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Julian Middle Matters Newsletter

A weekly communication from Dr. Fitzgerald

Julian MiddleMatters NewsletterA weekly communication from Dr. Fitzgerald

Friday, May1 Friday, May1

Teacher Appreciation Week is May 4th- 8th

We are asking students and families to help!

Teacher Appreciation Week is May 4th- 8th We need your help to send love to Julian teachers - social distance style. Here is a way you can help!

  • Contribute a kind video message to your teachers on this FLIPGRID. Go to Flipgrid.com. Click "Enter a Flip Code" and Enter one of the Flip Code: julian416

  • Click the big green plus sign to record a video of yourself sending a message to your teachers. Please record videos for your team teachers AND special teachers (non core teachers, social workers... etc.)

Questions? Email Mr. Lee (wlee@op97.org)

Navigating PowerSchool during Remote Learning

Please watch this brief video on how to navigate PowerSchool during remote learning. Angelica Love, an assistant principal at Brooks, put this together for our middle school parents/guardians. Please contact Cory Marshall (cmarshall@op97.org) if you need assistance with accessing PowerSchool for your student.

Julian Virtual Book Group

Attention all readers! Join Ms. Winchell in a virtual community with other Julian readers on Mondays at 2pm. Share what you are reading and get new book ideas. Be ready to share and listen!

  • Monday, May 4 @ 2pm

  • Monday, May 11 @ 2pm

  • Monday, May 18 @ 2pm

  • Tuesday, May 26 @ 2pm

  • Monday, June 1 @ 2pm


meet.google.com/xqt-xgom-kaa

Jayhawk Lunchtime Socials

We believe that during this time, it is important for our students to have the opportunity to come together. Starting next week, we are offering a space for Julian students to get together to socialize with their peers. Assistant principals will be facilitating these sessions next week. The “Julian Jayhawks Lunchtime Socials” will take place every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 11:00-11:30 using Google Meets. We will be sharing this information and the Google Meets link with our students on Monday morning.


  • Monday: 6th Grade

https://meet.google.com/jfe-hwao-wwr

  • Tuesday: 7th Grade

https://meet.google.com/tja-scvf-zfb

  • Wednesday: 8th Grade

https://meet.google.com/tto-ixpv-pte

Remote Learning Planning Days for Teachers

  • Friday, May 8

  • Friday, May 15

  • Friday, May 22

Students are NOT assigned work by their teachers on these days.

Cancellation Refunds / Field Trips

Several field trips scheduled for March and April were cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic. The Julian office staff has recently submitted refund requests for those parents who had paid for their student's cancelled trip. Given that the district office staff is working remotely because of the shelter-in-place order, this refund process will take several weeks to complete for all of our District 97 elementary and middle schools. If you have not received your field trip refund by June 1, please contact our business office at 708-524-7625. We appreciate your patience during this difficult time.

Social Emotional Learning Lessons for Julian Students

We are super proud of the work our students are doing. We also know that it is important for them to take care of their social and emotional self. We will be sharing some interactive social emotional learning activities with them weekly. Students will be receiving an email Monday mornings around 9:00 with activities that have been created by the middle school Culture and Climate coaches.

19 Webcomics for Middle-Grade and Young Adults

This School Library Journal feature by Mahnaz Dar provides links to 19 webcomics for middle-grade and young adult audiences: https://bit.ly/3bKeOfR

Mental Health Wellness Appointments

We recognize that this time of crisis may create stress and trigger emotional difficulties for your child. D97’s school psychology department is offering acute (short-term) access to mental health wellness checks. Scheduled appointments are available daily between the hours of 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. for mental health triage services during the COVID-19 school closure beginning April 13, 2020.

Parents/Caregivers, you may sign up your student for a 15-minute slot here: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/selfsched?sstoken=UUVKMGZxZ0E0ZkpvfGRlZmF1bHR8ODI4ZTEzZmFkOTFjYWY5OGU5NjFiZDBkMDExZjkzNmY if you think your child would benefit from an empathetic ear and a few coping and self-care tips. When signing your child up, please provide the email (for video chat) or phone number you’d like us to contact at the time of the appointment.

Although this crisis may also be tough for adults, these mental health triage appointments are reserved to focus on student needs. If you have questions as a caregiver/parent, please email your building’s assigned school psychologist, your child’s educational team, or refer to this resource guide, created by the District 97 Social Work Department: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uKPIgKHr6sDnj_YHb1t6S9UbukwE2JUAZS4cv37H9QY/edit

BPAC Parent-to-Parent Online Support Group

The Oak Park Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee (BPAC) will host an online parent-to-parent support group for parents on Saturday, May 2, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The purpose of the group is to provide support to BPAC and EL parents in District 97 in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Event flyer and details

Technology Support

Technical support will be available from school and district technology staff by accessing the Help Desk through email, helpdesk@op97.org. When an email is submitted, a Help Desk ticket is created and assigned to technology staff, who will be working throughout the day to address technology concerns. Our technology team can support District 97 devices and student online programs.

District 97 Staff Referral Program

We are always looking for talented, dedicated individuals to join the District 97 team! We know that some of our best teachers and staff members have come to District 97 based on a referral. If you know somebody who you believe would be a good fit for our district, please fill out the D97 Staff Referral Form. If you have any questions, please email the human resources department at hr@op97.org.

Meal Distributions

District 97 will hold meal distributions every Monday, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Longfellow Elementary School (for Julian and feeder schools), 715 S. Highland Ave., and Brooks Middle School (for Brooks and feeder schools), 325 S. Kenilworth Ave. Meals are available to any District 97 family in need. Each student will receive breakfast and lunch items for five days.


If you have any questions, please contact our food service coordinator, Carla Ellis, at cellis@op97.org.

OPRF Youth Summer Camp Program and Swim Camp Canceled

Oak Park and River Forest High School has announced that all camps for youth through eighth-grade, including Huskie Swim Lessons Camp, have been canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Click here to read the letter from the OPRF Athletics Department >
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Upcoming Events

Remote Learning Teacher Planning Day - Friday, May 8

Email: tfitzgerald@op97.org
Website: op97.org/julian
Phone: 708-524-3040

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