450 S 100 W Garland, UT 84312
Phone: 435-257-2600

Hello Everyone,                                                                                                   January 12, 2021

 

I hope that you are having a great day.  I also hope you know how much we appreciate all you do as parents.  Our students are well cared for and loved.  This makes it so much easier for them to do well at school.

 

This is a great time of year for school.  We usually see our students make lots of progress this time of year.  We will be challenging our students to do more and become better readers each day!  We will give them focused instruction, on their level and we will track and monitor their progress closely. 

 

One thing you can do to help them is to read with them at home.  If you can sit next to them and read a book to them, that would be amazing!  It doesn't really matter what type of book it is, as long as it is something they enjoy and will pay attention to.  All students of all ages love to be read to.  It allows them to focus on the story and just enjoy it.  Listening to an adult read allows a student to hear reading done properly with good expression, fluency and accuracy.  It also will improve their comprehension skills tremendously.  When you finish the book, or a chapter, just ask them a few simple questions about what you read.

 

I hope that everyone will continue to stay healthy.  I think we have been very fortunate as a school.  We have not had to quarantine nearly as many students as some schools I have heard about.  Let's hope that can continue!

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Sincerely,

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Mr. Johnson

 

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hello Parents and Students!                                                                                 November 2, 2020

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Congratulations on a great school year so far!  I have been so impressed with the efforts of everyone in the Garland Elementary Community.  Parents, students, teachers and staff members have all shown great flexibility and resilience this year. We just had to change our schedule to accommodate a later start and that was not a simple challenge for anyone. I know that this presented problems for many of you, but I haven't heard any complaints. I hope you all know how much we appreciate your positive attitudes. 

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The teachers and staff at Garland Elementary are grateful for all you do to make our school great.  We will continue to do our best to educate your children.  We know this is a partnership between school and home and it is an effective one.  

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We are grateful to have students in our classrooms.  In many places in the country, students are still stuck at home.  Hopefully we will not have to do that again!

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I hope things are going well for you all and that we can have a happy holiday season!

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Mr. Johnson

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Dear Parents and Students,                                                                                August 11, 2020

 

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL!      

It has been a busy time for us as we have tried to be ready for the start of the school year.  I hope you all have had a fun and relaxing summer.  I also hope that our students are excited to come back to school.  We are glad to be able to have students in our building again.  With our current situation, it will be an interesting challenge, but we are ready for it!

 

We have lost a few of our amazing teachers.  Mrs. Christensen and Mrs. Baird both decided it was time to retire from teaching.  They were both amazing teachers who have touched many lives.  We wish them the best as they enter this new chapter.  Mrs. Rawlinson decided to stay home with her new baby this year.  She will really be missed!  Senora Metarref has moved to a different school and will continue teaching Spanish dual-immersion.  We wish her good luck! 

 

When people leave, that means new people will be joining us.  I feel very fortunate that we were able to hire some outstanding new teachers.  Senora Arias will become our new first grade Spanish dual-immersion teacher.  She is originally from Venezuela and has been teaching DLI in Wasatch School District for 8 years.  Mrs. West will join our 2nd grade team.  She has been teaching 2nd grade for the past 3 years in Virginia and has achieved great results.  Ms. Westwood will be joining our 4th grade team.  She has been teaching in Davis District for about 10 years and is an amazing teacher.  Finally, Miss Barnes will be joining our 1st grade team.  She is a local girl and has been teaching in Ogden.  She is excited to join us here at Garland. 

 

Our staff remains mostly the same.  LaDawn and Carrissa are both still here in the office, (Thank goodness!)  Our incredible school counselor, Mrs. Wilson, is back with us as well.  Fred, Alan and John, our awesome custodians, are all still with us, and our kitchen staff (with our amazing Kitchen Manager Mrs. Nicholas) remains the same.  Mrs. Esplin, our literacy coach, will be back with us and helping us to be better at what we do.  Mrs. Jacobsen has also joined us and will be an additional instructional coach.        

 

This year, we will again be focusing on reading.  I want every one of our students to be able to read at or above their grade level.    Being able to read at or above grade level is the single most important thing that an elementary student can accomplish.  If they leave our school as a strong reader, they are prepared for secondary school and for life. 

 

The DIBELS assessment will be a valuable tool as we determine the current performance of our students and then set goals.  DIBELS helps to measure: fluency, accuracy and comprehension.  Here are the scores our school achieved on the mid-year DIBELS assessment.  (Due to the closure, we were not able to complete the end of year testing.) The percentage listed represents the percentage of our students who were reading on grade level:

 

2019-2020 results on DIBELS by grade level:

Kindergarten                 96%                 First grade                    81%

Second grade                75%                 Third grade                   74%

Fourth grade                 92%                 Fifth grade                    87%

 

I also want to remind you of your rights as a parent. If you ever have questions regarding your child’s educational performance or what they are being taught, please just drop in or send us an e-mail. We will be happy to answer your questions. Your child has a right to quality instruction that is centered on rigorous curriculum with high standards and relevance.  The focus of this instruction is literacy and numeracy to promote economic prosperity, citizen participation, strong moral and social values, and commitment to constitutional government. We believe that educational success is most likely to be achieved when we develop a partnership. We hope to develop and nurture those relationships.  Please keep us informed of your child’s needs or any impactful changes.

