Grady ELL Specialist, Maria Babilonia, is offering tutoring in Spanish this summer. If you want your student to receive Spanish tutoring this summer, please contact Ms. Babilonia at [email protected].
The Tampa Bay Lightning ThunderBug visited Grady Elementary on June 4, 2015. He answered phone calls in the front office, visited classrooms and partied with the fifth graders at the Fifth Grade Banquet. With the Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals, all we can say is GO LIGHTNING! We are the Thunder!
Thank you to the Grady Elementary 2014-15 Patrols and to their leader, Ms. Trupp! Thank you for all of your good deeds and hard work that have made our school a safer and happier place. Here is a photo of the Patrols, Ms. Trupp and Ms. Dosal at the recent Patrol Picnic. Good luck and best wishes to all of these wonderful, helpful students!!
Get started on your summer reading because here are the:
Fourth Grade Battle Books for 2015-16
Author Title
|
Nate Ball |
Blast Off! |
|
Lutricia Clifton |
Freaky Fast Frankie Joe |
|
Neil Gaiman |
Fortunately, the Milk |
|
Donna Gephart |
Olivia Bean Trivia Queen |
|
Christopher Healy |
The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom |
|
Jennifer L. Holm |
The Fourteenth Goldfish |
|
Gordon Korman |
The Hypnotists |
|
Suzanne LaFleur |
Eight Keys |
|
Natalie Lloyd |
A Snicker of Magic |
|
W. C. Mack |
Athlete vs. Mathlete |
|
Patricia MacLachlan |
White Fur Flying |
|
Jeri Watts |
Kizzy Ann Stamps |
|
Sarah Weeks |
Pie |
|
Elissa Brent Weissman |
Nerd Camp |
Dear Members of the Grady Elementary Community,
This has been an absolutely wonderful school year! A great big thank you to all of you for supporting our fundraisers, for coming to our events, and for volunteering your time. Thanks to you we have accomplished so much!
This year has seen record amounts of parents, grandparents and friends volunteering at our school. We have again won the Hillsborough County PTA's award for Volunteerism and Participation in our PTA. This award is a credit to the fine work of so many of YOU and our wonderful teachers!! We know you, volunteers and teachers, are doing the heavy lifting of raising the standards of education in our school. We are grateful for your work.
Grady Elementary also won the Hillsborough County PTA's Superintendent's Award for excellence in increased membership. The Award was presented by Hillsborough County Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Eakins. We were delighted and surprised to win this award, but it is a testament to the commitment of teachers, parents, grandparents and friends to join together to support our school. This year, we had 333 members, which is a 22% increase over last year and constitutes 100% membership (PTA membership is considered 100% when membership exceeds 75% of the number of students enrolled at the school. This is because some families have more than one student at a school).
I want to recap some of the financial aspects of this year. In terms of fundraising, our Fall Fundraiser raised $9,700 in profit for Grady Elementary and our biggest fundraiser, Tiger Trek, raised $15,000 for our school. We used much of the fall money to pay $7,000 toward the ELP tutoring program that occurred after school during the second, third and fourth grading periods. We also funded $6,000 in mini-grants for teachers, and we spent $4,000 on teacher classroom supplies by providing each classroom with a $100 Lakeshore Learning gift card. We also purchased T-shirts for Math Bowl, and Spelling Bee, and funded the registration fees and trophies for the Spelling Bee. Moreover, we spent $2,000 on teacher appreciation week, $1,000 on the back to school lunch, and $850 on conference night expenses. We incurred some expenses in instituting the new after school enrichment program, but those expenses were off-set by the club fees paid by parents.
This year we completed the installation of the first phase of our fence replacement. The first phase cost $54,600. $10,750 was raised from people sponsoring fence panels and the remainder was paid for using funds from last year's surplus and some of this year's fundraising. Next year, we begin the drive to complete the second phase of the fence replacement. The entire project will cost $102,412, and we have $47,812 yet to raise to complete the project.
