 2,319, followed by Texas at 1,942; Illinois at 1,243; New York at 1,219; and Florida at 997.
For the inaugural list, U.S. News published rankings and data on more than 80,000 public elementary and middle schools across the United States.
See the full list here.
To determine the rankings, U.S. News used data from the U.S. Department of Education to analyze two areas at each school:
- Math and reading proficiency — or how well students perform on state assessments.
- Math and reading performance — or how well they perform compared with expectations.
~GECKO WEAR SCHOOL SPIRIT FRIDAYS~
~GOOD LIFE ORGANICS PROGRAM~
Want to use your food dollars to support our school?
Sign your family up for a farm box from Good Life Organics so you can enjoy sustainably grown organic fruits & veggies at home while raising money for our school at the same time!
What are you waiting for? Sign up today!
(If you want help signing up, fill out this quick shortcut form)
~ DONATE TO THE GRANT PTA AND SANTA MONICA EDUCATION FOUNDATION TODAY! ~
Your donation does so much for Grant!
Please consider donating to the two organizations that enhance education for all Grant students: the Santa Monica Education Foundation and Grant PTA. Your donations are so important. Check out the crucial staff, programs, technology, and materials funded by your donations in this chart!
Our goal is for 100% of Grant families to give to PTA and the Ed Foundation. ANY amount makes a difference to our kids. If you have already donated, thank you!
~COMMUNITY RESOURCES for FAMILIES~
~The Emergency Broadband Benefit Program~
https://getemergencybroadband.org/#
getemergencybroadband.org The EBB Program is an FCC program that provides a temporary discount on monthly broadband bills for qualifying low-income households
*Some events and resources not sponsored by or affiliated with the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.
+Algunos eventos no están patrocinados o afiliados al Distrito Escolar Unificado de Santa Monica-Malibu