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Call for Sled and Stump Donations

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Are you looking to upgrade your old sled this winter or have your kids stopped using the ones you have? If so, school would love to add to our current sled collection. We prefer heavier duty sleds, but will take whatever you can offer! We use them for PE, CAS, Elementary Workshops, Big Canoe, and class outings. Please consider donating today! You can drop them off at the front office.

Do you have branches, logs, or stumps laying around the yard? If so, our students would love to use them for forts, boats, trading, and other imaginary play. You can simply drop them off anywhere in the play space and students will take care of them from there!

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Lunch Orders Open for January and February

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The kitchen has released a new menu for January and February! We’re excited to announce that the kitchen is adding another hot lunch day on Wednesdays and will be highlighting another Heron To Go favorite - Broccoli Alfredo (with, of course, a delicious gluten-free option).

Please remember to pre-order lunches for your child for these months! Haven’t ordered using our lunch portal before? Find tutorials and helpful links on our Nutrition website.

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List League Broomball for Grades 5-8

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Grades 5-8 All Gender Broomball Club

We hope to again offer a broomball club sport this January-February for grades 5-8.

Great River will organize teams for broomball practices and scrimmages within our own community. What is broomball? Click here to find out!

Coach: TBD, parent volunteers wanted to help support

Practices and games: Tuesday and Thursday afternoons

Location: Como broomball rinks at McMurray fields

Cost: $100

Requirements: a bike or ski helmet, any skill level

Sign up here if you are interested in participating or to receive more information!

Summer Camp Registration Opening in January

I know we just got our first real snow, but Great River School is already planning for summer camp!  This year, our programs will be divided by grades and not age.  Camps will be divided by the following entering grades: Pre/K, 1st-3rd, 4th-7th, and 7th-10th. 

Some of our Lower Adolescent themes will be art, cooking, biking, sailing, building your own longboard, robotics, and more! Registration will be open the week of January 10, so keep your eyes out for future announcements and on our summer camp website (to be updated soon with 2022 links). You can also contact Brent Cummins with any questions at bcummins@greatriverschool.org. As always, we'll have scholarships available for all!

Summer Camp Registration Opening in January

I know we just got our first real snow, but Great River School is already planning for summer camp!  This year, our programs will be divided by grades and not age.  Camps will be divided by the following entering grades: Pre/K, 1st-3rd, 4th-7th, and 7th-10th. 

Some of our Elementary themes will be art, outdoor survival skills, sports, science, games, animals and the environment, robotics, and more!  Registration will be open the week of January 10, so keep your eyes out for future announcements and on our summer camp website (to be updated soon with 2022 links).  You can also contact Brent Cummins with any questions at bcummins@greatriverschool.org.  As always, we'll have scholarships available for all!

GRS Vaccine Clinic Interest Survey

Great River School is exploring the possibility of hosting a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for students and family members. In order to organize such an event, we need to have approximate numbers of how many community members would attend and receive vaccinations.

We are asking families to fill out this form by next Friday, 12/17, to let us know if they would be interested in receiving their COVID-19 vaccines at GRS. This form is to gauge interest in such an event, not to secure an appointment for a vaccine.

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Seeking Volunteers to Support Equity Work

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We are looking for caregivers/parents who identify as BIPOC, multiethinic, queer or neurodivergent (or support a student that identifies as such) to help support Great River’s BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Convergence affinity group, our GSA (Gender & Sexuality Alliance) affinity group, and possible other supportive affinity groups for shared marginalized identity.

We are attempting to limit the number of volunteers in the building due to COVID, but welcome your remote and behind-the-scenes talents. If you are interested, contact the Student Wellness and Equity Coordinator, Asha Erler, at aerler@greatriverschool.org with what group you’d like to support and what identities you or your student hold. We welcome allies reaching out to offer support as well!

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Chinook Book Fundraiser

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One year digital subscription is a suggested donation of $20 or pay what you can. You can always donate a subscription to a GRS staff member!

The Chinook Book app helps you discover more sustainable ways to live, work, and play through inspiring stories, savings, rewards, and prizes. With mobile offers that can be redeemed online or in-store, plus monthly giveaways of gifts, groceries, and more, you’ll always find a new way to save while helping your community thrive.

Use the QR Code to fill out the google form and pay via Paypal OR fill out the google form and drop your payment at the GRS front desk

A special link with access to your subscription will be emailed to the address you provide.

Funds raised go to support the many wonderful programs that make Great River School such a wonderful place!

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List League Broomball for Grades 5-8

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Grades 5-8 All Gender Broomball Club

We hope to again offer a broomball club sport this January-February for grades 5-8.

Great River will organize teams for broomball practices and scrimmages within our own community. What is broomball? Click here to find out!

Coach: TBD, parent volunteers wanted to help support

Practices and games: Tuesday and Thursday afternoons

Location: Como broomball rinks at McMurray fields

Cost: $100

Requirements: a bike or ski helmet, any skill level

Sign up here if you are interested in participating or to receive more information!

