Welcome to Thornapple Elementary!
We value the communication we have with our school parents and community. This website contains a variety of information about our school of interest to you and your child attending Thornapple. Please contact us if you have specific questions or comments and will be be happy to help you.
School Day Schedule:
Start of School Day: 8:40 a.m.
End of School Day: 3:45 p.m.
All Day/Alternate Day Kindergarten:
8:40 a.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Friday a.m.: 8:40 – 11:55
Friday p.m.: 12:30 – 3:45
Young Fives:
8:40 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
School Office Hours:
8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday
Parent/Student Handbook:
Forest Hills Public Schools publishes an Elementary School Parent/Student Handbook that is used by all seven of the district’s elementary schools. It outlines the policies and procedures for a variety of topics such as attendance, medications, bus rules, field trips, etc. You can download a copy of the handbook and playground rules to view and print. These downloadable files require Adobe Acrobat Reader software on your computer or as part of your web browser.
Elementary School Parent/Student Handbook
Thornapple Elementary “Survival Guide:”
Some of our dedicated PTO members have joined forces to create a wonderful guide for new (and not-so-new!) Thornapple families. In it, you will learn a little about almost every activity and event taking place at school, and whom to contact to find out more or get involved. Enjoy!
Thornapple Elementary School Survival Guide
The Environmental Club at Thornapple:
By Linda Ernst, Ph.D., Director
E-Club is now in its 9th year at Thornapple. It is open to all 4th grade students and we meet once a month after school until 5:15. We have a bulletin board next to the media center with club information and “green” ideas that are presented during club meetings. E-Club has projects throughout the year that help animals, the environment and community. We emphasize the 4Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rethink as a way to help the earth. E-Club also sponsors and leads the Earth Day celebration at school on April 22. E-Club members celebrate the end of the year by an all day field trip to places we support during the year (John Ball Zoo, Kent County Recycle Center, Kids Food Basket and Kent County Humane Society).We have made recycling available at school for empty ink-jet computer cartridges, plastic water bottles, household batteries, 6-pack plastic beverage rings and old cell phones. E-Club has also provided a PaperGator recycling bin in the school parking lot. We encourage the school and families to use it to recycle paper, magazines, phone books, junk mail, newspapers (no cardboard please).
Points of Pride:
• The Thornapple PTO sponsored its first walk-a-thon for fitness day in September. This event raised the awareness of life-long fitness and generated funds for further PTO sponsored activities.
• Thornapple continued its pen pal relationship with its sister school in Perugia, Italy. Throughout the year,students exchanged letters, drawing and video. The year concluded with a live web cam event in June.
• The Cultural Arts Committee, in conjunction with Art Teacher Tim Donohoe, held a school–wide Art Fair that exhibited the individual work of every Thornapple student. This year, family members were
encouraged to display their own works of art. This added another much-appreciated dimension to the show.
• Thornapple students participated in many cultural arts activities. Some of these activities included school sponsored trips to the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra, Civic Theatre and in-school presentations by GRSO Orchestra members, The Mully Children’s Family Choir, the Mackinaw Touring Company and several assemblies.
• Students in kindergarten-fourth grades celebrated Young Author’s Day on May 7. Throughout the day students shared their writing with special visitors and completed special classroom activities.
• Over 270 students participated in Turn-off-the-TV-and-Read during March is Reading Month.
• Three Thornapple students received local and national recognition for their posters in the National
Statistics Association competition; one student received national first place recognition for his work.
• The Thornapple school community considered the needs of others through:
Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Academy Benefit Dinner
Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Academy “Giving Tree”
MLK Coin Challenge
Make-A-Wish Foundation
Kent County Humane Society
Kids Food Basket
Local Clothing Drive
The Milan Miracle Fund
Head-to-Toe – Book and Shoe Collection
• Each grade level presented spectacular musical presentations. The fourth grade musical was held at the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center.
• Thornapple recognized over sixty volunteers at its annual volunteers’ luncheon in the spring
• Motor Moms and Dads continues to be an effective method of helping young 5’s, kindergarten and first grade students be prepared to be readers and writers.
• Three Thornapple Odyssey of the Mind teams competed at regionals.
• Dad’s Breakfast and the PTO Carnival provided families a chance to get together and have fun.
• 74% of the Thornapple Staff participated in the Institute for Healing Racism training or Champions of Diversity training.
• The Thornapple’s Got Talent, talent show was held and was a wonderful venue for students to share their talents with their peers and families.
• Thornapple received the Green School certificate for the third year in a row.
