Garfield Elementary School -

🎉 Field Day is Coming! 🎉 Mark your calendars for May 16th – it’s time for one of the most fun days of the year! 🏃‍♂️🏅 We’re planning a day full of games, laughter, and friendly competition, but we need YOUR help to make it amazing! 💪 👉 We’re looking for volunteers to help run stations, cheer on students, and keep the fun going smoothly. Whether you can spare an hour or the whole day, we’d love to have you on our team! 📅 Date: Thursday, May 16th 📍 Location: [Spellerberg Park] 🕘 Time: Kinder-2nd: 9:00 am-11:00am --- 3rd-5th: 12:10pm-2:10pm Interested in helping out? Head to the front office to sign up! 📝 Let’s make Field Day unforgettable! 💥🙌 #FieldDay2025 #VolunteerWithUs #FunInTheSun

🌸Just a little reminder! 🌸 No school this Friday or Monday — time to soak up that spring break sunshine! 🌷🌞 Enjoy every moment! #SpringBreakMode #NoSchoolYay

🌲🔥 Who says you can't go camping in the classroom? Last Friday, our amazing 403 teacher, Ms. Raabe, brought the great outdoors inside with an unforgettable Class Camping Day to wrap up the week in the most fun way! Students cozied up with books by (pretend) campfires, enjoyed a movie together, and soaked in the cozy camp vibes with their classmates. 🏕️📚🎬💚 Huge shoutout to Ms. Raabe for turning an ordinary Friday into a fun-filled adventure the kids won’t forget! #ClassCampingDay #FunFriday #4thGradeAdventures #LearningThroughFun #CreativeClassroom #CampVibes

🎶🎤🎻 **Tonight’s the Night!** Join us at 7 PM for the **Garfield Elementary Band, Choir & Orchestra Concert**! Our amazing students are ready to shine—come enjoy an evening full of music, talent, and fun! 🎺🎼✨ #GarfieldElementary #ConcertNight #BandChoirOrchestra #TonightOnly #StudentStars

🎶 **Garfield Elementary Choir and Band Concert** 🎶 Join us for a night of musical magic! 🗓 Date: **7/10** 🕖 Time: **7pm** Come and enjoy performances from our talented choir and band as they showcase their hard work and passion. It’s a perfect way to celebrate our students’ creativity! Bring your family and friends for an evening filled with joy and music. We can’t wait to see you there! 🌟

🎉 Did You Know? 🎨✨ Tomorrow at 7 PM, we’re hosting a fantastic Second Grade Art Show alongside the band and Choir Concert! It’s a perfect opportunity to celebrate our young artists and enjoy some incredible performances. Check out the sneak peeks of their amazing artwork below! Bring your friends and family for a night of creativity and fun. We can’t wait to see you there! 🎶🌟

🎉✨ Celebrating Our March Leaders of the Month! ✨🎉 We’re thrilled to introduce the incredible students recognized for their outstanding leadership during the month of March. Each student was nominated by their amazing classroom teachers! 🌟 These students have demonstrated dedication, kindness, and a commitment to excellence that truly inspires us all. Keep shining, leaders! 👏

Spike Alexander brings a wealth of volleyball experience to the hardwood. So her opponents aren’t surprised to find Spike elevating and sending their shots back at them with clarity. As a Sped Teacher at Garfield Mrs. Alexander is just as deft at elevating her students and sending them back to class with a clear understanding of their lessons.

Reminder that daylight saving happened this weekend! We sprung forward this time, so be sure to set your clocks ahead one hour to keep everyone on time for school on Monday! ⏰

We are so proud of our students’ creativity! Each grade level submitted artwork that would be placed on ceiling tiles which would grace our entrance. Here is our 1st grade placement! He is an expert at Sonic the Hedgehog. Look up when you visit the school… you’ll like what you see!

