Lakes Newsletter

Lakes Elementary Newsletter April 18th

Principal Matt Zokoe

Matt Zokoe - Principal
mzokoe@rockfordschools.org

Address: 6849 Young Avenue, Rockford, MI 49341
Website: www.rockfordschools.org

Phone: (616) 863-6340

Quick Information

As we begin to consider next school year, parents/guardians are invited to share some information about their student(s) to help inform our class placements for the 2025/2026 school year. Please complete this form by May 16th.
Tonight is Family Skate/Soccer night at CedarRock Sportsplex!
Looking for the best job in town? Lakes needs more paraprofessional substitutes! Come hang out with us on the playground, in the lunchroom, in the classrooms, and more! If you are interested in more information, please contact the front office. To apply, please use the attached link. The position list is a bit different, but it will get your application to us! We'd love to see you more often.
Our Salmon have escaped the tank. Third-graders traveled to Townsend Park on Thursday and released our 17 fish!
Mileage Club has had an amazing start! In our first 4 days of Mileage Club, our 387 participating students and staff walked/jogged/or ran over 1,200 miles. We need more volunteers to help scan as students complete each lap. Please sign up to join us. Mileage Club 2025 Volunteers
M-Step testing has begun and continues. Please make sure your students have a good night's sleep, a filling breakfast, and are ready to do their best.
Congratulations to Nolan W. (Kindergarten), Arianna S. (1st grade), Elsie V. (2nd grade), Claire A. (3rd grade), Abigail S. (4th grade), and Briar H. (5th grade) who have been selected to participate in the annual Bishop Hills Art Show as Lakes Representatives. The show will take place on Wednesday, April 23rd at 6pm.

You're Invited to Rockford Family Night at the West Michigan Whitecaps!

Support Rockford Public Schools and kick off your summer with the Whitecaps. A portion of each ticket bought will be donated directly back to the schools.

Purchase Whitecaps Tickets Here

West Michigan Whitecaps Rockford Family Night. Tuesday May 20th at 6:05pm. Gates open at 4:50pm. Tickets: $18 each of $24 with a hotdog and soda included. Only tickets purchase through this online portal will count towards the Rockford fundraiser. https://fevo-exterprise.com/event/Rockfordfamily25

Logo for Grand Rapids Academic Summer Program known as GRASP on a white background with a blue cartoon sailboat GRASP is a correspondence program for students in Kindergarten through 8^th grades which helps students maintain reading and math skills while they are on summer break. Enrolled students will receive a packet of materials with a booklet containing 9 lessons. It should take your student approximately one hour to complete each weekly lesson. They can complete one lesson a week or work at their own pace, as long as all lessons are submitted before August 8th. The students can mail the lessons to GRASP for scoring or, new this year, lessons can be scored with a parent/guardian cell phone instead of mailing them in! There is also an on-line version of GRASP for students in 4th through 8th grade and these students will also receive results via the email provided.

Students who successfully complete and submit at least 7 lessons with 70% accuracy are awarded a certificate. Those who successfully complete and submit all 9 lessons with 70% accuracy will receive a medal! Certificates and medals will be distributed by your student’s school at the beginning of the next school year.

Please order your student’s CURRENT grade level. If there are extenuating circumstances, order the level that is appropriate for your student. The fees for the summer of 2025 are $26 for one subject or $48 for both subjects for each student. You can enroll your student for the book version (grades K-8) or the optional online version (grades 4-8) by completing the registration and payment online.

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteer Background Checks

Mileage Club Volunteers :

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090D4DA5A82CA5F49-55132694-mileage#/

Daily Volunteers :

We now have some daily volunteer opportunities for families to help foster our Lakes Community. Please visit the link for additional details and to select a time slot.

Lunchroom (11:30 am - 12:50 pm) - How to support in the lunchroom:

Walk around and interact with students.
Help open lunch materials.
Review lunchroom procedures to help with the end of the lunchtime.
Push the trash bin around to gather trash materials.
Play a game with the 5th-grade students at their table.
Encourage students to walk to recess.

Lunch Recess (11:10 am - 1:00 pm) - How to support at lunch recess:

Play or organize a game.
Encourage positive play.
Help with chalk art.
Walk around with a group of students.
Organize a coloring table.
Support the quiet area with quiet area activities.

Last Recess (2:15 pm - 3:30 pm) - How to support at last recess:

Play or organize a game.
Encourage positive play.
Help with chalk art.
Walk around with a group of students.
Organize a coloring table.
Support the quiet area with quiet area activities.

Dads of Great Students

Who can participate: Fathers, grandfathers, step-fathers, uncles, and other father figures.

Watch D.O.G.S can serve full days (8:15 am - 3:45 pm) or half days (pm option). Watch D.O.G.S can be assigned to classrooms as needed by the teachers, perform recess duty, complete ground checks, or other various tasks. When possible, Watch D.O.G.S will have the opportunity to work with their students or their student's classrooms. However, they may also be called to serve in a separate space as needed.

