Bobcat Blog

• Saturday, October 10 - Tree Planting (see below)
• Monday, October 12 - No School in honor of Indigenous Peoples' Day
• Thursday, October 15 - Bobcat Bolt & Parents' Night Out
• Monday, October 19 - Access to Algebra - Family Information Session (For interested 5th grade families)
• Thursday, October 22 - Book Fair Begins
• Thursday, October 22 - Full Day of School; Fall Conferences 3:00 - 7:00 p.m.
• Friday, October 23 - No School for Students; Fall Conferences 8:00 a.m. - Noon
• Friday, October 30 - Halloween Parade and Parties

Thank you to the following parents who gave out stickers to students on Tuesday for National Walk/Roll to School Day: Lynn Griffith, Colleen Beazley, Cora Bruemmer and Leigh Merkey. We are heading into a big week including the Bobcat Bolt that will take place on Thursday. We hope you can come out to cheer our students on. Let's keep up the great work and reach the goal!

Please see the beautiful display below that Ms. Perry facilitated with some of our Multi-Lingual Learners. As we continue to focus on standard 1B: Knowing and Valuing our Students, this is a great example of appreciating each of our students' identities.

Mark your calendars (Saturday, January 23) for one of Beye’s favorite traditions—and help us make this year’s Fun Fair a great one! We’re looking for volunteers to join the planning team, especially:

• A communications lead to help with simple website updates, social media and getting the word out to Beye families. No special experience required—we’ll show you the ropes!

• Creative builders, fixers & idea people to refresh old favorites and dream up some new games.

• Community connectors to help reach out to local businesses for donations and sponsorships. No fundraising experience needed—just enthusiasm and a willingness to ask!

Planning starts this month! Email rose.dipietro@gmail.com to get involved!

Our Parents’ Night Out is less than a week away!

If you haven't grabbed your ticket yet, there’s still time to join in for drinks, appetizers, and good conversation with other parents. Just to be clear: this is purely a social event—no fundraising, no sign-up sheets, and zero ask. Just a chance to relax and connect off school grounds.

October 15th from 6-9pm at Robert's Westside. A limited number of tickets are available HERE. Tickets include lite bites + 1 drink ticket. We hope to see you there!

Confidential subsidized tickets are available. Please reach out to Ms. J-C for information at Ljanu-chossek@op97.org

We are 75% of the way to our goal with TEAM ADDUCI in the lead this week!!!! Stay tuned for updates on the classrooms as they duke it out for a chance at a pajama day!

Thank you for your continued support- please keep those emails and texts flowing to your family and friends!

Sign Up: If you haven’t yet, please take a moment to create a fundraising page for your student.

Click the link to sign up your student for their own fundraising page.

School Identifier: 6231cfe597ac7

Cheer Them On: Come out to the Beye field on the morning of October 15th to cheer on our Bobcats!

8:30am: K-2nd grade

9am: 3rd-5th grade

Volunteer: We need a few more volunteers for 30-minute shifts (8:30-9am and 9-9:30am) to help keep students safe and cheer them on while they move around the school block during the Bolt. Click here to volunteer

We have some exciting green news to share!

Last year, two damaged trees from our school grounds were removed, leaving a few empty spots in our yard. The PTO is thrilled to share that we’ve purchased four brand-new trees to bring extra shade, beauty, and life back to our school grounds!

We will be planting all four trees in front of the school on Cuyler this Saturday, October 10th at 10am, and we’d love for our school community to join in the fun.

This is purely a community-building event—no hard labor required! Whether you’d like to grab a shovel and help dig, bring the kids to watch and cheer us on, or just pop by to say hello and see the progress, everyone is welcome.

Feel free to bring garden gloves if you'd like to get your hands dirty, or just bring a cozy drink and your school spirit. We can't wait to watch these trees grow alongside our students in the years to come!

Thanks to all who have volunteered so far! We are still looking for a few more volunteers for the Friday October 23rd shifts. SignUp Genius link here

Keep an eye out for Classroom Book Fair Wish Lists to help build your child's classroom library!

West40, a regional organization supporting West Cook County school districts and families, is hosting a Community Wellness Fair featuring local resources alongside a clothing and winter goods giveaway by Mano a Mano Unidos.

