Bobcat Blog

• Friday, March 15: Matilda Performance 6:00 pm
• Tuesday, March 19: No School - Institute Day
• Thursday, March 21: Portrait of a Graduate Community Session at Beye (see details below)
• Friday, March 22: Trimester 2 PBIS Celebration - Pajama Day and Read-a-Thon Day
• Friday, March 22: Report cards emailed home
• Monday, March 25 - Friday, March 29: No School - Spring Break
• Monday, April 1: Students Return to School
• Sunday, April 7: Beye PTO Basketball Tournament (see details below)

Huge thank you to Jen Kellogg and Melissa Ingram for organizing a fantastic Carnival Fun Fair! Thank you to everyone who donated their time and/or money to make this such a huge success! It was wonderful seeing the students have so much fun! I hope to see many of you at tonight's Matilda performance. I heard last night went great.

We do want to capture as many voices as possible at Beye's Portrait of an Oak Park 8th Grade Graduate Community Session coming up Thursday. Please see the details below; I hope to see you Thursday evening to add your voice to this important task. The district is listening! Let's share our Beye thoughts.

Dear Beye Community,

On behalf of the District 97 Board of Education, superintendent and district team, you are invited to join us as we design our Portrait of an Oak Park 8th Grade Graduate!

Beye staff, families AND students are encouraged to attend a Portrait community session at our school on Thursday, March 21. The event will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will be “open house” style, meaning you can come for 15 minutes or stay the whole time—whatever works best for you.

During the event, staff and families will have the opportunity to walk around, learn about our draft Portrait, and provide feedback on definitions and learning experiences. We’ll also have some kid-friendly activities for students and pizza for everyone!

Can’t Make It to Our School Event?

Anyone who is unable to attend is welcome to join one of the district’s other scheduled events in February or March! Click the following links to access the Portrait of a Graduate Engagement Calendar: English | Español

The district will also be collecting feedback through a simple worksheet, which will be shared soon, and via Let’s Talk. You can view the current draft Portrait and share feedback at www.op97.org/ourportrait/connect.

For more on Portrait of an Oak Park 8th Grade Graduate, visit www.op97.org/ourportrait. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the Portrait Design Team via Let’s Talk.

Sincerely,

Cheryl Sullivan

Principal

Estimada comunidad de Beye,

En nombre de la Junta de Educación del Distrito 97, el superintendente y el equipo del distrito, ¡está invitado a unirse a nosotros mientras diseñamos nuestro retrato de un graduado de octavo grado de Oak Park!

Se anima al personal, las familias y los estudiantes de Beye a asistir a una sesión comunitaria para el Retrato en nuestra escuela el jueves 21 de marzo. El evento se llevará a cabo de 6:30 p.m. a 8 p.m. y será estilo “casa abierta”, lo que significa que puede venir por 15 minutos o quedarse todo el tiempo, lo que mejor le convenga.

Durante el evento, el personal y las familias tendrán la oportunidad de caminar, conocer nuestro borrador de retrato y brindar comentarios sobre definiciones y experiencias de aprendizaje. ¡También tendremos algunas actividades para estudiantes y pizza para todos!

¿No puedes asistir a nuestro evento escolar?

¡Cualquiera que no pueda asistir puede unirse a uno de los otros eventos programados por el distrito en febrero o marzo! Haga clic en los siguientes enlaces para acceder al calendario de participación de un retrato de un graduado: Inglés | Español

El distrito también recopilará comentarios a través de una sencilla hoja de trabajo, que se compartirá pronto, y a través de Let's Talk. Puede ver el borrador actual del Retrato y compartir sus comentarios en www.op97.org/ourportrait/connect.

Para obtener más información sobre el retrato de un graduado de octavo grado de Oak Park, visite www.op97.org/ourportrait. Si tiene alguna pregunta, no dude en comunicarse con el equipo de diseño de retratos a través de Let's Talk.

Beye’s Student Leadership Team is leading Beye School in the Can Do Challenge! Starting April 1st we will be collecting food for Beyond Hunger, our local food pantry. We would LOVE for Beye to win the trophy. Although there are many ways to earn points, one is by bringing in certain foods.

