Superintendent's Update: March 1, 2024
Weekly What’s Going Well:
This week concludes the first week of the third trimester! Warmer weather, spring break and the start of spring activities is just around the corner. Some of you may have heard about the proposed budget cuts that our district is facing for the upcoming school year. These cuts are in response to a decreased enrollment and subsequent decrease in state funding that have impacted our district over the past several years. Budget shortfalls must take place in order to reduce the amount of overspending the current status would cause if nothing is done. Please listen to the video to learn more about the situation.
Spring Break
Remember that Spring Break this year will be March 11-15th. There will be no school that week. Classes resume on Monday March 18th.
Snow Make Up Days
On Wednesday evening, the school board passed a motion to add two snow make up days to the end of the school year. School will be held Tuesday through Friday the week after Memorial Day with an early out on Friday May 31st as the last day of the 23-24 school year.
Above and Beyond
Two nominees for the Above and Beyond award were honored at the board meeting this week. Zac Ceresa, teacher and coach, was thanked for his engaging tactics in the classroom and on the court. Nikki Harter was celebrated for her efforts to improve the athletics programs in Grinnell by taking on the 9th grade volleyball coaching position. She also volunteers and coaches AAU volleyball teams. She goes above and beyond for the students providing support during injuries and checking into the weightroom in the offseason.
Celebrating FFA Week!
Students at the High School capped off the FFA Week celebrations by driving tractors and farm machinery to school! What a fun way to highlight the agricultural community!
It’s Preschool Registration Time!
Preschool Registration for the 24-25 school year will be March 1st- March 15th. This registration is for the Community Preschool Program which includes Fairview Elementary Preschool, Grinnell Early Learning Center and UCC Preschool. These three programs are a part of the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program and provide free 4 year old preschool as well as tuitioned preschool for 3 year olds.
Filling out this form does not guarantee a spot in the preschool but includes your name in the lottery drawing. We work hard to ensure all students in our community have a spot in one of the community preschool programs.
If you are a current Fairview Preschool student or a sibling of a current Fairview preschool student and have already filled out your child's teacher's survey, you do not need to fill this out.
If you have any questions, please email katie.osborn@grinnell-k12.org.
CLICK HERE FOR THE 2024-2025 PRESCHOOL REGISTRATION FORM
March Legislative Coffee
It is almost time for the League of Women Voters March Legislative Coffee. It will be held on March 9, 2024 at 10:00 AM at the Drake Community Library in Grinnell. Unfortunately, Representative Dean Fisher has declined our offer to participate, and Senator Annette Sweeney will not be able to attend this month due to a prior engagement. Senator Sweeney will be attending our April 6th Legislative Coffee. Due to these circumstances, we will be viewing and then practicing how to follow bills on the legislative website using the video “Navigating the Iowa State Legislative Website” produced by the Johnson County LWV. We will also discuss bills currently in play at the legislature and how to contact legislators regarding the bills important to you. We invite everyone to bring their own laptop if they would like to participate “hands on” during this Coffee. Please join us for this informative Coffee.
Missing Something?
Our outbound email address recently changed due to an update. If you think you may be missing information from school, please add GrinnellNoReply@grinnell-k12.org to your contacts list to avoid items being sent to your SPAM folder. Also consider following all the schools in the district on Facebook to keep up with more of the happenings throughout each week.
The Virtual Backpack can be found here:
The Activities Calendar can be found here:
Have a great weekend!
Steven H. Barber