Portage Public Schools: Mid-Winter Break, February 28 & March 3.
If you couldn't make it to yesterday's focus groups, there is still time to participate in the superintendent search survey online at portageps.org. You will find the link at the top of the home page. The survey is open until midnight on Sunday, March 2nd.
Reminder: The Community Focus Group for the Superintendent Search is tomorrow, Wednesday, February 26, 2025 at 6pm, at the Administration Building. Community Members are invited to participate in a focus group as part of the search process for the next Superintendent of Portage Public Schools. Participants will be asked to share their views regarding the qualifications desired in a new superintendent. Mr. Andy Ingall from the Michigan Leadership Institute, who is helping the School Board conduct the search, will lead these meetings. In addition, participants will also contribute to developing the district “Points of Pride” which will describe to candidates the advantages of living and working in the Portage community. The meeting will be held in Conference Room 1 at the Administration Building, 8107 Mustang Dr. If you are unable to attend but would like to share your thoughts, please access a short survey at portageps.org. Each Focus Group is scheduled for approximately 45 minutes.
Last month Bright Beacon, Room 112, also read The Colorful Snowman and then brought the outdoors inside for a fun sensory experience by building and painting their own snowmen. The students didn't want the snowmen to melt so they took them outside to live.
The students in room 112 are all so smart, creative and caring!
In January Bright Beacon, Room 114, built colorful snowmen in their small groups. They had read the book "The Colorful Snowman" the day before for ideas and inspiration. Then they investigated to see if snowballs bounce as part of their ball study investigation.
Included are some pics of their pretend center at that time: an ice cream and hot cocoa shop. There are also pictures of building their indoor snowman and their Arctic small world playscape.
There is so much learning and creativity flowing through room 114!
As we live in Michigan, we of course have some very cold days and sometimes those cold days are also rainy! On one such day in January the Bright Beacon classes got together in the gym so that they could still get their exercise!
Have you ever had an INDOOR snowball fight? A fantastic time was had by all, students and staff!
February 5, 2025, was the 100th day of the 24-25 school year.
Upon arrival in Bright Beacon, Room 114, the children chose a box of building materials with 100 pieces in it. They were invited to create something with those 100 pieces. Some of the materials were small and some were big and we talked about how bigger pieces made bigger things, but still had the same number of pieces.
In large group we did exercises to count all the way to 100 and then talked about our question: "I wish I had 100...". Afterwards we worked together and built a big castle with 100 cups!
In small group we talked about the number 10 and practiced counting to 100 by tens. We made our own 100 books by gluing 100 things onto the pages in groups of 10.
During choice time many of the children chose to continue their 100-piece building projects. It was really fun to see their creativity and ideas come into fruition!
Safe Harbor Menu February 17-28, 2025
Due to student and staff illness, Curious Kids (all programs) will close early today at 5:00pm. You are welcome to come pick up your children earlier if you would like. Curious Kids (all programs) will be closed tomorrow, February 13th to allow for deep cleaning protocols to take place to help support our students and staff. We look forward to seeing everyone back at Curious Kids on Friday, February 14th. Thank you
Due to weather conditions and safety concerns PPS is closed Thursday, February 6, 2025. Curious Kids will open at 9am.
2/7/25 Closure Reminder
Safe Harbor Menu February 3-14, 2025
The current curriculum theme is exercise. The teachers have included a sports element and on Friday, 1/17, Room 102 (SH 3s) brought bowling into the classroom! The kiddos had a blast rolling the ball, being an enthusiastic audience, and helping reset the pins. It was such a fun and engaging experience for everyone!
The cold spell continues! PPS will be closed Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. Curious Kids will open at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Due to the extreme cold and snow PPS is closed Monday, January 20th 2025. Curious Kids childcare is closed as well.
In our Safe Harbor Transition rooms (101 & 103), their activities coordinate with the week's theme. These activities, as well as their choice time, promote a variety of skills such as fine motor skills, gross motor skills, language, social skills and more.
Learning is fun in our Transition rooms as you can clearly see in these pictures!
The coupon books that Curious Kids is selling to raise money for outside activities and small playground equipment has some awesome deals! It is a great way to be able to do the things you enjoy (eating out, shopping and doing fun activities) while saving some money in the process!
Coupons include "buy one, get one free", free item with purchase, and many more. If you use just two or three coupons you will have recouped the cost of the book.
Please reach out to Leilani, lhiga@portageps.org, if you have any questions or want to purchase one (or five).
We appreciate your support!
Safe Harbor Lunch Menu for January 20-31, 2025.
The current curriculum theme is "building". Check out room 118's (SH 4s) Dramatic Play area. It is "Under Construction".
Snow Day!
Due to the weather and safety concerns, PPS is closed today, December 12, 2024.
