Irving Weekly Newsletter: Aug. 30, 2019

IRVING-RELATED: NEW

OPEN HOUSE/CURRICULUM NIGHT

Clarification regarding our Open House/Curriculum night.  This year it will be held SEPTEMBER 11TH FROM 6:30-8:30.  I apologize for any inconvenience publishing the wrong date may have caused.

BACKGROUND CHECKS

We are excited to report that we will have district staff available at the Open House to complete background checks.  A one-time background check is required for people who want to serve as a chaperone on a field trip. If you would like to complete this background check, please bring your driver’s license or State ID.  You will also complete fingerprinting. Results take about 7-10 business days (sometimes longer), so please plan accordingly.

NEWS FROM OUR LIBRARIAN 

Irving is excited to welcome US Olympian and author Ibtihaj Muhammad on Wednesday, September 11th.  She will be speaking to K-2nd grades about her book The Proudest Blue.  If you would like to order a book for her to sign, please return the attached order form and payment by September 11th. All K-2 students will receive this form next week, but anyone can order a book!  Questions? Email Ms. Noonan [email protected]. Author Visit

The Oak Park Public Library Book Bike will be at Irving school on September 11th during Open House!  The bike will be out front from 6:15-7:30pm. Stop by to check out books from OPPL. No library card required!  See the attached flier for more information. Bike Book Visit 

LUNCH UPDATE 

This year we made some changes to our lunch schedule. The lunch hour is from 11:30-12:25. Grade levels eat during the times listed below. When students are not eating, they are at lunch recess during that hour.  

K/1: 11:30-11:50

2/3: 11:50-12:08

4/5: 12:08-12:25

We made these changes for a couple reasons.  We took a lot of data last year regarding how long it took students to get through the hot lunch line on the most popular days and when students were done eating.  We observed that when students had lunch for 30 minutes they were finishing very quickly and ended up being dismissed by table to go back outside because they had too much energy to sit in a lunchroom for 10-15 extra minutes.  We also looked at the K/1 grade level because they never had the option to go back outside, so they weren't eating too fast to get outside.  

Although this lunch schedule only lists 17-20 minutes, students can stay longer if they haven't finished.  In addition, K/1 will be eating first and therefore those teachers are going to bring their students early to learn routines.  Students also will NOT be allowed to go outside until their eating shift is over to avoid too many kids being outside. We also hope this will cause students to slow down in their eating. Our staff reviewed lunchroom procedures with all grade levels. As the week as progressed students have become familiar with the lunch routines and the eating portion of lunch seems well timed.  However, this is something we will continue to monitor throughout the year.

Additionally, with everyone on the same lunch hour, there are more teachers who are available to supervise.  We are fortunate to have so many certified teachers and teaching assistants willing to supervise our students during our lunch recess.

NEWS FROM THE PTO

NEW FAMILY NIGHT: SEPTEMBER 4TH @ 6:30PM

Welcome to the Irving Family! All families new to our Irving community are cordially invited to attend the New Family Welcome Dinner hosted on Wednesday September 4, 2019 from 6:30 - 8:30pm.

Enjoy a pizza dinner and delicious homemade treats from 6:30pm -7:30pm inside the cafeteria, followed by a short presentation from Principal Hodge and our parent volunteer committees. During the presentation, children are invited to enjoy a movie inside the auditorium supervised by Irving volunteers. See the attached flier for more info.

New Family Welcome Dinner Flyer

PTO MEETING: SEPTEMBER 5TH @ 7pm

(LEARNING SESSION: SOCIAL CONFLICT vs BULLYING & AVENUES TO ADDRESS BOTH)

The first PTO meeting is Thursday September 5th at 7pm in the auditorium. At this PTO meeting we will hold a learning session called Social Conflict vs Bullying and Avenues to Address Both. Please join us for this informative event.

DISTRICT AND COMMUNITY INFORMATION

FIRST DAY/WEEK PHOTOS AND VIDEOS

We would love for you to share some of your first day/week photos and videos with us. You can do so by tweeting us @OakPark97, sharing them with us on Facebook (@OakPark97) or emailing them to [email protected]. If you email us photos or videos, we will make sure they comply with the board policies and laws that govern issues such as privacy, appropriate use, etc. before they get posted. 

SCHOOL CALENDARS

You can access the 2019-20 calendars for all 10 of our schools and the district by visiting http://www.op97.org/school-calendars. You also have the ability to export these calendars to your personal calendars. To export any of our online calendars, please visit http://www.op97.org/school-calendars and click on the export button next to the calendar you want to share with your own.

FOOD SERVICE

The breakfast and lunch menus for our elementary and middle schools are available at http://www.op97.org/business-office/food-service. The menus include information about the common allergens that can be found in the food that is being served; nutritional information is linked from the Food Service page.

District 97 utilizes a three-week cycle menu for its breakfast and lunch programs, which are provided by District 200. Items are selected based on numbers from daily lunch counts, as well as the food students identified as their favorites via lunch and learn sessions with administrators.

FOOD ALLERGIES/PHASE 2 OF “FOOD FREE IN THREE”

Please visit https://bit.ly/2MFOlaA to access information about the district’s food allergy management program, as well as tips and options for identifying food that is safe for snacks and field trips.

During the 2019-20 school year, District 97 will be in Phase 2 of "Food Free in Three." This means that celebrations can include food from the following four categories: fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, and packaged popcorn and pretzels that are nut safe. For more information about "Food Free in Three," please visit https://bit.ly/2NzuERa.

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

Please visit https://bit.ly/2KW8E15 for information from the district’s technology department about the deployment of student devices, online filtering at home, the district’s acceptable use policy, and the procedures and protocols that are used to set up accounts for students. 

SCHOOL FEES

The district is currently accepting fee payments for the 2019-20 school year. Full payment is due by September 30, 2019. You can access the fee information for the 2019-20 school year by visiting https://bit.ly/32679mR

COMMUNITY EMAIL UPDATES

District 97 will begin sending weekly update emails on Monday, Sept. 2. If you are interested in receiving these updates, please visit http://www.op97.org/communications.

SOCIAL MEDIA

The district uses Facebook and Twitter to help keep the community updated on what is happening in our schools and the district as a whole. You can access the district’s Facebook page by visiting https://www.facebook.com/oakpark97 and the district’s Twitter account by visiting https://twitter.com/OakPark97. In addition, many of our faculty and staff members share information about the learning that is taking place in our classrooms by using the hashtags #oakpark97 and #weared97. You can access the pages that are linked to these hashtags by visiting: http://bit.ly/2JyOXZD (#oakpark97) and https://bit.ly/30w4jqV (#weared97). 

The district also has a YouTube channel that houses the various videos we created over the past two school years. These videos highlight district initiatives, school projects, students and staff. You can access all of the videos we created, or subscribe to our YouTube channel, by visiting http://bit.ly/2nf8N3N

EMAIL NOTIFICATION SYSTEM

The district uses the email notification system BrightArrow to communicate with families via email and phone calls. We encourage you to add 855-994-4242 to the contacts on your phone. This is the number that will appear on your caller ID when either the schools or district make calls using BrightArrow.

IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES

  • September 4th New Family Welcome Dinner @ 6:30 pm
  • September 5th PTO Meeting @ 7 (Learning Session: Social Conflict v Bullying & Avenues to Address Both)
  • September 11th Grades K-5 Open House/Curriculum Night
  • September 12-13 Fall School Pictures (and Sibling)
  • Sept. 17 Picture Retake Day

IMPORTANT LINKS

Helpful Links

Below are links that feature important school and district-related information and resources.

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