Watch D.O.G.S. Facebook

Lakes-A-Palooza Volunteers

Looking for any high school sports teams and/or our Lakes families to volunteer during May 15th's Lakes-A-Palooza Carnival and Art Show! Please sign up with the PTO!

PTO Corner

Student T-Shirt Design Contest

We are looking for amazing design submissions that embody Lakes school spirit and pride! The winning design will appear on the school spirit t-shirts for the whole school, given out as part of the Activity Pass next year. This year, we couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with Mrs. Poel in April during her graphic design unit in Art specials for this contest! Watch for more information later this month.

Upcoming Events

Friday, April 18th Join RPS families for a fun-filled evening of ice skating and soccer from 6-8pm at Cedar Rock Sportsplex. Wear your Lakes gear to show your school spirit! A portion of the night’s entry fees will benefit Lakes Elementary. $10 ice skating entry, $5 skate rentals, children under 5 free with a paying adult. $5 drop-in admission to indoor soccer field.
Thursday, May 1st PTO Public Meeting at 7pm at Lakes Elementary. We welcome all parents, guardians or teachers to join us as we look ahead to discuss next year’s PTO budget and efforts.
Friday, May 9th Silent Auction starts! Get ready to bid on dozens of amazing auction items for yourself or someone you love. Proceeds benefit the PTO scholarship fund, which covers field trip fees and other items for students and families needing assistance with their activity pass. Online bidding opens Friday, May 9th and runs through Sunday, May 18th. More info coming.
Thursday, May 15th Lakesapalooza! Our annual family spring carnival event featuring food trucks - live music - carnival games - bounce houses - raffle prizes and much more! Free entry for Lakes families. Join us from 5:30-8:00pm on the Lakes Elementary grounds. Interested in volunteering? We have spots available, Click Here to sign up!

Join the PTO!

Join our team of parent volunteers as we enhance the learning and educational experience of students and staff at Lakes Elementary. Work alongside fellow parents, get to know Lakes teachers and staff all while making a positive impact on our school. We have a variety of elected, leadership and general volunteer roles available for the 2025-26 school year. Click Here to fill out an interest form!

Activity Pass Reminder

As you know, your student's Activity Pass is their ticket to field trips and other enriching activities throughout the school year. Here's how that breaks down:

$34 goes toward school-wide activities for students and staff, such as assemblies, field days, staff appreciation and grants, and more. The remaining amount (varies by grade level) covers field trip entry fees and transportation costs.

Pay Now online via Paypal or Venmo
If you are a family experiencing financial hardship, please reach out to Mr. Zokoe for a confidential discussion.
If you have a business that'd like to donate to the PTO scholarship fund to cover families experiencing financial hardship, please contact the PTO for more information.

For students who have not paid, an itemized bill will be sent home to ensure equal opportunities. Thank you for your support!

Helpful PTO Links

Rockford Booster Bucks
Follow the PTO on Facebook or Instagram
PTO Linktree
PTO Email

Recycling Initiatives

Flyer for Recycling Beyond the Bag. Recycle your household bags and wrap into Trex's Earth-friendly composite decking and railing! From the store produce bags, store bags, and ice bags. From your pantry Ziploc and other recloseable bags, cereal box liners, case overwrap, and bread bags. From your front door newspaper sleeves, dry cleaning bags, bubble wrap, and plastic e-commerce mailers. trex.com/recycling 1-800-Buy-Trex

Flyer for the Papergator Contest. Fill the bin and win! Recycle paper in the Papergator bin and earn funding for our school. Grand prize is $5,000!

Flyer for PaperGator recycling showing accepted materials. Accepting school/office paper, news paper, junk mail, hard and soft cover books, magazines, shredded paper, paperboard (cereal box), wrapping paper without foil or sparkles. No accepted is plastic, metal, glass, or garbage.

NexTrex Recycling

Bins located in front vestibule. All bags should be clean and free of food or other debris.

Produce bags, grocery bags, ice bags, cereal box liners, bread bags, bubble wrap, dry cleaning bags - Plastics that can stretch.
We've collected over 279 pounds of plastic!

Papergator Recycling

Green dumpster located in the side parking lot.

Office/School papers, newspaper, junk mail, magazines, shredded paper, and cereal boxes (paper board that can be torn), etc.

Popcan Tabs

Can be turned in to the front office. Collected and sent to Ronald McDonald House.

Enrollment is Open

Enrollment for the 2025/2026 school year is open. Children who turn five years old on or before December 1, 2025 are eligible to enroll for the 2025/2026 school year. In order to take advantage of an early placement screening, please enroll your Developmental Kindergarten -or- Kindergarten-age child before June 1, 2025. Please visit www.rockfordschools.org/enrollment// to review the online enrollment procedures and required documentation.