THE 2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!

My name is Shannon Dahl and this will be my 14th year as the principal of our amazing Grant School and my 26th in education altogether. I am incredibly excited to welcome you and your child to the Grant Family this year. We are blessed and so honored to spend time with your child from 9:05-3:05 p.m. on Monday and 8:05-3:05 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Our entire staff have been working diligently to ensure the school is ready and inviting for everyone. We are here to help your child (we call them SCHOLARS at Grant) feel welcomed and happy to be here making new friends and learning! I believe in collaborating with families, so please reach out to me or my staff with any questions, ideas, etc. We are here to ensure safety and will do whatever it takes to foster a learning environment focused on "Kids and Learning!"

The first FULL DAY of school for ALL 1st-12th grade students is THURSDAY, AUGUST 29th!

Kindergarten will begin on Tuesday, September 3rd.

ANNUAL FOCUS AREAS

Family Involvement: requires building connections in non-traditional ways. Be on the lookout for monthly Family Nights, Mornings w/ Grownups (a.k.a. donuts), receiving postcards and phone calls, as well as plain old fashioned in-person conversations. We are a team!

Teaching & Learning: we will continue with our writing integration throughout the subject areas and creating a consistent format to help every age. This year we will also implement our newly adopted math curriculum called Reveal.

Trauma Invested Practices: this is the core of Grant School practices. We will build positive relationships with EVERY child in our walls, ensuring that each child as a minimum of 1 trusted adult they feel supports them as a whole child and that meets their needs. With almost 500 scholars and 60+ staff we are committed to ALL of our scholars!

3 SCHOOL STANDARDS

The Ephrata School District K-6 buildings have common expectations. We will teach your child to BE SAFE, BE RESPECTFUL and BE RESPONSIBLE. At Grant, we call our students SCHOLARS because we want them to be the best they can be. These are infused within our Monthly Character Traits and they will be taught that, “I am a Grant Scholar because I can be safe, dependable, empathetic, humble, positive, patient, creative and confident. I practice being SAFE, RESPECTFUL and RESPONSIBLE so that I am okay and in my upstairs brain!”

NEW STAFF

Lisa Nguyen (2nd Grade), Denali Sheneman (3rd Grade), Julie Butterfield (Jenne), (3rd Grade) Kristin Jacobsen (4th Grade), Heidi Qude (paraprofessional), Jayma Mears (paraprofessional), Katie Heston (American Sign Language interpreter)

ORIENTATION DAYS

Orientation Days are key to setting up your scholar for success. They will be similar this year as in years past, giving 20 minutes to meet with your child's teacher. You will have a link available to you August 14, 2024 in your Skyward Family Access portal/login. This is for 1st-4th graders only and Kindergarten orientations will be assigned for you as they are 45 minutes. You will be able to do your annual updates prior to your scheduled orientation time, so please arrive 10 minutes early to complete this if you haven't done so.

VOLUNTEERING

We welcome families and encourage them to come and volunteer. This may take many forms, but it is up to you to work with your child’s classroom teacher. We also welcome volunteers in the library and other areas of the school. So come on in, complete the necessary paperwork and we will get you all signed up!

JUNIOR JOGGERS (JJ) & PE

We are required to provide a specific number of minutes for physical education. Because of this, JJ has morphed into part of our required PE instruction. This year, JJ is from 2:50-3:05pm and students will be released for the day from JJ. When we have bad weather, scholars will participate in physical activities in their classrooms so we may continue to meet the requirements. If you need to get a message to your child (bus change, pickup location, appointment or emergency), please contact the office PRIOR TO 2:40 p.m. or we will be unable to get the message to your child in time.

BREAKFAST AND LUNCH

This year we will have "Breakfast Before & After the Bell" (BAB). We will offer ALL scholars free breakfast. They will eat breakfast in the classroom starting at 8:00am (Tu-Fr) and 9:00am (Mon) during which the teacher will provide a Social Emotional Lesson. Lunch is also free of charge and every child will have recess prior to lunch, then a seat time of 20 minutes to eat in the cafeteria.

