Dear Families,
We are excited to welcome some of our students to hybrid in person learning next week! In order to make this transition a success, we are asking for your help. Please be sure you have reviewed this presentation from our last PTO meeting. As a reminder students will transition into hybrid learning in phases. Students will participate in remote learning when they are not on site. Students remaining remote should be on the lookout for a schedule change as communicated by their teacher.
Monday, Feb. 1: Grades 4-5
Tuesday, Feb. 2: Grades 4-5 and Grades 2-3
Wednesday, Feb. 3: Grades 4-5, Grades 2-3, and Grades K-1
Thursday, Feb 4, and Feb 5 are no longer conference days and all K-5 hybrid students will be in school.
In-person and hybrid learning from 8am-12pm
School lunch period from 12pm-1pm
Specials and remote learning for all from 1-3pm and Wednesday from 1-2:30pm.
Please remember to support our teachers and staff by following all safety protocols. Following safety protocols will help keep schools open and our community healthy! Each day ensure your child is ready to learn by:
charging their school issued iPad,
packing their iPad, snack and water bottle, any learning materials, and 2 clean masks
Ensure you have completed the self certification form for your child(ren) no later than 7:15 am each morning.
Keep kids home if they are sick and communicate with Nurse Rossi immediately if you suspect exposure or posible Covid-19 diagnosis. Containment is key!
If your student has traveled, please email Nurse Rossi so that we can review the quarantine requirements.
Be on time.
Practice drop off procedures so that your child is ready to line up independently on day 1.
Get excited! Our children will follow our lead. Prepare them for changes while promoting a positive attitude to set them up for success!
We are looking forward to a safe and successful transition next week. We have created the checklist included below to help you remember the new procedures. Our amazing PBIS team has also created some videos (included below) to help your child visualize what hybrid school will look like. Thank you for your support and cooperation!
Sincerely,
Sarah Mendez
Special Edition Hatch Newsroom all about In Person Learning
Line-up Locations Slide Decks:
Morning Caregiver Checklist
Each morning at 7:00 am an automated notification to self-certify will be sent to all onsite students using a system called CrisisGo.
Parents will pre-certify their child daily by clicking on the pre-scheduled email and completing the COVID -19 survey questions and temperature check at home.
If a student exhibits any symptoms on the self certification form, it is imperative the family keeps the student home from school and communicates with Nurse Rossi.
AAs will run a report at 7:20 to see who did not complete the self-certification and start contacting families. Habitual failure to complete this step will result in intervention by the office and/or principal and the possibility of the child returning to remote learning.
Students should use the bathroom before leaving home and check that they have their snack, water bottle, 2 masks, iPad and any other learning materials.
Students will report to school with their mask on at their class’ designated time and no earlier than 7:50 to their designated spots to line up.
Playground will be closed in the morning and at dismissal to maintain the integrity of our classroom pods
Parents will drop students off, and students will walk independently to their line with the exception of Kindergarten.
On Harvey there will be a southbound car drop off lane monitored by staff. (Drop off only-not pick up) Please do NOT park on the west side of Harvey in front of the school or playground.
Parents will not be allowed to gather on the blacktop or on school property in accordance with current guidelines and should also be wearing a mask during drop off.
Teachers will check if the self-certification form was completed.
Student temperatures will be taken at the door
Students who have a temperature will go to our isolation room
Students who did not fill out the form will go to the Auditorium until certification is completed.
Classrooms that have the farthest to go in the building will enter first.
Classrooms that have the least distance to go will exit first.
Families or child care providers should have a designated spot to pick up students to prevent gathering on the blacktop.
Procedures will be in place for students in daycare programs.
After dismissal all students will have 55 minutes to travel home and eat lunch.
Afternoon classes will be virtual beginning at 1pm and will consist of a combination of shortened special classes, asynchronous learning, and small group instruction.
Library Book Checkout will continue to run during hybrid learning! Please make sure to fill out this new Google Form for all book requests. Click here to learn all about when and how students will receive their books and how students can return their Hatch library books.
Message from Specials Teachers: Starting the week of February 1st Specials classes will now take place in the afternoons on new days of the week. Instead of Specials teachers joining the class Zooms, students will be using separate Zoom links to join the Specials classes. Below you will find the slides that have all the Zoom links on one page and a Choice Board on the second page. Please reference your students specific schedule to determine what time and which class link to click on.
