Greeley Greeting

Welcome Back, Greeley Families!

I hope you all enjoyed a restful Thanksgiving Break and found plenty of moments to recharge with loved ones. The winter weather certainly made travel a bit more complicated this year—what a snowfall!

As we settle back into school, we’re excited to make the most of the next three weeks of learning before Winter Break. This stretch is always filled with strong momentum, meaningful learning, and wonderful opportunities to reconnect as a community. Our students will also be hard at work preparing for our Winter Sharing event on Wednesday, December 17th, held at Skokie School from 6:00–7:30 p.m. We can’t wait to celebrate their creativity and joy together.

Here’s to a great few weeks ahead!

Principal Kopinski

December

Monday, 12/1: Trimester 2 begins
Thursday, 12/10: Trimester 1 Report Cards Released
Wednesday, 12/17: Winter Sharing Performance, 6-7:30pm at Skokie School
Monday, 12/22-Friday, 1/2: Winter Break (No School)

January

Monday, 1/5: School Resumes
Thursday, 1/15-Friday 1/30: Winter Benchmark Assessments (MAP, mClass, Aimsweb, SSIS)
Monday, 1/19: Martin Luther King Jr. Day (No School)
Thursday, 1/29: Pioneer Room Open House 9:30am (Third Grade Families)

February

Monday, 2/16: Winter Benchmark Assessment Results Released to Families (Powerschool, OTUS)
Thursday and Friday, 2/26 and 2/27: Parent Teacher Conferences (No School)

March

Friday 3/6: End of Trimester 2
Monday, 3/9: Start of Trimester 3
Thursday, 3/12: Greeley PTO STEAM Night
Wednesday 3/18: Progress Reports Released to Families in Powerschool
Friday, 3/27: Half Day for Students (11:30am Dismissal)-Teacher Institute PM
Monday 3/30-Friday, April 3: Spring Break

April

Monday 4/6: School Resumes
Tuesday, 4/7: Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) Testing Begins for Grades 3-4
Tuesday, 4/7: District Chorus Concert 7-8pm
Tuesday, 4/14: Winnetka Public Schools Foundation (WPSF) Carlson Event 4:30-6pm at Skokie
Wednesday 4/22: Greeley Strings Concert 6:30-7:30pm
Tuesday, 4/28: 5th Grade Orientation at Skokie School (4th Grade Families) 5:30-7:00pm

Greeley School Google Calendar

Monthly Observances: Human Rights Month

December is National Human Rights Month, a time to reflect on the importance of treating all people with dignity, kindness, and respect. It’s an opportunity to celebrate the values of fairness and equality that help create welcoming communities for everyone.

Lighthouse Moment from Greeley School

Before heading into Thanksgiving Break, our Greeley students and staff came together for a truly meaningful day of service. Thanks to everyone’s collective efforts, students wrote heartfelt letters for veterans, made treat bags for dogs at a local rescue shelter, created cards for nursing home residents, crafted kindness bookmarks for classmates to discover in library books, and designed cheerful cards for children staying at Lurie Children’s Hospital. Our fourth-grade leaders also helped count the food items donated by families for the KW Turkey Trot, benefiting the New Trier Township Food Pantry.

This event beautifully reflects our Portrait of a Graduate competencies as well as our Tenets of Progressive Education—and highlights the generosity and empathy of our school community.

Please click the button below to view the celebratory slides we shared at our closing assembly on Friday afternoon. We hope they bring a smile to your face!

Day of Service Closing Assembly Slides and Photos

PTO Bookfair Information

Join us in celebrating the magic of books with Anderson's Bookfair Company! Our Greeley School librarian, Brenda Glenn, and our PTO volunteers have partnered with this wonderful independent book store to bring you a curated selection of books, including titles that support our reading curriculum, as well as titles focused on developing social and emotional skills. Every purchase benefits the Greeley Library, helping to enhance our book collections, technology and physical space.

Exciting changes! This year, students in kindergarten through third grade will NOT be allowed to bring money to school and therefore cannot purchase books during their class visit. All students WILL still visit the book fair with their class, during which they will peruse the book selection and create book wishlists. Students in fourth grade CAN bring money to school to purchase books while visiting the book fair with their classes.

Shopping Hours

There will be extended family shopping hours for family to come purchase wishlist items! Kindergarten through third grade will visit the fair with their classes and make their wishlists on Tuesday, December 9th or Wednesday, December 10th so that wishlists will be sent home before family shopping hours commence. Fourth grade will visit the fair on Thursday, December 11th during family shopping hours.