It is important to note that neither the school nor Box Elder School District provide health or accident coverage to students.  The district has provided us with information about supplemental health and accident insurance that is available for you to purchase from a private vendor. It is purely optional.  For more information, visit our web-site.   

 

If your student is ill, or there is a family emergency, please call to inform us that they will be absent.  

 

It will continue to be mandatory for all visitors to the school to check in at the office and then wear a visitor’s badge. They will also be required to complete a health questionnaire and wear a mask.

 

We believe that an orderly, safe environment is essential for students to learn and achieve academically.  To promote this type of environment, we will continue implementing our character education program.  Students will be taught the following traits or attributes while here at school:

Humility                                    Forgiveness

Kindness                                   Compassion

Empathy                                   Optimism

Patience                                    Gratitude

 

ASBESTOS:  By law, each year we need to inform you whether we have asbestos in our school.  There is no asbestos in this school.  We are in compliance with all EPA standards and regulations.

 

LUNCH and BREAKFAST: If you had free or reduced-price lunch last year, you will need to re-apply again this year at the district office or on-line.  The regular lunch price this year is $1.90 and the reduced lunch price is $0.40.  Adult lunches cost $3.75.  Breakfast will be served each day from 8:00 to 8:25.  Breakfast is free for all Garland students.  Adults may purchase breakfast for $2.50.      

 

Registration:   The district has decided to do all student registrations on-line.  All new and returning students in all schools within the Box Elder School District must be registered using the on-line process.  Call the school or district for questions.  A separate letter regarding this process has been included.

 

OTHER NOTES: 

1—The drop-off and pick-up procedures remain the same.  Please follow these guidelines:

• Drive slowly

• Be attentive while in the school zone. Do not use your phone. 

• Remember that the school drop-off zone is one-way. 

• Do not park or leave your vehicle at the curb in the drop-off/pick-up lane.  This area is for loading and unloading only.  This lane of traffic must keep moving!

• Do not drop off away from the curb.  Do not have them cross in front of other vehicles.

• Have your child exit from the passenger side of the vehicle.

 

2-The school schedule has not changed.  School will begin at 8:30 and end at 2:50.   

3-Regular Day Kindergarten Schedule.  Morning kindergarten will begin at 8:30 and end at 11:30. PM kindergarten classes will attend from 11:45-2:50.

4-Early Release Wednesday—School will end at 1:50 each Wednesday. On Wednesdays, morning kindergarten students will attend 8:30 – 10:40 a.m.  Afternoon kindergarten students will attend from 11:45 a.m. – 1:50 p.m. 

5-The first day of school is August 31st for grades 1-5. Kindergarten students will not attend until September 8th. Kindergarten students will all be tested during the week of August 31st..  Those tests are done by appointment.

6-We will be implementing a staggered dismissal at the end of the day. Bus riders will be excused first at 2:50. At 2:51, walking students will be excused. At 2:52, students being picked up by parents will be excused.

 

There will be no back to school night or event. 

The first two weeks of school will be minimum days.  From August 31st thru September 11th, school will go from 8:30 to 12:30. 

During those first two weeks of school, breakfast will be served from 8:00 to 8:25 as usual, but we will not have a regular lunch period.  Students who wish to have school lunch during those two weeks will be able to order a lunch and they will be provided with a grab and go lunch at the end the day.  As of the beginning of the year, all lunches will be back to their normal pricing. 

 

Kindergarten students will begin attending school on September 8th.  Because of the minimum day schedule, the schedule will be different for kindergarten students that week.  Students in the full-day kindergarten class will attend each day from 8:30 to 12:30.  Students in the AM classes will only attend on the 8th and 10th from 8:30 – 10:30.

Students in the PM classes will only attend school on the 9th and 11th from 8:30 to 10:30. 

As of the 14th, we will be back to our normal kindergarten schedules as listed above. 

 

Return to School Information

Our top priority is to keep our school safe and our students healthy and happy. 

