Middle Matters-Repeated Topics

• Middle School Student Support Team
• How to Report Student Absences
• Safe and Healthy Schools: Information about Student Illness
  
• Stay Home When Sick
• Office Phones and Dropping off Items at Brooks
• School Day (Bell Schedule and A/B/C rotation)
• Allergy Safe School Information - No Nuts
• School Lunch Options
• Cell Phone/Mobile Devices Away for the Day
• Backpacks and Lockers
• Tardies to Class
• Water Bottle Reminders
• Technology Help
• Safety Resources for District 97 Families
  

If you have questions about the repeated topics, please don’t hesitate to contact Ms. Angel Banks, at abanks1@op97.org or (708) 524-7636.

Our Administrative Team

April Capuder, Principal (acapuder@op97.org)

Dr. Denise Gildon, Associate Principal for Teaching & Learning (dgildon@op97.org)

Roshaun Bowens, Associate Principal for School Culture, Climate and Sports/Clubs (rbowens@op97.org)

Student Success Coach Team:

6th Grade: Josh Rodgers - jrodgers@op97.org

7th Grade: Nichelle Stigger - nstigger@op97.org

8th Grade: Bernard Starks - bstarks@op97.org

We welcomed two new associate principals as part of the restructured middle school administrative teams. Dr. Denise Gildon will serve as associate principal of teaching, learning and arts and Roshaun Bowens will serve as associate principal of climate, culture and athletics/clubs at Brooks. The district's new assistant superintendent of middle schools, Dr. Luis Fernando De Leòn, will be leading both Middle School teams in their work toward universal student success.

This year, every middle schooler in District 97 will also have a student success coach, with six total coaches across our two middle schools. Their coach is their “go to” person for help and support throughout their time in middle school. At Brooks, the student success coaches are Joshua Rodgers (sixth grade), Nichelle Stigger (seventh grade) and Bernard Starks (eighth grade).

Watch the Brooks Welcome Video to get to know the 2023-24 middle school team and hear how they are working to ensure a great middle school experience for all students.

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 school, please call the attendance number 708-665-3074 or email brooksattendance@op97.org

District 97 remains committed to maintaining safe and healthy schools. We continue to work in partnership with the Oak Park Department of Public Health, following guidance set by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH).

When should a child remain home from school?
Staying home if you are ill is essential to keep infections—including the virus that causes COVID-19— out of schools and prevent spread to others. Please visit the District 97 Health Services page for more information about when to stay home. If you have specific questions, please contact your school nurse.

COVID-19 Guidelines for 2023-24
Following IDPH guidelines, individuals who test positive for COVID-19 must stay home for five days after the first day of symptoms or testing positive (Day 0). They may return to school on Day 6 if:

• They are 24 hours fever free with no fever-reducing medication AND
• No diarrhea or vomiting for 24 hours AND
• Improvement of other symptoms.

Masks are strongly recommended around others for five days (through Day 10). Per local guidance, anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 should also complete Oak Park Department of Public Health's Positive at Home COVID 19 Test form.

Please contact the Brooks Health Office and speak with Nurse Tracy Biggerstaff if you have questions or concerns regarding your student's health.

(708) 524- 3058 or tbiggerstaff@op97.org

Office Phones

Please note that our office staff sets the phone to go to voicemail from 8:30am to 9:15am daily. Please leave a message of your student's absence or you can email brooksattendance@op97.org. Our office staff will listen to voicemails to call back or direct calls as needed after 9:15am daily. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Dropping off Items at Brooks for your Student

You may drop off forgotten items for your student in the main office. Please note that we will not call into your student's classroom, as it is a disruption to the learning for other students and the teacher in the classroom. Your student should plan to stop by the main office on their way to lunch or between passing periods, if they think you may have dropped off the forgotten item for them to retrieve. We appreciate your understanding.

We will be following a block schedule again this school year. Students will attend their classes following an A/B/C schedule. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Friday following an A/B Schedule and on Wednesdays following C Schedule. On the weeks where there is a day with no school, students classes will follow A and B days only.

• Here is the link to our A/B/C Day Rotation and the Bell Schedule.

Nuts and nut products are not allowed in any District 97 schools during the 2023-24 school year. This includes products that are labeled “processed in a facility that shares equipment with nut products.” Our schools have been nut-safe for the past two years—helping to create safer, more inclusive environments for all of our students.

Hot lunch will be available to students who wish to participate and have a funded or an approved lunch account, starting the first day of school. If you have questions regarding your student's lunch balance, you may contact the Lunch Manager, Shetrice Baker at Sbaker2@op97.org. To make payments on student lunch accounts please visit, https://www.mymealtime.com/signin.aspx

Breakfast and hot lunch menus and other information

Cell phones/Mobile Devices are not to be used during school hours. This includes calling parents/guardians due to illness, requesting items to be dropped off, etc.

• Students can ask a teacher to use the classroom phone or the phone in the main office, if needed.

Cell phones are to be turned off/on silent upon entering the school building, stored in the student’s locker, and not used until the dismissal bell rings.

More Information can be found here. This will also be shared with students during the first week of school.

Backpacks are permitted to be carried in the hallways and brought into classrooms, although we are strongly encouraging students to use their locker as all have been distributed to students.

Students must minimally store their cold weather coats and garments as well as any lunch boxes/bags and their cell phone/mobile device on silent in their lockers each day to support the away for the day policy.

Each grade level have designated times for students to visit their lockers to support the development of executive functioning skills connected to planning and organization.

6th Grade-4th floor

7th Grade-3rd floor and 2nd floor B wing

8th Grade-1st floor and 2nd floor C wing

If your child need to purchase a lock at anytime during the school year, please do so online HERE.

Being on time to class is essential for optimal learning for all students. This school year when a student reaches 15 tardies within a trimester, they will meet with their SOAR teacher to develop a strategy to ensure the student will get to all their classes on time. At 25 tardies within a trimester, the student will be assigned a time during their social time to meet with their grade level Student Success Coach to reflect on root causes of tardies and develop a plan, additionally, parents/guardians will be contacted. At 35 tardies within the trimester, parents/guardians will be contacted to meet with their student and an administrator or Student Success Coach to develop a tardy contract.

We ask that if possible to please send your student to school with a filled water bottle. There are no drinking fountains open, but we have water bottle filling stations in the school for our students to refill their water bottles when needed.

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 created a dedicated page on our website for safety resources and information. The page includes a number of topics, including emergency preparedness, safe gun storage and mental health.