Garfield is proud to have the most Native American students of any elementary school in Sioux Falls and we want to show our full support of them. The Sioux Falls Native American Day Parade will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday 14th. Garfield will represent at the parade with our own entry. We encourage you to show your support too by attending the parade and cheering Garfield on!
For three weeks in a row we have exceeded 92% attendance. For the week of September 30 through October 4 our Garfield families got their kids to school at a rate of over 92%. Fifth grade really came through during that week! Fifth graders showed up at a rate of over 94%. Way to go 5th graders and their families!
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Tuesday, October 15: 12:00 - 7:30 pm
Thursday, October 17: 3 - 7:30 pm
Here’s your chance to visit with your child’s teacher about your child’s education and how they spend their day, to see their school and walk where they walk on a daily basis. And we’d love to see and talk with you! And while here spend some time in the Library shopping at the book fair. Book Fair times are Tuesday the 15th from 12 - 7 pm and on Thursday the 17th from 3 - 7.
Please reserve your time with your child’s teacher by returning the form sent home with your student. If it has been misplaced please contact our office and we will get you a new one.
October is National Bullying Prevention Month. At Garfield we want our students to be safe from bullying. We work to promote a friendly, safe environment. We’d like us all to be good friends!
The Ready. Set. Go! race on Friday was a huge success! The kids (and the adults) had so much fun. Check won the race but Garfield Elementary won the day!
Way to go Garfield Families! For two weeks in a row we have exceeded 93% attendance. For the week of September 23 through September 27 our Garfield families got their kids to school at a rate of 93.5%. All the grades exceeded 91% and the 2nd grade was above 95%! You’re awesome 2nd grade!
We have the most Native American students of all the elementary schools in Sioux Falls and we are proud of them and want to honor their heritage! Monday September 30th, 2024 is Orange shirt day which began in Canada in 2013. It promotes awareness about the history of American Indian and Native Residential boarding school systems which still impact Native American and First Nations communities in the United States and Canada. The day honors the children who were removed from their families and forced into boarding schools and remembers those who never returned home.
WOW! What a week! The week of September 16 through September 20 our Garfield families really knocked it out of the park. They really showed up for our students and their education by sending their kids to school at an attendance rate of over 93%. Third grade totally rocked it with an attendance rate of over 95%. Way to go third graders and thank you third grade families!
Excitement is running high! Race day is closing in! It'll be Friday the 27th at 2:10.
So much fun! We’d like to thank everyone who showed up for our Family Picnic Thursday evening. We had so much fun and we are looking forward to when we can get together again!
https://youtu.be/-znMTLcsgio
"Report, Don't Repost." Parents, students, and the community are asked to take 3 minutes to hear an important message from Superintendent Jane Stavem and Police Chief Jon Thum. School safety is everyone's responsibility!
Third grade is a time of change for many of our students. They are halfway through elementary school, there is increased responsibility, and they need to be more self-motivated. Third grade is typically the time when the switch happens from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” Our teachers, Mrs. Vaandrager, Ms. Frerichs, Ms. Provance, and Ms. Johnson are sensitive to these factors and work to help our students succeed through them.
Please Join us for the Garfield Family Picnic!
Thursday September 19th 5:30-7:00 PM Garfield Playground
We would love to see you and your family there! Please bring a blanket and chairs to enjoy a beautiful night of family fun! We will have hot dogs and snacks for 250 people so come early! The Eat Well Mobile Grocery will be parked on 15th for some grocery shopping and we will have lots of games and fun activities for your family and Garfield friends!
The character Flip from the game Ready.Set.Go! is so happy because he is going to be played by a Garfield student. If your student is on-time and at school for the remainder of September, they will automatically be in a drawing to run as Flip on race day (afternoon of September 27th). There will be a lot of smiles on that day!
The week of September 9th through September 13 was our first week of school with a full 5 days. It was full of a variety of challenges and we still achieved an attendance rate of 89%. We fell short of our goal of 90% but we are still proud of our Garfield families and their dedication in getting their kids to school. We are honored by their trust in us!
Let’s play! On the afternoon of September 27th we will be running a race between a few of the “adults” at Garfield for the benefit of the kids. The trick is they will be running the race in inflatable costumes. As part of the celebration we will be giving out Ready. Set. Go! playing and trading cards to students for good attendance, showing kindness, reaching goals, etc. We are going to be having a lot of fun!
Our Special Education team is the best! Whether it be one-on-one instruction or small groups, these dedicated professionals, and good friends, fill in the educational weak spots some of our students struggle with. Their instructional skills provide these students with the skills and confidence to be better able to participate in the classroom. Mr. Bitterman, Mrs. Berning, Mrs. Alexander, Ms. Johnson, Mrs. Stensland, and Mrs. Hall are able to bring the most out of their students and deserve recognition for all they do!
Our second grade teachers face a myriad of challenges. First, they need to teach an increasingly challenging curriculum to students with an increasingly divergent set of skills. And these students are starting to develop more mature social and emotional skills while given more opportunities to be more independent. Our 2nd grade teachers, Ms. Stekl, Mrs. Knight-Schoeman, Mrs. Severson, Mrs. Schildhauer, and Ms. Beach (student teacher in Mrs. Knight-Schoeman’s room) all deserve a shout out because they tackle all of this with care and compassion.
First grade! Our students are so proud of being first graders. However, this pride can be accompanied by anxiety with increased expectations, and struggles with needing to build on previous lessons from a long time ago (in a first grader’s life). Ms. Pauli, Ms. Feterl, Mrs. Flying Hawk (First Grade SIPPS teacher), Ms. Walker, and Mrs. Johnson are very sensitive and caring leaders of these young minds. Please join us in thanking them for all they do.
We’re starting out strong! Garfield families really stepped up for the start of school. We exceeded our all-school goal of 90% attendance by reaching 92%. Second grade was our strongest attenders by reaching 95%. Way to go second graders!
