One of our goals this year is to strengthen the relationship between home and school. In particular, findings ways for the Whittier community to know the staff at Whittier. Therefore, each week, we will randomly pick a staff member from an envelope to spotlight.

1. Hello! My name is Lamia Siddiqi (Miss Siddiqi)
2. I am the K-2 Instructional Special Education teacher. This is my first year at Whittier!

3. My favorite colors are all shades of blue.

4. What I like most about Whittier is the community. People look out for one another and support each other at all levels.

5. If I had a SuperPower it would be teleportation so that I could travel quickly and as often as I want!

6. If I was an animal I would be a giraffe because I’ve always imagined what life would be like if I were taller.

7. What advice would you give the scholars of Whittier? Be yourself and be kind! Everyone is different and we should all accept each other for who we are. Everyone has their own challenges and we can help each other out by being kind to all.

District 97 is currently accepting applications for the early childhood blended classrooms at Whittier Elementary School for the 2022-23 school year. We will have a limited number of spaces available.

We are seeking students who:

• Are non-IEP students who will be between the ages of 3 and 4 years by Sept. 1, 2022;
• Demonstrate age-appropriate language and social skills;
• Are Oak Park residents;
• Are not enrolled in a preschool program.

The registration window will be open through May 13, 2022. For more information about the Early Childhood Blended Program, please visit https://www.op97.org/teach-learn/ecblended.

This year our school is sponsoring the CAN DO Drive for our local Food Pantry, Beyond Hunger, again! With job and work losses amounting amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, Beyond Hunger has even more people visiting their pantries. Now more than ever they need our support to meet this growing need. Online donations allow Beyond Hunger to offer the essential nutrients that people need right now. Just $1 allows Beyond Hunger to provide 3 meals. Whittier will be collecting these specific foods at school. Please ONLY bring these items:

• Jelly
• Peanut Butter
• Canned Chicken Soup
• Cheerios’ Cereal
• Canned Mixed Vegetables (low sodium)
• Diced Tomatoes
• Tomato Paste
• Bagged Rice (White or Brown)
• Refried and Dry Beans (Pinto and Black)
• Canned Pineapples

You can donate to the Whittier School CAN DO online fundraiser page by clicking here. Feel free to share this link on social media to help Beyond Hunger. Our fundraiser runs from April 1st-30th.

Feel free to contact Mrs. Weiss (lweiss@op97.org) with questions.

As the weather gets warmer, we wanted to remind families about after-school supervision. We provide supervision until 3:15 (2:45 on Wednesdays) each day. After that time, students need to head home. Our students are very excited to play after school in the nicer weather, and we want to make sure this is done safely. If students are going to stay to play together after our supervision, we require a parent or guardian to be present on the turf, blacktop, or playground to supervise. Thank you for helping us provide a safe, fun environment for all students after school.

We are reaching out with a few updates going into effect on Monday, March 7, 2022.

Monday, March 7, 2022

• Breakfast starts in our Whittier Cafeteria at 7:15 am

• Students arriving for breakfast should enter the 5W door (located directly across the playground)
• Students will be able to enter directly at 7:15 am. Due to supervision, students will not be able to enter before 7:15 am.

• Arrival/Dismissal Updates

• All classes will enter the building and dismiss from the blacktop during Arrival/Drop-off. Students will no longer enter the building through the Harvey entrances before 8 am. Teachers will communicate and show students the new lineup location before school on Monday.

• Traffic Flow/Student Safety
  
• School buses are the only vehicles allowed on the 700 block of Harvey for student drop-off. Take note of new signage on the west side of the 700 block on Harvey, designating the bus loading area.
• The 700 block of Cuyler will be one-way, northbound, during school drop-off and pick-up times, assisting families who drive students to school. The 700 block of Cuyler has signage noting the drop-off/pick-up status from 7 am-4 pm on all school days.
• The area around our school is bustling at the beginning of the day and at dismissal time. We encourage our students to walk to and from school.
• If you are driving your child to and from school, the following are the designated drop-off/pick-up areas:

600 Block of North Cuyler Avenue

700 Block of North Cuyler Avenue

600 Block of North Harvey Avenue (South of Augusta)

Effective Monday, February 28, 2022

• Student drop off and pick up
• Masks will be optional outdoors for families and students during drop-off and pick-up.
• Mask is still required to enter the school building.

At Whittier, we want to support each student as best we can during these challenging times. Our PTO received financial funds from an anonymous donor that we can use to support our students and families in need.

If you are in need of additional support, please take a few minutes to help us better understand how we can support your family's current needs by filling out a google form (https://forms.gle/5xqKFJQ5gBH4YBM47). If your child is identified as needing additional support, someone from our school will be in touch with you within the week. Please fill this out for EACH child in your family. Thank you in advance.