Please join us for this community event! West40 Wellness Fair Smore Link

• Date and Time: Saturday, Oct. 17

• Location: West40 (Maywood, IL)

• Details: Features community resources, clothing, and winter goods giveaway. All families are welcome to attend!

The Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC) is a parent-led group that invites District 97 families to share their voices and help inform the practices and programs of Student Services. By hearing directly from families, we can better ensure that the needs of every student are considered in our district-wide practices. We want to learn from you and work together to strengthen support for all students.

Please join us for our next meeting! Oct. 21 event flyer >>

• Date and Time: Wednesday, Oct. 21, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

• Location: Beye Library, 230 N. Cuyler Ave.

• Details: Consider bringing a cozy fall dish to share for our potluck! Oct. 21 event flyer >>

This year, District 97 will continue to offer Access to Algebra for students in grades 5 through 7 who are not currently single-subject accelerated in mathematics.

Families are invited to attend an information session on October 19, 2026, if their student is interested in participating in these courses. We will be meeting from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Julian Middle School.

• Click here to view the event flyer in English

Our goal in District 97 is to create a positive learning environment where all students, staff and families feel a sense of belonging. In that spirit, we have put together information and resources regarding culturally-sensitive Halloween costumes. We appreciate families being proactive with their children in making thoughtful costume choices. District 97 Halloween Letter 2026 >>

Dear District 97 Families,

Over the past several months, District 97 has been working to create more consistent, organized, and streamlined practices across all of our school-sponsored clubs and extracurricular programs.

As part of this effort, we are introducing a centralized parent/guardian permission process for student participation in school clubs across all buildings. Moving to a single, standardized process helps ensure that student spaces remain safe, well-managed, and clear for every family.

What You Need to Know:

• One Centralized Form: Before attending any school-sponsored club, a parent or guardian must complete a brief permission form. Each school has its own form—you can access your school's link here: D97 Extracurricular Programs and Clubs Permission Forms.
  
  

• Continuous Access: Because clubs launch at different points throughout the school year, this form link will remain permanently accessible in school newsletters and websites.
  
  

• Specialized Activities: If a specific club requires supplementary agreements (such as digital platforms for students under 13), club sponsors will follow up directly with those details.

We appreciate your partnership as we continue to enhance and support our extracurricular offerings for all students!

Sincerely,

Dr. Eboney Lofton
Chief Learning and Innovation Officer

Please see Senora Colmenero's Newsletter: Noticias- Septiembre 2026

More detailed information will be shared as Halloween gets closer, but here are some things to know now:

• We will celebrate Halloween on Friday, October 30 in the afternoon (families who prefer to not have their child participate may email the homeroom teacher and me and we will plan alternate activities)
• Costumes need to be culturally sensitive (see district blurb below); not include any play weapons such as knives, guns, or swords; not include masks making safe travel around the building and neighborhood unsafe
• 11:30 - 12:25 pm - Lunch and recess will continue as usual; however, we will send a short survey next week to complete to let us know if your child will be picked up for lunch and to change into their costume at home.
• 12:25 - 1:00 pm - Students will get into their costumes; class activity; parade preparation
• 1:00 - 1:10 pm - Classes will head out to the blacktop to prepare for the start of the parade
• 1:10 - 1:40 pm - Parade around the school and neighborhood (exact route coming soon)
• 1:45 - 2:45 pm - Class Parties (See Room Parent Blurb Below)
• 2:45 - 3:00 pm - Clean Up and Dismissal

We hope many of you can join our classes this year when they take field trips. In order to go on a field trip, you need to have an up to date background check with the district. They are good for three years. Here is the Background Check Sign Up and you will find it at the bottom of the Blog along with other important links. The background checks go through the state and the response times can greatly vary; sometimes it takes weeks to get the results back.

In you are unsure of whether your background check is up to date, you can reach out to the school office at 708-524-3070.

• Academic Calendar
• 2026-27 Days-Off Planner
• 2026-27 Identity and Heritage Calendar
• Background Check Sign Up
• Beye Health Requirements and Matters for the 2026-2027 school year
• Beye Map of School Entrances/Exits
• Food Services webpage.
• My MealTime. (If you need to add money to your child's account)
• Student and Family Handbook

Cheryl Sullivan

Beye Principal

csullivan@op97.org

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