Christian's Weekly Communication

This week, students will be in attendance on Monday, November 22 and Tuesday, November 23 only. There is no school on Wednesday, November 24 thru Sunday, November 28 (Thanksgiving Holiday break). Classes will resume on Monday, November 29.

Student lockers are back! For families that paid in advance, Advisory teachers issued locks on Friday, November 19. If you have not paid for the student locker lock yet, there's still time. For safety and security reasons, the school locks should be purchased from the school using the Julian webstore (click on the "Student Locker Lock" payment option). Allow 24hrs for online payments to be processed.

If parents/guardians or students pay with cash or a check in the school office, locks can be picked up the same day (anytime between 8:30am - 4pm). Please place your order today!

Trimester 1 ended on Friday, November 19. We ask that parents/guardians check with your student(s) to see what school supplies they may need replenished.

Here is a list of several supplies that your student might need for the start of Trimester 2:

• Masks
  
• Refillable water bottle
• Pens, paper, pencils, erasers
• Spiral notebooks, folders, index cards
• Hand sanitizer
• Anti-bacterial wipes
• Boxes of facial tissue (Kleenex/Puffs)

Trimester 1 Report Cards will be e-mailed home on Friday, December 10.

***PLEASE NOTE: The deadline is Wednesday, November 24.***

We are writing today to ask all District 97 families to complete a brief, one-minute survey that will allow us to take advantage of a federal grant to support student technology needs.

On June 15, 2021, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program to provide up to $7.17 billion in support to schools and libraries for the purchase of laptop and tablet computers, Wi-Fi hotspots for use by students, school staff, and library patrons who would otherwise lack connected devices and/or broadband connections sufficient to fully engage in learning outside the school day.

In order to take advantage of this grant opportunity, District 97 is required to administer a brief survey to all second- through eighth-grade students/families and instructional staff (teachers, coaches, and teacher assistants). Upon the completion of the survey, the district will be eligible to finalize the filing for the grant award, which would provide up to approximately $1.4 million dollars to cover the cost of devices to support students and staff during remote learning situations.

Families should complete one survey for each student who is enrolled in Grades 2 through 8 for the 2021-22 school year. The deadline is Wednesday, November 24.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE SURVEY.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey that will help District 97 complete a grant to provide access to all families.

Best,

Michael Arensdorff

Senior Director of Technology

Dear Families:

Oak Park Elementary School District 97 has started the school year with a number of mitigations to reduce the risk of COVID-19 in its buildings, including limiting visitors in our buildings and spectators at student athletic events and performances. In order to make these events more accessible to families, the district is planning to implement live streaming beginning in November 2021. These live-streaming opportunities will be provided through YouTube and may include individual or group sporting events and, eventually, artistic performances.

Please be aware that the use of third-party virtual platforms creates potential privacy risks, such as risks related to encryption reliability, unauthorized access, data breaches and/or student access to non-school sponsored content. In addition, depending on the virtual platform used, the platform may use, maintain and/or disclose information gathered in connection with virtual sessions for its own purposes, including purposes related to product development and/or marketing. While these privacy risks do exist, our staff are taking reasonable measures to ensure confidentiality and security of information exchanged while supporting students through these virtual platforms.

No live streaming event may be recorded or redistributed by students or parents in any manner.

We appreciate your continued partnership and flexibility during these exceptional circumstances. If you have any questions regarding virtual platforms or the District’s use of videoconferencing, live streaming and recordings to provide extracurricular activities and opportunities, or concerns related to your student’s participation in virtual extracurricular activities and opportunities, please email me.

Your coaches and the school office will provide the direct link to the activities prior to the event taking place so that you are able to still watch your student-athlete perform while playing at either Brooks and/or Julian Middle Schools. The events will be streamed live on the Julian MS Events YouTube Channel. Due to the current mitigation measures, District 97 will be providing this service free of charge.

Sincerely,

Jeremy E. Christian

Principal

Y.E.M.B.A.-The Mentoring Empowerment Program (MEP) meets Mondays from 3:30pm - 6:30pm and the STARS will meet every Tuesday from 3:30pm - 5:30pm. Students will learn about leadership characteristics, the development of social awareness. Both programs meet in Room B305.

Mission of Y.E.M.B.A., Inc.: Our Mission is to provide a safe and nurturing environment for positive personal development and growth; employing a curriculum that will empower our youth mentally, spiritually and physically.

Program Objectives:

● Mentoring Empowerment Program (M.E.P)

○ To increase youth’s knowledge in the following areas:

• Leadership Characteristics

• Substance Abuse

• Financial LIteracy

● Students Taking Action Regarding Success (S.T.A.R.S.)

• ○ Safe space for middle school children of color.

• ○ Students share personal experiences with the goal of becoming advocates for

  themselves

• ○ Outlet for implementing change in the middle after school space.

• ○ Development of social awareness, empowerment, identity exploration, and

  social activism.

District 97 will host a virtual Family University session on Dec. 1 focusing on elementary literacy instruction.

The session, will be held virtually, via Zoom, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 1. Families will receive the link once they register.

Join us to learn more about our approach to literacy instruction in kindergarten through fifth grade. Staff from the Teaching and Learning Department will discuss the district's resources and the student experience, and will answer the most common questions submitted by families. We look forward to seeing you there! CLICK HERE to register for the event!

In October, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education released updated guidance and an updated exclusion decision tree. As a result, we have updated some of our protocols and required documents for symptomatic students. CLICK HERE for a one-page summary of the required steps and testing for students who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.

Over Communicate!

Last year Principal Christian implemented the theme of "over-communicate" amid the flexibility of the COVID19 virus and how information might change at a moment's notice. This year we'd like to keep this theme, in addition to our new theme of "growing together". Here are the ways in which Principal Christian and the Jayhawk staff communicates:

• Our Official Percy Julian Facebook Page (click here)
• Christian's Weekly Communication (every week)
• PowerSchool Daily Bulletin Alerts
• Text Messages (Jayhawk Text Messages District 97 uses the notification system BrightArrow to communicate with families via email and phone calls. This year, we have started using periodic text messages to send reminders directly to parents' cell phones. In order to receive text messages, parents must opt-in by texting YES to 87569. Once you have subscribed, you will receive a text confirmation.)

416 S. Ridgeland Ave.

Oak Park, IL 60302

708-524-3040

www.op97.org/julian