Greeley Greeting
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
A Message from the Elementary Principals
Dear Winnetka Families,
Cooler weather is here, and our students are fully immersed in the classroom community and curriculum. We wanted to use this week’s joint newsletter to highlight some key curricular concepts.
At the start of the year, staff began gathering data on students’ levels of performance to inform instruction. This includes math and literacy screeners, MAP testing for third and fourth grade, instructional reading levels, and curricular pre-assessments. These tools are used in concert to help teachers select materials, create instructional groupings, and identify approaches (pacing, revisiting concepts, etc.) that may be needed or modified.
In order to ensure teachers and teams have time to implement their plans, all of our elementary schools have included What I Need (WIN) time in the school day this year. During WIN, students will receive instruction targeted to their specific learning path. WIN will be made available to students at a consistent time each week, which allows for greater scheduling and collaboration with support staff such as literacy/math facilitators, interventionists, and student services (speech, social work, etc.).
Our teachers are accustomed to making adjustments to their instruction throughout the year. It is beneficial for our district as a whole to review our curriculum at large at regular intervals to ensure materials, goals, and our district’s mission are in alignment. This school year, our district will begin the review cycle process of our language arts curriculum, as shared in Dr. Kelly Tess’s entry plan during last month’s board meeting. This entails ensuring best practices are revisited, the latest research explored, student data trends reviewed, and a comprehensive plan from kindergarten through eighth grade developed.
Teachers communicate curricular topics in their newsletters. Please reach out if you have any additional questions. We are proud of the instruction we offer our students, and we are eager to continually improve our curriculum and practices.
Sincerely,
Beth Carmody, Hubbard Woods
Joshua Swanner, Greeley
Luke Livingston, Crow Island
A Message from the Principal
A few weeks ago, our Behavioral Health Team (BHT) hosted our first Parent Coffee event to discuss social-emotional learning and supports we are developing and implementing across the district and at Greeley School specifically. During this time, we received some helpful feedback about making sure families know about the BHT support staff in our school.
One piece of feedback we received was to introduce our Behavioral Health Team to parents. You can find a brief bio for each team member below.
One last note: we are aware that some families cannot attend events like our parent coffee during the work day. We are working on scheduling an evening event, possibly during Winter Conferences this year, to make this dialogue more accessible to families. Please stay tuned for future updates.
Sincerely,
Joshua Swanner
Principal
Meet the Behavior Health Team
Julie Colturi
Position: School Psychologist
Years in education: 15
Years in the Winnetka Public Schools: 6
How I serve Greeley School: I serve on the student support team to help identify individual student's barriers to learn and develop plans to help
Why is social-emotional learning important to me: Social-Emotional Learning helps a student to understand themselves, their world, and their place in it. A solid foundation of these concepts and skills set students up for success both now and in the future.
Katie Kalgriopoulos
Position: School Social Worker
Years in education: 4
Years in the Winnetka Public Schools: 2
How I serve Greeley School: I provide social-emotional support to students with IEPs as well as general education students who need extra support with emotional regulation, social skills, peer conflict, grief, etc. I also get the opportunity to do classroom wide lessons. Working with the rest of the Behavioral Health Team, we plan opportunities to work with staff and parents to connect social-emotional learning with school and home.
Why is social-emotional learning important to me: Social emotional learning is important to me because it teaches students skills that are not only important for their education, like helping their academic performance and improving behavior, but are skills that they will use for the rest of their lives.
Danielle Kimak
Position: SEL Coach
Years in education: 12
Years in the Winnetka Public Schools: 8
How I serve Greeley School: I serve Greeley school by helping to bring the districts' SEL mission to life. I have the privilege of supporting the entire Greeley community in deepening their understanding and application of Social Emotional Learning. This takes the form of teaching and/or co-teaching SEL lessons in classrooms across the school. I am a thinking and learning partner for SEL work and collaborate with staff towards creating goal oriented work to promote student SEL. I help lead professional learning for staff and community members to deepen their understanding of SEL work in our district and provide opportunity for reflection and planning.
