WHAT'S UP AT LINCOLN
Weekly Newsletter and Announcements
A Message from Principal Gordon
Dear Lincoln Families,
I can't believe it is the last full week before our Winter Break! You are doing a fantastic job with supporting learning and we are all very thankful that your commitment to being your child's first teacher has come full circle (hopefully not for much longer). Stay strong! Please don't forget to join me this Friday for our Hot Chocolate Talk! I am excited to see you then.
This week I want to celebrate two kiddos who put on an "Hour of Code" last week for Lincoln School. Owen shared, "Tech Club has signed up to be one of the 62,309 schools in the world to host the Annual Hour of Code Event. Hour of Code is an international non profit organization. Their mission is to teach people from all over the world about computer science and how to code. Over one hundred million students around the globe have done the Hour of Code in 45+ different languages." These young men orchestrated something I'm not smart enough or savvy enough to make happen! Please find some pics below from that hour and of our wonderful Lions that put this on. Kuddos Ahmad and Owen, I couldn't be more proud!
Take care,
Ms. Gordon
Ahmad M., 4th Grade
Owen K., 5th Grade
Lincoln Lions participating in Hour of Code
Dates to Remember:
Dec 15 - Board of Education Meeting
Dec 18 - Ms. Gordon's Hot Chocolate Talk (9:00 a.m.)
Dec 23 - Half Day of School (school dismissed at 11:00 a.m.)
Dec 24 - Jan 8 - Winter Break
Gifts for Staff
To that end, the office will be open on Monday, December 21st from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. If you would like to drop off a gift, we will assist in getting your gift to the correct recipient. Please make sure to thank Mrs. Roskopf and Ms. Lowry because they are the real heroes behind the scenes!
Staff Shout Outs
My son is constantly drawing and I so appreciate that he has grown to love it. Grateful to Ms. Naples for her patience, instruction, and encouragement and to Sra. Jacobo for giving students the opportunity to draw during the day!
- Gudelia Lopez
Remote learning has taken away many things, but one thing it's given parents is a peek into the dedication so many of our teachers have to their students. My son's teacher, Ms. Goulding, really gives it her all and I truly appreciate all that she does to keep my son engaged. School may be remote, but she is not! Thank you!
- Teresa Sears
Mrs. Roskopf went above and beyond to help us troubleshoot my daughter’s problems connecting through Wi-Fi. Prior to her help, we'd exchanged her IPad with the help desk at D97 three times without resolving the issue.
- Jan Tendick
Ms. Clark goes ABOVE AND BEYOND for her K students. I love listening to the audio comments she leaves on almost all of Hazel's SeeSaw assignments -- there's so much encouragement and admiration. She puts together weekly E-mails which are detailed and so helpful in directing how us parents can be supporting our kindergarteners. My daughter attends a daycare for her remote learning, so we don't get to witness the day-to-day teachings of Ms. Clark, but see is learning so much and she's SO happy to log on every day to see her teacher. THANK YOU, Ms. Clark!
- Jen Offen
My son was so excited when Mr. Raad played a Hanukah workout and taught the kids a little about Hanukah during gym class. So much is about Christmas this time of year, and my kids often feel left out, so this was awesome and very meaningful for Reuben and for our family :)
- Sara Baum
Dr. Domecq is unflaggingly enthusiastic and engaging with his 2nd graders. We know it must be difficult to have started at a new school in a new district in this year of all years. We really appreciate his energy and commitment to his students - and his patience and understanding with their parents too!
- Joshua Drucker and Kristin Martin
A huge thank you to Ms. Pastuovic for her constant patience and positive attitude with the 4th graders! We are grateful that you joined the Lincoln community this year and are helping to make remote learning as good as can be!
- The Kovar Cascarino Family
Staff Shout Out
Please click here to let us know and we will feature them in the next newsletter.
District 97 Information
Next Meal D97 Meal Distribution: Tuesday, Dec. 15
Meals will be provided free of cost this fall to any District 97 student in need. Each bag of food will contain five breakfasts and five lunches.
Meal distributions will be held every Tuesday, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at 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.
