Bobcat Blog

• March 18: 2nd Trimester report cards emailed home
• March 19: Principal Coffee in person (see information below)
• March 21: 5th Grade Outdoor Education Day Trip to Barrie Park
• March 28 - April 1: Spring Break

***Please label your child's belongings (lunch box, sweatshirts, etc.) There are many items in the Lost and Found so encourage your child to look for any missing things in the Commons.

Family Handbook 2021 - 2022

Beye PTO is sponsoring a meet and greet, Principal Coffee, Saturday, March 19. Come join Ms. Cooper, Ms. Harlan and myself at Whirlwind. The tent at Whirlwind is reserved from 8:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m., and coffee and treats will be served.

Whirlwind is located at 513 Madison Street in Oak Park. We hope to see you Saturday!

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.

“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.

Beginning Tuesday, we will have all of the students back in the lunchroom. We are keeping our regular schedule. Our 3rd and 4th graders have been eating in the classrooms and will now be joining Kindergarten and First Grade respectively. Hot lunch is coming back April 11. We wanted to make this change before adding that.

Our lunch schedule:

11:00 K and 3rd

11:30 2nd

12:05 1st and 4th

12:35 5th

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.

This year, the IAR will be administered to Beye students between April 5 and April 14. Specific schedules for grades 3 - 5 will be shared shortly.

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

Additional Resources for Families

• District 97 IAR Webpage

• Frequently Asked Questions

• Impact of Participation in State Assessments - IAR (ISBE)

• FAQ: 95% Participation in State Assessments (ISBE)

Want to hear about upcoming school and Beye School PTO sponsored events? Need to contact someone in the school or a fellow Beye family? Want to volunteer your time but don’t know what activities you can sign up for? Konstella is the answer!

The Beye School PTO uses Konstella, a digital platform built for PTOs to enhance communications with families. Sign up today to access the PTO calendar, view recent announcements, events or volunteer opportunities, or to start getting weekly Beye Bytes emails.

Getting started | Tips & tricks for getting the most out of Konstella

• Our COVID-19 testing partner, SHIELD Illinois, will continue to require masks in testing areas, since collection sites are technically considered healthcare facilities. This means that students participating in weekly SHIELD testing will be required to wear masks in the collection area only. The district will have disposable masks available, however, we encourage families to make sure that their students bring their own masks on their designated testing days.

• Students will also need a mask if they visit Nurse Shilpa; however, we will have masks available when they come to the office if they do not have one. (All health offices are considered health care settings and masking is still required there.)

All District 97 schools are currently operating as nut-safe facilities to ensure student safety. This has been a critical measure in protecting our students with severe nut allergies, particularly during a time in which our lunch procedures have an added layer of complexity due to COVID-19.

As the district eases mitigations in the coming weeks, and as we prepare for the return of hot lunch after spring break, we are mindful that schools may continue to utilize classrooms and/or modified lunch procedures. In order to maintain safe environments for all of our students, all of our schools will continue to be nut-safe. Please assist us in this endeavor by refraining from sending your child to school with nuts or nut-related products for lunch or snacks.

Please contact your child’s school nurse if you have questions about the safety of any food products that you may be considering sending to school with your child. Thank you for your support with this preventative measure!

Students may come to breakfast now. They should come to the main entrance between 7:15 and 7:45am and will head to the Commons. Students will be directed outside at 7:50 am to line up with their classes. Please note that we are not able to accommodate students for an early drop off. This is only for students who need breakfast.

Announcing the next all-grade second grade meet-up!

March 19th

10AM-12PM

Stevenson Park

49 Lake St, Oak Park, IL 60302

Announcing the next all-grade first grade meet-up!

March 20th

10AM-12PM

Stevenson Park

49 Lake St, Oak Park, IL 60302

Join The Lyric Opera on Sunday, April 24 at 2:00pm for The Magic Victrola, a wonderful way to introduce the young people in your life to the brilliant world of opera.

The adventure begins when Gracie and Sam are dropped off at their Grandpa’s place for summer vacation. While at first the kids are less than excited to be without their modern comforts, things get much more interesting when they discover their grandfather’s old victrola, and his prized collection of opera records suddenly come to life! With the help of the mysterious birdman, Papageno, Gracie and Sam are off on a musical adventure through some of opera’s most delightful hits.

You’ll hear selections from some of the most beloved operas including The Magic Flute, Carmen, The Elixir of Love, and more in this whimsical, original opera created for kids aged 5 to 10.

Tickets are just $5 for children and $10 for adults. It’s a perfect family outing at an incredible value!

Lyric Opera - The Magic Victrola

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!

Women’s History Month is a celebration of all that women bring to history, culture and society. In March, we'd love your help capturing how our classes, schools and families are centering and honoring women. We encourage you to share your Women's History Month stories, photos and videos with us by tweeting (@OakPark97, using the hashtags #MyD97 and #OakPark97) or emailing d97feedback@op97.org. Thank you in advance for helping to shine a light on the incredible lives, histories and contributions of women.

For the first time in 18 years, the Oak Park Housing Authority (OPHA) will be opening its Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) waiting list. OPHA will be accepting pre-applications to add 150 new households to the HCV waiting list.

• Pre-applications can be accessed and submitted through an online portal reached directly through the OPHA website (www.oakparkha.org)
  
• Pre-applications can be completed anytime between 8:30 a.m. on Monday, March 14 and 3:00 p.m. on Friday, March 25

The HCV Program (formerly known as Section 8) is a program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that is administered through local housing authorities. The HCV Program provides vouchers to qualifying very-low-income households to help them pay their monthly rent. Households possessing a voucher generally pay approximately 30% of their monthly income toward their rent, and the Housing Choice Voucher program pays the remaining amount that is owed for a qualifying rental unit. CLICK HERE for more information regarding the Housing Choice Voucher Program, including eligibility requirements >>

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.”

Cheryl Sullivan and Sheila Carter

Co-Interim Beye Principals

csullivan@op97.org

scarter@op97.org

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