Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week is next week, May 1 to May 5!   There are many ways in which you can participate to help this coming week. 

First, we are still in need of gift card donations for next week’s teacher appreciation raffle on Wednesday, May 3.  We hope to provide all the faculty and staff at Grady with an opportunity to win something in the drawing.  Please drop off any donations of gift cards or tickets in the front office and leave a sticky note with your family’s name on it, if you want recognition.  The gift cards will be given away during the Morning Show and your family’s name will be called out as a donor if you donate a gift card.

Next, we need people to sign up to bring in simple food items for a teacher breakfast at 7:45 am  on Friday, May 5.  To see the very simple items you can bring into the front office, please click here:  Teacher Breakfast Sign Up.

Please remember that Tuesday, May 2 is School Supply Day; Wednesday, May 3 is Superhero Shirt and Gift Card Day; Thursday, May 4 is Superhero Thank You Note Day and Friday, May 5 is Light Breakfast Day.  Please participate at a level that works for you while keeping in mind all the wonderful things Grady teachers and staff do for our children.  To learn more about Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week, please click here:   TSAW.  

Also coming up is Grady’s Spring Musical, Dig It, A Musical Tale of Ancient Civilizations, which will be performed under the Pavilion on May 4, 2017.  The PTA General Meeting begins at 5:30 pm and the show will begin shortly thereafter.   We need help setting up and taking down chairs for this event.  If you can spare 30 minutes to help set up chairs right around drop-off on May 4, please volunteer by clicking here:  Chair Set Up Volunteers.  If you can stay and take the chairs down after the event, please stay for a few minutes after the Spring Musical is over to help.  

We will again have a raffle for gift baskets at the Spring Musical.  Tickets are 1 for $1, 7 for $5 and 15 for $10.  Write your name and number on the back of your ticket because you need not be present to win.  We will also have a silent auction for theme park tickets and other items.  If you have anything to donate to our themed-basket raffle or silent auction (e.g. theme park or baseball tickets), please contact Julie Alexander at [email protected]. 

 Also, the PTA will be pre-selling raffle tickets Wednesday and Thursday morning before school next week, with the baskets available for viewing –  and for you to deposit your tickets into –  on Thursday (cash, check or credit card for raffle ticket purchases).

Finally, an appeal directed at next year:  The Grady PTA needs you!  For next school year, the Grady PTA is need of someone with creative talent.  We are looking for someone who can assist us with graphic design of banners, t-shirts, and other items.   If you have this talent and/or software and are willing to donate time to help out the school, please contact us at by replying to this email.  We also have some board positions still available. If you would like more information, please email [email protected].

Moms’ Night Out is Tonight at Bonefish Grill from 4:30 PM until 7:30 PM.  We hope to see many Grady Moms tonight.  Thank you to the people who are helping to watch the kids tonight, so that our Grady Moms can have a great night. Please click here for more information:  Moms' Night Out. If coming to the Moms’ Night Out will be a game-time decision for you, no worries.  Reservations are not required.  Please contact VP Krista Harvie with any questions at [email protected] about tonight.

At a PTA board meeting yesterday, Grady Elementary PTA confirmed that we spent $5,781.00 on the extended learning program (free afterschool tutoring program) for 2016-2017.  Also at yesterday’s board meeting, Grady PTA spent $321.75 for Scholastic Science materials for third grade.  We also learned that the School District has denied our request to install giant fans under the Pavilion, citing safety as the reason, so we are going to reconsider our next large-scale project.

Grady Elementary and its young artists won first place in the Florida State Fair Salute to Black History Art Exhibit Contest.  Grady won first place for its exhibit, “The Jackson House.”  The trophy pictured here: trophy, was awarded to Grady by the Hillsborough County School District for the best Black History historical art exhibit at the 2017 Florida State Fair.  Congratulations to Art Specialist Mrs. Grigsby and all the Grady students who helped make this winning exhibit. To see pictures of this award-winning exhibit, please click here:   Jackson House Exhibit.  

As you know, Tuesday, May 2 is School Supply Day in conjunction with Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week.  We want to alert you to some great deals on boxes of copy paper at Staples.  Staples has the following specials going:  One 8-ream box of paper is $12.99 after rebate (the rebate is a Visa prepaid card) (click here: Copy Paper Deal #1); another 8-ream box is $14.99 after rebate (click here: Copy Paper Deal #2); and there is another 8-ream box of paper for $19.99, which does not require you to submit a rebate form (click here: Copy Paper Deal #3).  The deals expire soon, so please look at each link for details.  If you use the online delivery option, please email the teacher you intend to give the paper to and let her or him know to expect it.

Information about Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week and the list of requested school supplies (on the bottom of the page) is here:  TASW.  To see some ideas for super-cute packaging of school supplies click here: Cute Ideas.   If you plan to deliver your school supplies in a delightfully cheerful and always-welcomed Target bag, as I will do, please don’t click on the cute ideas link.