Newsletter for Week of December 7

Pay It Forward - Service Learning Project 

We concluded our “Pay It Forward” service learning project yesterday. As I previously shared, “Pay It Forward” is a program where Julian students and staff purchase and collect items for families in the Oak Park area that are in need of support during the holidays. Our goal is to give back to our community and provide these families with a joyous holiday season. Mission accomplished! We delivered bags of gifts to the United Lutheran Church, where volunteers will drive the gifts to families this weekend.  We also collected approximately 20 bags of gently used kids winter wear which we donated to the Kids Kloset. Great job to our Service Learning Club coordinating these efforts! I am very proud of our students and staff for making this project a great success!

 

Julian Middle School - Homework Club

Our afterschool homework club is up and running. All students are welcome to attend on Tuesday and Thursday after school from 3:35-4:30. This is great for students that need some extra help with their assignments or for those that are looking for a quiet place to study. See below for more detailed information:

Days: Tuesday and Thursday

Time: 3:35-4:30

Grade Level Teacher and Location:   6th Grade – Mrs. Guarino / Room C204

                                                            7th  and 8th Grade – Mr. Lee / Room C305

International Baccalaureate – Statement of Inquiry

The IB Middle Years Program emphasizes the power of “the big picture.” This means that teachers work to collaboratively develop a single, central statement for each unit that captures and reflects what’s so important about what students are learning. This is called the statement of inquiry. This statement represents the greater learning our students achieve through our content, leaving a permanent mark of knowing and understanding that will continue to develop throughout their lives. Please click on the grade level statements of inquiry below to get a sense of what our students are learning about during the 2nd trimester.

6th Grade Statements of Inquiry

7th Grade Statements of Inquiry

8th Grade Statements of Inquiry

 

Julian Middle School - Communication Flowchart

Please refer to this flowchart when needing to contact someone at school for classroom related questions or issues. There may be times when it is necessary to reach out to a social worker, administrator, attendance clerk, or other personnel. Please start with your child’s teacher if you have a question about academics or any other matter that occurred within the classroom.

 

Report Cards

Trimester 1 report cards are being emailed to all Julian families this afternoon. Please contact us Monday if you did not receive a grade report for your student.

 

Illinois 5Essentials Survey
We are administering the Illinois 5Essentials Survey again this year to certified staff and parents/guardians from all 10 of our schools, as well as students in grades four through eight. Please click here to learn how parents/guardians can participate in this important endeavor  and click here to access the parent/guardian version of the survey. Please note that school-level reports will only be generated if at least 20 percent of our parents/guardians complete the survey, which can be accessed until Friday, Jan. 18, 2019.

We need your feedback!

 

NAMI Family Resource      

NAMI Basics, a 12-week course designed specifically for parents of children who have recently been diagnosed with a mental illness. This year, the course will be held at First Presbyterian Church in River Forest, beginning Monday, 1/21. NAMI Basics provides a comprehensive overview of symptoms a child may experience, available resources and treatments, and how to advocate for your child as they work through their recovery. The class also provides a supportive network of other parents in similar circumstances, and allows participants to learn from one another's experiences. The program is free of charge to participants. 

See this flyer for more information. Click this link to register.

 

Substitute Teachers and Teaching Assistants
The Oak Leaves published an article in the past few weeks about the steps we are taking to increase and further strengthen our pool of candidates for our substitute teaching and teaching assistant positions. You can access the article by visiting http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/oak-park/news/ct-oak-park-97-substitute-teachers-tl-1018-story.html.
If you or someone you know is interested in serving as a substitute teacher or substitute teaching assistant for the district, please visit http://www.op97.org/hr/substitutes for additional information about the process and requirements

 

Upcoming Events:

Friday, December 7 - Student Report cards emailed to Julian families

No School - December 24 - January 4 / Winter Break

Sincerely,

Dr. Todd Fitzgerald