Wednesday, October 6 is International Walk to School Day

On Wednesday, October 6, parent volunteers will make it easier for families to try a “drop and walk”. Students who come to school in family vehicles can receive help from parent volunteers crossing streets near Great River if they are dropped off at McMurray Fields at Como Park or on Taylor Avenue & Hamline Avenue south of school. Students are already familiar with these routes due to frequent walking field trips in the neighborhood. Parents are welcome to walk with students.

North of school/McMurray Fields at Como Park

Gather by 7:55am at the McMurray Fields parking lot in Como Park. Karen Solas and Sam Olson will walk with students all the way to school, assisting at intersections and driveways. There will not be walking support after school. Contact Karen (ksolas@gmail.com) with questions. 

South of school/Taylor Avenue at Hamline Avenue

Be sure to travel westbound on Taylor so your kids can hop out of the car on the passenger side, reducing the number of streets they need to cross. Students may walk along Taylor Avenue to the sidewalk adjacent to Hamline Avenue. Join parent volunteers to find out about helping as a crossing guard at Pierce Butler on a daily basis. Crossing guards will be there from 8:00am to 8:30am. Contact Susan (susan.sochacki@gmail.com)with questions. 

Alice in Wonderland Auditions

Interested in participating in GRS’ production of Alice in Wonderland? Auditions will be held on Monday, October 4th, from 3:30-5:30pm in Room 209A for students in grades 7-12.

YOU MUST HAVE A SIGNED AUDITION FORM TO BE CONSIDERED FOR A ROLE.

If you are interested in auditioning for a singing role, make sure to prepare an audition song. Folks interested in non-singing roles do not need to bring any prepared audition materials.

Volunteer Morning at GRS - Tomorrow

Our Outdoor Education guide Brent Cummins is hosting a volunteer morning TOMORROW, Saturday, October 2nd from 9:00am to 12:00pm. Jobs could include spreading wood chips, finishing picnic tables, building a big octagonal bench for community meetings, weeding the garden, and more!

As part of our community-minded mission, we ask that all families give 20 hours of volunteer time per year. Interested in coming to the volunteer morning? Let us know by registering here!

Harvest Fest Volunteers Needed

Harvest Fest is back!  This is a time for us to come together as a community and celebrate the season.

We need lots of volunteers to make the event a success. Adolescent volunteers are welcome!  You can donate items, paint faces, keep the soup fire going, and more! 

What should I bring? 

• a mess kit (bowl, spoon for eating the soup) 

• prepared vegetables or a small stone to add to our soup (bring pre-cooked veggies or tender greens that cook quickly - make sure they are chopped small or pre-sliced for the soup! Stones should be small & clean) 

• an attitude of hospitality 

What will be happening? 

all free of charge: 

• Bouncy Houses for fun leaping and bounding!

• Face painting for wonder and whimsy!

• Coffee House open mic style music 

• Caramel Apple stand

• Leaf Crowns

• Bird feeder making

• Stone soup making

• A chance to buy from student micro-economies (student-made crafts, foods, etc) 

The Great River School Foundation is Hiring

The Great River School Foundation is seeking applications for the position of Great River School Foundation Coordinator. This position will be a part-time, contracted position, and will focus on donor data systems management. For more information and how to apply, check out the job description: Great River School Foundation Coordinator.

Alice in Wonderland Auditions

Interested in participating in GRS’ production of Alice in Wonderland? Auditions will be held on Monday, October 4th, from 3:30-5:30pm in Room 209A for students in grades 7-12.

YOU MUST HAVE A SIGNED AUDITION FORM TO BE CONSIDERED FOR A ROLE.

If you are interested in auditioning for a singing role, make sure to prepare an audition song. Folks interested in non-singing roles do not need to bring any prepared audition materials.

Back to School Spiritwear Sale

Grab some new Great River spiritwear during our Back to School sale!

We’re excited to offer some new merch this year - windbreakers, flannel shirts, baseball caps, & more! Check out what we have on our spiritwear site (always accessible through our website under the “Current Families” tab) and get 15% off everything with code GRSBTS21 now through October 13th.