To make this happen, we have found it necessary to change many of our schedules and routines.  For example, at lunch, we can only serve one grade at a time so that we can properly social distance.  This means some students will be eating earlier and some will be eating later.  All grades will have their own recess time, separate from students in other grades.  Tables and desks that students use will be wiped and disinfected at least once a day and each time a student moves to another location.  Students will not be moving from place to place as much as they have in the past.  Most instructional activities will take place in their own classroom.  All students will have assigned seating in: the classroom at desks, on the carpet, in the lunch room and at reading groups.  Students will not be sharing supplies at any time.  They will all have their own: pencils, reading books, math books, white boards, etc.  We will not be holding any large group gatherings and there will be no assemblies or field trips.  All surfaces and tables will be disinfected at the end of each day.  

 

Important notes regarding precautions and preventing the spread of illness:

 

We are asking all parents to please keep students home if they are ill.  DO NOT send them to school. 

 

All students will be required to wear a mask at school whenever it is not possible to social distance.  This same expectation will apply to all teachers and staff members.  If for example, students are playing outside and they are able to spread out and be 6 feet apart, they will not need a mask. If they are in class and they are grouped closely together, masks will be required. 

 

Students will also be asked to wash their hands often at appropriate times during the day.

 

We will social distance as much as we possibly can.

 

If a student is exhibiting typical Covid 19 symptoms, teachers have been instructed to send them to the office.  There, we will check their temperature and isolate them in a specially set aside room.  Their parents will be called to come and pick them up.

 

 

The medical evidence is clear that hand washing, keeping surfaces clean, social distancing, and mask wearing, are very effective strategies to prevent the spread of Covid 19, as well as other illnesses. 

 

 

THANK YOU for all you do as parents.  I am grateful to be able to work with you.  We are all excited to be back in school.  If we all do what we should and work together, we can keep our school safe and our students healthy.  We do not want to go back to online school!    

 

Sincerely,

Mark Johnson; Principal

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June 1, 2020

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Hello Garland Friends,

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Wow, what a strange school year we just experienced.  I know I speak for all teachers and staff members when I say that we missed our students over the past two months!  We all sincerely hope we will be able to have a normal school year starting this fall. Nothing official has been decided yet. Once we learn anything new, we will inform you. In the meantime, have a fun and safe summer.  Don't forget to do your reading!

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Thank you parents for your support during the closure!

Mr. Johnson

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March 18, 2020

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Hello Garland Community,

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I have some exciting news to share.  We have finished our mid-year DIBELS testing and we achieved some great results.  As you can see, our students and teachers have been working very hard.  It is so exciting to see students improve and become better readers!  

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Have a great day!

Mr. Johnson

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Oct. 19, 2019

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Dear Parents and Community,

 

Our beginning of year DIBELS assessments have been completed.  Once these tests were completed, each team of teachers met to analyze their scores and set goals for the end of the year.  The percentages you see in the chart represent the percentage of students reading at grade level.  Obviously, we all have some work to do.  

 

Please have your students read at home every day.  This will help them tremendously.  We promise to do our part by making reading our top priority and giving each of our students solid and research based instruction.  We use data to carefully track the progress of each student and to help each student as an individual.

 

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of students reading on grade level.  Regardless of what they want to do in the future, being a good reader will help them to succeed!

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May 30, 2019

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Hello Garland Community,

 

We have reached the end of the school year. It has been fun and exciting. I sincerely hope that it has been a good year for your child.

 

I know that our teachers and staff have worked very hard to make it a good one. I also want to acknowledge all of the contributions of our PTA. They have been amazing and are definitely the best PTA I have ever been associated with. They provided meals for teachers, lots of fun activities for the students and field trips through their fundraiser. I also really appreciate the many parent volunteers who have helped us with: reading, baggy books, parties, field trips and so on. You have really made a difference.  

 

We just finished all of our DIBELS testing and I wanted to share that information with you. See the chart below:

 

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Thank you for everything you have done this year. I hope you enjoy your summer and we look forward to seeing you in August!

 
Mark Johnson

Principal

Garland Elementary

450 S. 100 W. 

Garland,  UT  84312

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Older Messages

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April 30, 2019

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Hello Garland Community!

 

I hope you have been enjoying the Spring time weather! It has been so nice here at school the past few weeks. The students seem happy and energetic. I can't believe that it is already May. This school year has flown by.  

 

I am very excited about the things we have accomplished this year. We are in the middle of our DIBELS testing right now and we are waiting anxiously to see how our students will do. So far, we know that our kindergarten students have done incredibly well. 95% of them have scored at or above benchmark. That is up from 84% last year. That is amazing. Our teachers have done an incredible job. I also want to thank you parents for the way you support the teachers. You have been great. Thank you as well for reading with your children at home. That helps them so much.

 

When we get the scores for our other grades, I will share them with you.  

 

May will be a fun month. We have lots of fun activities coming up that I'm sure the students will enjoy.  

 

Thanks for everything! I love being part of this community

 

Mark Johnson

Principal

Garland Elementary

450 S. 100 W. 

Garland,  UT  84312

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February 28, 2019

 

Garland Parents,

 

I have some exciting news for all of you. Garland Elementary just recently completed its mid-year DIBELS reading assessments. All students have now been tested and we have all of our results.  

