As most of you know, last year we began a partnership with Canines4Comfort in an effort to find and train a psychiatric service dog for Greenbriar. We are excited to announce that Ozzie (pictured right) is now in training to become Greenbriar's service dog. Ozzie is a golden doodle and is in the process of earning his Canine Good Citizen certification and completing his training to learn how to help Greenbriar students. You can support Canines4Comfort, as they support Greenbriar, by signing up for their Strut Your Mutt virtual or in-person walk/run happening on September 19th. Advanced registration closes on September 15th. Check out details at their website.

Parents, please remember to encourage your children to use the crosswalk at Greenbriar & Chestnut if you're crossing the street. We see many families cross over at Greenbriar & Catherine which is ok if parents are with children but can also be confusing for kids when they are walking/biking alone. We also ask that parents do not pull into the back parking lot off of Greenbriar to drop off or pick-up students as many kindergarteners and 1st graders cross the sidewalk and crosswalk in the back of the lot. Thanks for helping to keep our students safe!

Thanks to our awesome PTO, all students were provided with a Greenbriar mask lanyard at the start of this year. We have additional lanyards available for purchase in the Greenbriar office if your child lost his/hers or if you'd like a second one. You can send cash or check, made out to Greenbriar School for $3 to purchase a second lanyard for your child. Lanyards are available while supplies last!

Our in-person 2nd through 5th grade students will participate in NWEA MAP testing between September 21st and October 23rd. RLA 2nd through 5th-graders will participate in MAP testing between September 29th and October 23rd. Teachers will share specific dates for their classes. Students will take both the reading and math MAP assessments. MAP is taken on the iPad and is an untimed, adaptive assessment meaning that, as students progress in the test, the questions get harder until the student tops out at his or her appropriate level. MAP assessments are just one data point we use to help identify and target areas for instruction. MAP results will be shared with parents via email at the end of October.

I'd like to take a second to remind parents to please refrain from calling or texting children during the school day, particularly if students have Apple watches. Getting alerts during the day can be disruptive to our learning environment. If you need to reach your child, please call the main office and we will either relay a message or have your child come to the office to call you. Please take time to review this letter from last November with guidelines shared by our parent safety committee about the use of student's technology devices.