Thank you to all the families who donated to our teacher conference breakfast and lunch! Our dedicated teachers worked long and hard to prepare for the many conference meetings. We truly appreciate your time and the generous donations to help make their days a bit easier.
Finding Just the Right Book for your Kids-After hearing how your child is progressing with their reading skills at parent teacher conferences, many of you may be wondering how to help your child find great books that are appropriate for them to read. Here are two major things to think about when helping your child find great books to read. First, is the topic something my child is interested in, and is the topic appropriate for my child to read on their own? Sometimes kids are interested in topics but they may not be able to handle the content yet. These type of books would be best read as a read aloud together and have meaningful discussions while reading these books. Secondly, can my child read the book independently? An easy way to figure this out is to ask them to read the first page to you. Can they re-tell you what they just read and were they able to read the page and only struggle with 1 - 3 words? If so, that book is a good fit for them! Here are a number of great resources to help you foster a love of reading in your child. If you ever need any help finding books for your child, don't hesitate to reach out to Ms. Howe, our teacher librarian.
- Help students PICK the right book
- Reading list provided by the Oak Park Public Library including grade level list
- When should your child read Harry Potter with your child?
- Use Common Sense Media for great book reviews
We are looking forward to seeing everyone at the Halloween Disco tonight! Please remember there is no drop off at this event. All parents are responsible for attending with their children. There will be a haunted hallway, music, a costume contest, and much, much more! Thank you to our many parent volunteers who make this special night possible.
LAST CALL FOR DENTAL CLINIC: The dental clinic will be at Hatch on November 1st and 2nd. Please submit the permission slip by Wednesday, October 31st. Permission slips are on the Hatch PTO website, or you can get one from the office.
Every child should be able to experience the joy and tradition of trick-or-treating on Halloween. But kids with food allergies are often left out of the fun, since most candy is off limits. FAREs Teal Pumpkin Project helps make sure all children will come home on Halloween night with something they can enjoy. It just takes ONE simple act: offering non-food treats, such as glow sticks, pencils or small toys, as an alternative to candy. The Teal Pumpkin Project raises awareness of food allergies and promotes a safer, happier Halloween by encouraging households to make non-food treats available so that trick-or-treaters who need to avoid candy - due to food allergies or other reasons- can fully participate. Households can show they are participating by placing a teal pumpkin in front of their home. Working together, we can keep children with food allergies safe and included this Halloween season.
Visit tealpumpkinproject.org to learn more!
As we prepare for next week, here are a few Halloween reminders for October 31st:
~Lunch is from 12:00-12:55. Students will change into costumes after lunch.
~The Parade will begin at 1:20. We will exit through the west playground doors and head south on Ridgeland, then east on Berkshire and then north on Harvey back to school. Please stand on the grass to take pics and cheer us on!
~If you are coming in after the parade to volunteer in the classroom, please be sure to sign in and get a visitor’s badge at the main office.
~No weapons, scary masks/props, or culturally insensitive costumes.
~All food items must have been pre-approved by the nurse two weeks in advance. Food free celebrations are encouraged. The safety of our students is of the utmost importance.
~Any families that prefer their child(ren) not take part in the Halloween celebrations, please speak with your child’s teacher about the alternate activity.
Looking forward to celebrating with our amazing Hatch community!
Sarah Mendez
Hatch School Principal
1000 N Ridgeland Ave
Oak Park, IL 60302
(708) 524-3095
PTO Reminders
- The Halloween Disco is tonight from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.! It features music, a costume contest, food for sale and a Haunted Hallway. Tickets are available for $4 at the door.
- Hatch After Hours Early Bird Registration ends today! Sign your child up for great classes by Hatch teachers like Cubelets/Robots, Calligraphy and Dance as well as Yoga, Mad Science, and Drums for younger grades. The final deadline to register is November 2nd at 9:00p.m. http://www.hatchpto.org/hatch-after-hours.php
- Hatch DivCo Groundwork Meeting - The Hatch Diversity Council is gearing up for a fantastic year to meet the needs of the Hatch community! DivCo provides an open space to enhance the educational experience while helping students meet their fullest potential. These conditions are reflected in the culture, practices and relationships that are placed to support a diverse and inclusive environment built on equity. Please join DivCo at their next meeting, Tuesday, November 13 at 7 p.m. at Oak Park Public Library Dole Branch. Questions? [email protected]
- The PTO is looking for Hatch parents to shadow our Babysitting chair and our Student Green Team chairs to learn the roles and take over next year. Please email [email protected] if you would like to fill any of these positions or have questions.
- Know any Hatch Alums? We are always happy to add Hatch alums (7th grade and older) to our babysitting “pool.” Sitters help at Hatch PTO meetings as well as the longer parent/teacher conference day. Email Janet at [email protected] if you have a child interested in being included on the babysitter list. Please include the babysitter’s name, email and telephone number.
- The Box Tops for Education Fall Deadline is Approaching! Please send Box Tops to school with your child by 10/29. Each Box Top you send is free money for the Hatch PTO and every Box Top helps!
- Super STEAM Saturday! Saturday November 3, come to Beye School to join OPEF for a fun morning of hands-on science experiments, robots, art projects and crafts. https://www.opef.org/events/open-house/
- Green Team Is recycling old markers and also mascara wands at bins located at the school's entrance. Please email [email protected] or [email protected] for more info. Thanks in advance for bringing in these items!