Principal's Message

Dear Greenbriar families,

Thanks to our community for all of the love and support this week. It has been a tough week for everyone but we have felt so supported by our parents and students. We appreciate all of you and hope you'll be able to participate in some of the ways we're honoring Mrs. Porcaro in the coming months.

Thank you to our families who have volunteered to be "Greyhound Guard Houses" (formerly Block Parents) for our community. We have shared information with students about the program and have shown them the signs to look for in windows around Greenbriar. Please take a moment to remind your child if they're out in the community without an adult and need support, to look for a green Guard House sign in the window as a safe location to seek assistance.

Parents of students in 3rd and 5th grades will receive their child's CogAT score reports via email today. Students' second trimester progress reports will be released via TeacherEase on the afternoon of Thursday, March 16. Look for an email alerting you when those reports are ready to be viewed.

Have a great weekend,

Ginny

Our students and staff have created a butterfly art installation to honor Mrs. Porcaro our retired kindergarten teacher who passed away last week.

Canines 4 Comfort (the organization that brought us Krieger) brought their team of support dogs to help students and staff on Monday.

HONORING MRS. PORCARO

As we shared via email earlier this week, we have two upcoming ways to honor Mary Porcaro and her kind spirit.

MEMORY BOOK: Since Mrs. Porcaro made an impact on so many children and families, we'd like to collect tributes and memories about what Mary meant to our community and compile them into a book for her family. All families and staff are invited to write or draw thoughts to be included in this book. A few guidelines...

• Please keep submissions to 8.5x11 size and one-sided.
• Feel free to include photos, drawings, and words.
• Hard copy submissions can be sent to the school with students. Electronic submissions can be emailed to [email protected] or uploaded to this folder. 
• Please share your submission by March 24th.

CANDLELIGHT PATH: The Greenbriar PTO and staff are organizing a way to honor Mary by inviting families to walk a path around Greenbriar from 7 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, March 19. There will be activities along the pathway to honor Mary’s kindness. More details will be shared in the coming days.

"LUCKY" BOOK ACTIVITY

All students have been given the opportunity to participate in a "Lucky" Book activity through our awesome Greenbriar library. Check out more about this activity from Mrs. Sanchez.

SPANISH UPDATE FOR 1st-5th *repeat*

Our students in grades 1-5 get to go to Spanish class for 30 minutes each day, and you would be so impressed with all that they are doing! Much of their work is shared for you to view on Seesaw, with Señora Cabrejo (grades 1-3) and Señora Kus (grades 3-5) commenting and sharing information through the app. Want to be notified when new posts or messages are shared in Spanish class? View Seesaw's directions on how to allow notifications, or watch this video to learn how to enable text notifications. To ensure notifications come through, we also recommend checking your device's notification settings in addition to your settings in your seesaw account. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact your student's Spanish teacher for assistance! 

INTERNATIONAL MATH DAY - March 14, 2023 - STILL TIME TO SUBMIT A VIDEO!

Do you have a passion for math? Would you be willing to help us continue to foster a love of math in our students? If so, we would benefit greatly from your time and expertise in sharing how you use math in your job and/or everyday life via a video recording. This will assist our students in connecting what they are learning to the real world. The videos will be shared each day on the announcements. Please keep the video to roughly 2 minutes or under in length and upload it to the International Math Day Folder. You can also email videos to Rachael Miller at [email protected].

Summer Enrichment Courses Now Listed

The Summer Enrichment session will be Wednesday, June 7 through Friday, June 30. Registration opens at 7 p.m Monday, April 3 and closes at 7 p.m. Friday, April 14.

Visit our Summer Programming page for course descriptions and more information. Course descriptions are grouped by age. Please review before registration and select 2nd and 3rd choices in case the first choice is full. Some courses close within minutes. Capacity is limited by staffing and facilities.

Please see Frequently Asked Questions for Summer Enrichment and Extended School Year general information.  

WATERWAY - FULL SERVICE CAR WASH SALE *repeat*

After these long winter months, who doesn't love a clean car? We are currently fundraising with waterways. 50% of all money raised will go back to the PTO to help support field trips, student activities, and staff appreciation. Coupons are $24.00 each and never expire. Sales can be found on the PTO website & are open until March 22nd.  All coupons purchased will be sent home in students' green home folders the week of April 3rd. Buy today for your family, friends, and/or gifts for teachers!!!

FAMILY SERVICE INITIATIVE

We are so grateful to our Greenbriar community for participating in our Family Service Initiative.  Collections for Bernie’s Book Bank, Cradles to Crayons, and Canines 4 Comfort end today.  It was wonderful to see the generosity of our school community and we were able to donate much needed items to all charities!  If you ordered quilt squares for Project Linus, they were sent home in student backpacks last week. If you ordered quilt squares to decorate for Project Linus, please send the completed squares back to school by Friday, March 17.

SCIENCE NIGHT, MARCH 15TH

Calling All Scientists!! We are very excited for Science Night to come back to Greenbriar. 

Join us for Science Night, Wednesday March 15th from 6-7pm at Greenbriar's gymnasium.

We are looking for volunteers!  If you are able to help on Science Night, please sign-up here!

DID YOU KNOW? DISTRICT 28 SPONSORS SISTER SCHOOL IN KENYA

We wanted to share this post as we expect to hear more in the future about this amazing relationship with our sister school in Kenya. More information to come, but enjoy reading a little more about it on the District website.

NEXT PTO MEETING 3/14

Join us for our next PTO meeting at 8:45AM on 3/14 in the Greenbriar Teacher’s lounge. We will be voting in our 2023-2024 executive board and would love to hear your voice! Can’t make it?  Join us virtually using this link!

Not sure if you ordered pizza or a treat? *repeat*

To double check your orders, click on this link, log into the PTO website, and look under "my account" and then "my orders."

IMPORTANT LINK

Greenbriar PTO: https://www.greenbriarpto.com/

As always, please reach out to Lori or Shelly should you need anything at [email protected].

District 28 invites local non-profit organizations and community government agencies to promote events for families and children. Each week, some event are highlighted in the newsletter. View the complete list of events on the Virtual Backpack web page. To submit an event, please email the web-friendly flier to Terry Ryan, Communications Director. All fliers are subject to approval.

Spring Hockey Registration Now Open

Looking to get your child to try hockey or get your player geared up to play in the fall? Come try our Spring Mini-Mites/Mite House/Squirt House Programs! These are our entry-level hockey programs for our youngest players, where they will work on skating, learn basic hockey skills, and have fun! This program will run once a week April-May. Come join us!

Visit  Northbrook Bluehawks for more information.

Is My Kid OK?

When our kids are struggling with their mental health, they may not have the skills to explain their challenges. Instead, they often send a message through their behavior.

Join CATCH Tuesday, March 21 at noon via Zoom and learn about the early signs and how to support your child. Speaker: Jodi Salata, ALMFT,

Cutting Edge Counseling

Register today

Greenbriar School | Dr. Ginny Hiltz, Principal | 847-498-7950 | [email protected] | Website