Why is social-emotional learning important to me: Social-emotional learning is important to me because it is the foundation for all learning. I believe in the immense impact that quality SEL instruction can have on students. Not only does this work benefit us as individuals, but it creates a foundation for bettering our community as a whole. The skills that students learn through SEL instruction are skills that will serve them their entire life. I feel so grateful to work in a district that places such a great emphasis on SEL and teaching to the whole child.
Marla's Lunch Update
If you have ordered hot lunch on a day that your child will not be at school, you may pick up that lunch at the front desk. Please notify Meredith Park ((847) 446-6060) by 10am, and we will hold the lunch at the front desk for you to pick up after 12pm. If you do not notify Ms. Park, your hot lunch will be deemed forfeit, and donated to a staff member or student.
Please note: For allergy purposes, any donated lunch given to a child who does not have a lunch that day will need approval from the parent to receive this.
Occasionally, we see hot lunches ordered on the same day that a student brings lunch home from school. We will still be sure that your student receives their hot lunch, as we know that so families do this intentionally, e.g, to cover for after school practices and activities.
Please contact Kate Casale MacNally (Katherine.macnally@gmail.com; (917) 623-2029), the PTO Lunch Volunteer Coordinator, with any questions.
Pokemon Club Registration
Picture Retakes
Picture Retake Day is Tuesday, October 25. If you would like to have your child's picture taken again, please email Ms. Park (meredithpark@winnetka36.org) and Mr. Schreiber (gordonschreiber@winnetka36.org) so we can see they get to the photographers for a retake. We also have a list of children who didn't get their picture taken so if your child was absent on Picture Day we will also see that they have their portrait done that day.
2022 Downsized Capital Improvement Plan: Referendum
If you are unable to participate in an informational session, you may also view the screencast of the presentation here. A final mailing with additional information will be sent to the entire community later this month as well.
Fall Winnetka Parents Institute Schedule
Service Opportunity from the Volunteer Center
The Volunteer Center is hosting its 20th Annual Make A Difference Day that will help 18 nonprofits' clients in critical need. North Shore residents are invited to "upcycle" their new and gently used goods at this one-day annual collection drive. The event is Saturday, Oct. 22 from 9am - noon at Winnetka's Indian Hill train station parking lot.
Safely drive-thru and drop off! If you have any of the essential items the nonprofits have requested like clothing, food, toys, games, books, DVDs, CDs, vinyl, musical instruments, and much more! Please sort, bag, and label them with the corresponding nonprofit and bring them over! The list of items requested from each nonprofit can be found here on the VC's website. Only the items on the list will be accepted. Nonprofit reps will be there to receive the essential donations. Volunteers will take them from your vehicle and the nonprofits will drive off with them at the end of the morning.
We also are in need of volunteers from middle school-aged youth through adults, to help us take the donations to the corresponding nonprofit and/or help sort the items. Please email if you or your family or service group would like to help or if you have any questions. Contact info@volunteercenterhelps.org.
Parent Education Sessions from District Partner Family Action Network (FAN):
Follow us on Social Media!
Please follow the District via the following social media platforms in order to see day-to-day happenings and more.
Facebook and Twitter: @Winnetka36
Instagram: @WinnetkaPublicSchools
Commemorative Bricks at Carleton Washburne School
- 10/17 - 10/21: UNITY WEEK!
- 10/25 - Greeley Picture Retake Day
- 10/26 - Pumpkin Carving/Decorating Display
- 10/26 - 9am - 10am: SELf Parent Coffee: Social Problem-Solving & Peer Conflict
- 10/28 - October Birthday Lunch with Principal Swanner
- 10/31 - Ghost Dance & Ghost Walk: 12:45pm - 1:30pm
- 11/1 - NO SCHOOL - Teacher Institute Day
- 11/8 - NO SCHOOL - Election Day
About Us
School Hours:
8:30am | Doors open
8:37am | School promptly begins
2:10pm | Extended day kindergarten dismissal
2:45pm | Early Release (MONDAY ONLY)
3:15pm | Grades 1-4 & Extended play kindergarten dismissal
Email: GordonSchreiber@winnetka36.org
Website: https://www.winnetka36.org/greeley
Location: 275 Fairview Avenue, Winnetka, IL, USA
Phone: (847) 446-6060