We hope everyone had a great winter break! If you are looking to purge any electronics or creative toys after the holiday season, our media center is collecting donations of gently used electronics such as computers (Windows 10 only), ipods, ipads, flat screen tvs (40 in. or less) and any creative play toys or gadgets. These items will be repurposed for education and enrichment purposes for our students. Please bring items to the media center or contact our Media Specialist, Mr. Tsourakis, at [email protected].
Please note that early release Mondays are back. Pickup is at 12:55 pm on Mondays for the rest of the school year.
After School Enrichment (ASE) Club registration is now open. You can register online by clicking on ASE Club Registration. For club dates and details, please click on ASE Spring 2020. We were able to add a second Cooking Club on Tuesdays which lets more students participate and allows us to divide students by grade (although we will attempt to keep siblings together).
Volunteers are needed for Walk to School Wednesday on 1/15 and to monitor Grady's Black History Art Booth at the Florida State Fair from 2/6 - 2/17. Please see additional details below and click on the links to sign up.
Below are some upcoming important dates:
- 01/12 - Community Cleanup for 5th Grade Students at Coleman Track at 9:00 am
- 01/13 - Community Cleanup - Meet at Park & Walk at 12:55 pm
- 01/14 - PTA Meeting from 8:00 - 9:00 am - Open to anyone interested in learning more about PTA and upcoming events
- 01/15 - Walk to School Wednesday from 7:00 - 7:35 am
- 01/16 - Unlock the Treasures of Reading Night from 6:00 - 7:00 pm, Grady Dad's Night at The Press Box at 7:30 pm
- 01/20 - Martin Luther King Jr Holiday - NO SCHOOL
- 02/06 - Last day to submit entries for the SLAM Showcase
- 02/07 - NO SCHOOL
- 02/10 - K-2nd Sculptures due for Doodad Sculpture Contest
- 02/12 - 3rd-5th grade Sculptures due for Doodad Sculpture Contest
- 02/13 - Kindergarten Valentine's Concert
- 02/14 - Jump Rope for Heart and Field Day
- 02/17 - President's Day - NO SCHOOL
- 02/19 - Ready for Kindergarten event for incoming kindergarteners
- 02/28 - Family Skate Night at United Skates of America at 6:00 pm
- 04/18 - Grady's Auction Night
Unlock the Treasures of Reading Night (Pirates & Pajamas Night) on 1/16
On Thursday, January 16th from 6:00 - 7:00 pm is our 12th annual Unlock the Treasures of Reading Night, also known as Grady's Pirates and Pajamas Night. This event is for parents and children. From 6:15 - 7:00 pm, students will go to classrooms and enjoy stories read by pirates from local krewes. At the same time, parents of K-2nd grade students will go to the cafeteria for a Reading Essentials Information Session and parents of 3rd-5th grade students will go to the Media Center for the FSA (Florida Standards Assessment) Information Session.
The kids are invited to dress as pirates or wear pajamas. There will be free books, beads, juice and cookies. Don’t miss this fun event!
Grady Dad's Night 1/16 at 7:30 pm
Our first Grady Dad's Night of the year is coming up on Thursday, January 16th at 7:30 pm (right after Unlock the Treasures of Reading Night) at the Press Box at 222 S. Dale Mabry Highway. Click on The Press Box to view their menu.
If you are able to attend, please RSVP to Drew Catanese at 803-521-3261 or via email at [email protected].
Volunteers Needed for Walk To School Wednesday and Florida State Fair
- Walk to School Wed on 12/15 - Volunteers are needed from 6:55 - 7:40 am for student check in during our monthly Walk to School Wednesday event. Please click on Walk to School Volunteers to sign up.
- Volunteers are needed to monitor Grady's Black History Art Booth at the Florida State Fair this year. This year, Grady students will be learning about the accomplishments of Medgar Evers and some of their artwork will be selected to be part of the exhibit. The shifts are 3 1/2 hours long and you can walk around to other booths as well. The fair will be here from February 6th until February 17th. If you are interested, use the link below to register and you will receive 1 free fair entry ticket for that day. https://signup.com/go/
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Community Cleanup Opportunities
- All Grady Students - Please help us clean the Baseball/Softball areas next to Park & Walk every Monday at 12:55 pm, right after school. Bring an adult and check in with Wendy De la Garza at the Park & Walk gate. Please bring tongs/grabbers to help pick up trash from the surrounding area. The PTA will have a few extras your students can use.
- Grady 5th Graders - Please help us keep the Coleman Middle School track and surrounding area clean of trash. ??
This is a great environmental project and it serves our learning community. Bring your parent and a pair of gloves to any or all of the Sunday morning meet-ups at 9:00 am at the track entrance on W. Neptune St. Please wear your Grady spirit shirts.
SLAM Showcase
The Student Literacy and Media (SLAM) showcase is in full swing at Grady Elementary! This is a district K-12 event celebrating reading. All students are invited to make two-dimensional art projects or short video book trailers about books in the special reading list. There will be awards given and winners will proceed to a county level contest. Submissions must be sent in by February 7th. For more information about the SLAM Showcase and the official rules, please click here or contact our Media Specialist, Mr. Tsourakis, at [email protected].
