The Jayhawk Weekly

Dear Julian Parents and Guardians,

It was wonderful to see so many smiling faces at the Maker's Fair on Friday! The variety of talents that our students displayed was incredible! From baked goods to scarves, jewelry, and so much more! It was a wonderful showcase of how our community can come together and celebrate and support each other.

Our winter weather has certainly started to set in, so please remind your child(ren) to dress warmly for recess. As noted below, we will stay inside when the feels like is below 15, but otherwise we will have outdoor recess on the back field.

And just a friendly reminder, the Report Card Day is on Friday, Dec 13th. We are so proud of the progress that our Jayhawks are making in the classroom. Thank you for partnering with us to ensure students are prepared daily to meet the challenges and rigors of the school day. Please check with your student about having the school supplies they need for Trimester 2. Some students may be in new elective classes or need a few more pencils, pens or spiral notebooks! We will email the final grades to families on Friday afternoon.

As always, if you have questions, concerns, or ideas, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Jayhawks together,

Nick Filipowski

Principal, Percy Julian M.S.

• Winter Break for students is Monday, Dec 23rd - Monday, Jan 6th.
• Students return to school on Tuesday, January 7, 2025.
• It will be a B day when Jayhawks return from the winter break. Students will attend 6th period - 10th period classes on 1/7.

Please discuss the following information in advance with your Jayhawk student about the last day of school before Winter Break begins:

• The library will be closed before and after school on Friday, December 20.
• The school building will open at 8:45 a.m. on Friday, December 20. Julian staff will be in a holiday celebration, so the doors will be locked and the school office will not open until 8:45am on 12/20.
• The school office closes at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, December 20.
• The Lost & Found will be cleared out at dismissal on Friday, December 20.
• The school building will be closed after 4:00 p.m. on Friday, December 20. There will be no opportunity to retrieve forgotten belongings or musical instruments over the Winter Break.

Want to send grandma a new sweater? Need a cool stocking stuffer? Want to update your wardrobe with some Julian pajama pants? Then order today and get your items before Winter Break begins. Check out 1st Place Spiritwear and their fantastic sale! Get new Julian hoodies, long sleeved tees, hats and so much more. All with home delivery guaranteed by December 23rd!

Save 25% sitewide on great gifts for the entire family! In addition, all orders over $75 will receive FREE SHIPPING. Shop Now! Sale ends on Tuesday, Dec 10th.

And best of all, a portion of the proceeds gets donated to Julian M.S.!

We will meet this week on Thursday, 12/12. This is the final meeting for the month of December (no Best Buddies on 12/19).

All the best,

Ms. Mandelbaum

--

Sabrina Mandelbaum M.A., CCC-SLP

Speech-Language Pathologist

Percy Julian Middle School

TRYOUTS:

• 8th Grade -Thurs., Dec 12th from 3:30 pm - 6:00 pm

Contact Ms. Kiefer or Ms. Tucker if you have any questions

ekiefer@op97.org

mtucker@op97.org

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 temperature, with wind chill, 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.

Please take a moment to review the information shared in the district’s Weekly Wrap-Up on Dec. 1 regarding winter preparedness.

The district’s emergency closing and E-Learning procedures are outlined in this brief deck; full details are posted at https://www.op97.org/communications/emergency-closings.

If you missed the 12/3 meeting, you can attend Oak Park and River Forest High School's meeting this week on Tuesday, December 10th at 7:00 p.m. See the flyer for details and contact OPRFHS directly if you have any questions.

Thank you to everyone who joined our information session this week for the eighth-grade class trip to St. Louis/Springfield. If you couldn't attend or you’d like to review the information, you can access a recording of the meeting here.

We’ll be sharing more information soon about registration details and the deposit process, so please stay tuned.

The deadline for registration and a deposit of $100 will be due on Dec. 20, 2024. We will notify you when the registration portal opens, which we anticipate will be happening shortly after the Thanksgiving break.

Thank you for your interest and support as we prepare for this exciting trip!

Sincerely,

8th Grade Trip Planning Team

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION FOR OPYBS

Take advantage of OPYBS early bird rates thru 1/5/25 to save up to $50 for our spring tball, baseball and softball leagues. We offer leagues for kindergarten through 8th/9th grade. It's never too late to play baseball or softball. All levels welcome.

Questions? Email Megan Elsener, meganelsener@gmail.com

We have now entered "that time of year" when students may experience scratchy throats or dry coughs. Please know that teachers can not administer cough drops, vitamins, or aspirin to students. And students are not permitted to share their personal over the counter "meds" with their peers (this includes items such as Tylenol, Aleve, Motrin, vitamins, cough drops, etc).

All students are required to have a medication authorization form on file in the health office for any over the counter and all prescribed medications (please see the Health Office News REMINDER below for more details and a link to the medication authorization form).

NEW TRIMESTER

Now that Trimester 1 has ended, it may be time to do a check-in with your student. If they changed electives for Trimester 2, make sure they have the school supplies they need for their design, modern african american studies, community service or soar class. Check the 2024-25 School supply list and get the needed supplies for the current trimester. You can also send an email to the elective teacher if you have any questions.

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STUDENT PREPAREDNESS

Please have your child prep for school the night before or "before they go out the door" the morning of, in order to make sure they have the items they need for the day. Several teachers have reported that students are showing up to class unprepared (uncharged chromebooks, no headphones for their chromebook, etc).

Here is a list of supplies that Julian students will need for all their classes on a DAILY basis:

• school ID
• fully charged chromebook
• headphones compatible with the chromebook (not earbuds for iPhones)
• pen, paper, notebook
• water bottle
• lunch/snack (food is available in the Julian lunchroom if your child doesn't or forgets to pack their lunch)

We appreciate your partnership.

