Stories are at the very core of what we do at Great Hearts Irving. While great stories certainly delight us, they offer much more than simple diversion. Stories teach us about the world: about the way things are, the people that live in it, and the consequences of the choices we make. Stories take the stuff of the everyday world we inhabit and imbue it with meaning, destiny, and transcendence, transforming our imaginations and making them able to see the True, the Good, and the Beautiful not just in the imaginary worlds of the stories, but in the real world they imitate.

On Friday, October 27, the Lower School will host our fifth annual Storybook Festival in celebration of our shared love of stories and the worlds of wonder and beauty to be found between the covers of a good book. Each grade level has a unique schedule of events planned, but we will all spend the day listening to, reading, and participating in activities drawn from some of the best children’s stories.

October 27th is an early-release Friday; drop off and pick up will not be affected by Storybook Festival.

Hallway Decorations

Have you ever stepped through the wardrobe into the magical land of Narnia? Visited Wonderland? How about the Land of Oz? Every year for Storybook Festival, our amazing parents help us decorate each of our grade-level hallways to give the day an extra dose of magic for our students.

We’re looking for teams of parent volunteers to take each grade level’s traditional literary theme and run with it! We have some basic supplies available at school (staplers, tape, butcher paper etc.) as well as some decorations saved from years past. We may also have some funding available to purchase additional decorations. Please sign up if you’d like to be on the team of decorators for your child’s grade level.

Sign Up to Help Decorate the Halls

Costumes

For Storybook Festival, students are allowed to come to school dressed as their favorite character from works of classic children’s literature, such as our list of Classics to Keep. Since students will be wearing the costumes during the school day, there are a number of guidelines that we will ask you to follow. Click here for detailed instructions on what is and is not permissible to wear.

Costume Guidelines

Little Sibling Story Corner

Update: While we wish we had room for everyone, Little Sibling Story Corner has sold out. Thanks to all who registered! We are looking forward to a wonderful Storybook Festival.

Calling 3- and 4-year-old siblings! Every year, as part of Storybook Festival, younger brothers and sisters of current Lower School scholars are invited to school for a story hour just their own hosted by our Dean of Culture, Mary Pantin. Special storybook read aloud and more await!

Registration for Little Sibling Story Corner will open on Monday, October 9th at 10am. Space is limited for this exclusive event, so set a reminder and act quickly. We hope to see you there!

RSVP For Sibling Story Corner

Classroom Library Donations

Every year for Storybook Festival, we invite students to bring a beautiful book to donate to our school. Each year we have put a slightly different spin on the books we’ve asked for, and over the years, the generosity of you, our family community, has successfully filled our school library with a large selection of exceptional books full of beauty and the pursuit of virtue.

With our school library more full than ever, this year we are asking families to donate books to the small, individual libraries that live within our classrooms. We will publish individual, custom wish lists for each grade level featuring selections hand chosen by your child’s teachers, and the books you donate will live right inside your child’s classroom.

We are still working to build out these wish lists but will make each available as soon as it is ready.

Kindergarten Storybook Wish List

1st Grade Storybook Wish List

2nd Grade Storybook Wish List

3rd Grade Storybook Wish List

4th Grade Storybook Wish List

5th Grade Storybook Wish List

Leave a Legacy

Our own Mr. Jack Urbanski, Fourth Grade Apprentice Teacher, has designed the artwork for this year’s Storybook Festival themed to Saint George and the Dragon, including our beautiful custom bookplate. These bookplates can be inscribed with your child’s name and placed on the inside cover of donated books as a lasting testament to the generosity and citizenship your family showed in helping us ensure we have a library full of beautiful books full of truth and virtue.

We will be sending home one bookplate in every student’s folder. Additional bookplates may be picked up at the front desk.

Food Permission Slips

During the day, our classrooms will be visited by a special guest and served a themed snack. If you have not returned your child’s annual food permission slip, be sure to sign and return that before Storybook Festival so your child can participate. We understand that things like this sometimes get lost on the way home, so you can also download and print from the link below.

Students with dietary restrictions may bring an alternate snack.

Annual Food permission slip

For questions about Storybook Festival, please reach out to Mary.Pantin@greatheartstxschools.org.