Christian's Weekly Communication
October 11, 2021
No School
A Message from Principal Christian
Parents and Guardians,
This year, our goal and theme is to “grow together”. To that end, we are excited to open a new parent portal that allows parents to sign-up for multiple parent-teacher conferences. Please follow the steps below to access the website and sign up for our October 21, 2021 conferences. However, please keep the following in mind:
Please attempt to meet a variety of your student’s teachers. We advocate for parents meeting with PE, Health, Design, Art, World Language (Spanish/French), and Music/Band/Orchestra teachers. They are valuable to the overall success and development of your student, both academically and socially. I humbly ask that parents sign-up for diverse conferences.
Conferences are 10 minutes in length. We aim to partner with each family to ensure they have a comprehensive understanding of their student’s areas of success, in addition to possible areas of growth. We ask that we adhere to the 10-minute time frame in order to provide our teachers with enough time to meet the next parent on their schedule.
If you would like to meet with any Administrative team member, please feel free to sign up using the Administrative folder and time slots available. Our Administrative team welcomes all opportunities to partner with you.
If you are not able to attend conferences, or if the times you’d like to attend are not available, please feel free to contact your student’s teacher directly via email. They will then work with you, directly, to establish a common time in the future that works best for all.
Accessing the Parent-Teacher Conference Website:
Refer to your student’s grades via PowerSchool to determine which teachers you would prefer to engage in a collaborative discussion with
Visit the website (https://www.myconferencetime.com/pjms/)
Select the team and/or subject of the teacher you would like to meet
Choose the teacher’s name
Review the time slots of the teacher
Select the best time for you to meet with the teacher
Click sign-up and follow the prompts
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our main office at 708-524-3040 or contact julianinfo@op97.org. Our office will be open the entire night of PTC, please contact 708-524-3040
Reminders
It is important that students attend the Parent/Teacher collaboration session with their parents. This is important as it establishes continuity between the student, teacher and parent, while sending a clear message of academic expectations.
Save the date: on October 12, 2021, Principal Christian wants to hear from you with any questions, ideas, or concerns you might have about our current school year. The zoom link is posted by clicking here.
Sports Notice to Student Athletes
10/10/2021
Dear Families:
Oak Park Elementary School District 97 has started the school year with a number of mitigations to reduce the risk of COVID-19 in its buildings, including limiting visitors in our buildings and spectators at student athletic events and performances. In order to make these events more accessible to families, the district is planning to implement live streaming beginning in October or November 2021. These live-streaming opportunities will be provided through YouTube and may include individual or group sporting events and, eventually, artistic performances.
Please be aware that the use of third-party virtual platforms creates potential privacy risks, such as risks related to encryption reliability, unauthorized access, data breaches and/or student access to non-school sponsored content. In addition, depending on the virtual platform used, the platform may use, maintain and/or disclose information gathered in connection with virtual sessions for its own purposes, including purposes related to product development and/or marketing. While these privacy risks do exist, our staff are taking reasonable measures to ensure confidentiality and security of information exchanged while supporting students through these virtual platforms.
No live streaming event may be recorded or redistributed by students or parents in any manner.
We appreciate your continued partnership and flexibility during these exceptional circumstances. If you have any questions regarding virtual platforms or the District’s use of videoconferencing, live streaming, and recordings to provide extracurricular activities and opportunities, or concerns related to your student’s participation in virtual extracurricular activities and opportunities, please email me.
Your coaches and schools will provide the direct link to the activities prior to the event taking place so that you are able to still watch your student-athlete perform while playing at either Brooks and/or Julian Middle Schools. The events will be streamed live on the District 97 YouTube channel. Due to the current mitigation measures, District 97 will be providing this service free of charge.
Sincerely,
Brooks and Julian Principal
Proof of Physical Examinations and Immunizations
We are reaching out to you as a reminder that the State of Illinois requires that all kindergarteners, sixth-graders, and students new to our district submit a current State of Illinois school physical with up-to-date immunizations. Information on the requirements can be found here. Please note that according to Section 27-8.1 of the School Code of Illinois, District 97 is obligated to exclude students from school who have not provided proof of the required physical examinations and/or immunizations on Oct. 15, until they are in compliance.
If you have been contacted by your school nurse that your child is missing any of the required forms/information, please submit those records directly to them before the October 15 deadline.
Students who are excluded on October 15 who have not provided the required documents are not eligible for remote learning.
Superintendent Search Virtual Community Forum - Oct. 20, 7 p.m.
The search firm Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates (HYA) will be hosting a virtual community forum on Wednesday, Oct. 20, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The forum will be conducted using Zoom Webinar, which allows up to 500 participants (click here for details).
There are two ways to participate:
- Via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81956079457
- Via Phone: Dial 312-626-6799 (Webinar ID: 819 5607 9457)
2021-22 District 97 Family Handbook
Additionally, if you would like to request a hard copy of the handbook, please contact the school office.
Reminder: Stay Home When Sick!
Reminder: Stay Home When Sick!
Staying home when sick is essential to keep COVID-19 infections out of schools and prevent spread to others. Symptoms that should be monitored daily by District 97 staff, families and students are:
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
DePaul University
How can we help our children approach technology mindfully? What are some benefits and challenges of technology for children? What are strategies to help promote digital citizenship and wellness in youth? Join us for this free talk!
DePaul University, in partnership with the Oak Park Township Community Mental Health Board and D97, is offering a series of community talks to the Brooks/Julian/Irving/Holmes communities during the 2021-2022 school year as part of The Mindful Matters and Mindful-Middle-Scholers Programs. The next opportunity is Thursday, October 14th from 6:00-7:15p via Zoom. The topic is "Technology and Mental Health: Strategies to promote mindful tech use." It is open to ALL community members (staff, parents, students). Please click here to register. A ZOOM link will be emailed 4 hours before the start of the event.
For a complete list of other upcoming DePaul talks for the 2021-2022 school year, click here.