Julian students have access to many supports during lunch: regular lunch, regular recess, quiet lunch, and now: quiet study.

Library Quiet Study recess is available to all Julian students on a first-come, first-served basis. Digital Passes will open daily at 8:50 AM and the process is the same as it has been this year. The amount of passes will vary depending on instruction also happening in the library. The library is always open to students with social worker-issued passes and PE excusals.

Library Quiet Study sounds like & feels like:

-QUIET! Voice level 0: no talking or 1: whisper

-calm

-safe

Looks like:

-reading

-studying or doing homework

-doing puzzles or playing board games

-using headphones

Students' voices and ideas are represented in these guidelines.

Students and families, please talk to Ms. Winchell with any questions.

• Parents/Guardians can place orders online only with Van Gogh School Photographers (payments are not collected at the school) at www.ordervgil.com. The Julian School Event Code is 20032801. If you have any questions regarding picture packages, you can contact Van Gogh's customer service dept directly at 847-382-2282 ext 7 or at vangoghphoto.com.

REMINDER:

***Visitors will need to present a government-issued ID to check in, and a badge will be provided to wear while on school property.***District 97 implemented the Raptor Visitor Management System on Monday, September 16th. This system will streamline the check-in process and enhance security at all our schools.

For more details and video tutorials on the check-in process, please visit our website. If you have any questions, please contact Principal Filipowski.

Thank you for your support in keeping our schools safe!

Here are the game day expectations:

• All Julian students are required to wear their school ID in order to gain entry to games.
• Children under 18 years of age and teens that are not Julian students must be accompanied by an adult. All OPRFHS, Fenwick and Brooks students must be with a parent or guardian over the age of 18.
• Please do not bring food or drink into the gym. Outside food and beverages are not allowed. Water or water bottles are permitted. But we ask that you refrain from bring snacks and beverages into the school on game days.

Thank you for reminding your child of the game day expectations.

Parents and Guardians,

This is a friendly reminder about the Middle School Cell Phone policy. We are "Away for the Day" which means students should not use their cell phones from 9:00am - 3:30pm. If there is an emergency, students can call home from a teacher's classroom phone or the school office. If a student is feeling unwell, they can get a pass from their classroom teacher, and call home from the school nurse's office.

If a student is caught using their cell phone/electronic device during instruction time or caught using their device while school is in session for unrelated curriculum activities, then the following occurs:

• 1ST OFFENSE: The device is sent down to the school office by a staff member and the student must retrieve the device at the end of the school day.
• 2ND OFFENSE: The device is sent down to the school office by a staff member and parents/guardians are notified. The student will be able to retrieve the device at the end of the school day.

• 3RD OFFENSE: The device is sent down to the school office by a staff member and parents/guardians are notified. A parent/guardian/caregiver must then come to the school to pick up the device, it will not be released to the student. The parent/guardian/caregiver must also meet with an administrator or student success coach to decide one of two options:

OR

2) The student will leave the device at home and no longer bring the cell phone to school for the remainder of the trimester.

Thank you for your efforts to help us all make school a place of academics and social emotional learning.

Approximately 10% - 15% of students have a food allergy. The most common allergen item is nuts of any kind. Every food-allergic reaction has the possibility of developing into a life-threatening reaction within minutes. Some individuals may react to merely touching the substance, while for others, consumption of a tiny amount of that food can cause a reaction which could be fatal.

• We strongly encourage packing nut-free products in your student's lunches

• We strongly encourage sending nut-free products on field trips

• There is NO food sharing between students at any time during school

How to identify safer foods for your children to eat:

1. Please read all packaging to ensure the item is not produced on equipment shared with nuts

2. Additional safe options may be viewed at: www.snacksafely.com

We appreciate your partnership in promoting the health and safety of our children.

Per district guidelines, all medications must have an accompanying Medication Authorization Form

• A Medication Authorization Form is required for all over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription medications.
• A physician must complete the form for all prescriptions AND OTC medications (this includes VITAMINS / SUPPLEMENTS, COUGH DROPS, TYLENOL, MOTRIN, etc).
• All medications are to be brought to the health office by the parent / guardian in the original pharmacy prescription labeled container or an unopened / sealed as purchased OTC packaging.
• Medical Authorization Forms may be found HERE.

Fees may be paid online at https://oakpark.revtrak.net/Middle-Schools/BMS/BMS-School-Fees/#/list

You may also pay fees in-person (with check, money order or cash only) at the Julian School Office during the week between the hours of 8:00 AM and 3:00 PM.

• PTO Meeting: Wednesday, December 11th
• Trimester 1 Report Card Day: Friday, December 13th
• Winter Break: Last day of school (full day of classes) is Friday, Dec 20th /First day back is Tuesday, Jan 7th (B day)
• 8th Grade Class Trip: Sunday, May 25 - 27, 2025
• 8th Grade Graduation: Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Come help Julian be an even more awesome place...all that's missing is YOU! Julian PTO (Parent-Teacher Organization) meetings will be held every 2nd Wednesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. in the Library Media Center:

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

If you can't make it in person, log onto Zoom for the PTO meetings:

Every month on the Second Wed, until May 14, 2025, 9 occurrence(s)
Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.
Monthly: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/tZIqd-2grzwqH9xbM57ma8Z4koONenHwAstO/ics?icsToken=98tyKuGuqTsuEtWSsByPRpwAB4igLPzzmGZfgvpFnjKwVC1SOjmiPe1tHLdxOM_x&meetingMasterEventId=8BZCj1FGQtmhEqFKmR7G4w

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86704817058?pwd=sQ8438MQAlKe75JZ21eRBMFkOpJDza.1

Meeting ID: 867 0481 7058
Passcode: 325017

Oak Park, IL 60302

708-524-3040

www.op97.org/julian