Gray Elementary is an amazing school full of bright and inquisitive learners. Teachers and staff work hard to ensure a positive, safe, and intellectually enriching environment. We value a collaborative school-home partnership with our supportive families. It is of paramount importance that all our students form a strong academic and social-emotional foundation for their promising futures.
SEPTEMBER 2025
Dear Gray Families,
Our school year is off to a great start! It’s wonderful having our Stallions back in school. Students are enjoying time with friends and connecting with their new teachers. The new turf has really enhanced outdoor activities for our Stallions! Our students had a lot of fun at our Gray Turf ribbon cutting ceremony! This was the first time in recent memory that the entire school was together during the day for an event.
Just around the corner will be Gray Spirit Week (Sept. 15th-19th) which celebrates our amazing school community. The highlight of Spirit Week will be the Stallion Trot (Sept. 17th) which is a community building event and a fundraiser. We invite families to watch their Stallions Trot. Families are encouraged to make signs that inspire and motivate our students. We are excited to partner with Friends of Gray for this event. It is a fun filled day of togetherness for the entire school community. Please look out for fundraising information. The funds raised will complete our student drinking fountain project and our garden project. We truly need your support. Below is the Stallion Trot schedule so that families can come to Gray and cheer on their students.
Here is the schedule:
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TIME |
GRADE LEVEL |
|
| |
8:30AM - 9:00 AM |
1st, 2nd, 3rd |
|
| |
9:15 AM - 10:00 AM |
PreK, K, 4th |
|
| |
10:15 AM - 10:45 AM |
5th |
|
| |
1:15 PM - 2:00 PM |
7th, 8th |
|
| |
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM |
6th |
|
Open House will take place on September 16th from 5:00-6:00pm. This is an excellent opportunity to speak with your child’s teacher, connect with other Gray families, build a home-school connection, and see your child’s home away from home. Immediately following Open House is our Back to School Bash from 6:00-7:00pm.
During the week of September 29th we will have our 2nd annual International Week at Gray. The purpose of International Week is to celebrate the wonderful diversity that exists within our school, honor identities, and build relationships. It is important to highlight the vast array of cultures that our families, students, and staff bring to Gray Elementary each day. The wide range of cultures is what benefits our school, community, city, state, country, and the world. International week will end with an in school parade for our students during the school day. This year we are inviting our K-4 parents to watch our parade at 2:30pm weather permitting. Feel free to bring a flag or make a sign.
Gray Elementary will have 2 food celebration days during the 2025-2026 School Year. The first Celebration Day is December 19th and the second is June 4th. Food celebrations could include store bought items like pizza, chips, cookies etc...Your child’s teacher will connect with you regarding specifics when the time nears. In addition to food celebration days, we will have two treat days on October 31st (Halloween) and February 13th (Valentines). Treat days are different from food celebration days. Food is not allowed on treat days. On Treat days, students are welcome to share small store bought treats with their classmates. For example, a lollipop on the back of a Halloween or valentines card is appropriate. We will designate the last 30 minutes of the school day as a time to share treats. On treat days, students will not be consuming the treats in school, instead they will take them home. We have a lot of fun events planned for this school year so please continue to check announcements.
Gray students will participate in CPS district wide assessments during the 2025-2026 school year. Our Kindergarten-2nd grade students will participate in the i-Ready assessment and 3rd-8th graders will participate in the Star 360 assessment. Teachers will utilize the results of these assessments to help inform, drive, and differentiate instruction to ensure our Stallions are always moving forward.
Below are the testing windows for both i-Ready and Star 360:
Beginning of the School Year (BOY) 9/2/25 - 9/25/25
Middle of the School Year (MOY) 1/12/26 - 2/6/26
End of the School Year (EOY) 4/27/26 - 5/22/26
Stay in touch by downloading our School App and signing up to receive the Stallion Newsletter on our website.
We are Stallion Strong!
Sincerely,
Dr. Kotis
