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

As we continue this month of gratitude, I want to share how truly thankful I am for the amazing support of our Steele community. Your partnership makes such a difference for our students, our staff, and our school as a whole.

Looking ahead, December offers two opportunities to spread kindness:

• PTO Staff Luncheon Contributions: Families are invited to help provide food items for a PTO-sponsored luncheon to show appreciation for our Steele staff.

• Student-Made Holiday Gifts: We’ve included a list of simple, meaningful, homemade, no-cost gift ideas that students can create for special staff members. These small acts of gratitude go a long way.

In addition, we hope to reschedule our family night in December. However, we will wait to make sure all of our supplies, crafts, and activities are here before we schedule it.

Thank you, families, for your ongoing partnership, encouragement, and care. Steele is a stronger, brighter place because of you.

With gratitude,

Mrs. Coate, Principal

11:00 AM - 1:30 PM

This month’s focus is Empathy. One way to think about Empathy is “understanding and connecting with other people’s feelings.” Empathy is a practice that can help us grow strong relationships. PurposeFull Pursuits Empathy is 1 of 3 traits we will focus on throughout the year that helps students Be Kind. Across grade levels, students will be developing skills like perspective-taking, conflict resolution, and leadership. This month's focus for:

• Kindergarten is practicing empathy by learning whole body listening strategies.
• 1st grade is practicing empathy by using friendship skills.
• 2nd grade is practicing empathy by understanding conflict resolution.
• 3rd grade is practicing empathy by learning perspective taking.
• 4th grade is practicing empathy by resolving conflict successfully.

Kindergarten Empathy Family Newsletter

First Grade Empathy Family Newsletter

Second Grade Empathy Family Newsletter

Third Grade Empathy Family Newsletter

Fourth Grade Empathy Family Newsletter

If you haven’t heard your student singing our concert songs already, we have been preparing winter songs for our concert on December 9th. We will be having two concerts – one during the school day, and one after school. Here are the important details for both…

For our concert during the school day: We will have an all school assembly starting at 2:50pm on Tuesday, December 9th. This is where our kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade students perform for all their peers. We will be recording this performance, as well as offering families to attend during this time. Space for this concert will be limited as our students will be sitting on the floor.

For our after school concert:

• Kindergarten will perform at 5:30pm here in Steele Elementary’s gym. Please have your student here no later than 5:20pm.
• First grade will perform at 6:00pm here in the Steele Elementary's gym. Please have your student here no later than 5:50pm.
• Second grade will perform at 6:30 pm here in the Steele Elementary's gym. Please have your student here no later than 6:20pm.

Students may dress up however you wish, as long as their outfits are appropriate, not distracting, and won’t inhibit their ability to stand on our stage.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via email – clopez@galesburg205.org

I’m so excited to show you the work these students have done for our winter concert! Hope to see you there!

Mr. Chris Lopez

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.

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.

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

In our busy world, quality family time doesn't always come easy. Dinner is a great opportunity - why not make your dinner conversations a little more intentional to boost your quality time together? There are more benefits than just bonding as a family. Did you know that regular family dinners can boost literacy and academic success in children and teens? We're providing you with some great conversation starters to take your family dinners to the next level!

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