Garrison Public Schools

Congratulations to our readers who received awards from 2025-26! Pictured are our top classroom readers and 4 students who entered the "Million Word Club!" Way to go!

Congratulations to Paraprofessional of the Year Jessica Myers, Teacher of the Year Susan Ekstrom, and Support Staff of the Year Dani Hummel! We appreciate you for all of your dedicated service to children! Congratulations!

Happy last day of school! Reminder that we take the time at our 9:00 elementary awards assembly to recognize our sixth graders in addition to many other awards. We hope you are able to join us for this time and photo opportunities. We have our traditional senior walk through today at 12:30 to celebrate our graduates and cheer them onto their next adventures! Mr. Ethan Pedersen will visit with Eckroth Music starting at 1:30 for band information. Summer break for students begins at 3:00 dismissal today! Thank you for sharing your children with us. We treasure the privilege of having a role in their lives. See you in August!

Bob Callies Elementary Students have been working hard all year and earning House points for behaviors. The points have accumulated since August and Team Amistad won the 2026-27 Mystery Field Trip! We announced the winners on Friday at 2:00 and headed to the park where students were treated to ice cream cones from Four Seasons! Congratulations!

Parents, this letter will be going home with all 7-11th grade students. If you or your child is interested in summer school please contact Mr. Dangel at the High School. Thank you and have a great weekend!!

All, The phone system is experiencing issues. We can receive calls, but we cannot call out. RTC is aware of this and is working to resolve it. Thank you.

Exciting News! On Wednesday, May 20 at 1:30: Meet our new Music/Band teacher and learn about instruments from Eckroth Music at the elementary school! Parents are welcome to stop in as 4th graders and 5th graders can see the instruments Eckroth has available for rent/purchase and meet Mr. Ethan Pedersen. We have information about beginning band camp in Washburn in August to sign up as well! Please contact Mrs. Fuller with any questions. Mr. Ethan Pedersen is the Director of Bands and Choirs for Garrison Elementary and High School. A brief bio he shared: He is North Dakota native, having graduated from Bismarck State College with his Associates of Arts, as well as recently graduating from Minot State University this past Spring with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in K-12 Music Education. During his time at Minot State, Mr. Pedersen developed understanding in vocal pedagogy, choral conducting/performance instrumental conducting, and incredible ensemble leadership. Mr. Pedersen is an active participant and performer professionally and advocates for community-based music programs all over North Dakota. He is very much looking forward to partnering with local families and work closely with students fostering passion and lifelong learning in music. Welcome, Mr. Ethan Pedersen!

We have lots going on at the end of the school year at the elementary school! Here is a listing of our events to know:

Just a reminder of our annual Kindergarten bike ride down Main Street tomorrow (Wednesday, May 13)! We will leave from the elementary school around 1:00 and go down Main Street and return back to the school after that! You are invited to line Main Street and cheer us on! We have been practicing in the gym and are excited (and maybe a bit nervous) to try our bike skills on the road!

Feeding your kids this summer doesn’t have to be a chore. To find a free summer meals site near you, visit NoKidHungry.org/Help. You can also call the National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3-HUNGRY (1-866-348-6479) for summer food resources. The nationwide Summer Meal Site Finder is scheduled to go live on May 11, 2026.

Garrison Public School District

Schoolwide Title Annual Review Meeting Agenda

We have scheduled our 2025-26 schoolwide annual review for May 12, 2026 at 3:35 PM in the elementary school library. Participants who cannot join in person may also participate via Teams, and must sign in. The link is following:

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/23369054079703?p=KbRi8DqqNejGimmwto
Meeting ID: 233 690 540 797 03
Passcode: nN63Le66

Attendees at the meeting:

Agenda Items:

Review and evaluation of 4 required components and implementation

Review of annual assessment of parental involvement

Review of schoolwide goals

Review of student assessment (NDA+, AIMSWeb+, classroom assessments)

Review of attendance data

Review of instructional strategies and learning activities implemented

Determine Changes for 2026-27 regarding schoolwide plan and initiatives

Determine Continuation of initiatives for 2026-27

Determine Effectiveness Measures for 2025-26

Hi! We are planning to do our annual Kindergarten bike ride down Main Street next Wednesday, May 13! We will leave from the elementary school around 1:00 and go down Main Street and return back to the school after that! You are invited to line Main street and cheer us on!

Bob Callies Elementary School students and staff were fortunate to start today with service members from the 188th Army Band as they performed as part of their "Music in Schools Tour!" What a great group! We thank them for their service and this amazing opportunity for our school today! (More photos to come!)

Attention Freshman and Sophomore students and parents, have you heard about Close-up? Are you interested in Close-up? Would you like to sign up or want more information on CloseUp-up? There will be an informational meeting on Friday May 8 at 5pm. If you can't make it, please email Steve.Dangel@k12.nd.us or call the school, 701-463-2818. We will setup our Close-up experience for April 2028, that gives us about 2 years to fundraise. I hope to see you then!!

Happy Earth Day! Our students and staff in grades K-2 took some time today to take care of our earth by picking up trash around our community.

Important Elementary Book Fair updates

Please share...

We held our first session of Gearing Up for Kindergarten this evening! Parents and students participated in some activities with our teachers, staff, and community partners after sharing a meal together to begin to prepare for this next big step in their lives--Entering Kindergarten in the fall! If you have a kindergarten student coming to Bob Callies Elementary next fall and you didn't register for this program, we would love to see you next time! Call the school to get details!

We have been celebrating reading this week at Bob Callies Elementary School! Students and families enjoyed Bingo for Books on Tuesday evening! Thank you to all staff who helped with the event and families who participated! Special thank you to Mrs. Magandy for coordinating and Mrs. Ekstrom for being the "caller!" Today students duct taped Mrs. Fuller to the wall with tape they earned by reading in March! What adventures we have! Stay tuned for more to come!