Food Donation List - Most Needed Items:

High Need Items – 8 points

• Dry black-eyed peas (1-2lb bags)

• Canned salmon

• Brown Rice

Essential Items – 5 points

• Peanut Butter

• Canned Chicken Soup

• Cheerios’ Cereal

• Canned Mixed Vegetables (low sodium)

• Tomato Paste

• Bagged Rice (White or Brown)

• Refried and Dry Beans (Pinto and Black)

• Canned Pineapples

• Canned peaches (in natural juice)

• Canned chicken (in water)

Create your own Cooking Video with your family!

Star in your own cooking show! Students can choose one of the Healthy Recipes from our website and create their own cooking video for us to share on our social media and YouTube channel. Try to keep the video approximately 2 minutes or less. Once we post your video, be sure to share it with your friends and school community. Send video submissions to: corina@gobeyondhunger.org.

500 Points

Author Nidhi Chanani will be coming to Beye School on April 3, 2024. She has written the Shark Princess series and will be doing a presentation for all of our K-3rd grade students. We are thrilled.

Students will be able to purchase graphic novels from her "Shark Princess" series.

More information about the presale will follow soon.

Registration for the spring term of the SMART supplemental math and reading program for 1st through 6th graders in Oak Park and River Forest is now open through April 1.

New: 6th Grade Math classes!

NEW: 2nd Grade Reading Class!

Register at SMART Hephzibah registration.

Here are highlights about the program:

• Curriculum: SMART Hephzibah Math follows the District 97 math curriculum, providing supplemental instruction and practice. SMART Hephzibah Reading provides supplemental reading instruction using Epic.
• Courses: SMART Math will offer both “regular” and “advanced” classes. “Regular” classes focus on grade-level material and are targeted at students with MAP scores below the 75th percentile, while “advanced” classes go beyond grade-level material and are targeted at students above the 75th percentile. Parents can choose whichever class they prefer. The first grade class is a parent-child joint class.
• Class format: The classes are taught over Zoom by D97 teachers.
• Cost: It is $84 for the 7-week term. Financial aid is available.
• Dates: Classes start the week of April 8 and go through May 23.
• Class times: Each class will meet once a week. The schedule is:
• 1st grade math (parent-child): W 4:15–5:00 pm
• 2nd grade math (regular): W 5:15-6:15 pm
• 2nd grade math (advanced): T 5:15-6:15 pm
• 3rd grade math (regular): T 5:00-6:00 pm
• 3rd grade math (advanced): M 4:30-5:30 pm
• 4th grade math (regular): TH 4:15-5:15 pm
• 4th grade math (advanced): M 4:30-5:30 pm
• 5th grade math (regular): T 4:30-5:30 pm
• 5th grade math (advanced): TH 4:30-5:30 pm
• 6th grade math (regular): M 5-6 pm
• 6th grade math (advanced): TH 6-7 pm
• 2nd grade reading: T 5:30–6:30 pm

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Amy and Team Hephzibah

Amy O'Rourke, LCSW

Day Care Director

Hephzibah Children's Association

1144 Lake Street, 5th Floor

Oak Park, IL 60301

(708) 649-7089

Who cares if you shoot mostly airballs? We'd love to recruit you for the basketball tournament! We currently have commits from:

• 9 kindergarten-second graders competing in the free-throw shoot-out
• 7 teams of third-fifth graders competing in a 3-on-3 tournament
• 2 teams of adults competing in a 3-on-3 tournament

Are you going to let these ballers just walk away with the excellent prizes? Form your team now and register via www.beyeschoolpto.org/basketball!

• Prizes for the winners promise to be exciting!
• Teams do not need to be grade or gender exclusive.
• All games played on half-court and last 15 minutes.
• Only adult teams pay $30 to register; the fee covers our custodial expense!

This is not a fundraiser, this is just for fun!

Many thanks to our talented volunteers… Evan McKerns, Azhar Majeed, Curtis Cox, Katie Hoogland, Doug Snodgrass, Ken Zimmer, Laura Barnard, Casey Goldberg, Wendy Borlabi, Kate Boonstra, Anna Harlan, Principal Sullivan, and Michele Jurewicz. Teamwork makes the dream work.