Family Shopping Hours

Wednesday, December 10th: 3:15 pm - 8:00 pm
Thursday, December 11th: 7:30 am - 11 am
Please note: If shopping during the school day on Thursday, only fourth grade students will be at the fair during this time. Younger students cannot be pulled out of class to shop with family.
Before shopping during school hours on Thursday, please check-in with the office for a guest pass.
Free gift wrapping on site!

Online Ordering

Online ordering is available for anyone! Books purchased online will be delivered Greeley School and distributed to your student.

Visit the Anderson's Bookfair Co Website
Add books to your cart
At check-out:

Select "send to school for student pick-up" under pick-up options
Enter Greeley as the school name
Fill out student name/teacher name/grade in the box below payment and billing information.

Books will be delivered to Greeley and sent to your child's classroom

Teacher Wishlists

Gift our teachers books for their classrooms! Please look for the teacher wishlist poster at the fair! Teachers have personally selected books that they would love in their classroom. Books gifted to teachers will be fitted with a "donated by" sticker and can be purchased tax-free. Thank you for your generosity toward our wonderful Greeley teachers.

Student Illustrations

Students are invited to showcase their creativity by submitting an illustration inspired by books and reading! The artwork will be proudly displayed in the library during book fair week. Every student who submits an illustration will receive a coupon for a FREE bookmark at the book fair. Submissions on 8.5" x 11" and in landscape orientation, please. Please submit to Ms Glenn by Wednesday, Dec 3rd. We cannot wait to see your amazing creations!

Volunteer!

We are still looking for parent volunteers to staff the fair! Click here if you'd like to get involved.

Thank you so much for supporting the Greeley School book fair and sharing the joy of reading.

Questions? Contact our book fair co-chairs!

Emily LaMonica: emilyklamonica@gmail.com

Sarah Martinez: sarahdmartinez1@gmail.com

Cold Weather Process

We plan to go outside whenever possible for recess. Our rule of thumb is “when in doubt, we go out.” That said, the weather is getting colder and we ask for families to partner with us to ensure students are prepared to go outside. Our ask is that you take a look at the weather in the morning and send students with the gear needed to head outside even in the colder weather.

When is it too cold to go outside for recess?

Only in the event of very cold days will we not be going outside for recess. In the morning, we will closely monitor the temperature and if the “feels like” temperature falls at 10 degrees or below we will plan for indoor recess. That said, if the day is sunny and students have winter gear we may head outside for a few minutes of fresh air. Please check with your teacher or administrator if you have questions.

Below are resources we use as guidance for our district to determine if we are outside or staying inside for recess.

How do we monitor the weather?

We will use the Weather Channel to monitor the weather. This gives us our “feels like” temperature.

We use the ISBE windchill guide for guidance.

Reminder: Drop Off in the Fairview Cutout Only

Please help us maintain safe traffic flow by dropping off all car riders at the front of the school in the Fairview cut-out. This area is designed for cars to pull out of traffic so children can unload safely. Once students exit the car, they may walk through the kindergarten playground or along Elder—both of which are supervised by staff—to enter the 1–4 playground safely.

We know this may add a few extra minutes to your morning, and we truly appreciate your partnership. Your child’s safety is always worth the time.

Winter Sharing Update 🎶❄️

Our Greeley students are getting ready to shine at this year’s Winter Sharing, hosted at Skokie School! Here are some important logistics from the Greeley School Office:

The all school concert event is Wednesday, December 17th from 6:00-7:30
Parking is tight. Please plan to arrive early, and consider carpooling to ease traffic flow.
Please enter at the main door and through the lobby, located on Glendale Ave.
Students will remain with their families until Mr. Urquhart calls for students to join him on stage, approximately 5 minutes before show time. The show will begin with everyone performing. There is no supervision provided before the concert.
Because the auditorium offers ample seating, families are welcome to invite as many loved ones as they’d like to attend, and there is no need to register.

The Related Arts team recently visited Skokie to plan seating, staging, and a few festive touches:

All students will enter and exit through the audience to ensure plenty of smiling faces and waves to loved ones.
Kindergarteners will sit at the front of the auditorium on the carpeted area to enjoy the show and then stand to perform.
1st–3rd graders will watch from the balcony when not performing, supported by staff to help ensure a smooth transition. There will never be more than two grade levels in the auditorium at one time, and students will be supervised by staff volunteers.
4th graders will be seated along the aisles, serving as warm and welcoming hosts for guests in their rows. These seats will be marked off, so please do not sit in an aisle seat.
The lobby will be transformed into a winter wonderland featuring student artwork, thanks to our Art program. Families will also find photo opportunities on both lobby staircases to capture a special holiday moment!