CONSTRUCTION

As you know, Grant is no longer undergoing construction. What WILL/DID occur is that we have a new, secure vestibule, increased cameras for security, a new roof to help prevent leaks and a newly updated cafeteria/kitchen to provide meals for all of our students.

In the 2026 we will work on trying to pass a bond to allow for future building.

RECESS

There will be no less than 30 minutes of recess per day (which is previous practice). We will have mandatory recess before lunch as well. Each grade level will have their own designated time. Furthermore, recess before the bell is available from 7:50-8:00 a.m. The bell will ring and students are expected to be seated in class by 8:05 a.m. (Tu-Fr) & 9:05 a.m. (Mon).

SCHOLAR PICK-UP AND DROP-OFF

SAFETY is our priority, which is why we need all families to follow our guidance before, during, and after school. The building remains locked at all times. If you need to contact or pickup your child, please call the office and we will come to meet you at the front door. ALWAYS USE CROSSWALKS & SIDEWALKS. We have many drivers in our area due to being in a small neighborhood and located next to EHS. This causes congestion. We need everyone to be patient and follow the safety guidance of staff. Do NOT park in crosswalks or near fire hydrants. Please remember seat belts laws for safety.

Welcome new kindergarten families! If you missed our summer kindergarten event, you can still access the information shared that day. Please contact the school office if you have any questions.

Welcome to Kindergarten

Bienvenido al Kinder

Grant Elementary recently recognized students that embody the character trait of being confident. Award winners were celebrated for being proud of themselves, taking time to relax, taking care of themselves, trying things on their own, smiling a lot, staying positive, trusting their judgement, appreciating their talents, getting to know themselves and believing in themselves. Congratulations to all our award winners! We're so proud of you!

 

Back Row (L to R): Carter Unruh, Angelina Fernandez, Grady Kosa, Erica Harris, McKinley LaJueness, Colin Young and Viviene Springs

Middle Row: Auryn White, Malaki Henderson, Samuel Lamb, Oscar Burck, Unnamed Student, Sandra Soltero, Talon Roessler and Mateo Sanchez

Front Row: Roman Ulbricht, Kellen Kosa, Elliott Bross, Daleyza Pineda Tril, Rory Eggers, Evelynn Bunney, Axel Huppert and Orion Rang

Grant Elementary recently recognized students that embody the character trait of being creative. Award winners were celebrated for saying nice things to others, drawing and painting, embracing their curiosity, experimenting, exploring nature, using their imagination, not comparing themselves to others, being a leader, engaging in new things and using a journal. Congratulations to all our award winners! We're so proud of you!

Back Row (Left to Right): Lyla Griesbauer and Persephone Baker

Middle Row: Ava Farias Austin, Audrey Einspahr, Lucas Engle, Noah Ping, Eden Worley, Camila Ramirez, Celect Ruvio Mariscal and Faith Fale

Front Row: Kainoa Quintero, Elly Recknagel, Ruth Perez Castillo, Jordan Bruton, Jaynee Armenta, Sebastian Noah, Anna Noel, Wren Morris and Kimber Sanders

 

Grant Elementary recently recognized students that embody the character trait of being positive. Award winners were celebrated for their ability to keep an open mind, offer to help, show compassion, be happy for others, look at the bright side, use nice words, think good thoughts, be thankful, smile more and believe any thing is possible. Congratulations to all our award winners! We're very proud of you!

Back row: Emily Hernandez, Yareni Cazarez Saucedo, Emiliano Lopez Hernandez, Aaron Agustin Guzman, Rylie Vasquez, Skyllar Harrell, Madilyn Morris and Liliana Valle

Middle Row: Lidia Lopez Portillo, Jordan Magrone, Zaira Castaneda Santoyo, Analee Santoyo Gonzalez, Stella Dahl, Isaac Sanchez Guerrero, Rhyett Stansbury and Kyler Roessler

Front Row: Ada Reyes Macias, Alexander Gutierrez, Arely Villa, Abigail MacNeil, and Janessa Ramirez