Seeking Substitute Teachers

Know someone looking for a job? There is a national shortage of substitute teachers and we are no exception here at Great River. Having a good supply of substitute teachers helps us ensure that our faculty can take needed time off - all the more important after the last 18 months.

We are looking to hire:

• Multiple full-time substitute teachers to work across all levels (benefit eligible)

• Many occasional substitutes to work as their schedules allow 

Great River offers a competitive benefits package, including free/discounted Big Canoe care and faculty child enrollment preference. For the job descriptions and more information on how to apply, check out our employment page. 

No substitute license? Any adult with a college degree can apply for a substitute license in Minnesota and we will support you in the process. Please share widely with your networks!

No Drop Off or Pick Up in Front Parking Lot

We want to remind caregivers and students that pick-up and drop-off should happen only on the south side of the school. When the main entrance parking lot is used for pickup and dropoff, it quickly becomes dangerous to have so many cars attempting to turn around in such a small space and limits our accessible parking options. Please only use this lot for accessible or visitor parking (such as attending a meeting at school or picking up a sick child).

Caregivers could also drop their students on the other side of Pierce Butler and utilize the caregiver-staffed crosswalk to walk over the pedestrian bridge. To see more details on the parent-organized initiatives at the Pierce Butler crosswalk, click here.

Thank you for helping us with traffic flow during these high-congestion times!

Seeking Lid Donations for Math Project

Seeking lids for a math project!

Please bring well washed lids to GRS and drop off at the from office! We are seeking many of the following plastic lids:

• Extra small: Found on Swanson’s broth boxes and some water bottles

• Small: From your standard 20 oz. pop bottle

• Medium: Screw-top milk jugs

• Large: Simply Natural juice bottles

Parent Organized Coffee at the Crosswalk This Wednesday

Drop-off and pick-up got you down? Come to Coffee at the Crosswalk. Wednesday 9/29 at 8AM.

Come meet other Great River School parents and learn about an alternative drop-off and pick-up option.

There is a pedestrian bridge over the railroad yard north of Pierce Butler. Students often cross the bridge and pass through the crosswalk at Pierce Butler and Hamline Avenue on walking field trips. Parents are volunteering to ensure an adult crossing guard is there daily between 8:00-8:30am and 3:00-3:30pm. Stop by Wednesday, September 29th between 8:00-8:30am. Say hi, get involved. BYOC.

Questions? Contact Susan Sochacki, susan.sochacki@gmail.com or 651-775-7166.

Picture Day is Tomorrow

Picture Day is TOMORROW, Monday, September 27th.

Students will have the option to take their masks off for the picture. Photos will be taken in the gym with the external doors open for ventilation and all students will be 6+ feet from anyone else when they can unmask.

You can order online now at inter-state.com/FlyerEntry/60055ZF

Volunteer Morning at GRS - Next Saturday, 10/2

Our Outdoor Education guide Brent Cummins is hosting a volunteer morning next Saturday, October 2nd from 9:00am to 12:00pm. Jobs could include spreading wood chips, finishing picnic tables, building a big octagonal bench for community meetings, weeding the garden, and more!

As part of our community-minded mission, we ask that all families give 20 hours of volunteer time per year. Interested in coming to the volunteer morning? Let us know by registering here!

Reminder of Special Board Election - Voting Open Now

Dear Great River community,

It is time to vote in our special GRS School Board election! In recognition of the ongoing pandemic, we are holding this election virtually via Google forms and email validation. You can find a link to your ballot below - voting will remain open through TONIGHT, Friday, September 24th at 11:59pm. All caregivers and faculty are eligible to vote.

Click here for the candidate materials. 

Click here for the ballot.

Any questions? Email us at board@greatriverschool.org!