Please note - ALL these responses will be kept confidential and can only be accessed by school social workers, the assistant principal, and the principal.

Our kindergartners joined the rest of our students this week and began learning about solving social problems. They learned the importance of calming down, saying the problem, and thinking of many possible solutions. Our first- fifth graders learned the importance of thinking through solutions and identifying consequences before picking a solution. This is important because many students, especially those who are more likely to be involved in conflicts and aggression, tend to think of only one solution and act on it without thinking through what might happen. The last two steps of the S-T-E-P process is to E- explore solutions and P- pick the best solution. Doing so helps students take people’s feelings into account and predict outcomes of their solutions. Next week our kindergartners will continue Second Step lessons while our first and second graders have a “booster week” and our third-fifth graders participate in a student climate survey.

Kindergarten- Solving Problems

First Grade- Solving Problems, Part 2

Second Grade- No Home Link

Third Grade- No Home Link

Fourth Grade- Making a Plan

Fifth Grade- Making a Plan

The Oak Park Department of Public Health officially adopted the new guidelines for schools. As a result, District 97 will utilize the reduced isolation and quarantine times, effective immediately.

Please support Nurse Winkelhake by LEAVING A REASON when you call your child in sick from school. Our nurse follows up on every absence call when a specific reason is not provided. If your child is staying home due to reasons unrelated to COVID-19, sharing that information in the message helps the nurse determine whether a call is necessary. When calling please slowly state:

1. Your Name
2. Your Child’s Name
3. Your Child’s Grade and Homeroom/Advisory Teacher
4. Reason for the Absence
5. Best phone number to reach you

We appreciate your assistance with this process!

To effectively streamline our Covid related procedures and policies, starting the week of January 17, all communications regarding positive student cases and close contacts will happen vis email. Due to the number of cases and the amount of contact tracing, we will no longer be able to call all families of positive cases or close contacts. Please continue to check your email regularly for communications from the school.

All communications will have detailed information regarding the following steps, quarantine/return dates, and other pertinent information. If families have additional questions after receiving a communication, please continue to reach out with questions and concerns. We hope the adaptive format and procedures will help us as a school community better mitigate the spread of covid and better serve our students, staff, and community.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and state/local health officials, fully vaccinated individuals do not have to quarantine due to potential COVID-19 exposure as long as they are asymptomatic. Additionally, achieving a high rate of vaccination will strengthen our overall safety plan and will put the district in the best possible position to reconsider other mitigations as conditions improve in our community.

To help us reduce any unnecessary quarantines and accurately track our student vaccination rate, District 97 requests that families submit proof of vaccination for their students as soon as they have received their second dose. There are two options:

• IF YOU HAVE A GOOGLE ACCOUNT: Fill out a brief Google Form and upload a copy of the student’s vaccination card. CLICK HERE to access the Whittier vaccine form.

• IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A GOOGLE ACCOUNT: Email a copy of your student’s vaccination card to Nurse Hilary Winkelhake (hwinkelhake@op97.org). Please include the child’s full name and grade.

Students Who Participated in Clinics at District 97 Schools
If your student completed their vaccine series at one of the school-based clinics, a staff member should have taken a photo of their vaccination card following the second dose.

• If your child's card was documented, no further action is needed.

• If your child's card was not scanned or photographed, or if your child did not receive their second dose at a school clinic, please email a copy of the card to your school nurse.

If you have any questions, please contact Nurse Hilary. Thank you for your support and partnership in keeping our schools safe!

All District 97 schools are currently operating as nut-safe facilities to ensure student safety. This has been a critical measure in protecting our students with severe nut allergies, particularly during a time in which our lunch procedures have an added layer of complexity due to COVID-19.

As the district eases mitigations in the coming weeks, and as we prepare for the return of hot lunch after spring break, we are mindful that schools may continue to utilize classrooms and/or modified lunch procedures. In order to maintain safe environments for all of our students, all of our schools will continue to be nut-safe. Please assist us in this endeavor by refraining from sending your child to school with nuts or nut-related products for lunch or snacks.

Please contact your child’s school nurse if you have questions about the safety of any food products that you may be considering sending to school with your child. Thank you for your support with this preventative measure!

Dear District 97 Staff and Families,

As we previously shared, all District 97 schools will move to an environment that recommends, but does not require, mask wearing in school buildings beginning March 17, 2022.

District and building leadership teams have been planning and preparing for this change throughout the week. This included collaborating with our climate and culture coaches to create lesson plans for students, ensuring that plans and resources are in place for students and staff who are immunocompromised, meeting with teachers and support staff to address their concerns and prepare them for classroom conversations on masks, and compiling resources to share with families.

We want to share as much information as possible with you now in order to help you and your student(s) prepare for this transition. In the coming days, principals will be engaging with their students, staff and families to communicate information that may be specific to their buildings. We will continue to provide regular updates about the district’s COVID-19 mitigations via email and will maintain an FAQ for common questions that arise.

