Steele Family Newsletter

Mrs. Grice, Dean of Students

Mr. Orellana, Dean of Students

Mrs. Knuth, Nurse

Mrs. Hickey, Family Engagement

Mrs. Fones and Ms. Howerter, Front Office Assistants

Email: kcoate@galesburg205.org
Website: https://steele.galesburg205.org/
Location: 1480 West Main Street, Galesburg, IL, USA
Phone: (309)973-2016
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steele205/
X: @wearesteele

Instagram: @205steelestars

Steele Families,

On Monday night, I will have the opportunity to highlight Steele School at the Board of Education meeting. This is always a special time for me to share the amazing work we are doing together.

Last week was a full one in every way, including the full moon, which always seems to bring a little extra energy into our school day. Our students had a wonderful time participating in Red Ribbon Week with themed dress-up days promoting healthy choices and school spirit.

Our “Thank You to Veterans” display is up outside—be sure to look for it when you drive by. It features family members who mean so much to our school community.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support. Together, we make Steele a caring and strong learning community.

Warmly,
Mrs. Coate
Principal, Steele Elementary School

Calling All Storytellers!
Do you have a story waiting to be told? We’d love to read it! Students are invited to take part in the Galesburg Young Authors’ Program. Everyone who participates will receive a special ribbon to celebrate their hard work and creativity.

A few authors from each school will be selected as Honored Authors and will be invited to a special luncheon in April, where they’ll receive a medal and certificate and celebrate with other young writers from across Galesburg. Let your imagination shine — your story could be the one we celebrate next!

Mark these dates on your calendar!

**Monday, November 17, 2025- Official Start Date**

**Friday, February 27, 2026- Student Stories Due to School Office**

**Friday, March 27, 2026- Judging Deadline for Buildings**

**Thursday, April 23, 2026- TBA**

You can add your own illustrations to make your story come to life! Please do not use pictures from the internet — we want your creativity to shine. To get started, plan your story. Think about your characters, the setting, and what will happen. You can use a story map to help organize your ideas. Then, write your first draft, reread it and make changes to improve it, edit and revise to make your writing even stronger, write your final copy neatly, and finally add your own illustrations to go with your story.

In the library, we have been reading lots of high interest books. In third and fourth grade we have started listening to chapter books to encourage the students to also read chapter books independently.

In Kindergarten STEM, we recently finished creating a retell story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which leads into our monarch butterfly unit and learning about life cycles and metamorphosis. First grade is learning how the sun affects our seasons. Second, third, and fourth grades have been working on their STEM portfolios and learning how to use Google Slides to create presentations. Ask your child to share their presentation with you if you would like to see what they have been working on over the past few weeks. Overall, we are learning to use the 4Cs of STEM: collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking. You can also check out our class updates on my Facebook page, Steele Elementary STEM Class.

School is all about giving students the skills they need to succeed. That certainly applies to reading, writing, and math, but students also need the fundamental skill of self-regulation. These tips can easily be used at home too when emotions are big and children are having trouble managing their feelings.

“I found that thinking about behavior objectively—as a skill to be taught rather than simply as good or bad—was immensely helpful in my ability to guide children in learning to control their behavior,” ...........

https://www.edutopia.org/article/elementary-student-strategies-for-self-regulation/

The Shine in #205 program is a way for you to salute any CUSD #205 employee who goes above and beyond what is expected. Whether you are a parent/guardian impressed with that special touch your student's teacher added to a moment, a coworker who thinks their colleague doesn't hear often enough about the great job they are doing, or a community member who witnessed a staff member's commitment to students-you can submit a Shine nomination!

Link to nominate a staff member

Often we can find ourselves noticing things that we don’t like or that we wish were different. Choosing to notice and appreciate things in our life, things in others, and things in the world can be a challenge, but practicing Gratitude can increase our well-being and happiness. This month's focus for:

• Kinder is on practicing Gratitude to support emotion identification.
• 1st grade is on practicing Gratitude to help with emotion awareness.
• 2nd grade is on practicing Gratitude to support emotion regulation.
• 3rd grade is on using Gratitude to support emotion advocacy.
• 4th grade is on Gratitude to support positive self-talk.

Kindergarten Gratitude Family Newsletter

First Grade Gratitude Family Newsletter

Second Grade Gratitude Family Newsletter

Third Grade Gratitude Family Newsletter

Fourth Grade Gratitude Family Newsletter

Please make sure your student is coming to school with weather appropriate outerwear for recess and remind them that it needs to be worn. We have had several students attempt to go outside the last few days with short sleeves on!

We have hats, gloves, scarves and coats if you are in need. Please call the office to request these items.

Families help their children learn and grow every day. This parent-friendly magazine provides effective and easy strategies to promote reading throughout a child’s early years. The magazine is available in English and Spanish and includes a monthly calendar of activities to do with your child.

https://familieslearning.org/learning-material/cultivating-readers/

It is a tradition for students in Ms. Laurin's second-grade class to hold a candy election. Students were asked to bring in their favorite candy wrapper and then the class held a primary election to decide what two candies would be up against each other in the election. The two candy wrappers are separated into two parties and students are then asked to choose sides. Once students selected the party they wanted to support they worked together to determine the pros and cons of each "candy-date". The students then worked on their speeches and it was time to get on the campaign trail! Speeches were made at each second-grade classroom and all students were given an official ballot to cast their choice for the best second-grade candy.

Please download the Galesburg App. When you receive your invitation email, then you can sign up for messaging. All staff will use this for communication this school year. Once you have the app downloaded, you will see your child's teacher and information in the app.

If you haven't received an email or text, you can reach out to the office to get a code. If you are having trouble connecting, please contact our main office at 309-973-2016

All meetings are held at Steele in the library. Meetings run from 5:30 - 6:30 PM and are on the first Tuesday of the month.

A Google Meet will be set up for those of you that want to attend but cannot be in person.

Video call link: https://meet.google.com/jms-yjdu-agj

Or dial: ‪(US) +1 678-487-9512‬ PIN: ‪356 280 867‬#

View more: htpp://schools.mealviewer.com/school/SteeleElementarySchool