BIPOC Caregiver Committee - Surveys For Families

The BIPOC Caregiver Committee is a group of caregivers who meet the first Thursday of each month to talk about ways that the school can be more inclusive for BIPOC students while also focusing on encouraging everyone in the school to explore their identity. Our next meeting is October 7th at 7:45pm - all parents of BIPOC students are welcome to attend! Want to join the BIPOC Caregiver Committee? Email Anu (adean@greatriverschool.org) or Cassie (curbano@greatriverschool.org to get connected!

We put together a survey to see what activities students and family would like us to focus on so we have more voices of what the community is desiring to see this year. We are inviting all students & caregivers to fill out the below forms, to gather information and ideas of what activities students would like to do this year to explore their own cultural identity and the cultural identity of others in the community.

• Elementary survey

• Lower Adolescent/Upper Adolescent survey

We are also inviting all community members to participate in a GRS cultural activities and recipe cookbook. There is a survey link below to share a recipe contribution or a specific cultural activity:

• Cultural Cookbook survey

Box Tops for Education

Yes - we do collect Box Tops! Yes - they DO contribute to our school!

You can follow the new-ish scanning method (see the how-to for a primer on scanning your shopping receipts) AND we still collect any box tops that you can find that you can still cut from the box. Please give those to Holly at the front desk. She gets so excited!!

Any questions? Email Holly at hbell@greatriverschool.org

Holly modeling her excitement over physical box tops, along with our resident therapy dog Petunia!

Candidate Materials for Upcoming School Board Election

Candidate materials are available to view here.

In recognition of the ongoing pandemic, we will hold this special Board election virtually via Google forms and email validation. Your ballot will be sent to you on September 23, and voting will remain open through September 24. Voting will close at 11:59pm on Friday, September 24.

You will be voting for candidates in these positions:

• Teacher (licensed GRS teacher in a current teaching capacity at GRS)

  • (1) standard 3-year term

• New! GRS Student - New this school is the addition of a voting seat for a GRS Student. A GRS Junior will begin with 1 active board year, then moving as a GRS senior for 1 year as board alternate, with a new GRS Junior taking the active seat.

ACE Registration Deadline Sept 27th

Hello Lower Adolescent Families,

At the end of August, a school announcement was sent out containing information for registration for ACE Youth Club, the 7-9th grade after school program.

This email is a reminder to all applicable families that should your student desire to attend, the deadline to register will go into effect on September 27th.

If your student is interested, please be sure to send in the registration form via email *no later* than this date as we are trying to hold boundaries for student and adult ratios.

If you are looking for the registration form, it can be found below!

ACE Youth Club Registration Form

Additionally, after September 27th, an email will go to both student and guardian with the designated space we will be meeting in for this program.

If you have any questions or concerns please let Tia Gorde or Stacy Ward know!

Thank you,

ACE Leadership Team
tgorde@greatriverschool.org
sward@greatriverschool.org

Half Day Tomorrow

Great River School will have an 11:45am dismissal time for all students TOMORROW, Wednesday, September 22nd for teacher professional development. Lunch will not be served for students.

To see the GRS calendar and all teacher professional development half-days, check out our website. For easy viewing, you can add the Google calendar to your family’s calendar (view tutorial here).

Great River School Board - Reminder - Special Election this Week!

Hello, GRS Community!

Please remember to VOTE in the GRS Board special election, this Thursday and Friday, September 23-24.

In recognition of the ongoing pandemic, we will hold this special Board election virtually via Google forms and email validation. Your ballot will be sent to you on September 23, and voting will remain open through September 24. Voting will close at 11:59pm on Friday, September 24.

Candidate materials will be available on September 22 for your review

You will be voting for candidates in these positions:

• Teacher (licensed GRS teacher in a current teaching capacity at GRS)

  • (1) standard 3-year term

• New! GRS Student - New this school is the addition of a voting seat for a GRS Student. A GRS Junior will begin with 1 active board year, then moving as a GRS senior for 1 year as board alternate, with a new GRS Junior taking the active seat.

Thank you in advance for your participation! Please do not hesitate to call on your GRS Board if you have any questions, you may also email us at board@greatriverschool.org.

Best Regards,

Great River School Board