Bobcat Blog

Friday, March 25

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Notes and Reminders

March 28 - April 1: Spring Break
April 4: Welcome back to school!
April 5 - 12: IAR Testing for 3rd - 5th grade students
April 15: No School

Thank You

Thank you to the PTO for sponsoring our virtual assemblies today. We thoroughly enjoyed hearing Chris Fascione bring stories to life. The best quote came from a kindergartner who told their teacher, "Is this man a real man? Because he is the funniest person on earth!" He now has a great testimonial for future advertising. :)

Thank you to all of the parents who served on the Principal Interview Team Wednesday.

District 97 to Resume Hot Lunch on April 11 - Menus Now Available

Beginning Monday, April 11, all District 97 schools will resume serving hot lunch. The new menus and nutritional information are linked below.

The current cold breakfast/lunch menu will be in place through Friday, April 8.

Lunch Reminders

Meals brought from home must be nut-free.
Lunch will continue to be served at no cost to families.

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CAN DO Community Challenge

The CAN DO Community Challenge is a hunger relief campaign sponsored by Beyond Hunger – schools compete to see who can collect the most points. We help raise food, funds and awareness to help end hunger locally. And our school is in it to win it. Contribute to our school’s Virtual Food Drive to help us win the Can DO Trophy. Beye School's CanDo Page: https://app.mobilecause.com/vf/CanDo

We will be collecting a limited set of food donations for this year’s Challenge. We have a list of 10 non-perishable food items worth 5 points each:

• Jelly

• Peanut Butter

• Canned Chicken Soup

• Cheerios’ Cereal

• Canned Mixed Vegetables (low sodium)

• Diced Tomatoes

• Tomato Paste

• Bagged Rice (White or Brown)

• Refried and Dry Beans (Pinto and Black)

• Canned Pineapples

These are items we have trouble procuring and need to help stock our Despensa, an off-site pop-up pantry serving newly immigrant families that relies entirely on private donations. We are limited in space and staff/volunteers for sorting, so please stick to the list.

Items can be brought to Beye School throughout April.

A critical component to ending hunger in our communities is raising awareness. This year your school or group has the opportunity to gain more points by helping educate others about good nutrition and using their combined voices to become anti-hunger advocates. Teachers or team captains can share videos and examples of group activities in the following ways:

1. Create a Video Work together to create a 1 minute shareable video about how your school is raising awareness, food, and funds for Beyond Hunger. Send that video or public link to Sarah@GoBeyondHunger.org so that we can brag about your efforts through our social media channels. 150 Points

2. Share a MyPlate Activity Head to MyPlate.gov for activities that are appropriate for different age groups like KIDS, TEENS or PRESCHOOLERS. Submit examples of activity sheets, or send us a summary of one of the apps for points. Email photos or submission to Sarah@GoBeyondHunger.org 50 Points

3. Create your own Cooking Video Choose one of the Healthy Recipes from our website and create your own cooking video for us to share to our social media and YouTube channel. Once we post your video be sure to share it with your friends.

Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) - Grades 3-5 Please Read

Each Spring, all District 97 students in Grades 3 to 8 take federally-required assessments to help us understand how they are growing academically. Since 2019, the state has utilized the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) to assess students’ knowledge and skills in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics, as well as their progress toward the long-term goal of college and career readiness.

Regarding Ipads:

Students with an early version of operating system 15 need to update to version 15.3.1. We need your help with this process. This week, please plug in your child's ipad and get a FULL charge. Once charged, go to the Settings app to update (Settings > General > Software update). If there is an update, click it at night so that it will be finished by morning. You will not see an update if the Ipad is not fully charged. The charge takes 30 minutes. Your child's teacher will check all Ipads to ensure everyone has the correct update. This must happen before Spring Break. Please let us know if you have any questions regarding this critical update. Lastly, your child will need plug-in headphones (no wireless bluetooth).

This year, the IAR will be administered to Beye School students between April 5 and 12. See below for specific grade level times for testing.

Check out our “5 Things to Know About IAR” document to learn more about this year’s assessment!

