PRINCIPAL UPDATE

Please help me in wishing Ms. Molly Zience and Ms. Natalia Rodriguez Bazzi good luck. Ms. Zience, who was a 1st grade teacher and then Title One Tutor, has decided to stay home with her daughter. Ms. Bazzi who was a part-time Spanish teacher at Irving has taken a full time teaching role at Longfellow.

We are very excited to report that Ms. Deanna Otten will now be our part-time Spanish teacher and part-time multilingual teacher. Ms. Otten previously traveled between 3 schools as a multilingual teacher. we are very excited that she will be with us full time at Irving.

Today in the weekly district communication, this letter was included, which shares information regarding our inclusive and anti-racist curriculum and instruction. This curriculum work is an important step to meet the goals outlined in our our Racial and Educational Equity Policy. This curriculum is aligned to the Learning for Justice Social Justice Standards as well as the Illinois Instructional Mandate. If you have questions regarding this work, please feel free to email Susan Mura, at smura@op97.org.

Supervision is a vital step to keeping our students safe at Irving. Our lunch recess time is from 11:30-1:00. We are looking for family members who are interested in working during this time to provide supervision outside. Adults can week a schedule that works best for their schedule. For instance, we have some adults who work Monday through Friday and others who work only Fridays. Adults can also work the entire hour and half or a small chunk of time. We are specifically in need of supervision from 12:30-1:00. This can be a paid position ($18 an hour) or volunteer.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please email Kendra Simmons (KSimmons@op97.org).

Today (Friday) our 4th graders and new 5th graders attended the instrumental recruitment assembly. A copy of the Recruitment Brochure went home with each 4th grader and new 5th grader and is also linked here. Everything is also available on the instrumental website: https://www.op97.org/instrumental-music

There will be recruitment nights on:

Tuesday, August 29th, virtual from 7-8pm (virtual link)

Thursday, August 21st at Julian 5-8pm.

Registration is due by Sunday, September 3rd and instrumental lessons will begin the week of September 11th.

SAVE THE DATE: The elementary instrumental festival at OPRF will be Tuesday, April 30th at 6:30pm.

District 97's breakfast/lunch menus and free and reduced lunch application for the 2023-24 school year are now available on the district website and school websites. Please make sure to add money to your student's lunch account so they can purchase breakfast, lunch, and milk.

Our Irving staff does a wonderful job at planning field trips that enrich our curriculum and we enjoy having family members chaperone. In order to supervise students, the chaperone must complete a background check through the district. Please click on this link to make an appointment. The background check lasts the entire time your student is at D97. It is helpful to do these earlier in the year as time slots fill up.

Friday, September 1st is National College Colors Day. Students are encouraged to wear college colors to share your college spirit! If students do not have a college they support, they can wear Irving colors (red, black, and white).

Cell phones & mobile devices (including apple watches) are not to be used during school hours. This includes calling parents/guardians due to illness, requesting items to be dropped off, etc.

• Students can ask a teacher to use the classroom phone or the phone in the main office if needed.

• Parents can call the main office to relay any urgent messages.

Cell phones and mobile devices (including apple watches) are to be turned off upon entering the school building and not used until the dismissal bell rings. Our School Board Policy 7:190 - Student Behavior, Prohibited Student Conduct, #5, addresses cell phones during the school day. Also, Board Policy AP5 - Administrative Procedures - Electronic Devices provides guidance.

More Information regarding practices and procedures at Irving can be found here.

The district uses the email notification system BrightArrow to communicate with families via email and phone calls. We encourage you to add 855-994-4242 to the contacts on your phone. This is the number that will appear on your caller ID when either the schools or district make calls using BrightArrow.

The district also sends periodic text notifications from the short code phone numbers 79041 and 87569. You may opt-in to text messages from your school at any time by sending YES to these numbers. You must have your phone number on file with your child's school to receive text messages. Once you opt-in, BrightArrow will send you a confirmation that your phone number is opted-in.

Nuts and nut products are not allowed in any District 97 schools during the 2023-24 school year. This includes products that are labeled “processed in a facility that shares equipment with nut products.” Our schools have been nut-safe for the past two years—helping to create safer, more inclusive environments for all of our students.

Please visit https://bit.ly/3DZ7dda to access information about the district’s food allergy management program, as well as tips and options for identifying food that is safe for snacks and field trips. We appreciate your support of this important initiative!

In the beginning of the school year, homeroom teachers will share information regarding a individualized classroom daily schedules. In the meantime, we wanted to share some building wide schedule information.

ARRIVAL & BREAKFAST

School starts at 8am each morning with reminder bells to line up ringing at 7:55 and 7:57. We have staff supervision outside starting at 7:45 each morning.

Students are welcome to join us for breakfast starting at 7:15. They enter through lunchroom doors, which are on the south west corner of the school.

DISMISSAL

Students are dismissed each day at 3pm, except on Wednesdays when dismissal is at 2:30pm.

LUNCH

Students have 55 minutes for lunch and lunch recess. Please see the lunch schedule by grade level below.

As a reminder, we have created a central location for important back-to-school updates and documents: https://www.op97.org/back-to-school.

District 97 has updated the Student-Family Handbook for 2023-24. It contains important information regarding school policies, procedures, guidelines, student rights and responsibilities, and notifications required by state and federal law.

The purpose of this handbook is to outline for students, families and staff the expectations for building an educational community where everyone feels safe, included and able to learn. Having shared expectations, procedures and policies helps us respect all members of the school community in which we learn and work every day. Please take the time to read through the handbook and review it with your child.

The district is currently accepting fee payments for the 2023-24 school year. Full payment is due by September 30, 2023. You can access the fee information by visiting https://www.op97.org/business-office/fees.

Room parents serve as an important link between classroom teachers and students’ families, as

well as being a conduit for PTO information these families need to know. If you volunteer to be

a room parent in your child’s class, you will find you have a unique opportunity to get to know

and help your child’s teacher and be more involved in your child’s school experience. You’ll

likely have a partner to work with on this job. Please click on this Link to information regarding room parents and this link to sign up to be an Irving Elementary Room Parents Sign Up .

Thank you for considering this role.

Wednesday, August 30th

Curriculum Night

Friday, September 1st

National College Colors Day

Monday, September 4th

No School (Labor Day)

Thursday, September 7th

PTO Meeting

Tuesday, September 12th

Board Meeting, 7pm

Thursday, September 21st

Picture Day

Monday, September 25th

No School (District Closed)

D97 Calendar

Technology help: helpdesk@op97.org

School Supply Lists

Student-Family Handbook for 2023-24

Bullying Report Form

Background Checks

School fees

Lunch Accounts

Irving PTO Website

Internet for all

Early Childhood Screenings

Student-Family Handbook

Food allergy management program

2023-24 Free and Reduced Meal Application (English/Spanish)

Breakfast & lunch menus

Irving's cell phone & Mobile Device Expectations

Ms. Tague's website

PTO RELATED

• Join Washington Irving Parents on Facebook
• Irving PTO Website (Get your spirit wear!)
• Washington Irving School Website
• Donate to the PTO every time you shop on Amazon by adding us to your “Amazon Smile”