Doodad Sculpture Contest
This year, Grady will be participating in a new experience: The Doodad Sculpture Contest! Doodads is an art sculpture competition that requires students to use recycled or upcycled materials to create a 3D art sculpture. Each year, different materials are requested to be used according to a theme and this year's theme is "SHOES"! This is an art competition that students will work on at home, but may get advice from Mrs. Grigsby, Grady's art teacher.
There will be school-level awards given out to 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Honorable Mention winners for each grade level. We will also be hosting a party celebrating all school-level winners. All participants will receive a certificate and a ribbon.
All sculptures will be turned in on the stage in the cafeteria from 7:10 - 8:00 am on the dates below. If the sculpture is larger than 3' X 3', the parents will be responsible for dropping them off because we are unable to accommodate large sculptures at school. Parents can submit a picture of sculptures larger than 3' X 3' via email to [email protected].
- K-2 sculptures are due on February 10th
- 3-5 sculptures are due on February 12th
Yearbooks
We need your help to complete our Yearbook! You don't need to come to Grady Elementary to help create our Yearbook - there is flexibility to create pages and upload photos from home or the office.Please email [email protected]
Yearbook sales are open online! Please visit www.strawbridge.net to purchase and enter online code yb112045. Yearbooks are all hardcover this year and cost $25 if purchased before March 1, 2020. On March 1st, prices will rise to $30.
We will be sending paper forms home if you prefer to pay via cash or check. Please note that cash and checks will only be accepted in January and February.
If you have pictures from field trips, Tropicana Speeches or the Winter Concerts that you would like included in the yearbook and the website, please email them to [email protected].
5th grade parents - the deadline to purchase ads for your 5th grader is February 22, 2020.
Box Tops
Keep collecting Box Tops! For every 5 Box Tops submitted, students will obtain 1 entry into the monthly drawing. For more information, please click Grady Box Tops.
You can submit Box Tops 3 ways:
- Through the Box Top$ for Education app. Send a screenshot of your current uploaded box top amounts in your app to [email protected] to be eligible for prizes.
- Clip Box Tops and turn in on the form sent home or in a Ziploc Bag. Make sure to include your child's name and teacher on the form/ziploc bag. Please insure that you are sending unexpired Box Tops and not the "Skip the Clip" logos. Items with the "Skip the Clip" logo should be submitted through the Box Top$ for Education App.
- Send unscanned receipts to your teacher with your child's name written on the back.
PTA Meetings
The next PTA meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 14th from 8:00 - 9:00 am in the Teachers' Lounge. The meeting is open to anyone interested in learning more about the PTA and upcoming events. If you cannot attend and would like to review the prior meeting minutes, please visit PTA Board Meetings. We have also listed some of the programs that 2019-2020 PTA Fundraisers will help fund.
PTA Membership
Who can join? ANYONE. You can add your neighbor, parents, grandparents, anyone in the community.
How much does it cost? $6 for one person, $10 for two.
Where can we become members? Online at: https://gradypta.
High membership participation provides PTA with strength in numbers when advocating for our students and also allows us to participate in PTA programs such as Reflections Art. Our PTA also receives awards for membership and programs PTA offers.
Tiger Business and Family Partners
Thank you to all of our Tiger partners! Our Tiger partners greatly assist us in enhancing educational opportunities and experiences for Grady students in four main areas: make a difference in our classrooms by funding programs; deliver PTA events to our students, teachers, and families; support Grady school events by providing volunteers and/or covering expenses; and enhance Grady Elementary through health and safety projects. To learn more about Tiger Family and Business Partnerships, please click here: Tiger Partnership Program.
Our 2019-20 Tiger Business Partners are:
- Siberian level partners: Jim Cornwell State Farm; Triage Consignment Boutique
- Leader of the Pack level partner: Abdoney Orthodontics
- Bengal level partners: AdventHealth Centra Care Urgent Care; Perez Orthodontics; Fancy Nails; After Hours Pediatrics Urgent Care; Kumon of Palma Ceia; Traditional Tae Kwan Do Black Belt Center; Pediatric Dentistry by Dr. Jerry Copeland II; Rockatar Music Academy & Studios; Butterfly Pharmacy; and Cashel
- Cougar level partners: South Tampa Pediatric Dentistry; South Tampa Kids Dental Krewe; The Suarez Law Firm; and The Digital Bell
Our 2019-20 Family Sponsors are:
- Leader of the Pack level partner: Drs. Siviero & Heather Agazzi
- Tiger Bronze partners: Melanie Edwards Fowler; The Gibbs Family; The House Family; and The Zysk Family
- Red (Bengal) level partners: Angi Comas; The Christopher Family; The Du Family; The Fitzgerald Family; The Gomez Family; The Jacobs Family - Jennifer, Jeremy, Welles & Briggs; The Ledford Family; The Lueckeman Family; The Roush Family; and The Schentrup Family
- Yellow (Cougar) level partners: John Paul and Rosemarie Getting; The Neward Family; Khue and NamSon Nguyen Family; and Ken Vu
- Green (Cub) level partner: The Knittle Family
Got used markers? ColorCycle them at Grady
What is Crayola ColorCycle? Crayola’s latest sustainability initiative designed to repurpose markers, highlighters and dry erase markers. All marker brands are accepted.
How do I help? Collect markers and drop them off in the front office or your student can give them to our art teacher, Debonique Grigsby. For more information, click on ColorCycle.
Familias que hablan Español
Si tienen preguntas sobre nuestros eventos o programas, por favor manda un email a communications@gradytigers.