Preparing to Return

Tomorrow we will begin our journey, together! Our teachers, staff, and Administrative team are excited to welcome your students back to school! I, personally, can't wait to see them. Below is a video I emailed to our students. It will also be posted to the "Student Corner" page of our website. I can't wait to see our students on tomorrow, although I'm sad :(... Check the video out and share with your students.

CAUTION: MY APOLOGIES, however at the end of video I state to contact helpdesk@op97.com. This was stated in error. If you need assistance please contact helpdesk@op97.org. My apologies in advance. I'm still new :)

Above is a copy of our daily schedule during our Remote Learning 2.0 session. Please refer to the schedule above. If you have any questions please refer to the Julian website or contact our school office for additional information.

On Friday, 8/28, your student will be able to log into Canvas to access their classes/courses within Canvas, which will also be where each class' zoom link will be found. To login to CANVAS go to op97.instructure.com

Here is a VIDEO explaining how students will find the zoom links for each of their classes.

Students should use their username (their gmail address/google login WITHOUT the @students.op97.org portion) and their password. If your student doesn't remember their login information, please contact Ms. Cory Marshall (cmarshall@op97.org) or Ms. Yulonda Nichols (ynichols@op97.org). All new 6th grade families received this information on the instruction sheet when they picked up their Chromebooks on 8/19 or 8/20.

Attendance will be taken every day for each class period by each of your child's teacher and it will be denoted in PowerSchool. Student's are expected to attend each of their classes at their scheduled time and day. If your student will be absent from remote learning, please call our school office at 708-665-3064.

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.

This week we've asked our teachers to build solid relationships with our students. We've asked teachers to focus upon building community within their classrooms in order to support our students as we create our new mode of learning.

Save the date! Curriculum Night will be September 10th! More information is forthcoming.

Next D97 Meal Distribution: Monday, Aug. 31
Meals will be available to all District 97 students during Trimester 1. Families who pick up meals will be charged based on their lunch status, just as they would if students were onsite.

Each bag of food will contain five breakfasts and five lunches. Click here for the September 2020 menus.

In order to help the D97 Food Service Department determine daily meal counts and reduce waste from excess ordering, we are asking families to complete this short survey by Sept. 1 to indicate whether they plan to pick up meals during the month of September.

• Next D97 Meal Distribution: Monday, Aug. 31, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Locations: 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.

Click here for more information about food service during Trimester 1. If you have any questions, please reach out to the district's food service coordinator, Carla Ellis, at cellis@op97.org.

• Back-to-School Flyer/Fact Sheet: We put together this Back-to-School fact sheet for families--please share through your channels! See blurb below.
• Back-to-School Photos: We'll be collecting back-to-school photos, just as we have in years past. If you would like to utilize the graphic, just click the image below (it will open in a new page and you can download it). See blurb below.

D97 Back-to-School Fact Sheet
Check out this fact sheet for important D97 Back-to-School information!

Share Your Back-to-School Photos!
District 97 families—we want to see your back-to-school photos! You can share your photos by tweeting us (@OakPark97, use the hashtags #MyD97 and #OakPark97) or emailing them to d97feedback@op97.org.

If you email us photos or videos, we will make sure they comply with the board policies and laws that govern issues such as privacy, appropriate use, etc. before they get posted.

Pandemic EBT Benefit Deadline Extended to August 31
The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) launched the Pandemic EBT to provide nutritional resources to families who have lost access to free or reduced-price school meals due to school closures. Families will receive money on a new or existing EBT card to help fill the school meals gap. If your child receives free or reduced-price school meals through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), or your child attends a school that offers free school meals to all students, then you are eligible to receive P-EBT benefits. Families who have lost their job or wages may now be eligible.

The deadline to apply for this benefit has been extended to Aug. 31, 2020. For more information about eligibility and how to apply, please visit https://bit.ly/2DJDEAd.

Free/Reduced Lunch Application
We know that a common experience for many families during this health crisis is the loss of jobs and income. This change in income may qualify your children for free or reduced-price meals. We encourage all families who currently qualify to take a few minutes to complete the National School Lunch application as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please email the district's food service coordinator, Carla Ellis, at cellis@op97.org.