June 1: Pool Party

June 3: Fifth Grade Promotion Ceremony (9:00 - 9:30 am, with reception following)

June 4: Last Day of School (12 pm dismissal)

Click here for the 2026-2027 district calendar

Thank you for coming last Thursday morning to hear our PBL "Shark Tank" presentations. I hope you were impressed with your child and are proud of their growth in public speaking this year -- I certainly am! Our panelists (Beth Erickson, Matt Hill, and Emily White) mentioned to me how much they enjoyed their time with our class.

The last week of our school year is full of fun. Please read the details for each day:

MONDAY 

5th GRADE POOL PARTY: Fifth graders will have their pool party for most of the day. Arrival and dismissal times remain the same. We will walk over around 8:45 am and start walking back at 2:15 pm. Please have your fifth grader come to school with sunscreen on and swim clothes underneath street clothes. They should also have a towel, water bottle, and sunscreen (that they can reapply later). Lunch will be served and snacks will be provided, but please pack extra food if you have a picky eater. 

As noted in Mr. Kretsch's email regarding the pool party, all smartphones will be collected at the beginning of the day. There will be a photo booth at the party for students to capture memories.

TUESDAY 

On Tuesday morning, fifth graders will have their final promotion practice. Then the rest of the day is Field Day! From 10:30 am to noon and then again from 12:30-2:00 pm, students will have access to a variety of activities, including inflatables and outdoor sports like soccer and gaga ball. Please make sure that your child is dressed appropriately with a hat, sunscreen, and running shoes, and comes to school with a water bottle labeled with his or her name. It should be a fun day!

WEDNESDAY

Promotion Day! Please refer to Mr. Kretsch's email regarding details for the ceremony and reception, as well as the procedure for signing out younger siblings. Please read the email in its entirety, especially noting that after the ceremony, fifth graders will follow a short parade route during which they will be cheered on by their K-4th grade peers. Please do not follow the students on this parade route. They will reunite with you on the front lawn for the reception.  If you want to take your fifth graders home early after the reception, you must check them out in the office. Otherwise, we will have our usual dismissal at 1:25 pm.

During the promotion ceremony:  Families are welcome to dress in whatever they feel is appropriate for this occasion; however, we kindly ask that hats not be worn during the ceremony. As you celebrate this special milestone, please be mindful that all families will want to capture the moment when their fifth grader’s name is called. To help ensure clear sightlines for everyone, we ask that helium balloons not be brought into the audience seating area.

Note to parents with children under 5: This is a special, culminating event for our families. By Wednesday, students will have rehearsed this ceremony three times. Our fifth-grade students giving speeches will have practiced their speeches countless times and deserve to be heard. Please, please be mindful of noise levels and do not have younger children walking/running down aisles. You are welcome to take your younger child to another part of the school if they need to move around or talk. Or please consider arranging child care so that you can enjoy the ceremony without interruption.

THURSDAY

Our final day together. I will have some games and activities planned for the class as we say our goodbyes before school's out for summer! Dismissal will be at 12 pm. Report cards and a final letter from me will go home with students. 

We have PE weekly on Tuesday mornings from 8:20 - 9:05 am with Miss Kelly (our new PE teacher).  On Tuesdays, please make sure your child is wearing shoes in which they can run. I also recommend a hat and an extra water bottle for hot days. 

We have Music on Friday afternoons from 1:10-1:55 pm. We have Art every other week on Tuesday mornings from 9:30 - 10:20 am beginning the week of August 18. 

Our weekly visit to the school library will be Thursdays from 8:40 to 9:00 am. 

This year, we will be managing some assignments and hand outs (such as study guides) on Google Classroom. Students will learn how to access Google Classroom this week. Please take some time to have your child login also from a home device and then please bookmark that page so that you will be to access it quickly when needed!

If you are looking for books for your family's library, please consider ordering from Scholastic Books. You can have books shipped directly to your home or to school. Every order earns points for our class, and points help us grow our classroom library. When using the Scholastic website, our class activation code is GKMNT. Place an order of $25 or more and you can pick a FREE $5 book (use code READS at checkout). Here is an online flyer.