Newsletter for the week of December 16

Pay It Forward - Service Learning Project 

We concluded our “Pay It Forward” service learning project last Thursday. “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 week. 

Kids Kloset Donations

We are also collecting new or gently used kids winter wear (jackets, hats, gloves, boots) that will be donated to the Kids Kloset on Tuesday, December 17. Please bring donations to the main office of Julian Middle School.

Great job to Ms. O’Keefe, Ms. Court and our Service Learning Club students for coordinating these efforts! I am very proud of our students and staff for making this project a great success!

Service Learning Club Members: 

6th Grade:

Hudson Davis, Jonas Forsell, Jocelyn Moran, Alyssa Walker, Samantha Shelton, Aja Porter, Julian House, and Norah Woodard

7th Grade:

Kaliyah Jones, Sophie Welch, Fhaysia Matthews, Emily Hover, Renee Hudson, Rael Truitt, and Ava Gallagher

8th Grade:

Taurus Hayes, Heaven Berry, Orlando Sanders, and Nico Saunders

 

IB Statements of Inquiry - Trimester 2

The IB MYP 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 greater knowing and understanding that will continue to develop throughout their lives. 

6th Grade Statements of Inquiry – Trimester 2 

7th Grade Statements of Inquiry – Trimester 2

8th Grade Statements of Inquiry – Trimester 2

 

Julian Culture and Climate

Twenty Julian classes engaged in learning activities and conversations for International Persons with Disabilities Day in the media center during the week of December 2. Students made choices for exploration of digital resources, read books about disabilities, including books that have won the Schneider Family Book Award, practiced Person First Language, and engaged in a conversation with Best Buddies members. You can preview the activities here

A special thank you to Ms. Bringley, Ms. Cooper, Mr. Adelman, Ms. Kiska, Ms. Williamson, Mr. Gillard, and Mr. Mandeville for making this event a success. Best Buddies members who shared their experiences and engaged with their peers in conversation were: Paul Nelson, Annie Whitmore, Marigold Buckner, Ella Homrok, Lucas Crossman, Sofia Lunardini, Bryce Love, Brett Love, Caleb Turnock, Liam Kirby, Trinity Mosher, Jacob Manning, Hannah Demes, Luca Trotta, Kaya Lenhart, Rachel Kralik, Anna Panza, Ava Deutsch, Tyler Anderson Mays, and Abby Weiss. Your contributions made this event such a sweet success!

Students reflected and shared these thoughts: 

  • "I have learned that a disability is just a little bit of who a person is." 
  • "I learned that you should always address a person using the word 'person' first. I will start doing that."
  • "I learned that you can have cool devices to talk and that you should say a person with a disability instead of a disabled person." 
  • "I will not call somebody their disability." 

We will carry this learning experience into Respect Week and will do this event annually in December. 

 

Honor Roll Breakfasts

Please note the dates for the Trimester 1 Honor Roll Breakfasts:

8th Grade – Tuesday, January 7

7th Grade – Thursday, January 9

6th Grade – Friday, January 10

Each breakfast is at 8:00 am in the Julian commons. Students that have a 3.0 GPA or higher with no I, D, or U grades are invited. Students will receive their invitations this week in advisory class. Parents/Guardians that have Honor Roll students will also receive email invitations from Julian Middle School this week as well.

 

Media Center / Main Office Hours for Friday, December 20

The media center will be closed on this Friday from 8:00am – 9:00am. We will be hosting our annual staff holiday breakfast so there will be no media center supervision available before school on that day. Also, the school office will open at 8:30am and close at 4:00pm. Please be sure to make appropriate arrangements.

 

Changes to Visitor Management Procedures at Julian Coming Soon 

Continued safety inside our school buildings is one of the highest priorities for District 97 schools. We are committed to identifying and investing in new resources to further protect our students and staff. With your help, we are set to launch a new feature to better screen visitors who come into our buildings. Click this link to learn more. 

 

Equity and Community Engagement - Survey

Parents and Guardians: "In District 97, we aim to provide a learning environment that is equitable and inclusive of ALL children. To do so, we need your continued partnership by supporting schools and students, monitoring your own child’s progress and giving us feedback along the way. 

Before you and your child(ren) begin the season of rest, rejuvenation and precious time with friends and family, please take a moment to complete THIS SURVEY. Your responses will assist us in further improvements as we prepare for the remainder of the school year.

The survey will close on Dec. 27, 2019, at 5 p.m. Thank you in advance for your response, and for your continued support of our schools and the students we serve."

 

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. The parent/guardian survey is available now, and the staff and student surveys opened on Dec. 10. 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 Feb. 14, 2020.

 

Upcoming Events:

Winter Break - December 23-January 3 / No School for Students

Sincerely,

Dr. Todd Fitzgerald

Principal, Julian Middle School