10/1/2021
I am pleased to present our very first edition of the Tiger Tribune, written exclusively by our lovely 5th graders! Please feel free to read as a family. We also successfully completed our first evacuation drill. Our students did a wonderful job following the procedures while still adhering to the distancing guidelines!
Walk to School Day is next Wednesday, October 6th! International Walk to School Day is a global event that involves communities from more than 40 countries walking and biking to school on the same day. It began in 1997 as a one-day event. Over time, this event has become part of a movement for year-round safe routes to school and a celebration – with record breaking participation – each October. Today, thousands of schools across America – from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico – participate every October. Please join in the fun with us!
Reminder: Please make sure your child has a water bottle, well fitted mask and a fully charged device each day. Thank you!
Second Step: This week our students were taught lesson 5 of Second Step in their classrooms. Our Kindergartners and 1st graders learned how to use an assertive voice (and not a passive voice or an aggressive voice) to get their needs met. This looks like making eye contact, using a “level 2 voice” and calmly stating what you need. Our 2nd and 3rd graders learned about identifying feelings, which is an important foundation for having empathy for others. Our 4th graders worked on understanding complex feelings, which is important for self awareness and also important for understanding others. And finally, our 5th graders practiced taking other’s perspectives which is so important to understanding the thoughts, needs and feelings of others. Not every grade will have a home link each week!
Kindergarten- Being Assertive
First Grade- Being Assertive
Second Grade- Identifying Feelings
Third Grade- Identifying Feelings
Fourth Grade- Understanding Complex Feelings
Fifth Grade- Taking Others’ Perspectives (no home link)
The month of October is National Bullying Prevention Month. This is a month-long event to prevent bullying and promote kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. Across the district our teachers will be teaching the Bullying Prevention Units, which is a 4 week curriculum designed to teach students to recognize, refuse and report bullying. As a reminder, conflict in childhood is natural and something that all human beings experience at all ages. Bullying is different from conflict in that it is ongoing in nature and a set of behaviors that have the intent to harm, hurt, or humiliate the victim. They involve power and control dynamics between two individuals or groups. Bullying can be reported at any time to a school staff member or by using this form. Over the next few weeks you will be seeing home links in our newsletters to let you know what your child is learning about bullying.
During the first few weeks of school, our Hatch artists spent some time learning about world famous street artists, THANK YOU X. We discussed what street art is, where you can find it, and discovered a few more famous Chicago street artists who have pieces throughout our community (Chris Uphues, JC Rivera, Hebru Brantley, etc). After taking a closer look at THANK YOU X's work, we were inspired to create our own cube which tells a story about us. First, each artist glued a color to the top of their cube (Kindergarten: Red, 1st Grade: Orange, 2nd Grade: Yellow, 3rd Grade: Green, 4th Grade: Blue, 5th Grade: Purple). Next, they drew one symbol that represents something they love to do on one side, and another fun fact/symbol on the opposite side. It was amazing to see how creative each artist was as they really wanted to have their cube represent themselves. The cubes were stunning on their own, but once we started hanging them up to create one large school-wide art installation piece, their art transformed to an eye-catching cohesive piece that is literally stopping classes in their tracks. One of the best surprises of this piece hanging in our halls is listening to the students share what they have in common with another student's art.
Mrs. Ruff tweeted a picture of our school-wide art installation, and tagged THANK YOU X to thank him for inspiring our students. THANK YOU X saw our tweet, and commented, "hearts" which is REALLY unique! It's not often that a world famous artist likes/comments on children's art so the fact that he took the time to recognize our Hatch artist's hard work is really special. In fact, it means our Hatch artists are now famous because of his recognition :). We are so proud of our artists, and really happy we can all be together (in person) again! This piece shows just how special our school is because each one of our students truly makes it more beautiful, exciting, and complete at Hatch.
D97 Updates:
Superintendent Search Virtual Community Forum - Oct. 20, 7 p.m.
As you are aware, the District 97 Board of Education has initiated its search for a new superintendent of schools, and we want to hear your thoughts!
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. If you are unable to attend this date, you may attend the community forum on Oct. 20 (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)
Click here for the event flyer >
2021-22 District 97 Family Handbook
Click here for the updated 2021-22 District 97 Family Handbook, which contains general information about the district and its procedures. Please note that some of this information may be subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please email [email protected] if you have any questions.
Additionally, if you would like to request a hard copy of the handbook, please contact the school office.