Our Grove students did an excellent job practicing our safety drills and procedures this week. We are required to conduct three fire drills per year, so students will participate in two more all school fire drills over the next few weeks. We will also be conducting our bus evacuation practice this coming Friday. 

I encourage parents to talk to their children at home about emergency procedures and safety in their homes following our safety week at school. The following are some suggested steps for families to take with children at home: 

• Plan how to get out of the house if there is a fire, discuss different escape routes, and make sure students know stop, drop, and roll  

• Identify a relocation site to meet as a family in case of an emergency

• Teach kids how to call 911 and post other emergency numbers where kids can easily locate them 

• Identify a trusted neighbor whose door children can knock on to call for help or if they need to get out of the house and need a safe place to go  

• Ensure all fire, smoke, and Co2 detectors have batteries and be sure to have a working fire extinguisher that is easily accessible  

• Put together an emergency kit or first aid kit and make sure children know where to locate it easily 

• Identify a location for the family to go in the case of a tornado

• Discuss kitchen safety and establish guidelines for using kitchen tools and appliances  

Grove Family Picture Wall and Humans of Grove Avenue site!! 

We look forward to seeing and adding family pictures that were taken this year to our Grove Avenue Family picture wall in the main hallway of the school! We are also inviting families to submit a little blurb about their family to be included in our Humans of Grove Avenue web page that we have created just for Grove Families! A QR code will be added next to the picture of each family picture up on the wall, which will take individuals to the story of each family. Please click on the link to the Humans of Grove Avenue Google Form to submit your family story to be included on our site and linked to the QR code for your picture. If you did not take a family photo during the Grove Family Pictures, you CAN still participate by submitting a picture and your story to the Google Form!! Family pictures and QR Codes from last year will remain up on the wall. If families who already have a picture up on the wall took new pictures this year, we will replace the existing picture from last year with the newest picture when we receive them, otherwise the previous picture will remain. We would love to have all of our Grove families represented on the wall and web page! Please contact Mrs. Matthews with any questions! 

NEW Information from Specials Classes

Updated this week! Click on the link to the newsletter and take a few minutes to see what children are doing in each of our special areas!! 

Fall Assessments 

We will be wrapping up our MAP assessments in grades 2-5 this coming week and continuing our Fastbridge Assessments for kindergarten and first grades in ready and math. Grove is also piloting the Fastbridge MySaebrs assessment (a social, academic, emotional screener), so students in 2nd-5th grade will participate in this assessment during the last week of September .Please be sure to read the district letter with details regarding our assessments. I have included a link directly to the letter for your convenience.

Upcoming Dates

Monday, September 18th - Grove Creativity Project begins for 3rd-5th graders 

Monday September 18th - Running Clubs begins for 1st and 2nd Grade 

Tuesday, September 19th - September PTO Meeting, 9:15 a.m., Room Parent Meeting, 10:30 a.m. 

Tuesday, September 19th - Running Club begins for 3rd & 5th grades 

Thursday, September 21st - Running Club begins for 4th & 5th grades 

Thursday, September 21st - New Family Mixer, 4-6 p.m. on the K-ground 

Friday, September 22nd - Bus Evacuation Drill 

Saturday, September 23rd - BHS Homecoming 

Monday, October 16th - District 220 Elementary Fun Run and 5th Grade Mile Race @ Beese Park