Absences

If your child is to be absent from school for any reason, please call the school nurse (446-2638) or the school office (446-6060) as early as possible. There is an answering machine on the nurse's phone to take messages before 8:30 a.m. and after 3:30 p.m. Without this notification, someone from the school must call your home to find out why your child is absent. You should also notify the school if your child is not to return to school in the afternoon. Absentees should bring a note to their teachers when they return to school.

Bicycles

Children in grades 3 and 4 only may ride bikes to school. Please provide locks and helmets. Riders are required to walk bicycles on school grounds. All bicycles should be registered with the Winnetka Police Department. On Bicycle Safety Day children in grades 3 and 4 may bring their bicycles to school, learn hand signals and travel through a bicycle course.

Book Fair

This fundraising activity sponsored by the Greeley PTO will be held in May. Award winning and other recommended books, grouped by age and category, are on display and available for purchase. Children visit the fair with their classes during the school day to prepare their "wish lists" and to make purchases. Parents can return with their children after school or in the evening to purchase books.

Bus Service

Bus service is provided on a fee basis and is offered via two bus routes. Parents should note that the children are usually not supervised (except by the driver) while they are on the bus. Guests may ride the bus with regular bus riders if they both provide a note dated and signed by a parent. This note must be taken to the office in order to receive a bus pass. Regular riders need a dated/signed note for visits requiring a different bus or bus stop.

Carpools and Autos

Please drop off and pick up children at either the Elder Lane entrance or at the corner of Fairview and Hawthorn. During school hours, Elder Lane is one-way going west and Hawthorn is one-way going east. Fairview is one-way going north and while you may also drop your child off on Fairview, do not do so when buses are present. Do not park on Fairview on school days and do not allow children to shortcut through the parking lot to the playground. Parking passes may be obtained from the office for parking on the street in the "No Parking from 8AM-10AM" spaces only.

Conferences

Parent/Teacher conferences are typically scheduled three times per year, in the Fall, Winter and Spring. Spring conferences are optional for grades 2,3 and 4. Kindergarten conferences are held twice a year on different dates than those of the other grades.

Contact Information

Please help the office keep records up to date by calling the main office if you have a change in phone number or address. Please update your emergency forms with babysitter information. It is crucial that babysitters’ names be included on the emergency contact forms in the Red Binder in the office. Even if we know your sitter by sight, we must have written parental permission to release your child to the sitter in the middle of the school day. Thank you for your support in this matter.

Directory

Greeley's Directory is published each fall by the Greeley PTO. It includes school policies, events during the school year and important information in addition to class lists. Directory copies are for sale in the school office year-round through the school secretary.

Emergency School Closing:

Inclement weather or other unanticipated emergencies may result in school being cancelled. The determination to close school will be based upon available information collected from local law enforcement agencies, weather forecast services, and neighboring school district administrators. If this happens, every effort will be made to finalize the decision by 6 A.M. If one or more of our schools closes, the District will communicate with parents and staff as soon as possible in the following ways:

Our Website:
School closing and schedule change information will be posted on our district website www.winnetka36.org, and on each school’s home page.

By Telephone:
Parents and staff who have shared their phone contact information will be contacted through our automated phone messaging system as soon as the decision to close is made. If a parent does not receive a school-closing call, it is because the phone number is not listed properly. Parents should contact the school secretary at their child’s school to on the next valid school day to update their contact information.

By Email:
Parents and staff who have shared their email contact information will be also be contacted via an email alert.


Other Sources:
We will communicate our closing information to local broadcast media, including all local television and radio news stations. Information will also be shared with www.emergencyclosings.com.

Extra Clothing

Please provide labeled extra indoor KW shoes and socks for your child during the winter months. Also, mark all sweaters, sweatshirts, hats, gloves, etc. with your child's name.

Field Day

Field Day, held in the last weeks of school, is an event for grades 1-4 in which students are assigned to one of three teams (red, white, or blue). Each child participates in events across the playground with the students in his or her grade. They are encouraged to wear their team color to earn extra points for their teams.

Field Trips

To participate in field trips, the law requires that each child must have a permission slip signed by a parent or guardian.

Forgotten Lunches

Please send your children’s lunches with them in the morning. If you must deliver lunches after the school day has begun, leave the lunch in the “Forgotten Lunches” box on the bench in the front hall. The children know to look there for their lunch.

Go-To-School Nights

Go-To-School Nights in the fall provide parents an opportunity to meet other parents, listen to a presentation by the teacher and be updated on school/PTO activities. Attendance is strongly recommended.

Greeley Crier

The Crier is a regular communication between Greeley and parents. It is distributed electronically to each family. Be sure to read the Crier regularly, as it is a source of helpful information. You may submit items that you feel will be of interest to other parents. Please put any submission in the Crier box in the school office and provide your name and phone number in case of questions. Commercial or political items will not be printed.

Greeley PTO

Annual dues are requested per family. Meetings are held as indicated in the Crier. Please see the link on the Greeley website.

Halloween Parade

Greeley’s Ghost Walk will begin promptly after lunch on Friday, Oct. 31. Parents are invited to observe the festivities on the playground. Students may put on their costumes during the lunch hour. Those who stay for lunch will have a specific time during which to change into costume. They should bring bags to carry extra clothing home. Students who go home for lunch may change at home and come back to school in costume. Safety is our primary concern. In case of rain, the children will parade through the schoolhouse, and do their Ghost Dance in the gym. Costumes must follow these guidelines:
-Masks may not obscure vision.
-Weapons and “look-alikes” of any kind are forbidden. This prohibition includes toy guns, rubber knives, clubs and bludgeons.
-Costumes should allow the child to walk safely and sit comfortably throughout the afternoon.
-Costumes should not be gory.