Kash Money Kirsch is called Kash Money because his thunderous rolls to the basket can be brought to the bank, which is good because he has a tendency to bring down the rim, and while at the bank, he often needs to withdraw some cash. Somebody needs to pay for the repairs. As our PE teacher, Mr. Kirsch is awesome at devising games to promote physical health, teach sportsmanship, and let the kids have a great time!

Jumpin’ Johnson has a reputation for an “erratic” playing style. Often his opponents are mystified by moves that seem to make sense to no one, except for Jumpin’. He’s been known to say his style is “out of the basketball box.” Unfortunately, it’s often “out of the basketball court.” As our school counselor however, Mr. Johnson is an incredibly reliable friend to all of our students.

Alisha “Bell Tower” Bell is a multi-tool player. Bell Tower is known for sounding out directions whether it be in the hallways of Garfield or from the post on the basketball court. Her prowess of keeping many balls in the air is what has carved out a reputation as our Dean of Students and the statuesque center of a basketball offense.

If you have child who may be going to kindergarten at Garfield next year, you’re invited to our Kindergarten Open House Thursday evening March 6th from 4 to 6 pm. You can register on-line at https://www.sf.k12.sd.us/page/school-registration or if you like, we will have computers available here and assistance if you need it. This also is a good time to bring the needed documents to school: address verification (utility bill, lease/mortgage, or piece of government mail), original birth certificate of new student, and immunization records. We look forward to seeing you!

It’s March! And at Garfield we are celebrating the game of basketball. The month will culminate with a staff basketball game on Friday afternoon, March 28th. During March our students will be earning basketball cards of the players who will be participating in the game on the 28th.On and off the court Eagle-Eye Skogstad is known for keeping her eyes on all Garfield Eagles, looking for assists, and her “thumbs up” attitude. Her leadership skills are unmatched, combined with deft ball handling skills, make Eagle-Eye the face of Garfield on and off the court.

Happy Social Worker Week! In the Sioux Falls School District, every student's journey is unique. For many of the kids we serve, our school social workers are there every step of the way! Whether offering a listening ear, connecting families to resources, or advocating for students' well-being, their dedication ignites hope and creates lasting impact in our schools. This year's theme, Unite to Ignite: Celebrating Our Impact, is a perfect reflection of how our social workers bring people together to create brighter futures for students. THANK YOU to our incredible school social workers for your compassion and care!

At Leader’s Assembly on Monday morning we had the pleasure of celebrating individual leaders from each grade level for the month of February! These leaders were nominated by their classroom teachers. Great job to these leaders of today and tomorrow!

Our Garfield attendance is back on track! We’re hoping the long flu season this year is coming to a close. For the week of February 24 through February 28 we are back at over 92% attendance school wide. Fifth graders were leaders with 95% attendance. Each grade level was at 90% or above. Way to go Garfield families!

We’d like to recognize our very own Tracy Freese who was nominated for the Teacher of the Year Award. Tracy is a teacher in our Early Childhood program and is a blessing to Garfield, the families she has served, and the many students who have had the opportunity to be part of Tracy’s classroom. Thank you Tracy and we are so proud to have you be part of Garfield!

Read Across America Week will be the week of March 3 - March 7. The book this year will be “Trouble at School for Marvin and James” by Elise Broach. To help get the kids in the spirit we have a family challenge. Send a photograph of students reading to pets, stuffed animals, toys, whatever you have at home to recreate the friendship between Marvin and James. You can email your pictures to Mrs. Christopherson at emmy.christopherson@k12.sd.us or Mrs. Flying Hawk at abbie.flyinghawk@k12.sd.us. We will also have themed dress up days at school throughout the week. Monday, March 3rd - Hats off to reading. Wear a hat Tuesday, March 4th -Differences are unique. Mismatch day Wednesday, March 5th - Rainbow of readers. Class color day EC/K- Purple First grade - Blue Second grade - Green Third grade - Yellow Fourth grade - Orange Firth grade - Red Thursday, March 6th - Team up for reading. Wear a jersey or spirit wear Friday, March 7th-Cozy up to reading-Wear PJ’s or comfy cozy clothes It’s going to be a fun filled week!