Dear Grinnell-Newburg Board of Education, Staff, Families, and Friends:
Happy Friday! Thank you to all of our families for participating in conferences this past week and for your flexibility as we navigated the winter chill. It was a rather short week for our students and it is hard to believe that February is just around the corner.
Please be sure to review next year’s calendar draft that was approved by the school board for public display. You will have the opportunity to provide feedback via calendarfeedback@grinnell-k12.org, or you may view the calendar and provide feedback at the District Office at 925 Broad St., or at each of the school’s front offices. A copy will be available at the school’s front desk with a comment sheet beginning next Tuesday, February 1. Please submit your comments by February 7, 2022, at the end of the day for the board to review prior to their meeting on February 9, 2023. You are welcome to email me directly at janet.stutz@grinnell-k12.org any time with your feedback.
Calendar 2022-2023:
The gist of this calendar is as follows: The calendar is similar to this year’s calendar. A few items to pay attention to that may have changed:
- The first day of school is August 23 and it will be an early release day.
- There will be an early release day on December 21, 2022, the day before winter break begins.
- Spring Break is scheduled at the same time as Iowa Valley as many of our students are enrolled in coursework there.
- The Board will consider adding early dismissal days at a later date to accommodate staff in the event of sub shortages.
- The Board will ask the administrators/staff to review the Spring parent-teacher conference schedule for the 23-24 school year calendar so that we can accommodate the needs of our elementary staff and students with more time before conference dates. The recommendation would be to explore the possibility of whether we can separate K-4 or possibly K-8 conferences from high school and still keep transportation intact. Next year all conferences will remain on the same day as indicated on the calendar.
COVID update:
As indicated in the last voice reach to families, due to a court case overturn, the district can no longer mandate masks for students, except on a case by case basis for a student who has a disability. Only those school districts that are active in litigation are allowed to continue with the mandate.
The Board amended the mask policy to state: NOTE: This policy is in effect to the extent permitted by applicable law. The Policy is Code No. 403.3R2/507.3R1/905.3. Therefore if there are any changes to the law in the next week or months ahead, and we are over a 10% positivity rate, I will send a voice reach out to families. In the meantime, I encourage you to wear a mask, social distance if possible, stay home when you are sick and wash your hands frequently. The positivity rate is 14.7% for the seven-day count. You can find the detailed Copy of Covid19 data (22).xlsx. Please remember to click on the January tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet.
Tonight’s Events:
I hope that you will join me to attend the Jazz Band Concert this evening in the GHS auditorium beginning at 5:30 PM. Remember that there are treats for sale following the event. Tiger basketball is home tonight! We look forward to celebrating key milestones! Come check it out! You don’t want to miss this! 200 wins- in the books for Coach Edsen! Way to go Coach!
The virtual Backpack can be found here: Virtual BackPack Link
Take a look at the virtual backpack! The free dental clinic is coming up this February and March!
Legislative Coffees News Release
The League of Women Voters will host the first of three Legislative Coffees on February 5th from 9 to 10 AM via Zoom. The event will be moderated by Marta Miller, who will be conveying questions supplied by the audience. The other two Coffees will be on March 5th and April 2nd.
Representative Dave Maxwell (House District 76) will make a brief remark and then answer questions on issues expected to be considered by the Iowa Legislature in the current session. Senator Dawn Driscoll (Senate District 38) has declined the League’s invitation to participate. Please check out the virtual backpack to register for this event.
To access the Activities Calendar, click here.
Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Janet
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Dr. Janet M. Stutz
Superintendent
Grinnell-Newburg School District
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Amber RobsonAdministrative Assistant to the SuperintendentGrinnell-Newburg Community School District
