Bobcat Blog

• February 14: Valentine's Day (see message below)
• February 15: Child Protection Units begin
• February 20: No School in Observance of Presidents' Day
• February 22: In school performances from Urban Gateways, "Amazing Africa"
• Saturday, February 25: PTO Black History Month Event at Beye (10 am - 12:30 pm) See Details Below!
• March 8: Second Trimester Ends
• March 9 - 23 District IAR and ISA assessment window for 3rd - 5th grade students (More information coming soon)

***Please label all student water bottles, lunch boxes, sweatshirts, coats, etc. We want to reduce the amount of things we have in lost and found this year. Thank you.

• Valentine's Day is coming up on February 14. If students are making cards, they should make them for everyone. Also please note that families should not send in any food or candy. Any celebration is food free; we also don't send home any candy or food.
• Child Protection Unit begins this Wednesday during Second Step time

Thank you for your partnership. It was great to see families connect for conferences this week. If for some reason you missed your conference, please do reach out to the teacher to reschedule. Thank you to the PTO for providing lunch on Thursday. We appreciate you!

Last Wednesday, on the School's 100th Day it was so wonderful to see so many of our young students looking 100 and/or wearing 100 things. The grey hair, pearls, gloves, suit coats, canes..... it was adorable. I also loved seeing the aged photos on some of their lockers.

We hope the students are enjoying learning about a prominent Black person each day in class. They can also see many of our Black educators who contributed to the bulletin board outside the gym and library, highlighting their Black heroes. All of the students will get to see a show from Urban Gateways, "Amazing Africa" on February 22. Thank you to Erin Woodson, our instructional coach, for securing these performances and to the PTO for sponsoring them. We really want to see many of you at the BHM Celebration on Saturday, February 25. See information again below. Thank you again PTO for providing some of Oba William King's books to the classrooms for students to hear and get introduced to him ahead of the BHM big event.

While it is hard to believe we have passed the 100 day mark, we still have a lot of days in front of us. Our Building Leadership Team, our grade level teams, etc. will be working hard to make sure students are getting what they need to make good academic progress. At home, daily reading is very important. Hopefully, the students are enjoying the district's selection, Maya and the Robot.

Here is the link to where the classes are posted and where you can register: WINTER CLASSES | SLOWFIRE ART STUDIO (slowfireceramics.com)

Monday THEME: DRAGONS & JELLYFISH This class is all about animals! We will explore all matters of life living in the ocean, from fish to mermaids and on land, from cats to dragons. This class focuses on foundational skills in painting, drawing, printmaking, and ceramics. This class incorporates field trips when possible, in our magical van, Vincent Van-Go.

Mondays 3-6pm 3/6, 3/13, 3/20, 4/3, 4/10, 4/17, 4/24, 5/1, 5/8, 5/15, 5/22, 6/5 (12 sessions) Payment broken into a $200 deposit and then remainder $214 by 4/15. Ages K-5 5 students minimum/12 students maximum

Wednesday THEME LEGO! Students will do a creative build every day with lego and then complete art projects inspired by Lego! This class focuses on foundational skills in painting and drawing as well as functional ceramics, polymer sculpture and printmaking.

Wednesdays 2:30-6pm 3/8, 3/15, 3/22, 4/5, 4/12, 4/19, 4/26, 5/3, 5/10, 5/17, 5/24, 5/31, 6/7 (13 sessions) Payment broken into a $237.25 deposit and then remainder $237.25 by 4/15. Ages K-5 5 students minimum/12 students maximum

Thank you for coming together this week at Family-Teacher Conferences to support our students! District 97's Be a Learning Designer Team is continuing to collect family-teacher conference data to better understand the family and student experience.

Family and teacher feedback from the fall survey informed changes that called for virtual access to conferences, access to assessment data prior to conferences, and information on academic standards, which was included in our new online resource: Getting Ready for Family-Teacher Conferences.

Please share your feedback with us via this survey https://forms.gle/NVcyyLn9tJoTZc186. We look forward to hearing from you, and thank you again taking the time to support this critical partnership!

A separate family letter to 4th and 5th grade families just went out about students taking the test. They should not take it yet. They will do so in class later this month.

Beye had the highest percentage (by A LOT at 45.6%) of families who completed the survey last year. Let's go for a repeat!

Below as seen in the D97 Wrap Up:

Parents/guardians all 10 of our schools are encouraged to take the Illinois 5Essentials Survey between January 24 through March 31, 2023: http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent/.

Thank you for participating in this important endeavor and for your continued support of our schools and the children we serve.

ABOUT 5ESSENTIALS

District 97 is administering the Illinois 5Essentials Survey again this year to certified staff and parents/guardians from all 10 of our schools, as well as students in grades four through eight.

The online survey was developed by the University of Chicago’s Consortium on Chicago School Research and is derived from the Five Essentials for School Success, which is an evidence-based framework that identifies five factors that can lead to important student outcomes such as improved attendance and significant gains in test scores. These five factors/essentials are:

• Effective Leaders
• Collaborative Teachers
• Involved Families
• Supportive Environment
• Ambitious Instruction

The parent survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. You may skip questions you do not wish to answer, but the survey must be completed in one sitting and cannot be retrieved once it is submitted. If you have more than one child enrolled in a building (i.e., two students who attend the same school), you have the option of completing multiple surveys for that building. In addition, if you have children enrolled in multiple schools (i.e., a District 97 elementary school and middle school), you may participate in the survey for each school. However, only one parent/guardian per household may fill out the survey.

