Principal's Letter

Hello Grant Families,

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! It was great to connect with so many of you at our launch conferences and as we have started the school year. I want to take a few minutes to highlight some ways to create healthy attendance habits as we get back in the groove of the school year. Research from Attendance Works.org shows that students feel better about school, their peers and themselves when they attend school regularly. Here are some ways you can prepare your child at home for healthy attendance habits this year:

-Set a regular bedtime and morning routine

-Lay clothes out the night before

-Try to schedule non-urgent medical appointments and trips when school isn’t in session

-Reach out to your student’s teachers or counselor if you need support helping establish routines or ideas to help your student feel comfortable and excited about learning

-Visit attendanceworks.org for more information about healthy attendance habits

I look forward to another amazing year at Grant Elementary!

Love,

Mrs. Searcy

Principal, Grant Elementary

Calendar at a Glance

Sept 16 9:30 Late Start Monday (breakfast begins at 9:10)

Sept 16 3:00 Drummers & Dancers practice begins

Sept 16 4:00 Little Sluggers practice

Sept 17 7:45 Cross Country practice

Sept 17 First Day of AM/PM and CI Preschool

Sept 17 5:00 Back to School BBQ

Sept 18 7:45 Cross Country practice

Sept 22 First Day of Autumn

Sept 23 9:30 Late Start Monday (breakfast begins at 9:10)

Sept 23 3:00 Drummers & Dancers practice

Sept 23 4:00 Little Sluggers practice

Sept 24 7:45 Cross Country practice

Sept 24 Choir practice begins

Sept 25 7:45 Cross Country practice

Sept 26 Hearing & Vision Screening

Upcoming Events (more information to come)

Sept 30 2:00 Citizen of the Month Assembly

Oct 4 LC Zone Community Event

Grant Spirit Gear Sale!

Order Your Grant Spirit Gear Here!

Extra Curricular Activities

Grant offers many extra curricular activities for students to be involved in. There is an activity bus in the afternoons for students who are eligible to ride the bus and have registered to ride.

Mondays: Drummers & Dancers (for 3rd-5th grades, begins September 16 from 3:00-4:15), Little Sluggers (from 4:00-5:00)

Tuesdays: Cross Country (for K-5th grades from 7:45-8:15), Choir (for 3rd-5th grades, begins September 24 from 3:00-4:15)

Wednesdays: Cross Country (for K-5th grades from 7:45-8:15)

Thursdays: Indigenous Club (for American Indian or Alaska Native students, twice a month, starting October 10 from 3:00-4:00)

Drop Off & Pick Up Reminder

Welcome to Grant!

We are so excited to have some new staff members joining the team at Grant this year!

Emery Blasier, Preschool-CIP Para

Emmi Burda, Occupational Therapist

Blake Cooley, CI Teacher

Gwen Cracroft, Family Support Specialist

Kendra Crowshoe, Native Ed Para

Kelly Estes, Kindergarten Teacher

Jennifer Ethington, Preschool-CIP Teacher

Diana Janachek, Principal Assistant

Shelley Lorek, DI Teacher

Sarah Olson, PreK Teacher

Shahid Quidwai, Adaptive PE Teacher

Holly Rasmussen, Counselor

Chris Reiber, ELD Teacher

Kamian Truman, ELD Teacher

Aleah Wavra, PreK Para

Lauren White, Physical Therapist

Lauren Wiggins, Preschool AM/PM Teacher

Joellen Withey, School Psychologist

What's on the Menu?

Breakfast and Lunch menus are always available online. All students eat free thanks to the Community Eligibility Provision Program. Students can purchase an extra entree, called a "super" for $2.00.

Free Breakfast & Lunch

All students in Spokane Public Schools receive free breakfast and lunch. Although meals are free to all students this school year, filling out the Child Nutrition Eligibility & Education Benefit Application helps ensure school funding is maintained for essential programs. Students who qualify can get added benefits like Sun Bucks Summer EBT, waived sports and testing fees, community discounts, and many others.

All information on your application is confidential and will only be used for the meal program, unless you request to release the information. We respect your privacy.

Helpful hints to make sure your application can be processed quickly:

Only one form per household.
Providing food stamp or TANF numbers simplifies the process.
The form must be signed by the parent/guardian before processing is complete.
Please make sure to see the Application Instructions and Frequently Asked Questions before you fill out your application.

If you have questions that are not answered on the Frequently Asked Questions page, please contact CEP@spokaneschools.org.

Complete the Child Nutrition Eligibility & Education Benefit Application Here

When to Keep A Child Home From School

It is important for the health of all students, staff and families that your child not attend school when they are sick. The following guidelines are appropriate reasons to keep your child home from school:

A fever of 100 degrees F or higher in the last 24 hours. Your child should be fever free (without the use of fever reducing medicines) for 24 hours before returning to school.
A consistently goopy, runny nose.
Drainage from the eye and/or redness of the eyelid or skin around the eye.
A bad cough-one that you wouldn't want your well child to be around.
A sore throat, especially with fever or swollen glands in the neck.
Shortness of breath or other problems with normal breathing.
A child that seems ill-unusually tired, pale, or difficult to awaken, headache or body aches; seems confused or irritable, and/or lacks normal appetite.
A rash that is associated with fever or severe itching.
Vomiting with/without diarrhea within the last 24 hours. Your child should be free of vomiting or diarrhea for 24 hours before returning to school. NOTE: A child who has one episode of bloody diarrhea or two episodes of diarrhea at school must be sent home and cannot return until the diarrhea has resolved. Some diarrhea may be associated with bacteria or virus. If your child has severe diarrhea you should contact your health care provider.
Your child needs to remain at home 24 hours after starting an antibiotic.
Any contagious disease such as chicken pox, influenza, whooping cough or gastroenteritis.
As directed by your health care provider.

If you have any questions, please contact Nurse Heidi Hash at 509-354-2785.

T.E.A.M. Grant Updates

T.E.A.M. Grant is the parent-teacher group for Grant Elementary. We support the students and staff through various requests presented to the group. You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram. If you have any questions, please email teamgrant81@outlook.com.

The next T.E.A.M. Grant meeting is Tuesday, October 1, at 3:30 in the library. We would love to have you join us! Free childcare is available.

Husky Highlights

We are so happy to have Blake Cooley and his paras, Emery Blasier and Kat Hawker, join us at Grant Elementary this year! Blake teaches our CI classroom. These students make everyone smile. They bring light and joy to our school!

Ms. Lipsker's class had a fantastic first week exploring math with classmates and reading buddies at the carpet.