Additional Resources for Families

Beye Testing Schedule

April 4th

NO TESTING

RETURN FROM SPRING BREAK

April 5th

3,4,5- Math Unit 1

5- Science Unit 1

April 6th

3,4,5- Math Unit 2

April 7th

3,4,5- Math Unit 3

5- Science Unit 2

April 8th

5- Science Unit 3

April 11th

3,4,5- ELA Unit 1

April 12th

3,4,5- ELA Unit 2

Thank you!

Karen Foleno and Erin Woodson

Additional Resources for Families

In Case you Missed It

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Talent Show is coming Back!!

Hello Bobcat Families! We are so excited to announce that we will be bringing back the Talent Show this year. It is scheduled for Wednesday, April 27. More information about who can attend the evening performance will be coming. Information about the dress rehearsal and students viewing it will also be forthcoming. Students can begin preparing their acts if they'd like to participate! Talent Show Promo

Acts should be no more than 2-3 minutes long, and students can submit a video of their act through this form for it to be approved. Videos must be submitted by Friday, April 8th. Students must have adult permission to participate in the show.

If your child is in 5th grade, they may also audition to be an emcee! They can fill out this emcee form if they are interested. We will hold auditions the week after Spring Break, so please fill out the form by Sunday, April 3rd.

We are so looking forward to a fabulous show! Please email us at meubeler@op97.org and chasso@op97.org if you have any questions.

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One Book One School - We will all read Wishtree in April

“People come from all over town to adorn me with scraps of paper, tags, bits of fabric, snippets of yarn, and the occasional gym sock.

Each offering represents a dream, a desire, a longing.”

Beye Elementary School will be starting “One Book, One School” on Monday, April 4.

Every family, teacher and staff member will be given a copy of this wonderful book. As a community, we will read, feel and discuss dreams and possibilities as the story unfolds.

We will enjoy this timeless and timely tale as spring begins and hope returns.

Your family’s copy will be sent home on Monday, April 4.

We will be sharing a schedule of how many chapters to read at home each week. Students may either read the book independently, have a family member read it to them, or listen to the audio recordings that will be shared. In school, questions will be asked and rich discussions will happen in the classrooms.

ARE YOU WISHING FOR SOMETHING BETTER?

Books have been purchased with funds provided by the Beye School PTO. We appreciate this generous support.

District News

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Base Camp

BASE Camp registration is off to a great start! We at OPEF know that the mad rush to register for summer camps is over, and now is the time to review all the choices and fill in the gaps! There are still openings in several of our most popular camps such as Frisbee Physics, Anime Quest and Lego Mindstorms. Visit www.opef.org for the latest camp information and to see what’s open. We strive to create camps that are fun and engaging, while simultaneously teaching them about science, technology, engineering, art and math. Give your children a summer camp experience they will never forget!

Information about Acceleration Opportunities in District 97

District 97 believes that all students should be challenged and supported to develop to their maximum potential. For students who demonstrate they may benefit from accelerated placement, we provide opportunities to participate in an instructional setting that is usually reserved for students who are older or in higher grades than the child. This includes, but is not limited to:

Single subject acceleration
Whole grade acceleration

In accordance with the Illinois Accelerated Placement Act, District 97 has continued to refine procedures to ensure equitable access to acceleration opportunities for all students. New this year: all students who are grade eligible to take the Illinois Assessment for Readiness (IAR) must participate in the assessment in order to be deemed eligible for acceleration. The IAR is a critically important measure in determining the mastery of grade level standards and must be considered by the school team along with other sources of data.

Referrals for single-subject and whole-grade acceleration will be accepted from March 1 to May 15 of each school year. The general process is outlined HERE.

Information about the District 97 Accelerated Placement Program, including definitions and timelines, can be found at http://www.op97.org/acceleration. We will send additional communication to families as we near the opening of our referral and application windows next year. This information session will provide an avenue for families to share questions as well as receive information about the acceleration process. Please find additional information in the information session flyer.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us by visiting our Let’s Talk page (bit.ly/D97LetsTalk) and clicking the button labeled “Acceleration.”