Head Lice

Our focus, as always, is to maintain an atmosphere conducive to high quality education in a comfortable environment, and to that end we make every effort to keep the disruption of head lice to a minimum. Please talk to your children to encourage them not to share headwear.

Kindergarten Registration

Parents with children entering Sr. Kindergarten the following school year register their children in December. If your child is already enrolled in Jr. Kindergarten at Greeley, it is not necessary to register him or her for Sr. Kindergarten. If Greeley is planning to have a Jr. Kindergarten program the following year, this is the opportunity to enroll your child. Since demand usually exceeds the available space in the program, a lottery is used to fill the classes and establish the waiting list ranking. The drawing is held immediately after the registration closes and the results are posted by the end of the day. More details are provided in the Crier weeks preceding this event.

Kinetic Wellness (KW) Excuses

To be excused from KW, a note from home or a doctor is requested. There should be few times when this is necessary.

Lost and Found

The lost and found box is located in the basement at the foot of the stairway on the west side of the building.

Lunch Program

Parents may sign up their children to have lunch at school on one or more days per week. The fee for the lunch program is $1.75/day for supervision only; $2.00 per day for supervision and milk; and $2.45 for supervision and orange juice. Sign-up sheets and ten-lunch cards can be purchased at the front desk. For any deviations or additions to the scheduled days, parents must send a note to school, detailing the change. Children should put their notes in the "Lunch Notes" box by the front desk. Children may stay for lunch on an occasional basis. Lunch money should be included with the lunch note. The lunch room is located in the basement. Children who participate in the lunch program are offered a variety of activities.

Maypole Celebration -- -- Kindergartners celebrate May Day with a Maypole celebration in the school gym. This is generally a student-only event.

Medical/Dental/Music Appointments

Please make every attempt to schedule these for non-school hours. If a student needs to leave during the school day, a parent or guardian must enter the school to sign the child out at the front desk.

Messages

Please have the day’s plans set and clearly communicated to your children before they leave for school each day. Any after-school plans should be arranged in the morning before your children leave for school. We can put you through to a teacher’s voicemail, and/or put a note in a teacher’s mailbox, but we do not interrupt class to deliver messages except in emergencies.

Notes

A note is required whenever a child is to leave school other than the usual time of dismissal. Please also send a note regarding any play dates (both children’s parents need to send a note).

Office
Greeley's office is open on school days from 8 AM to 4 PM. Telephone: 847-446-6060

Pets

No pets may visit the school without first checking with the school office and with your child's teacher.

Phase-In Procedures

In order to ensure a smooth beginning for each child, we have set up a phase-in procedure for the Junior and Senior Kindergartners.

Junior Kindergarten: School for JK begins during the second week of the school year. The Juniors are invited to visit the classroom and meet their teacher a week before their class begins. During the phase-in for Juniors, the children attend class for 40 minutes the first day, 1 hour the second day, and 2½ hours the third day. Thereafter, they attend for the full morning or afternoon session – 8:40–11:25 a.m. or 12:30–3:15 p.m.
A phase-in schedule for your child will be mailed to you in August.

Senior Kindergarten: Senior Kindergarten begins the second day of the school year. On their first and second days, the Seniors attend for 1 hour. On their third day, they attend for the full morning or afternoon session – 8:40–11:25 a.m. or 12:30–3:15 p.m. A phase-in schedule for your child will be mailed to you in August.

Playground Hours

Playground supervision begins at 8:20 AM and at 12:15 PM. Your child should not be on the playground before these hours.

Playground Rules

Children can’t say, “You can’t play.” During winter, there is no throwing snowballs anywhere on school grounds at any time. The playground will be divided into two zones: One zone for playing games and a separate area for snow sculpture and snow forts. No one child is “in charge” of snow forts - everyone is welcome to help build. Children may add on to someone else’s snow sculpture or fort, but they may not harm or destroy it. Children may not take snow from someone else’s sculpture or fort in order to add snow to your own structure. There should be no “passwords” or fighting.

Preschool Screening

Parents can sign up their 3- and 4-year olds to receive an extensive developmental assessment, including a hearing and vision test. There is not charge for this assessment, which is performed by members of the School District's Department of Pupil Services.

Resource Center

The Greeley Resource Center has a library with over 16,500 volumes and a variety of multimedia learning materials. The children use computers and multimedia materials with their classes and on an individual basis. Greeley students are welcome to use the Greeley Resource Center between 8 AM and 3:45 PM on school days with approval from their teachers.

Room Mothers

Two room parents per class are assigned by the PTO Vice Chair. Their duties include coordination of Go-To-School Night events, notification to parents of emergency school closings, being a welcome person for new Greeley parents and miscellaneous assistance as requested by the teacher (field trip staffing, holiday treats, etc.).

School Picture Day

Your child will bring home an order form in advance of Picture Day which must be returned with payment prior to pictures being taken.

School "Sings"

The "sings" are musical presentations by grades 1-4 students under the direction of Ms. Ferneding, the music teacher. The Winter Sing is in typically December. The Spring Sing for grades 1-2 and grades 3-4 is in April or May.

Security

Because we can’t be sure that everyone in the building recognizes every visitor who comes into Greeley, please stop in the front lobby and take a moment to sign in and put on a visitor’s badge. Staff and students know that the visitor’s badge means that you have signed in at the front desk. Please understand that this small task helps ensure the security of everyone in the building.

Snowy Weather/Recess Policy

To go outside on snowy days, all children must have hats, mittens or gloves and boots. Children in grades JK-2 must also wear snow pants.

Transportation

Students are eligible to ride the bus to and from school if they live more than 1.5 miles from Greeley.