4/8/2022
It was wonderful to see all of those smiling faces as students returned from spring break on Monday. Many students commented on how nice their school looked upon their return. Thank you to our amazing custodial team that worked tirelessly over break to rejuvenate the building for the last stretch of school! Our 3rd-5th graders also completed the first week of IAR testing. This assessment helps give us information on how our students are doing and also provides an opportunity for students to practice this type of testing format in a low stakes environment. We are so proud of the effort our young scholars have put forth and of the growth they have made at Hatch!
Our SHIELD results this week yielded zero new cases of covid 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! 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!
Please continue to be patient with drop off. We are doing our very best to get students safely in the building. Here are some reminders to help things function smoothly for all:
Morning Car Drop Off Lane Reminders:
- Please be patient in the drop off line; with colder temperatures, we have longer lines.
- Please have your child ready to leave your car with a mask on; please have their backpack and lunch box easily accessible.
- Please stay in your car; we have staff to help kids out of cars and with doors if they are unable to do it themselves.
- Please let your child out of the car in front of the school at the main doors; please wait in the line to let your child out until you are at the entrance. It is icy along the curb, and we do not want children hurt.
- Please have your student exit from the right side of the car.
- If you need to park, please pull up at or past the playground, there is ample parking available.
- If dropping off, please allow extra time. Speeding through drop off is dangerous for students and staff.
Thank you for your help in keeping our students 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 began this week. Look for more details in Hatch Happenings and on your Hatch facebook pages! In the meantime, reach out to [email protected] with any questions.
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
D97 Updates:
The time is now...for Bingo!
Early Bird Pricing for Bingo Bash ends April tomorrow April 15th! Register now to get special pricing for tickets and tables. You can also choose to donate to our Bingo Prize fund, which helps local small businesses, and buy raffle tickets to win an Instant Wine Cellar (24 bottles of wine selected by Anfora Wine Merchants). We can't wait to see you, and celebrate this year's Staszak Outstanding Educator Award winner, John Hodge, Principal of Irving! Visit www.opef.org for tickets and details!
District 97 Hot Lunch 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