Happy Retirement, Mrs. Czajkowski & Nurse Jackie!

At the end of the 2022-2023 school year, Mrs. Czajkowski (GDW Kindergarten Teacher) and Nurse Jackie (GDW Nurse) will retire.  After many years of dedicated service, I would like to thank Mrs. Czajkowski and Nurse Jackie for their contributions to their profession, District 300, and Gary D. Wright Elementary School.  Mrs. Czajkowski and Nurse Jackie, Happy Retirement!  

HHS Senior Walk

Hampshire High School's graduating seniors visited Gary D. Wright Elementary School as part of the District 300 Senior Walk event.  This is a special class, as they were fifth graders my first year as the Principal of Gary D. Wright Elementary School in the 2015-2016 school year.  The students below were all GDW Wildcats who now belong to the Hampshire High School graduating Class of 2023.  Congratulations, Hampshire High School Class of 2023!  Thank you for serving as role models for our GDW Wildcats!  All my best to you!

PTO Mystery Night

The GDW PTO's Mystery Night was an incredible event!  We enjoyed delicious treats and were intrigued by many characters introduced to us as we needed to use clues provided throughout the night to determine who stole a precious jewel.  Thank you, PTO for another fun event and a novel idea!

Fifth Grade Wax Museum

As a culmination of their biography research, GDW's Fifth Graders dressed up and put their learning on display by creating a Wax Museum.  Our students, staff, and families visited the museum throughout the afternoon.  The fifth graders did such an incredible job on this project!  Way to go, Wildcats!

Prismatic Magic Laser Assembly

To celebrate an incredible school year where our Wildcat students have demonstrated kindness as well as being respectful, responsible, and ready to learn, our PBIS Committee coordinated an assembly featuring a Prismatic Magic Laser Program.  A huge thank you to the GDW PTO for generously providing the funding to make this opportunity possible!

Culvers Night

Our Wildcat learning community had a wonderful evening at the PTO's Culvers Night!  The GDW Staff and Fifth Grade volunteers helped to serve food and greet everyone who came out to support this event!  A huge thank you to Mr. Richard and the staff at Culvers for welcoming us in and generously donating a portion of the evening's sales back to the GDW PTO!  Also, thank you to our GDW PTO, Wildcat Staff and Fifth Grade Volunteers for your service and to our Wildcat Families for your continued support!

Kindergarten Carnival

Thanks to the collaborative efforts of our Kindergarten Team and the support of the GDW PTO and HHS, our Kindergarten students engaged in a celebration of learning throughout GDW's first-ever Kindergarten Carnival!  Students rotated through many different carnival tents (classrooms) to experience various engaging and high-interest carnival games and activities that provided them with opportunities to apply their learning in fun and meaningful ways.  

Staff Appreciation Week 2023

This week, we celebrated Staff Appreciation Week and the theme was "GDW is Nacho Average Staff".  Thank you to the GDW PTO, our Wildcat families, and community members for the incredible outpouring of support & appreciation of our staff!  We are so grateful to belong to such a caring learning community!  

Fourth Grade & Kindergarten Music Performances

This week, we enjoyed two evenings of musical performances.  Our Fourth Graders performed "Camp Recorder" and our Kindergarten students performed "Going to the Farm".  Both shows highlighted all of the wonderful things students have learned throughout the school year in music class!  A huge thank you to Mrs. Henning for producing such incredible shows!  Way to go, Wildcats!

GDW Fifth Graders Honored By Illinois Principals Association

Congratulations to Gary D. Wright Elementary School fifth grade students, Jacob Coffey and Adeline Gorski, for their recognition at the Illinois Principals Association Kishwaukee Region 21st Annual Student Leadership Breakfast.  During the event, both Jacob and Adeline were presented with a certificate as well as a book about leadership.

GDW's i-Ready Olympics

 This week, we held the closing ceremonies for GDW's i-Ready Olympics, where Mrs. Monroe visited classrooms to award medals and certificates to 313 students who met the challenge of passing at least one i-Ready reading and math lesson per week from February 27-April 6, 2023.  Throughout GDW's i-Ready Olympics, our Wildcats collectively passed 10,733 i-Ready lessons! 

