Longfellow Weekly News: April 30, 2018
Dear Longfellow Families,
Below you'll find the latest news and events from our school. Please note that Sports Night on Thursday (5/3) is canceled due to the weather forecast.
Thank you,
Mrs. Cahill
38th Annual Ethnic Festival and World Languages Day: "Celebrate Diversity: The heART of Who We Are."
Oak Park Elementary School District 97 will host its 38th annual Ethnic Festival and World Languages Day on Saturday, May 5th at Julian Middle School. School and community members are invited to participate in the event, which will kick off with a parade at Julian Middle School, 416 S. Ridgeland Ave., at 10 a.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear their heritage clothing or colors or school spirit wear. Following the parade, the festival will continue at Julian until 4 p.m. with musical performances, hands-on activities, dance, art workshops and more.
Fantastic Fridays
Each year our Student Council encourages students to show their school spirit with Fantastic Friday themes. This Friday our theme will be pajamas and students are encouraged to wear their favorite PJ's to school. Click here for a full list of the themes.
National Fitness Week: First Week of May
National Fitness Week is the first week of May. Ms. Patterson has two fun events coming up to keep our student's healthy:
1) ACES (All Children Exercising Simultaneously) will take place on Wednesday, May 2nd. All grades will participate in different activities and need to wear gym shoes on this day.
2) District 97 Adventure Run (formerly called the Annual District Fun Run) will take place on Saturday, May 5th at 8 am in Lindberg Park. This event is different than the Fun Run, which is a fundraiser in the fall. The Adventure Run is free of charge and open to all students in D97. It is non-competitive and has a bouncy house at the finish line. The event concludes around 9am. It is organized by D97 Elementary PE teachers. Red sign up forms went home with students. If you need another form, check out the district digital backpack.
Longfellow's Got Talent
The talent show dress rehearsal will be on Thursday, May 3rd from 3-4pm. Here is a link to the Talent Show Website. This website will have all the information you would need regarding the talent show. Looking forward to another great show! - Ms. Golemes and Ms. Utter
Longfellow Sports Night
Longfellow's Sports Night
Longfellow Super Summer Math: Summer 2018
Super Summer Math is a PTO sponsored and parent/teacher volunteer coordinated summer program designed to keep math fresh in the kids’ minds over the summer. The free program for Longfellow students is held at Maze Library. Students entering Longfellow Kindergarten are also welcome to participate. We will be meeting Tuesday evenings 6-7pm
Calling 5th Grade Parents!
If you would like to learn more about the district's middle school IB program, you are invited to come ask questions at the next PTO Council meeting. The next PTOC meeting will be on Monday, April 30, at Mann School at 7 PM, there will be a presentation by the IB coordinators about the middle school's International Baccalaureate programs starting at 7:30.
Kindergarten and New Student Registration
District 97 held six registration dates for kindergarten during the months of March and April. If you have a student who will be entering kindergarten in the fall, please be sure to attend one of the upcoming registration dates listed here. Because the district bases staffing on registration, it is important that we have all of our kindergarten-aged students registered for school in the fall!
District 97 Equity Policy: Public Forum
The District 97 Board of Education is in the process of creating a policy that will not only formalize its steadfast commitment to equity but also guide the work being done by the schools and district on a daily basis to help every student learn, grow and achieve. The next step in this process is to engage the community in a dialogue about the policy.
The first public forum will be held Thursday, May 3, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Julian Middle School Commons (416 S. Ridgeland Ave.). More information is available at https://bit.ly/2vRqMDZ. To access additional information about the draft equity policy, visit www.op97.org/equity.
The board looks forward to hearing from you and pursuing this policy with the community.
Olympic Day: Friday May, 25th
Longfellow students will participate in 15 stations of fun activities, such as a climbing wall, relay races and tennis ball toss. Students need to wear gym shoes and shorts or pants. Sunscreen is recommended. Kindergarten, 1st and 5th grades will participate in the morning and 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades will participate in the afternoon. Parent volunteers will be needed so please consider signing up here. Rain date will be May 29th if needed.
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, May 2nd: All Students Exercising Simultaneously (ACES) from 10:15-10:30 (wear gym shoes!), Incoming Kindergarten Open House from 2:30-3:30 pm
Thursday, May 3rd: Talent Show Dress Rehearsal from 3-4 pm, Sports Night at 6pm (CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER FORECAST)
Friday, May 4th: Fantastic Friday Theme- PJ Day
Saturday, May 5th: Ethnic Festival and District Adventure Run
Thursday, May 10th: Talent Show
Friday, May 11th: Fantastic Friday Theme- Facial Hair Friday
Saturday, May 12th: Dunkin' for Diversity from 9-12
Tuesday, May 15th: PTO General Meeting at 7pm in the Library
Friday, May 18th: Fantastic Friday Theme- Flashback Friday, End of Year Picnic
Monday, May 21st: Longfellow General Music Concerts (8:15-8:45am Weber & Hjalmarson, 9:00-9:30am Ellis & Niewald, 10:00-10:30am Gordon & Pruitt & Heide, 10:45-11:15am Bennett & Wilkes, 12:45-1:15pm Pasquinelli & Ryan, 1:30-2:00pm Nelson & Golemes)
Tuesday, May 22nd: Longfellow General Music Concerts (8:15-8:45am Naber & Djikas, 9:00-9:30am Pod, Aguilar & Utter, 10:00-10:30am Sorensen & Wieczorek, 10:45-11:15am Witz, Lamb & Winchell, 2:00-2:25pm - Longfellow Elementary Chorus, 2:30-2:50pm - Longfellow Elementary Chorus)
Friday, May 25th: Fantastic Friday Theme- Sports Day, Olympic Day
Monday, May 28th: NO SCHOOL (Memorial Day)
Tuesday, May 29th: Olympic Day Rain Date
Friday, June 1st: Fantastic Friday Theme- Flip Flop Friday, Last Day of School for Students, dismissal at 11am