11/4: Early Release Tuesday, 2:30 Dismissal

11/4: GRCDC Family Book Club, 6:30 - 8:00 PM

11/5: Family Music Class with Ms. Jaclyn for Amash's class, 4:15 - 5:15, RSVP to Ms. Jaclyn's post!

11/6: Special Community Meeting for grades 3rd - 5th featuring Drama Club performance, 8:30 - 8:45 AM

11/7: GRCDC Family Movie Night, 6:00 - 9:00 PM

11/10 - 11/14: Neurodiversity Spirit Week

11/17: GRCDC Family Book Club, 6:30 - 8:00 PM

11/20: School Picture Makeup/Retake Day

11/25: Half Day of School, 11:30 dismissal

11/26 - 11/28: No School, Thanksgiving Break

What's for breakfast and lunch this week? School Meals Menu

What are the school hours? Click Here

Dear Families,

HAVE YOU SEEN OUR NEW WEBSITE? Last year, many of you shared on the family survey that you wanted more cohesive, aligned, and consistent communications and ways to find information about resources and school events. ParentSquare and our new website are part of responding to that ask! We heard you and our team has been hard at work reviewing your feedback and work with ParentSquare to design a site that reflects our values of connection- through sharing information easily and transparently and finding new ways to engage with you and the whole family.

The new site offers:

We are proud of the refresh and hopeful it will make staying connected and informed with GRCDC even easier! Please take a look if you haven't already and bookmark for easy access. We will continue to revise and grow content, so I welcome your feedback and ideas!

In Partnership,

Lisa Nuyens

Executive Director

e. nuyensl@childdiscoverycenter.org

o.616-459-0330

c. 517.206.3868 (text or voice note/mail)

Many have reached out about the upcoming pause to SNAP (the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). If you are not familiar, it was announced last week that SNAP benefits will not be distributed to recipients in November. This sudden halt is expected to increase the risk of food insecurity for thousands of households across the state. 

In response to the request for more information, we have collected the following resources for the members of our Narwhal community: 

What is Happening? For a clear, visual explanation SNAP and how this program supports Michigan families, please see this infogram created by the Michigan League for Public Policy. 

Need Food Assistance Now? If you, or anyone you know, wants access to food assistance, we encourage the use of these resources: 

Able to Provide Resources? For those who want to contribute to local resources, you may consider the following actions: 

Donate Food/Items: Many of the resources listed above accept monetary and item donations. We encourage you to visit their websites and/or contact the organization to inquire about their current needs.

School Picture Make-up/Retake Day on November 20th: If your child was absent on picture day, they will have their photo taken on November 20th. If you wan to do photo retakes, please let your child's teacher know via email or ParentSquare direct message. If you don't let the teacher know you want retakes, your child will not be sent to the photographer.

Lost and Found: Please see the lost and found post from earlier this week and claim your child's items by Tuesday, 11/4.

Health Update: Illness season is upon us. In the past couple of weeks, the following illnesses have been reported: Influenza B, Pneumonia, strep throat, head colds, and hand foot and mouth. If you click the links on each illness, you find more information for your reference. You may view GRCDC's illness protocol to help you know when your child may come back to school.

ParentSquare Skill Corner: The Family Team Facebook group will be archived soon. Make sure you join the Family Team Group on ParentSquare so you do not miss important opportunities for your student!

Mary Free Bed (MFB) is building a 5 story parking garage on the same lot as the new pediatric hospital. The parking structure will be completed at the same time as the hospital is expected to open (Fall 2026). GRCDC and MFB are in conversations about the impact of this parking structure to the school. MFB is hosting an open house for neighborhood engagement regarding the waiving of ground floor active use requirement for the new parking structure. This meeting is on Monday, November 3rd at 4:30 PM at the MFB Professional Building, 350 Lafayette SE.

Today, October 31st, is the last day to order a wreath! Delivery will be November 19. Order yours at https://givebutter.com/wT3Xwn. 

Family Team is moving communication off Facebook and onto ParentSquare. The GRCDC Narwhals - Families of Current Students Facebook group will be archived later this fall, so stay up to date through the Family Team GRCDC Narwhals Group on ParentSquare. 

Join the Family Team GRCDC Narwhals Group on ParentSquare. The Facebook group “GRCDC Narwhals - Families of Current Students” will be archived later this fall. We want to hear from you! If you have an idea, question, or suggestion for the Family Team email us at grcdcfamilyteam@gmail.com. 

Club meetings this week:

11/5- Drama Club dress rehearsal (performance on 11/6!)

11/5 - Girl Scouts

11/6 - Lego Club K - 2

Free After School Program @ Van Andel Institute:

The After-School Cohort is a semester-long program that dives deep into science topics. Students attend twice a week for a semester from 4pm-6pm each night. For more information and registration, please follow this link.