Sarah Mendez
Hatch School Principal
1000 N Ridgeland Ave
Oak Park, IL 60302
(708) 524-3095
D97 Updates/Reminders:
Keep D97 Safe: Please Avoid Non-Essential Travel: Travel increases the risk of exposure to the coronavirus for our students, staff and community. Postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19. If staff, students or families travel out of state for more than 24 hours, they should not report to school. The Cook County Department of Public Health recommends that residents avoid all non-essential activities, including school and work, for 14 days upon their return to suburban Cook County. The district's quarantine requirements are outlined in our Framework for Reopening Schools.
FLYER: COVID-19 and Travel Guidance for District 97 Students and Staff >
Remote Learning Requests: Parents who opted into hybrid learning for Trimester 2 are permitted to switch to remote learning at any time. If you requested hybrid learning for your student but wish to enroll in full-time remote learning, please contact your building principal.
Please note that we are unable to accept requests to switch from remote learning to hybrid during Trimester 2. A new enrollment form will be sent to families in February for Trimester 3.
Update on COVID-19 Metrics in District 97: When District 97 published its original COVID-19 Guiding Metrics last October, we focused on the local case incidence rate and regional positivity rate, with strong reliance on a document released by the Harvard Global Health Institute, “Path to Zero and Schools: Achieving Pandemic Resilient Teaching and Learning Spaces.” Since then, the same group of experts released a new report, “Schools and the Path to Zero.” This updated guidance acknowledges that community-spread metrics still serve as important pieces of information, but the recommendation is that schools focus on rates of in-school transmission and the quality of infection control. It supports the use of community spread metrics as general points of information—not an automatic trigger to close or delay the opening of a school. In alignment with this new guidance, District 97 will no longer assign specific metrics to our four stages of reopening. We will still be monitoring the rates of community spread, but this information will be considered alongside our ability to implement key mitigation strategies and the rate of COVID-19 transmission within individual schools.
CLICK HERE for a summary of the core indicators District 97 will use to continually assess our ability to operate schools safely, regardless of the rate of community spread. This information will be included in our updated Framework for Reopening Schools, which we plan to send to staff and families by the end of the day Monday. We will also have a COVID-19 dashboard up and running on our website by Monday to publicly report cases by school.
CrisisGo: Student Health Certification Due Daily for Hybrid Learners: Starting Monday, February 1, the CrisisGo Safety iPASS will go live. Health certifications must be completed every day before hybrid learners arrive to school. Elementary students must have their certification completed by 7:15 a.m. and middle school students must have their certification completed by 8:15 a.m. Please see the linked PDF for full details. Highlights of what you can expect are included below.
Information about CrisisGo and resources to help families are available at https://www.op97.org/updatecenter/crisisgo.
Keep Snacks Allergy Safe - No Nuts Allowed at School: District 97 students will be given a snack break during in-person learning. All snacks must be nut-free.Teachers will communicate other classroom-specific foods that will not be permitted due to allergies. Snacks will be served following the district's COVID-19 safety procedures:
- Food will be consumed outside during recess, weather permitting.
- Students will remove face masks for no more than 15 minutes to eat.
- Students should put on clean face masks after finishing their snacks.
Wanting to confirm information you've heard regarding our schools? Oak Park District 97 is committed to providing accurate and timely information. Our new Fact Checker will be updated consistently based upon common questions and concerns to ensure you have access to the key facts that interest you most.
Text Messages from District 97: District 97 uses the notification system BrightArrow to communicate with families via email and phone calls. This year, we have started using periodic text messages to send reminders directly to parents' cell phones. In order to receive text messages, parents must opt in by texting YES to 87569. Once you have subscribed, you will receive a text confirmation.
Texts may appear from District 97 from 87569 or a phone number with a 424 area code (you may wish to save them to your contacts).
Information Session Recordings: Single Subject/Whole Grade Acceleration and Early Admission to Kindergarten/First Grade: Two parent information sessions were held in January to discuss acceleration opportunities in District 97. Please click the links below to view the recordings.
Information about the District 97 Accelerated Placement Program, including definitions and timelines, can be found at http://www.op97.org/acceleration.
Update on Mental Health Wellness Appointments During Hybrid Learning:The district-wide wellness check-in program, which was an initial crisis response to the pandemic, will not continue in its current format during the new hHybrid schedule. Please reach out to your school's school psychologist or social worker if you have social-emotional concerns about your child. If your child is experiencing an immediate mental health crisis, please call the Thrive 24-Hour Crisis Hotline at 708-383-7500. You may also refer to this local resource guide created by the Community Mental Health Board of the Oak Park Township.
Next Meal D97 Meal Distribution: Tuesday, Feb. 2: 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 - February 2021