I leave the position of President in good hands. Kris House, currently VP of Community Outreach, will serve as President in 2015-16. Kris has served this board for many years and is ready to lead. Our Grady Elementary PTA Nominating Committee, which includes Kris and Patricia Cannon and Krista Harvie, have nominated, and the PTA has elected the following officers:
President - Kris House
VP Membership - MaryAnn Hoffman
VP Outreach - Ellen Lyons
VP Sponsorships - Jessica Schentrup
VP Communications - Amy Zink
VP Volunteers- Chely Sierra
VP Events - Elizabeth Weekes and Annette Simeon-Lopez (not formally elected yet)
VP Fundraising - Open
Treasurer- Debbie Bresnahan
Secretary - Avery Maniscalco
We are still seeking a VP of Fundraising, as well as committee chairs and committee members. If you are interested in serving on a board or committee (Committees include Yearbook (Chaired by Janella Enajibi), ASE Clubs (chaired by Moni Sears), Spelling Bee, Membership, Events and Volunteers), please talk to any board member on this list or email us via the website. You may also speak with Nominating Committee members, Patricia Cannon and Krista Harvie. Thank you to the Nominating Committee for finding such a great slate of officers to lead us next year.
The goal of the Grady PTA is to enhance the educational experience for our children, and you all are doing a fabulous job! Thank you for your commitment!
Sincerely,
Debbie Bresnahan, President, Grady Elementary PTA
Dear Future Third Grade Parents,
As a third grader, your child will be participating in a reading adventure called the Battle of the Books. The purpose of this reading enrichment program is to encourage recreational reading, offer a variety of types of literature, increase familiarity with different authors, and share books through written and oral expression.
There are a total of seven books that have been chosen from the Sunshine State Young Readers Awards. On the back of this notice is next year's list so that students can begin reading this summer. These books are available at public libraries and book stores. They will also be available in the classroom and media center next year.
As part of the Battle of the Books, students will compete with their homeroom in May, 2016. The top four students from each homeroom will "battle" with the knowledge of books. This opportunity is great practice for the "official" fourth grade battle, but does not predetermine future participants.
We are looking forward to teaching your children next year! Have a wonderful summer and happy reading!
Sincerely,
Third Grade Teachers
THIRD GRADE BATTLE BOOKS LIST
1. The Lemonade War, by Jacqueline Davis
2. Shredderman: Attack of the Tagger, by Wendelin Van Draanen
3. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things, by Lenore Look
4. The Earth Dragon Awakes, by Laurence Yep
5. Clementine, by Marla Frazee
6. Andy Russell, Not Wanted by the Police, by David A. Adler
7. The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School, by Candace Fleming
Tuesday, May 26, to Friday, May 29, is Spirit Week at Grady Elementary. Here are the themes for each day:
Tuesday: Sports Day
Wednesday: Crazy Hair Day
Thursday: Mix & Match Day
Friday: Super Hero Day
Enjoy this fun-filled week at Grady!
The Book Fair was a huge success thanks to all of the families who participated and all of you who volunteered. Thank you for your support. Thus far, the sales at the book fair are $6,700.00, but they could go higher and break our record of $7,100, if parents purchase books through the online book fair that runs through May 26. Please just follow this link Online Book Fair Until May 26 and click in the middle of the page that says “Online Book Fair.” All orders ship free to the school and there is an expanded selection of books, including books for all ages (child to adult).
Also, we need more “treasures” for the Treasure Chest in the Kathryn Hance Media Center. If you have unused party favors, small toys such as Happy Meal toys, or other cool treats that would be a pleasure for a student to receive, please bring them to Mr. Tsourakis in the Kathryn Hance Media Center or Ms. Taylor in the front office. This is a great way to give unused party favors or Happy Meal toys a second life.
Link to the Online Scholatis Book Fair: http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/gradyelementaryschool
There will be one last End-of-the-Year Family Night at Yogurtology, located at 1202 S. Church Ave., on Wednesday, June 3, from 2 pm to 8 pm. Please come out for some yogurt and know that a portion of the proceeds of your purchase will benefit our school. Please mention Grady Elementary at the counter to ensure that our school gets credit for your purchase.