 

The scores that will be listed show the total percentage of students at each grade level who are reading at or above grade level. It also shows the percentage of students who are reading below grade level. I have included our beginning of year scores so you can see how much progress we have made so far.

 

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The students will be tested again at about the end of April. We are excited to see how we do at the end of the year, but our middle of the year scores are a cause for celebration! The students, teachers, instructional coaches and reading aides have all been working very hard. Reading well is the most important skill we develop here in elementary school. I am so impressed with what has been accomplished so far!  

 

Making progress on reading is definitely a team effort. So, I want to thank all of you as well.  Keep having your students read at home. They really benefit from the extra practice.

 

If you see a teacher or reading aide, tell them thank you for their hard work. The staff here at Garland has done some amazing work.    

 

Mark Johnson, Principal Garland Elementary 450 S. 100 W.  Garland,  UT  84312

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February 2, 2019

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Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming up! They will be on February 20-22.  Please make sure you sign up for a time using the link on the parent-teacher conference page (under the Parents tab). We hope to see you all there.

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Mark Johnson, Principal

Garland Elementary

450 S. 100 W. 

Garland, UT  84312

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January 7, 2019

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Hello Garland Community!

 

Things are going well here at school! I am so proud of the hard work of our students. I really feel like we will be able to reach our end of year goals. The teachers have been working very hard as well. If you get a chance, please tell a teacher how much you appreciate them.

 

We have our mid-year DIBELS assessments coming up. They will be on January 28th and 29th. This should give us a good idea about the progress our students are making. I will be sure to post the results from this assessment when I have them.  

 

I also want to remind you all about the importance of regular attendance. We have been setting a monthly goal for student attendance. Our goal for December was 94% and we reached it! 

 

Thank you for everything you do as parents. This is a wonderful community and we are grateful to be a part of it.  

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Mark Johnson, Principal

Garland Elementary

450 S. 100 W. 

Garland,  UT  84312

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October 9, 2018

 

Hello Garland Community!

 

Well, we have completed our first month of school and things are going well.  Our DIBELS testing is complete now and we have lots of valuable information about our students.  The DIBELS results tell us where our students are on some key reading skills.  We can then formulate a plan and try to help out our struggling readers.  Within the next couple of days, we will post our DIBELS goals for the year here on the website.  

 

If you have questions about your child and how they are doing with their reading, parent teacher conference will be an excellent opportunity to find out.  Be sure to sign up for an appointment.

 

Also, if you want to help your child improve their reading skills and have some fun at the same time, read aloud to them!

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Mark Johnson,

Principal

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Garland Elementary

450 S. 100 W. 

Garland,  UT  84312

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April 26, 2018

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Hello Garland Community,                                                                                                          

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I would like to introduce myself to you all. My name is Mark Johnson and I will be the new principal at Garland Elementary next year.

I have been the principal at Lake View Elementary for the past seven years. I have really enjoyed my time at Lake View. Lake View has accomplished some great things and I have made many great friends while I have been here. It will be hard to say goodbye to them. 

Another friend of mine is Mrs. Ekins. I have known her now for two years and I think she’s great. I have spoken with Mrs. Ekins about Garland Elementary quite a bit. She really loves your school! 

I have heard lots of great things about the Garland community. From what I understand, the community is very supportive of the school and parents do a great job raising their children. I have also hear that Garland Elementary has many wonderful teachers and staff members. I am looking forward to meeting them and working with them.

Now to tell you a little bit more about myself. I began my career in education as a special education teacher. I taught all of the academic subjects and worked with kids who needed some extra help. I loved teaching those students. I then became an assistant principal and was in that position for three years before becoming a principal. I have been the principal at three different schools, including Lake View.

On a more personal note, I love sports, I love to hike and bike and I love to read. I also like to watch movies. I am a major Star Wars fan. I have been very happily married for 26 years now. My wife is the best part of my life. We have five children who range in age from 21 to 10. I am very proud of each of them. My oldest son is studying computer science at Utah State and my ten year old daughter is in fourth grade. She loves to read. 

I personally believe that reading well is the most important skill a student can acquire while in elementary school. Students who read well, do most other things well. Typically, the best readers are the best writers. Good readers do well in school when they move on to intermediate and middle school and so on. Regardless of your interests and career path, being a good reader will open the door to many opportunities. 

I also want you to know that I believe in our public school teachers. Teachers are often under-appreciated. Our teachers are very well-educated and tremendously skilled. They also care deeply about children. I consider it a privilege to work with people like that. 

I have already visited Garland and I plan to be back soon. I am trying to learn all that I can about the school. I want to do the very best job I can there as principal and I look forward to meeting all of you.

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Sincerely,
Mark Johnson