3/25/22
Thank you to our PTO/DivCo team for organizing an amazing Virtual Career Day in alignment with Women’s History Month this morning. What a great opportunity to showcase the amazing women in our community for our students! After an amazing author visit on Wednesday from award winning author and read-aloud favorite Mac Barnett as he shares his latest book about being true to yourself, we continued the fun today with an afternoon PBIS “Minute to Win It'' celebration. It was a wonderful way to wrap up the week as we head into spring break!
Tiger Tribune: The March Edition of The Tiger Tribune has officially been published, just in time for Spring Break. Our news crew has been working so diligently each month to bring the Hatch news to you...please share broadly!
5th Grade showcase at Hatch School: The 5th graders have been working incredibly hard and we are excited to finally be able to showcase some of the work that they've been doing in music, Spanish, and art. Please mark your calendars for the evening of Thursday, May 19th. Each 5th grade class will perform separately on the auditorium stage, and parents will also have the opportunity to walk the halls and see the beautiful art that they have created. Audience members will be asked to leave seats between families in keeping with our current mitigation strategies. Masks will be highly recommended, but not required. Schedule for the evening:
5:30 - 5A
6:00 - 5P
6:30 - 5W
*students will arrive 15 minutes prior to their stage time
Our SHIELD results this week yielded 2 new cases of covid, and we had an additional 2 cases from outside testing. Please remember to keep your child home if they are sick. Luckily our current student vaccination rate is 84%. Thanks to this high number, many of our students who have been considered close contacts have been able to stay in school without disruption as they are fully vaccinated and symptom free. Please note that “window to the classroom” has been discontinued. In the event your child is placed in quarantine, please contact your child’s teacher for information on how to access materials and support them during that time. As we begin to roll back some of our mitigation strategies, please know we will continue to do all we can to keep our students and families safe. At the same time, we are looking forward to now being able to schedule field trips, mix students across cohorts and as of April 11, bring back hot lunch with many students eating in the cafeteria again! Please be on the lookout for further details on future plans that will be sent from D97 today. For more local COVID-19 vaccine information, visit www.oak-park.us/vaccine. If you have any questions, please contact Nurse Rossi. Thank you for your support and partnership in keeping our schools safe!
Starting on April 1st until April 30th, William Hatch Elementary School will be collecting donations for Beyond Hunger's CAN DO Community Challenge. Local schools across the community have joined this challenge by hosting a virtual food drive. This Challenge is designed to heighten awareness about local food insecurity and encourages schools, organizations, and individuals to become more involved.
Want to help?
Support Beyond Hunger and our school by making a donation directly to our team page. We receive points for every donation as part of the school competition. At the end of the month, whichever school receives the most points, takes home the can do trophy! We came in second place last year! This year we can take back our trophy and be in first place again. Last year we collected over 550 pounds of food.
Beginning April 11, 2022 we will transition to offering hot lunch in addition to our cold options.
Hurrah! The Hatch PTO and Administration are excited to announce the return of Hatch After Hours!
What is Hatch After Hours??? HAH is a series of enrichment classes and activities to engage our Hatch Tigers, help them develop new skills, have fun and meet new friends! Classes are offered right after school (no parent drop off required!). The cost of each class varies and some scholarships will be available.
This trimester the HAH will be limited to classes led by Hatch faculty and staff so the offering will be smaller than in years past. Fortunately some of the most beloved HAH classes are run by Hatch teachers! And we hope to expand in the Fall!
The spring session will run April 18 - June 3. A complete class schedule will be available soon and registration will begin the Monday after Spring Break. Look for more details in Hatch Happenings and on your Hatch facebook pages! In the meantime, reach out to [email protected] with any questions.
IAR Testing Starts The week after Spring Break! Our students will take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness on April 5th - April 12 **Don’t forget to send your child in with headphones if they don’t already have them at school.** Students should make every effort to be present and on time to school during the testing window. Should an illness or unforeseen absence occur, the student will participate in make-up testing. Parents, please assist your child in being prepared for testing. Eating breakfast and being well-rested will help your student to do his or her best. Discussing the importance of the test while minimizing any anxieties your child may be feeling is helpful as well.
As we head into spring recess, please encourage your child to make some time for reading during their break. The Hatch staff and I would like to wish you all a safe and relaxing spring vacation with family and friends. We will look forward to seeing the students back in school on Monday, April 4th!
Absentee and Sibling Picture Day is Friday, April 8th. Please email your child’s teacher if you would like a picture of your siblings together or an absentee picture taken.
D97 Updates
District 97 to Resume Hot Lunch on April 11 - Menus Now Available
Beginning Monday, April 11, all District 97 schools will resume serving hot lunch. The new menus and nutritional information are linked below.
Breakfast Menu (Brooks, Irving, Julian, Lincoln, Longfellow)
Breakfast Menu (Beye, Hatch, Holmes, Mann, Whittier)
Hot Breakfast/Lunch Nutritional Information
The current cold breakfast/lunch menu will be in place through Friday, April 8.
Lunch Reminders
- Meals brought from home must be nut-free.
- Lunch will continue to be served at no cost to families.
Reminder: Stay Home When Sick!
Staying home when sick is essential to keep COVID-19 infections out of schools and prevent spread to others—regardless of vaccination status. Symptoms that should be monitored daily by ALL District 97 staff, families and students are:
- Fever (100.4 or higher)
- New cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue from unknown cause
- Muscle or body aches from unknown cause
- Moderate/severe headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea