75th Anniversary
Greenbriar School was dedicated in 1949 with five classrooms, a gymnasium, and an office.
Students work independently in what appears to be an art lesson at Greenbriar School.
Parent involvement is a hallmark of Northbrook School District 28, and book fairs continue today as a valuable asset to students' learning experiences.
Calisthenics, like those being demonstrated in this 1960s Greenbrier P.E. class, were performed to improve strength and endurance. Jack LaLanne helped popularize the practice in the 1960s.
Part of the Greenbriar archives includes this photo of the school principal in 1963, though her name is not credited.
In 1967, the Greenbriar Gremlin was adopted as the school's first mascot. A gremlin is considered a friendly spirit. It changed to the greyhound in the early 1990s.
History
Greenbriar opened its doors in 1949 when Northbrook’s population was under 3,000 people. The original building contained five classrooms, a gym, and an office and was built for $222,612. In 1952, District 28 decided to add onto Greenbriar by building an additional eight classrooms to serve 350 students. In 1961, another addition enlarged Greenbriar to 22 classrooms. In 2012, District 28 and the Park District joined together to build the large gym. At the same time, additional classrooms, office spaces, and a new front office were added to the building. In 2017-18, Greenbriar served more than 400 students in 23 classroom sections.
Greenbriar’s first mascot, established in 1967, was the Greenbriar Gremlin. The Greenbriar Gremlin was a happy creature resembling an elf. In 1984, the movie “Gremlins” hit the box office and Greenbriar decided to update the school’s mascot. The mascot was changed to the Greyhound around 1993. In December 2017, Greenbriar students voted to name the Greyhound mascot Flash.
Tribute to Sister School
As part of our 75th anniversary celebration, Greenbriar School raised funds for Education for All, an NGO that helps support schools like Spurgeon's Academy, District 28's sister school in Kenya.
"Jambo" is a song sung by schoolchildren in Kenya and was recommended by Education For All.
Music teacher Jeremy Bartunek researched the song and found an arrangement suitable for elementary students. The students learned the song in music class and then recorded it in their Greenbriar 'Packs". Mr. Bartunek tied it all together by gathering the school in the gym to make an all-school recording, then created a video of each pack singing it.
The translation is:
Jambo, Jambo Bwana - Hello sir!
Habari gani - How are you?
Mzuri sana - I'm very good.
Wageni wakaribishwa - Stranger, welcome,
Kenya yetu hakuna matata - Kenya has no problems