Christian's Weekly Communication

This is a reminder that 8th grade graduation photos will be taken tomorrow, Monday, March 13th during first and second periods. **The photographer will provide the cap and gown on the photo day:

1. Please be sure that students avoid wearing green, high neck collars and/or turtlenecks.
2. Up-dos or high ponytails should be avoided so that the graduation cap fits securely on the student's head.

Families that placed cap, gown or tassel orders for the graduation ceremony will receive them next month from the vendor.**

• No payment for graduation photos is needed at this time.
• A proof will be sent home with instructions on how to view the pictures and how to place your order online.
• All orders will ship directly to your home.

Greetings 8th grade Families,

Starting on Tuesday March 14th students will take the Illinois Science Assessment (ISA). This is a part of the IAR testing cycle and will take place in their Science classrooms. Students will begin testing on Tuesday March 14 and end on March 23, to ensure all students have time to complete the sessions.

Here are a few reminders of how students can prepare as we wrap up state testing for the school year:

• -Charged Chromebook (keep in it in your bag)
• -Headphones that plug into the chromebook
• -Get a good night’s sleep
• -Eat breakfast (also available at school)

If you have any questions please reach out to Mr. Lee (wlee@op97.org).

Kind regards,
Mr. Lee

--

William S. Lee

Assistant Principal

Percy Julian Middle School

Phone: (708) 524-3042

Parents & Guardians,

The 2023 District 97 Art Exhibition will be held at Oak Park River Forest High School. This art show will have student work from all District 97 schools, as well as artwork from neighboring District 90. The art work will be on display for the month of March as a part of Youth Art Month.

Be well and have a wonderful day!

--

Mr. Swistowicz
Fine & Applied Arts Instructor

Middle School Art Department Chair
Oak Park School District 97

Five of our 6th grade students, Olivia Hirsch, Quinn Anderson, Zoey Nelson, Olivia Guimbao, and Addison Mason (not pictured), held a bake sale and raised $240 for Moms Demand Action. "Moms Demand Action" is a grassroots movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence. "We pass stronger gun laws and work to close the loopholes that jeopardize the safety of our families."

• HELP NEEDED - March 15th “School Store”
  
• Restock - Can you support our PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports) efforts by purchasing items from our Amazon wish list for our next school store?
  
• Volunteer - If you have 30 minutes available on Wednesday March 15, we could use your help to set up, tear down, or work the store during a lunch period! Check out our sign-up sheet here. Any questions? Please reach out to Katie Trathen at ktrathen@op97.org. Thank you so much!

• Pre-ordering for our Julian School Store opens this Monday during your child’s Advisory class! Here is a link to the screencast that provides all of the information your child needs to order. A few reminders:

  • Students earn Jaybucks from their teachers for being safe, respectful and responsible. Their digital Jaybucks can be used to purchase items from the school store.

  • Items must be pre-ordered on the PBIS Rewards site, starting during their Advisory period on Monday March 13 and through the end of the school day on Tuesday March 14. There will be no ordering on the day of the store.

  • Each student can only order ONE GIFT CARD per school store. Ordering more than one gift card may cause problems with the entire order, so please avoid trying it.

  • Your child must have their Julian Student ID on Wednesday, March 15 to pick up their order. If they need to purchase a new ID, they can do so ahead of time in the school office.

  • The next school store (and final one of the school year!) will be on May 31.

  Parents - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for your generous donations to our school store via our Amazon wishlist. You make this possible!
  

--

Katie Trathen, LCSW

(she/her/hers) - Hear my name

Culture & Climate Coach

Percy Julian Middle School

416 Ridgeland Ave, Oak Park, IL

Julian Request for Assistance Form - SY23

On Friday, March 24th, the Student Leadership Team at Julian is hosting a semi-formal Sneaker Ball for all Julian students. 6th graders may attend from 5:30pm to 7:00pm. And 7th & 8th graders may attend from 7:30pm to 9:00pm. Student IDs are required and only current Julian students will be admitted with their school IDs (Brooks, OPRFHS or other students are not permitted to attend). Admission is $5.