Congratulations to all Wildcats who earned a medal for completing the challenge.  We would also like to recognize the following gold, silver, and bronze medalists from each grade level:

Kindergarten: Brynn Arnold (Gold), Jacob Bernal (Silver), Giel Cuartero (Bronze)

First Grade: Hudson Rodriguez (Gold), Emercyn Rodriguez (Silver), Londyn Chapperon (Bronze)

Second Grade: Cameron Atkinson (Gold), Dominic Cerrito (Silver), Clark Schroll (Bronze)

Third Grade: Christian Rodriguez (Gold), Logan Black (Silver), Owen Roerig (Bronze)

Fourth Grade: Skiler Crawford (Gold), Michael Parry (Silver), Luca Petryniec (Bronze)

Fifth Grade: Lillian Stewart (Gold), Emilio Hernandez (Silver), Kayla Duffy (Bronze)

District 300 Solo & Ensemble Festival

Congratulations to the following Gary D. Wright Elementary School fifth grade students who participated in the District 300 Solo and Ensemble Festival and earned a first division rating:

• Brooke VanDusen
• Kiara Harvey
• Violeta Sanchez

Way to go, Wildcats!

First & Fifth Grade Music Performances

Before we headed into Spring Break, we enjoyed two evenings of musical performances.  Our First Graders performed "Circus Circus" and our Fifth Graders performed "Time Travel Test".  Both shows were incredible and showcased many musical selections featuring different instruments, props, costumes, and more.  A huge thank you to Mrs. Henning for producing such engaging and student-centered shows!  Way to go, Wildcats!

LEGO Night

GDW's LEGO Night was awesome!  As part of our school's commitment to providing academically focused family engagement opportunities, Gary D. Wright Elementary School Staff partnered with LEGO Education to provide this fun-filled event for our students and families.  Throughout the evening, staff guided our LEGO enthusiasts through a series of activities that promoted exploration and creativity.  Students left with LEGO kits, access to a packet of extension activities, and a swag bag filled with LEGO-themed items!

Congratulations, Mrs. Stacy Smith!

On behalf of the Gary D. Wright Elementary School learning community, I would like to congratulate Mrs. Stacy Smith (Fifth Grade Teacher) on her recent recognition as GDW's nominee for the D300 Foundation For Educational Excellence Distinguished Educator of the Year Award.  Mrs. Smith will be honored at the upcoming Foundation Awards Banquet.  We are so proud of Mrs. Smith and are grateful for her dedication to the GDW school community!

The Illinois 5Essentials Survey

 

Parents/Guardians:

Your feedback is important to us!

The Illinois 5Essentials Survey is open now through March 31, 2023.

The Illinois 5Essentials Parent Survey is open now through March 31, 2023. Please take an opportunity to share your thoughts on the important elements of our school’s effectiveness.  Each parent/guardian in your household is able to take the survey!

We sincerely appreciate everyone’s efforts in providing feedback for our school!  

Please visit http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent/ to access the survey.

Thank you for helping us make Gary D. Wright Elementary School a great place to learn!

PTO's 2Ball Competition

The PTO's 2Ball Competition was a slam dunk!  Thank you to our incredible PTO and both parent, student, and staff volunteers for making this amazing event possible!  Congratulations to all of our participants, and a special shout out to the following students for placing in the top three teams at their grade level: 

Kindergarten: Luke Kosnik (1st), Levi Kane (2nd), Theo Knudsen (3rd)

First Grade: Ricky Lopez (1st), Cole Kowalczyk (2nd), Knox Ronowski (3rd)

Second Grade: Logan White (1st), Declan Fawcett (2nd), Lucas Johnson (3rd)

Third Grade: Isaac Wagner (1st), Mason Stozek (2nd), Maddox Yang (3rd)

Fourth Grade: Caleb Fawcett (1st), Colby Karlo (2nd), Layden Hoyt (3rd)

Fifth Grade: Rylie Petrey (1st), Caden Smith (2nd), Darryl Younger (3rd)

GDW PTO's Enchanted Snowball

Thank you, GDW PTO for a magical evening at the Enchanted Snowball!  The decorations were incredible, the treats were delicious, and the dancing was super fun!

One School One Book

Today, we kicked off our One School One Book initiative with an all school assembly that featured a movie and a puppet show to introduce this year's book - Friendship According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney.  The assembly even had us saying "squeak" and "boing" as we were introduced to some of the book's characters - Humphrey the hamster and Og the frog.  Mrs. Monroe and Dr. Gravel even dressed up as a frog and a hamster for our special kick-off assembly.  Included in this week's Virtual Backpack, families can find more details regarding our reading schedule as well as a Family Fun Pack which will be a great resource as you read this book as a family.  A copy of our book was provided to each GDW student and staff member through the generous support of the GDW PTO, as well as the Hintt/Way families. We would also like to thank the GDW Family Engagement Committee for organizing this incredible opportunity!   Thank you for your support in helping us build a community of readers.