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Alice in Wonderland Tickets - Opening Night TONIGHT

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There are a handful of tickets available for the Saturday performance at 2pm, otherwise, Alice in Wonderland tickets are completely sold out. If you have not already purchased your tickets, you will be turned away at the door. We expect the Saturday tickets to go quickly - click this link to purchase!

Want to do even more to support our young designers, makers, and actors?
Donate to the GRS Theater Program! Your contributions directly support our adolescent productions and give students more tools and materials to make their designs a reality! Thank you!

Performances are recommended for ages 6 and up. This performance contains loud noises, bright lights, and some fairy tale violence. As compliant with GRS guidelines, masks are required for both audience and performers. 

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SEC Meeting Tomorrow

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The Student Experience Committee (SEC) of the Great River School Board is seeking more members! We identify, monitor and evaluate key aspects of the student experience at Great River. If you are passionate about improving student life at Great River School, we highly encourage you to join. Parents, students, community residents and staff are all invited. We need your voice!

The SEC meets the second Thursday of each month from 4-5pm, CST, in person in room 255 and on Zoom. Email Alaina (aszostkowski@greatriverschool.org) for more information if you’d like to join!

This year, we are focused on 3 goals: 

  1. Increase diverse community engagement in GRS programming

  2. Streamline the teacher evaluation process

  3. Develop a plan to collect and analyze data on student experience using an equity lens

We hope to see you at our next meeting!

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Last Call for LIST Basketball Signup for Grades 6-8

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LIST basketball will run from December- February this winter. We anticipate offering at least one team, and would like to determine potential numbers to see if we could offer a second team.

Practices will be at Great River Mondays and Wednesdays after school, with games on Fridays.

We will follow the GRS sports Covid protocols (linked in our safe learning plan).

Cost is $135 (league and coach fee, includes T-shirt). Scholarships are available; contact bigcanoe@greatriverschool.org for more details.

Sign up here to indicate your interest, and you'll be contacted about officially registering when we have the final details.

UA Plant Giveaway Tomorrow

Hi Upper Adolescent Students!

It's your Student Wellness Committee Coordinators again. A way to decrease stress is to care for a plant friend. We will be having an opportunity to plant and take home a spider plant on Wednesday, December 8th, in the Upper Adolescent commons. Also Spider plants are great for air purification and absorbing carbon dioxide and toxins including formaldehyde and xylene. We will have paper cups available to take a plant home in, but if you have an old mug or small pot you'd prefer, please bring that in instead. We also welcome donations of old, chipped mugs or pots if you have extra. There will be some drawing and craft materials to make some "Plant Birth Certificates" on Wednesday as well.

Come destress on 12/8! Don't forget to stop by the Positive Affirmations Bowl in the UA Commons to take an affirmation and/or leave an affirmation!

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Donation Drive - Last Chance to Donate

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Hi GRS Community!

Two GRS seniors are organizing a donation drive running through Wednesday, December 8th. We will be collecting non-perishables and personal care items, options will be listed below. Donation boxes will be located in the front and back entrances and under the table in the Orange Lobby. All items will be donated to Keystone Community Services.

Non-perishables include:

  • Milk alternatives (soy/almond)

  • Prepared/boxed meals

  • Oil

  • Jelly

  • Rice

  • Canned meat/fish

  • Sugar

  • Flour

  • Soup

  • Snack items

  • Canned fruit and veggies

  • Beans (canned or dry)

Personal care items include:

  • Toilet paper

  • Paper towels

  • Dish soap

  • Laundry soap

  • All-purpose cleaner

  • Clorox wipes

  • Trash bags

  • Shampoo/Conditioner

  • Body wash/bar soap

  • Lotion

  • Deodorant

  • Tampons/Tampax

  • Toothbrushes/toothpaste

  • Razor/Shaving cream

  • Size 4, 5, & 6 diapers

  • Baby wipes

  • Baby food

  • Formula

Email rperkl@greatriverschool.org and mhayes@greatriverschool.org with any questions!

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Attendance and RoboTexts Reminder

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(The below email was sent to all families on 11/8/21. Click here to read the entire message on our website.)

We are exceptionally grateful for your continued caution this year as you keep students home if they are not feeling well. One impact of this (in addition to keeping us all healthier) is that the attendance tracking workload is much heavier than it has ever been.

To manage this increased workload while still preserving the integrity of our communications around attendance, we are instituting a few changes effective Tuesday, November 9th. 

Robo-Texts
At 9am, we will be sending robo-texts to caregivers of ALL students marked absent, whether or not we’ve heard from you.  This notification will let you know if your child is not at school for attendance in the first hour. 

  • If you have already reported your absence, you do not need to do anything.

  • If you haven’t reported the absence at this point, send an email to attendance@greatriverschool.org to let us know the reason for the absence.

Any student with an absence that was not reported by a caregiver will be marked as “Unexcused.” 

Want to opt-out of all texts from the school? This video shows you how to manage your alert preferences.  We want to hear from you if your student is absent. The reason for the absence is important so that we can help support your student if necessary. 

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