The "Sneaker Ball" is a semi formal event and since it will be held in the main gym, students must wear gym shoes or sneakers (no hard bottom or high heeled shoes will be permitted on the gym floor). The Julian PTO is the sponsor of this school dance. They will provide a DJ, decorations, pizza, and possibly a photo booth! Parent Volunteers will be needed for the event as well as donations of drinks and snacks. Be sure to check out the PTO newsletter for more details on how to donate or volunteer for the event soon.

Sneaker Ball on Friday, March 24

• 6th grade 5:30pm - 7pm
• 7th/8th Gr 7:30pm - 9pm
• $5 admission + must have school ID to enter

A frequent guest speaker for Rainbow Tribe, Hall Pattnott, is offering a workshop on understanding gender identity and best practices for creating affirming spaces for trans and gender non-conforming individuals. See the flyer for more information.

-

Mr. Kannan

Julian Individuals & Societies Teacher

Rainbow Tribe co-sponsor

Please note: teams and the PE dept will no longer keep separate lost and found bins. Therefore, the Lost and Found items will be cleaned out on a weekly basis. Please be sure to have your child check the Lost and Found area, located at the main stairway on the first floor, for lost coats, jackets, water bottles, lunch bags, etc. All leftover items will be either discarded or donated after school on Fridays.

Hello Julian families.

I’m the Executive Director of YourPassion1st, and we have a young men’s mentoring program in partnership with the Oak Park Public Library and it’s free to young men in grades 6-12.

Here’s a link to learn more about our organization:

https://www.flowcode.com/page/yourpassion1st

--

Peace, Love & Understanding,

Christopher Thomas – Founder
YourPassion1st
chris@yourpassion1st.com
(773) 904-6814
https://www.yourpassion1st.com/

District 97's Single Subject and Whole Grade Level Acceleration process for students for the 2023-24 school year is now open!

District 97 believes that all students should be challenged and supported to develop to their maximum potential. For students who demonstrate they may benefit from accelerated placement, we provide opportunities to participate in an instructional setting that is usually reserved for students who are older or in higher grades than the child. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Single subject acceleration

• Whole grade acceleration

In accordance with the Illinois Accelerated Placement Act, District 97 has continued to refine procedures to ensure equitable access to acceleration opportunities for all students. Continuing this year: all students who are grade eligible to take the Illinois Assessment for Readiness (IAR) must participate in the assessment in order to be deemed eligible for acceleration. The IAR is a critically important measure in determining the mastery of grade level standards and must be considered by the school team along with other sources of data.

Pre-applications for single-subject and whole-grade acceleration will be accepted from March 1 to May 15 of each school year. The general process is outlined HERE.

Information about the District 97 Accelerated Placement Program, including definitions and timelines, can be found at http://www.op97.org/acceleration.

Join us in June for fun during the VEX Robotics Camp! For just two weeks only, we'll build and hone our skills together. This program is for incoming 6th, 7th and 8th grade Julian students. Please check out the flyer for more details. Or go to the Oak Park Educational Foundation's website: www.opef.org.

Be Safe and Healthy Reminders

In District 97, we understand and appreciate that it will take all of us—families, staff, community members—working together to have a safe and healthy winter. As we continue through the winter months, we want to remind you of a few preventative measures our school community can take to reduce the spread of illness in our schools:

• Wash hands often, especially before eating and after using the bathroom.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. These are the most common ways for germs to enter the body.
• Cover your mouth and nose with your arm when you cough or sneeze.
• Get plenty of sleep!
• Eat whole, unprocessed foods and include fruits and vegetables at each meal.
• Stay up to date on your vaccinations

Should students get sick, they should not come to school. Please do not send your child to school with any of the following symptoms:

• Constant coughing
• Constant “runny” nose, especially with yellow or green mucus
• A temperature of 100 or higher
• Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea
• Rashes or any scratching for unknown reasons, with or without fever
• Watery, itching eyes that have drainage or are crusted shut upon waking

If your child tests positive for COVID-19, please report the illness by completing District 97’s Positive Case Notification form. Thank you for sharing this responsibility with us to Be Safe and Healthy by looking out for the collective care of the community this winter!

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

In 2020, 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. Last year, our theme was "growing together". And now in 2022-23, we'd like to continue with our new theme of "Stronger, 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

We give our best, and then some!