Grizzly Growl: September 24, 2026

September 28, 2026
3:34 pm

Dear Granite Families,
It was so great seeing so many of you at Parent-Teacher Conferences! We always love the opportunity to celebrate your children, share their successes, and partner with you in supporting their growth. You may notice the home support ideas section of your child’s SGP. If you have questions or would like to talk about ways we can support learning at home in conjunction with the supports your child receives at school, please reach out. We’re always happy to partner with you!
As always, thank you for supporting our wonderful school community. Please reach out anytime with questions or feedback.
Warmly,
Elcena Saline

Join our Team

We are sad to say goodbye to Coach Brooklin, our Playworks teacher. Her time at Granite has been amazing and we’ve been lucky to have her. Please join me in wishing her all the best in her new full time position. Happily, Ms. Kelli Anderson, our recess aide is moving into the Playworks role.
We are hiring a recess & copy aide! Do you like playing with kids? Do you enjoy time outside in the beautiful sun? Do you want a 21-hour/week job that allows you to have the same schedule as your students? Please apply here!

Read, Talk, Wonder, Solve!

💡Talking about a book can be just as important as finishing the book. When families read together, the conversation that happens during and after the story can be just as valuable as finishing every page. Talking about characters, vocabulary, predictions, and ideas gives children opportunities to develop oral language and comprehension.
💬Instead of asking what happened? Try asking:
“How are you feeling about this story?”
“What is something you would like to know more about in this book?”
“Does this remind us of anything about our family?”
“What would you have done? Why?”

🛑Tonight, choose a book and pause 2–3 times while reading. You don’t need to ask a lot of questions. Pick one interesting thought and talk about it.

Try:“Let’s stop here. What are you thinking?”“What makes you think that?”Let your child explain their ideas before continuing the story.

Attendance

Families,
We are about a month out from the end of Q1, and we are excited for our first Attendance Incentive Field Trip to Babe at the Megaplex theater on Nov. 10.
In response to some great questions from parents, here is some more information:
Who gets to go?

Any student with 2.5 absences or fewer per quarter is eligible for the attendance incentive experience.
Eligible students must have parent permission to participate

What are the incentives?

Incentives will be either a field trip or a special assembly depending on the quarter and venue scheduling availability. Fourth quarter will always be an assembly due to the lack of time available to organize a field trip.

How do we count 2.5 days?

A 0.5 absence is accrued if a student arrives after 10:55am
A 0.5 absence is accrued if a student checks out before 1:45 (12:00 Fridays).
Checking out and returning mid-day for less than 2 hours is not an absence.
Checking out and returning mid-day for more than 2 hours is a half day absence.

What about excused absences?

There are many valid and important reasons for a student to be absent. Our district attendance policy outlines reasons for excused absences in detail here: https://www.canyonsdistrict.org/policies/student/enrollment/500-35/
The purpose of this incentive plan is to decrease our number of chronically absent students. Students are considered chronically absent based on both excused and unexcused absences.
Both excused and unexcused absences will be counted in this incentive plan.

What about Tardies?

Tardies are not considered for this incentive plan.

What happens at school while the kids are at these field trips or assemblies?

Teachers and teams will each plan how to spend this time. It will not be punitive time. Teachers will facilitate skill practice, small groups, catch up time for missing work, reviewing skills missed when kids were absent. We will not continue with core instruction while students are out of class.

What else is the school doing to help my student with absenteeism?

We have a calendar in the front office in which we track days with 93% present attendance. Students earn school-wide rewards at different intervals (10, 25, 50 days, etc.).
Classrooms complete class puzzles earning a piece each time 93% of the class is present. Classes earn a brief experience each time they complete a puzzle.
Per state law, we will send notes to families at 5, 10, and 15 days absent.
We publish our long weekends before school starts so families can plan trips.

Regular attendance is a struggle for my family. How can the school help me?

There can be many barriers to regular attendance including health concerns, morning routines, transportation, and even student anxiety.
Please reach out to our counselor, Mindy Ross mindy.ross@canyonsdistrict.org or our principal, Elcena Saline elcena.saline@canyonsdistrict.org or call 801-826-8575 for help working through these com

Upcoming Events

This Month

SeptemberF
ri., Sept. 25 – No School Compensatory Day
Mon., Sept. 28 – No School Teacher Professional Learning Day
Wed. Sept. 30 – Picture Day 📸
Wed. Sept. 30 – First Grade Fire Dept. Visit 🚒

Next Month

October
Mon. 5 – Kindergarten Zoo Field Trip
Tues. 6 – PTA Meeting 10:00
Tues. 6 – 4th Grade Symphony Field Trip
Wed. 7 – Hearing and Vision Screening
Fri. 9 – Book Blitz 8:20
Mon. 12 – SCC Meeting 4:15 (tentatively)
Thurs. 15 – Fri.16 – Fall Break No School
Mon. 19 – Fri. 23 – CSD Digital Citizenship Week
Mon. 19 – 4th Grade Watt Smart Presentation
Thurs. 22 – 2nd Grade Thriller Field Trip
Fri. 23 – End of Quarter 1
Fri 23 – Student Council Dress Up Day 70’s! ☮️🪩
Fri. 23 – Book Blitz 8:20
Mon. 26 – Professional Learning Day – No School
Tues. 27 – Fri. 30 – Red Ribbon Week
Fri. 30 – Halloween Parade
Fri. 30 – 2nd Grade Performance

Granite Elementary