Greeley Greeting

Dear Families,

Thank you to families, students, and teachers for supporting our fourth grade leadership last week by participating in the Wacky Spirit Week. It was great to see students using their voices to help bring our school community together!

This week, I am thrilled to welcome families and community members into the schoolhouse to celebrate our students during the Winter Sharing events on Wednesday. With your cooperation in pre-registering for this event, we have prepared name badges to welcome nearly 300 individuals across three shows. If you plan to attend and would like to save yourself time waiting to enter the building, be sure to pre-register by 4:00pm on tomorrow.

The Greeley Greeting will return after Winter Break. On behalf of our entire staff, I'd like to wish you a warm, safe break, joyful holiday season, and a very Happy New Year!

Warmly,

Principal Kopinski

December

• 12/18 Winter Sharing Concerts
• 9:00 a.m. for students with last name starting with A-H

• 10:30 a.m. for students with last name starting with I-Q

• 1:00 p.m. for students with last name starting with R-Z

• 12/23-1/3 Winter Break

January

• 1/6 School Reopens
• 1/6-1/24 Winter Benchmarking
• 1/15 Winnetka Parent Institute: Acceleration, 9:30am at Washburne (RSVP below)
• 1/15 Winnetka Parent Institute: Kindergarten Information Night, 6pm at Greeley (RSVP below)
• 1/20 No School (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
• 1/31 Otus Parent Portal Opens (Winter Benchmarking Data)

February

• 2/12 Winnetka Parent Institute: From Washburne to New Trier, 9:30am at Washburne
• 2/20 No School-Parent Teacher Conferences
• 2/21 No School-Parent Teacher Conferences

Benchmark assessments are valuable tools that provide a snapshot of student progress at a point in time. These assessments help teachers to identify areas where students are excelling and where they may need additional support. They can also inform instructional decisions by providing data that can be used to tailor teaching to meet each student's unique needs and strengths. Benchmark assessments are an important component of progressive education, which recognizes that students learn in different ways and at different rates. By using benchmark assessments to inform instruction, teachers can provide a more individualized approach to learning that supports each student's academic growth and personal development.

Academic benchmark assessments for literacy and math will occur three times this year for students in grades K-8. The Winter Benchmark Assessments start on January 6th and conclude on January 24th. There are four platforms the district utilizes to gather student learning information; aimswebPlus, mCLASS, NWEA MAP, and SSIS. Benchmark data will be available in Otus beginning January 31, 2025. In order to allow for the data uploads to take place and to provide parents with consistent access to student data, please be aware that the Otus Parent Portal will be inaccessible January 6-January 30.

Building Data Team meetings to review the Winter Benchmarking data will occur February 3-14.

Otus Parent Resources

To keep everyone informed on what we are seeing around the district, we are sharing that a lot of students are currently getting diagnosed with pneumonia, flu, strep, and GI viruses. Please keep our health guidelines in mind when thinking of sending your child to school.

Everyone needs to be fever/vomiting/diarrhea free for 24 hours without the use of medication before returning to school.

The District offers regular sessions for families to learn more about a variety of topics. View the entire 2024/2025 schedule here.

Up Next:

Acceleration Applications Overview with Assistant Superintendent of Innovation, Teaching and Learning Dr. Becky Mathison

January 15, 2025 at 9:30 AM

Location: Carleton Washburne School RC

Attend this session to understand accelerated programming options for students entered grades 3-8 during the 2025/26 school year. Time will be provided for attendees to begin the application for this process.

RSVP Link

Preschool/Kindergarten Family Information Night (with Winnetka Administration and Sue Stolzer, Early Childhood Assessment Team Lead from TrueNorth)

January 15, 2024 at 6:00 PM

Location: Greeley School

This informational session is intended for Winnetka parents of preschool students who will be attending The Winnetka Public Schools. Parents will learn more about the support and services that the District provides to current preschool students attending local preschool programming as well as what is available within our schools once a student enters kindergarten. Families will receive a preview of:

• The transition-to-Kindergarten process by Crow Island, Greeley and Hubbard Woods Principals

• The resources available to families of current preschool students from the Department of Student Services, Equity and Inclusion

• Details on “Kindergarten Connection” which will take place in Summer 2024

• Highlights of a typical kindergarten day in The Winnetka Public Schools

We look forward to meeting new families at this event!

RSVP Link

Hello 3rd and 4th grade families!. We are excited to announce that the Winter Session for After School Sports will be starting right after Winter Break! Registration will open on Tuesday, December 10 and will close on Monday, January 27. The activities will include Kinetic Wellness's favorite games and new exciting activities specific to this class. We will meet each group once a week after school for ten weeks. This class will run on Wednesday for 4th grade and Thursday for 3rd grade from 3:15-4:00 p.m. We look forward to another fun session!!

In advance of holiday events, we strongly encourage all parents/family members to proactively make a visit to your school to get your ID (Driver’s License) registered in our Raptor System or fill out this form at your earliest convenience (one per guest). This system allows the District to conduct an immediate background check on visitors during school hours so we can ensure that all those within our school buildings are safe and clear to be there. This must be done for each event you are attending; previous Raptor registrations will not suffice for future events. By taking care of this in advance of a holiday event, you should experience a more efficient entry process. If you are unable to do this in advance, remember to bring your drivers license or state ID the day of the event and arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the event in order to register.

Please note that badges will only be pre-printed and ready for those individuals who have filled out the form linked above, even if you have had your license run in the office in the past. If you are unsure if you have filled out the form, please call the office.

Greeley Winter Sharing Events (Grades K-4):

Wednesday, December 18th at 9:00 a.m. for students with last name starting with A-H

Wednesday, December 18th at 10:30 a.m. for students with last name starting with I-Q

Wednesday, December 18th at 1:00 p.m. for students with last name starting with R-Z

All second graders are required to have a dental form turned into the health office before the first day of school. If you have not done so already, please email a completed dental exam form to marykathrynjanda@winnetka36.org

The Dimension of Belonging featured in December is “Known” and monthly observances include Human Rights Month, Hannukah, and Christmas. Learn more by reading the Belonging Means… Newsletter which features contributions from The Skokie School and the Department of Communications, Safety & Security.

School Hours:

8:20am | Morning supervision begins

8:30am | School Doors open

8:37am | School promptly begins

2:10pm | Extended day kindergarten dismissal (Monday-Friday)

2:45pm | Grades 1-4 & Stay and Play kindergarten dismissal (Mondays only)

3:15pm | Grades 1-4 & Stay and Play kindergarten dismissal (Tuesday-Friday)

Office Email: gordonschreiber@winnetka36.org

Location: 275 Fairview Avenue Winnetka, IL 60093
Phone: (847)-446-6060