The Lion's Share Newsletter
April 2023
From the Desk of Mr. Miller:
I hope you are all enjoying a great spring break with your Lion(s)! They have all been working so incredibly hard and they are very deserving of some down time! I know the same can be said for our dedicated Grant staff, as well.
Before we get into some of this month's school events, I wanted to share some news with you that our wonderful assistant principal, Mrs. Cincoski, will be leaving us for a short time. Mrs. Cincoski has been asked to help at another elementary school here in D11 for the remainder of the year as the interim principal. I know she is more than ready for the work that lies ahead of her and will do a fantastic job to help support her new students. Although she will be greatly missed by all for the remained of this school year, I am very happy to report that she will be back with us for the 2023-2024 school year!
As you can see from the calendar below, April is packed with a lot taking place this month! One of the major events taking place this month is our Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) test that is administered statewide to all 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. I am excited for our students to be able to show what they know! I understand that this time can be a stressful one for our Lions, however, please be assured that we follow one simple rule for our Lions during this test. We only ask that they do their very best...that's it! As long as our Lions give their best effort, I am sure they will have success! Please note that during our testing window, we are not allowed to have any visitors or volunteers while the test is being administered.
Parents and guardians, I sent a message to everyone in March regarding our students arriving to school late. Each day we have a large number of students arriving late to school. We take a daily attendance, and we typically have 16%-27% of our students arriving late each morning. Many of these tardies are on non-weather days. We would love your help to ensure your student is able to start their day off in a smooth and positive manner by being on time. This will allow them the opportunity to have breakfast with their peers and begin their daily classroom routines with their class. As always, if you are having difficulty with getting your student to school on time, please contact me so I can try to help support your need.
Lastly, be sure to check out the calendar of events below. We will have class pictures this month, as well as our very last Skate City Night for the year. I hope that our last Skate City Night will be our biggest and best yet! As the year is quickly coming to a close, I hope we can celebrate all of the hard work your student, along with the teachers, have put forth this year.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your break!
Have a great day,
Ryan Miller, Principal
CKH Focus for April: Perseverance
For the month of April, we are heading into the long stretch towards the end of the school year. We want to be sure that all of us "Finish Strong!" As you know, it takes perseverance to finish difficult tasks, and we are working to show our Lions that they have the perseverance it takes to finish strong both here at school and at home! We hope you will partner with us to support our Lions in this work!
What is Perseverance?
Perseverance is the willingness and ability to keep going when things are tough. People who persevere show steadfastness and give the extra effort needed to do something despite how hard it is or how long it takes to reach the goal.
Why focus on Perseverance?
- Perseverance encourages positive self-talk and thinking. When faced with difficult tasks, perseverance helps students reframe with positive thoughts, such as: "I'm not good at this YET!"
- Perseverance develops empathy. Students gain a better understanding of who they are and develop more empathy and compassion for others who may struggle to reach a goal.
- Perseverance sparks personal growth. Pushing through complex tasks builds resilience and helps students discover how capable they are.
Perseverance in Action:
- Share stories and challenging experiences. Be vulnerable and share personal experiences when you have struggled with a task or concept and had to work hard to push through.
- Praise effort and process, not intelligence or performance. Affirm students for the process they used to tackle tasks and point out how their abilities grow through their own hard work.
- Give your students the chance to struggle. Struggle builds self-confidence, independence, and perseverance. Resist the urge to intervene immediately and give students time to figure it out.
Summer Building Updates
- Many exterior classroom doors will be replaced. All doors will receive new hardware.
- The entire HVAC system that heats and cools our building will be replaced with an all new, updated system (we are VERY excited for this one!).
- The play structure on the intermediate side of the building (near our parking lot) will be torn out and replaced with an all new play structure for our students (we are also very excited for this one as well!). You can see the play structure that is set to be installed in the picture!
Student Feature
We would love to introduce you to Pearl! Pearl is yet another one of our outstanding Lions that we are happy to highlight for April's Student Feature! Pearl is a 3rd grader in Mrs. Morris' class. Mrs. Morris reports that she is always eager to help other students. Many times, you can find Pearl helping students with their math. She would make an excellent teacher! You can always find Pearl leading by example in and out of the classroom...and always with a smile on her face! Thank you, Pearl, for being such a wonderful student!
What do you love most about Grant? "I like the teachers and I love our social contract that we have. I really like the activities that we have like spirit week and student council."
What do you love about being a 3rd grader this year? "I like that we have started multiplication this year. I have gotten really good at that. We have math songs to help us learn. I also like that we are learning how to play the recorders."
What do you think about Capturing Kids’ Hearts: "I like that we greet each other every morning and when we leave for the day. I love that we can help each other out by checking each other, which helps to keep things in order."
What do you want to be when you grow up? "I want to be a few things. I want to be a math teacher because I love math. I would also love to work at NASA because I love space."
What’s your favorite subject: "My favorite subject is math because I get to explore numbers and how they work. I also really like multiplication because I use that all the time."
What does it mean to you to be a Grant Lion? "I think it means that I get to help people and get to be at this school. I think this school is really great."
Fun from March!
Important April Events:
Tuesday, Apr 4: Girls on the Run 2:50-4:00, Student Council 3:00-3:45, Kindergarten Tutoring 2:50-3:50
Wednesday, Apr 5: NEHS Meeting 2:50-4:00, Kindergarten Tutoring 2:50-3:50
Thursday, Apr 6: Girls on the Run 2:50-4:00, Kindergarten Tutoring 2:50-3:00
Monday, Apr 10: CMAS Testing begins for 3rd-5th, Kindergarten Tutoring 2:50-3:50
Tuesday, Apr 11: Girls on the Run 2:40-4:00, Kindergarten Tutoring 2:50-3:50, PTA Meeting 6:00 in the library
Thursday, Apr 13: Girls on the Run 2:50-4:00, Kindergarten Tutoring 2:50-3:50
Monday, Apr 17: Kindergarten Tutoring 2:50-3:50
Tuesday, Apr 18: CSSM/SAC Meeting 8:15-9:15, Student Council 3:00-3:45, Girls on the Run 2:50-4:00, Kindergarten Tutoring 2:50-3:50, Skate City 6:00-8:00
Wednesday, Apr 19: NEHS Meeting 2:50-4:00, Kindergarten Tutoring 2:50-3:50
Thursday, Apr 20: 5th Grade Field Trip 10:00-2:00, Girls on the Run 2:50-4:00, Kindergarten Tutoring 2:50-3:50
Friday, Apr 21: Class Pictures
Monday, Apr 24: Auditions for Talent Show 3:05-4:30, Kindergarten Tutoring 2:50-3:50
Tuesday, Apr 25: Kindergarten Tutoring 2:50-3:50, Girls on the Run 2:50-4:00
Thursday, Apr 27: Girls on the Run 2:50-4:00
We are on Instagram!
Find us on Instagram at @grantlions_d11 and on Facebook at Grant Elementary School D11!
Contact Information:
Email: ryan.miller@d11.org
Website: https://www.d11.org/Domain/35
Location: 3215 Westwood Boulevard, Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Phone: 719.328.5700
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grantelementarylions