Able to spare an hour or two on April 7th?! Email michelejurewicz@gmail.com to volunteer to help sell concessions and BeyeWear, wear the Bobcat costume, or to referee a game! Thank you!

Here is a link for the permission slip and information about Kids Running Beye: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe6h1WnsCQlMms18k4Ugq-_fk-wRLb0_yyQU__KnOt7WuyjLw/viewform?usp=sf_link

If you haven't seen the recent newsletter, please take a look! SGT Newsletter March 2024

Thank you to those who donated toys to the Fun Fair prize drive! Hundreds of repurposed and reused items were collected.

SGT Fundraiser

Many thanks to folks who purchased SGT buttons at the Fun Fair and made donations. Buttons designed by SGT members Makenna Zimmer and Ray MacGregor.

Funds raised support the SGT program, school wide waste reduction efforts, school garden and Earth Month activities.

The SGT fundraiser is ongoing and donations can be made here:
https://square.link/u/FdLaLVcm?src=sheet

Online registration for the 2024-25 school year in District 97 is now open for all students. Complete details about the process—including residency documents, timelines and other helpful resources—are available on the district web site: www.op97.org/registration.

Returning Students

Registration for returning District 97 students will be open March 5 - April 19. Complete details can be found at https://www.op97.org/hr/returning-student-registration.

New Students and Kindergarteners

Registration for kindergarten and new students opened Feb. 22. Please click the links below to learn more about the registration process for kindergarteners and new students.

• Kindergarten Registration

• New Students

In order to register your student, you must be the custodial parent/guardian and currently reside in Oak Park. Students who are registering for kindergarten for the 2024-25 school year must be at least 5 years old and must be born on or before Sept. 1, 2019.

We appreciate your partnership in preparing for a successful 2024-25 school year!

On Wednesday, April 3, District 97 will begin accepting applications for the early childhood blended classrooms at Whittier Elementary School for the 2024-25 school year. There will be a limited number of spaces available. Click here to view the 2024-25 D97 Blended Preschool flyer >>

District 97 is seeking students who:

• are non-IEP students who will be between the ages of 3 and 4 years by Sept. 1, 2024;

• demonstrate age-appropriate language and social skills;

• are Oak Park residents;

• are not enrolled in a preschool program.

The registration window will be open April 3, 2024, through May 24, 2024. For more information about the Early Childhood Blended Program or to apply beginning April 3, please visit https://www.op97.org/teach-learn/ecblended.

Parents/guardians all 10 of our schools are encouraged to take the Illinois 5Essentials Survey between January 30 through March 29, 2024: http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent/.

21% of Beye households have completed the survey. Let's get that percentage up! Thanks to everyone who has completed it so far. We need at least 20% participation to get our results and are hoping for a much higher number.

Thank you for participating in this important endeavor and for your continued support of our schools and the children we serve. Please use the QR code below and go to the PARENT SURVEY. This information helps us learn our areas of strength and our areas of opportunity.

District 97's Single Subject and Whole Grade Level Acceleration process for students for the 2024-25 school year opens on March 1st!

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. Continuing 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.

Applications 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.

Some of our Building Leadership Team members presented our current Logic Model on February 27 at the Board of Education Meeting. I believe you can see the video archived on the website. At Wednesday's PTO meeting, I went over much of the presentation. Please see below. I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

Beye PTO Logic Model (School Improvement Plan) Presentation

The breakfast and lunch menus for our elementary and middle schools are available at http://www.op97.org/business-office/food-service. During the 2023-24 school year, students may:

• Bring a nut-free lunch from home.
• Order school lunch.

Free and Reduced Lunch Application
Students may receive meals at a free or reduced cost either by being directly approved by the State of Illinois OR being approved after completing the 2023-24 Free and Reduced Lunch Application (English/Spanish). All families who are directly approved by the state will receive an approval letter by email. If you feel your student may qualify for free or reduced priced meals but are not directly approved, we encourage you to complete the application as soon as possible Please visit https://www.op97.org/business-office/food-service for more information.

Cheryl Sullivan

Beye Principal

csullivan@op97.org

Location: 230 North Cuyler Avenue, Oak Park, IL, USA
Phone: 708- 524-3070
Twitter: @MrsSullivand97