Masks Recommended, Not Required - March 17

Beginning Thursday, March 17, the decision to wear a mask at school will be at the discretion of each family. On that date, masks will become recommended, not required, in all District 97 schools, the administration building, and school buses. This change also applies to after-school activities and events. Click here for an FAQ that addresses masking protocols.

Please be aware of four important points as we make this transition:

• Schools will not segregate or seat students based on mask use or vaccination status.

• Beyond reminding students to follow their family’s wishes, teachers and staff will not track parent wishes or monitor mask use of students.
  

• Schools will not segregate students based on mask use.

• Our COVID-19 testing partner, SHIELD Illinois, will continue to require masks in testing areas, since collection sites are technically considered healthcare facilities. This means that students participating in weekly SHIELD testing will be required to wear masks in the collection area only. The district will have disposable masks available, however, we encourage families to make sure that their students bring their own masks on their designated testing days.

District 97 recently provided staff and students with high-quality KN95 masks, and we will continue to have a large supply available for those who would like them. Surgical masks will be available throughout the buildings as well.

Supporting Immunocompromised Individuals

As we begin to ease COVID-19 mitigations in our schools, we are especially mindful of our students, staff and families who are immunocompromised or at greater risk for severe illness. As always, if you have any concerns about your child’s medical condition, please reach out to your school nurse.

The district’s safety plan will continue to include several important layers of protection, including weekly SHIELD testing, proper ventilation, social distancing, daily cleaning and disinfection, and frequent hand washing (click here for a summary of current mitigations). The district currently has a large supply of high-quality KN95 masks in both adult and children’s sizes, which may be utilized to provide extra protection during the school day. Please contact your school principal if you are in need of additional masks.

The updated CDC guidance includes recommendations and resources for individuals who are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe illness. They have also created a web page, “Families and COVID-19,” that contains helpful information and tips for making decisions and keeping your family safe. If you are seeking additional help, please reach out to your school and we will do our best to address your concerns and connect you with local resources.

Social-Emotional Supports and Family Resources

It is to be expected that there will be a range of emotions about our transition to “masks recommended and not required.” Students may be anxious, excited, apprehensive, or eager and those feelings may evolve as the transition sets in. Some of our students have never been in school without a mask, so for those students this will be a new experience.

As we move towards this transition, our emphasis is on the social-emotional needs of our students and supporting each other as a community. Our school staff will support classroom communities that encourage inclusiveness, belonging, and care. Our district Culture and Climate Coaches, in collaboration with our school-based PBIS/Culture and Climate teams, have designed resources to support classroom conversations, which will begin the week of March 7. They have also prepared resources for families to support the conversations that will happen at home to support students with this transition.

Regardless of a family’s decision about mask wearing, preparing your child for this change in their learning environment may put them at ease.

• Communicate Kindness: You can help your child understand that the pandemic has caused many unknowns, and everyone is working to do what is best for their families. Being different is ok and respecting difference is an important part of our community. Another family’s decision may not be the same as their own and that is ok.

• Clear Expectations: As we get closer to March 17th, depending on the developmental age and stage of your child, explain why your family has decided that wearing or not wearing a mask at school is best for them. Set clear expectations for your child’s behavior at school. Reinforce the need to respect differences. You may want to discuss with your child what respect looks like/sounds like.

• Model and Practice Skills: If your child feels self-conscious about wearing or not wearing a mask, help them to put words to their feelings. You can develop a script with them and practice with them how to respond directly. For example, “I feel better wearing/not wearing a mask at school; what should we play at recess?”

• Encourage Your Child to Speak Up: Remind your child that it is important to speak to an adult at school if they notice a student being mistreated or if they have been mistreated. Promoting a culture of mutual respect should include feeling safe to speak up. Help your child to identify a trusted adult(s) at school that they can go to.

School rules and behavior expectations remain the same: bullying is not tolerated. Our Bullying Report Form is available for students, staff, and families to report bullying behavior.

Additionally, it’s important that we prepare our students to be flexible should masks become required indoors again due to a state or local mask mandate or if we experience high transmission in our community, per CDC guidelines. This is not something that we want to happen. However, as we have experienced throughout the pandemic, we should expect the unexpected and be prepared to listen, learn and take action when necessary to address the safety of our students, staff and families.

We encourage all members of our district community to reinforce these messages with our students and to model the kindness, empathy and respect that we are teaching in our classrooms.

Sincerely,

Dr. Griff Powell and Dr. Patricia Wernet

Co-Interim Superintendents

In October, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education released updated guidance and an updated exclusion decision tree. As a result, we have updated some of our protocols and required documents for symptomatic students. CLICK HERE for a one-page summary of the required steps and testing for students who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.