As with the student and teacher surveys, your identity will be kept completely confidential and your responses will not be linked to you. In addition, school-level reports will only be generated if at least 20 percent of our parents/guardians complete the survey, which can be accessed until March 31, 2023, by visiting http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent/. This percentage will be based on the total number of students enrolled at each school.

If we successfully meet this requirement, we will receive our reports in Spring/Summer 2023. The results will also be made available to the public via the State School Report Cards, which will be released in the fall.

You can access general information about the Illinois 5Essentials Survey by visiting https://www.uchicagoimpact.org/our-offerings/5essentials.

As a reminder, all employee and volunteers must complete a background check before being issued work or volunteer opportunities with the District. Here is the sign-up genius to schedule a background check.

In honor of Black History Month, our school and district will be celebrating the remarkable lives, histories and contributions of the Black community. We'd love to hear how you and your family are celebrating, too! You can share your Black History Month stories, photos and videos by tweeting (@OakPark97, using the hashtags #MyD97 and #OakPark97) or emailing d97feedback@op97.org.

Oak Park Education Foundation’s summer BASE Camp registration opened last Sunday. Create a family account with our new registration software here: https://www.amilia.com/en/Signup. View the camps and schedule here: www.opef.org. You can create a wishlist in Amilia prior to registration, so you will ready to go when you register. There are many new camps and instructors that will make this our best summer yet!

Parent Letter sent out by the District with all things Maya and the Robot

One Book, One School: Elementary Edition

"Maya and the Robot" by Eve L. Ewing

Today, PK-5 students and families learned that the first annual 2023 One Book, One District: Elementary Edition selection is the book, “Maya and the Robot,” by Eve L. Ewing.

PK-5 students and staff members received a copy of the book today, and students read the first chapter together during a kick-off event at our elementary schools. Families and staff will have the opportunity to read the remainder of the book together over the next four weeks.

One Book, One District: Elementary Edition is designed to create a shared reading experience across our eight elementary schools. It also bridges literacy between home and school, demonstrating that literacy community commitment.

CLICK HERE or on the video below to view the kick-off video that Eve made for our students!

Thank you Beye Green Team for extending this throughout the year. Old sneakers can be brought to school and then dropped off in the office vestibule. Check out the photo of the latest batch of shoes going to be recycled instead of going into the landfill.

Recycle your old sneakers and earn money for Beye School!

Bring any and all sneakers, in any condition, to the school for donation through the end of the school year. Athletic shoes only please.

The Beye Green Team has partnered with gotsneakers.com to keep sneakers out of landfills and earn money for Beye!

The acceleration window is quickly approaching. The informational flyer for the Feb. 8 family session on acceleration is below. Similar to last year, the referral windows for those seeking single subject or whole grade acceleration opens on March 1 and closes on May 15.

Families can access information about the process here as well.
Click here to view the Acceleration Family Information Session flyer >>

District 97 believes it is important for students to have opportunities for physical activity and play time during the day—even during the cold winter months. This winter, students will be permitted to go outside for recess when the wind chill or temperature is 15 degrees or higher. The district utilizes the Wind Chill Chart developed by the National Weather Service.

• It is important that students dress in warm layers when cold temperatures are expected. Students should remember to bring hats, gloves/mittens, scarves, coats, snow pants and boots. It is recommended that families label these items with their children’s names,
• Our staff will carefully monitor students while outside and take the necessary steps to ensure students are appropriately clothed/prepared for the cold weather, watching out for signs of frostbite and other cold-related issues.

We want to show our Beye Spirit by encouraging students and staff to wear Beye Wear or blue and white colors each Friday or the last day of the week.

If you are wanting to purchase some Beye clothing, please visit the Beye Website (Go to www.op97.org and then click on Beye) and then go to the PTO tab and then scroll down to the bottom to find the Beyewear. If you haven't joined Konstella, a way for families to connect with one another, consider signing up. Thanks! I can't wait to see all of the blue and white next Friday.

The breakfast and lunch menus for our elementary and middle schools are available at http://www.op97.org/business-office/food-service. During the 2022-23 school year, students may:

• Bring a nut-free lunch from home.

• Order school lunch.

PLEASE NOTE: During the 2022-23 school year, all students will be required to pay for their breakfast and lunch meals unless they are directly approved by the State of Illinois or approved after completing the 2022-23 Free and Reduced Meal Application.

Process for Reporting Positive COVID-19 Cases to D97 Schools
If a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, they must complete the following steps:

1) In order to notify the school nurse and receive a return-to-school date, families/staff must complete the confidential COVID-19 Positive Case Notification Form as soon as possible following the positive test. Information provided will also be shared with the Oak Park Department of Public Health.

2) Families must continue to report student absences via the school attendance line, and staff must enter their absences in Frontline.

To see the rules for isolation and quarantine, click here. Additional resources are linked below.

• Summary of District 97's COVID-19 Mitigations
• 2022-23 COVID-19 Health and Safety Plan

Cheryl Sullivan

Beye Principal

csullivan@op97.org

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