Good news!  The awning over the playground has been repaired and the playground is now ready for kids.  Thanks to Mrs. Dosal for making many calls to get this repair complete.  To see a picture of the repaired awning, please click here:  Playground Awning

Jump Rope For Heart results are in. Grady Elementary’ s total donations to the American Heart Association through Jump Rope for Heart are $6,200.00.   Thanks to all who donated to this worthy cause.   Physical Education Specialist Mrs. Michelle Murrell  gratefully thanks all of the donors and all of the parent volunteers who gave their time to make the event run smoothly.   The school-wide winner of fundraising for JRFH is Lucy Dingle in Mrs. Ward's first grade class.  Congratulations, Lucy!  Our school’s collective donations helped Grady earn a $300.00 gift certificate to U.S. Games to purchase new Physical Education equipment.  Prizes for JRFH fundraising participants  have been ordered and will be delivered and distributed in 3-4 weeks.  

Please don’t forget the PTA General Meeting Tomorrow morning at 8 am to vote on a budget amendment.  The meeting will last only  5 minutes.   And, of course, please stop by the flagpole between 7:30 am and 8:00 for your Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.  $7/dozen or $1 each.  All proceeds benefit the fifth grade end-of-year activities.

Monday night, March 6, please join us for Family Night at Lee Roy Selmon’s located at  4302 W Boy Scout Blvd. (near International Plaza).  Please mention Grady to your server so that Grady receives 10% of your purchase.  For more details, please click here:  Family Night.

Thank you so much to the volunteers who helped make Jump Rope For Heart a success.   Thanks to the families who contributed to the cause.  To see some pictures of Jump Rope for Heart, please click here:  JRFH Pictures.

There will be a PTA general membership meeting on Friday, March 3, at 8:00 am under the flagpole.  All PTA members are invited to attend.  The purpose of the meeting is to vote on a budget amendment that will allow us to buy a giant, roof-suspended fan to keep the Pavilion cool during P.E. and school events like the Spring Musical.  Please come by at 8:00 am on Friday to vote on this budget amendment.

Friday there will also be a fifth grade Krispy Kreme doughnut sale from 7:30 am until 8:00 am in front of the school.  Doughnuts are $7/dozen or $1 each.

Monday, March 6, from 6 pm to 9 pm, please bring your family out to Lee Roy Selmon’s located at 4302 W Boy Scout Blvd. (near International Plaza) for Family Night.  Monday nights kids eat free at Selmon's with an adult purchase of an entree of $9.99 or more and a drink.  Please tell your server that you are with Grady and Selmon’s will give Grady 10% of your purchase.  For more information, and to see the menu, please click here:  March 6, Lee Roy Selmon's.

Next week, March 6-9 is the last week of Winter Clubs.  We will be setting up a final 6-week round of clubs to start on April 10 and will notify you when the online sign up period for the next round of clubs is open.

Please buy yearbooks soon!  Click here for more information about yearbooks: Grady Yearbook.   

March 9 is Spring Picture day. 

If you haven’t ordered a yearbook for your child, please do so before Spring Break.  This year’s yearbook has 92 pages, which is 20 more pages than last year’s yearbook.  There will be 31 pages of class pictures, 41 pages of pictures of school events and 20 pages of dedications.  For more information about the Grady Yearbook, please click here:  Grady Yearbook.  There is a yearbook signing party on May 22.  If you want your child to have a yearbook for this event, please order your yearbook soon.

The Kindergarten students performed a Valentine’s Concert for their families on February 14.  To see some pictures of the event, please click here:   Too Much Cuteness!

Jump Rope For Heart is this Friday, February 24, 2017, on campus.  It’s not too late to donate to JRFH  by sending in the forms sent home in backpacks or by registering and donating online.  Click here for more information:  Jump Rope for Heart Information.  All students who donate at the $50 level will receive JRFH t-shirts.  Students with the JFRH shirt will be featured in a special yearbook photo of the students standing in the shape of a heart.

There are Jump Rope For Heart volunteer spots still available:  from 8:45 am to 10 am (while the Kindergarteners and Ms. McAlister’s class participate); from 11:00 am to 11:55 am (while third grade and Ms. Nichols’ and Ms. Eveland’s classes participate); and from 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm for clean-up.  If you can spare some time to volunteer, please click here to volunteer online:  JRFH Volunteers.   

The final count for Box Tops was 7,200 submitted.  This will generate $720.00 for our school.  Thanks again to all of you for clipping and submitting Box Tops.  To see some photos of fifth graders enjoying the Box Top popsicle party that occurred on Friday, please click here:  Popsicle Party.   The fourth grade also enjoyed a popsicle party, but due to testing, their party was later and there are no pictures.

There will be a general meeting of the PTA membership on Friday, March 3, at 8:00 am under the flagpole.  This is also a fifth grade doughnut sale day, so we expect many parents to be available to come to this meeting.  The meeting will last 10 minutes or less.  The purpose of the meeting to amend the PTA general budget to include a line item for a giant fan that will be installed under the roof of the Pavilion to keep kids cool while they exercise and to keep guests cool during the Spring Musical and other events.  The cost of the fan is approximately $9,000.00, which we have raised through fundraising efforts.  We do feel that such an expenditure will benefit all of the children at Grady Elementary and we would like to get the project moving as quickly as possible.  So, please come out to the general meeting on March 3 to vote on the budget amendment.

Grady PTA is calling a general meeting on March 3, 2017 at 8:00 am in front of the flag pole in the car loop.  The meeting will last 10 minutes or less.  The purpose of the meeting is to amend the budget to plan for purchases to enhance student experiences at Grady Elementary.  Please attend and vote.
Grady Elementary was selected to participate in Florida State Fair Black History Art Exhibit. The theme for each school had to be based on Tampa's black history. The students completed art based on the prominent African-Americans that visited the Jackson Rooming House located on Zack Street in downtown Tampa. This was the only hotel where African-Americans could stay during segregation. It was built in 1901 by Moses and Sarah Jackson and was in business until the late 1980's.