D97 Breakfast/Lunch Menus - December 2020
Parent Information Session - Early Admission to Kindergarten/First Grade
For families who are seeking early admission to kindergarten or first grade, the district will be hosting a Virtual Parent Information Session on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2020, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The session will include a presentation that outlines the process and requirements. Click here to view the event flyer >
For more information about the process for early admissions, please visit https://www.op97.org/teach-learn/acceleration/early-entrance.
Parent Information Session - Single Subject/Whole Grade Acceleration
For families who are seeking single subject or whole grade acceleration for the 2021-22 school year, the district will be hosting a Virtual Parent Information Session on Wednesday, January 20, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The session will include a presentation that outlines the process and requirements. Click here for the family letter about acceleration opportunities for the 2021-22 school year. >
Click here to view the event flyer.
Information about the District 97 Accelerated Placement Program, including definitions and timelines, can be found at http://www.op97.org/acceleration.
Parent Leadership Training
The Collaboration for Early is offering Parent Leadership Training. This is a great opportunity for local parents and caregivers to build their own leadership skills and work together in the community.
Training helps parents and families:
- Set goals for themselves, their family and the community
- Breakdown the goal setting process into actionable steps while getting the support of their peers and the training facilitators (all the facilitators are parents from Oak Park!)
Date: Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 7:30 PM (Zoom)
Child Care Scholarships Available for Families
In order to provide additional support during the COVID-19 pandemic, District 97 is offering financial assistance to qualifying families who participate in child care programs through the Park District of Oak Park and Hephzibah.
For families who currently receive free or reduced lunch, the district will continue to cover 100% of the daily program fee.
During Trimester 2, District 97 will also offer scholarships based on family income level.
- For families with incomes below $65,000 per year, the district will cover 100% of the daily program fee.
- For families with incomes between $65,000 and $99,999, the district will cover 50% of the daily program fee.
Click here for more details about the child care scholarships.
D97 Return to School Update
During the Dec. 1 board of education meeting, Superintendent Carol Kelley and the administrative team shared a special report on the district's return-to-school planning. This update includes information about:
- Our adjusted timeline for implementing a hybrid plan
- Solutions we are exploring based on stakeholder feedback, including live streaming and various schedule options
Adjusted Timeline - Targeting Feb. 1 for Hybrid Implementation
As we shared Monday, we have adjusted our timeline to allow for the development of a more thorough hybrid plan that provides time for us to communicate updates and solicit feedback from our stakeholders. Based on feedback from the District 97 Board of Education on Tuesday, we will be working toward a hybrid learning start date of Feb. 1, if it is safe to do so.
We believe this timeline will accommodate:
- Additional input from staff, community medical professionals and our school nurses regarding safety.
- Feedback and engagement around revisions to the draft hybrid plan.
- Our current adaptive pause. (Special programs will not return on site earlier than Jan. 12 due to the current rate of COVID-19 transmission in our region.)
- Finalizing agreements with staff to return on site.
Safety, Live Streaming and Schedule Options
On Tuesday, we shared a recap of our community engagement from November and the top concerns that emerged: safety, maintaining class/teacher assignments, and modifications to the hybrid schedule. We presented some of the solutions we have been exploring to address these issues, including different schedule options and live streaming, which would enable us to keep students with their teachers.
Clips from the presentation are linked below. Click here to access the slide deck.
- Rationale for our adjusted timeline
- Safety
- Live streaming
- Hybrid schedule options
- Full meeting recording (presentation starts at 46:23)
Next Steps
- During the Dec. 15 board meeting, we plan to share the feedback we have gathered from community medical professionals and nurses, as well as an update on our engagement activities with staff.
- The district will continue to provide weekly updates on its progress. Our communication archive can be found at https://www.op97.org/updatecenter/2020-21-planning.
Lincoln School Spirit Wear
A message from District 97 Nurses
How Do I Access Technology Support During Remote Learning?
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.
About Us
Email: lincolnoffice@op97.org
Website: op97.org/lincoln
Location: 1111 South Grove Avenue, Oak Park, IL, USA
Phone: 708-524-3110
Twitter: @UpAtLincolnOP