Owen Community News!

"OWL" Be There for You!

August 16, 2024

Owen Community Update!

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Welcome Back to the 2024-25 School Year!

Welcome back, Owen Families, to a new school year! We are excited to begin this journey with our theme, "OWL be there for you." Like the wise and watchful owl, we are committed to supporting each student and family and ensuring a nurturing and enriching environment. Together, we will strive for excellence, overcome challenges, and celebrate successes. Thank you for being a part of our vibrant community. Let's make this year a wonderful and memorable one!

Mrs. Heather Whisler

Principal

Owen's Classroom Teachers

Owen's Kindergarten Team

Mrs. Melinda Hays-Clawson

Ms. Julie Eckert

Ms. Kowalski

Ms. O'Connell

Owen's 1st Grade Team

Ms. Lisa Anco

Mrs. Kristin Brown

Mrs. Anne Mata

Mrs. Mary Molek

Owen's 2nd Grade Team

Mrs. Michelle Askelson

Mrs. Tori Fay

Mrs. Kathy Lirot

Mrs. Allison Scurr

Owen's 3rd Grade Team

Ms. Daria Baginskis

Mrs. Heather Klassen

Mrs. Kristen Shafron

Mrs. Beth Vlcek

Owen's 4th Grade Team

Ms. Vicki Baugh

Ms. Kaylee Cirko

Ms. Wendy Fanella

Mr. Brian McMurray

Owen's 5th Grade Team

Ms. Cara Koen

Mrs. Julie Robbie

Ms. Sophia Senese

Mrs. Julie Sharenow

School Information!

Communication to Families

During our 2024-25 school year, Owen families will receive a weekly newsletter on Friday afternoon. Please read our weekly newsletters for important updates from our school and Owen's PTA. If you have any questions with the information shared with you in our newsletter, please reach out to our office team!

Elementary School Hours

Indian Prairie School District 204 elementary school hours are the following:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday

School Start Times

First Bell - 8:50 a.m.
Last Bell - 9:05 a.m.

School End Times

Dismissal Bell - 3:35 p.m.

Wednesday (Late Start)

School Start Times

First Bell - 9:05 a.m.
Last Bell - 9:15 a.m.

School End Times

Dismissal Bell - 3:35 p.m.

If you arrive after the last bell, please park in the circle lot and walk your child to Door 1 to sign-in your child with the front office.

Homeroom Teacher Assignments

Parents/guardians may view their child's homeroom teacher in ParentVUE. As a reminder, to log into ParentVUE, you will need your username and password. Your username is your personal email that you have provided to our school office. Your password is what you created when setting up your ParentVUE account. If you need any assistance with logging into ParentVUE, please contact the Owen office at 630-428-7300.

Meet the Teacher

We welcome our Owen students and families to attend Meet the Teacher! Meet the Teacher is scheduled for Monday, August 19th, 2024 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Students may bring their school supplies with them to leave in their classroom when they meet their teacher. If you ordered a school supply kit, they will be delivered directly to your child's classroom prior to the Meet the Teacher event.

After meeting your child's teacher, families are invited to attend the Ice Cream Social hosted by our Owen PTA! We look forward to welcoming our students and families back to the 2024-25 school year during this start of the school year event!

1st Day of School

Our first day of the 2024-25 school year is Thursday, August 22, 2024. The first day is a full day of student attendance from 9:05 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. for all kindergarten through fifth grade students. We will utilize our daily arrival and dismissal procedures for the first day of school.

Arrival and Dismissal Procedures

The safety of our Owen students, staff, and families is an upmost priority for our team. During Meet the Teacher, each classroom will have a form for parents/guardians to notify your child's teacher and our office team how your son/daughter will arrive to school and dismiss to home each day. Please complete this form when visiting your child's classroom.

On the first day of school, each student will receive a backpack tag for his/her mode of transportation at dismissal. Each backpack tag is color coded by bus number, car rider, walker, and Right at School. Please leave your child's backpack tag on his/her backpack for the duration of the school year.

For the safety of all stakeholders, please click on the following link to carefully read our Arrival and Dismissal procedures for the 2024-25 school year: Arrival and Dismissal Procedures for Owen Families.

MyStop Bus Tracking App

To increase the safety of our students and improve communication about their location while riding district-provided transportation, District 204 has technology called MyStop and the app is available to all District 204 families at no cost and allows parents and guardians to see an estimated time of arrival (ETA) for the bus arriving at their child’s specific bus stop.

MyStop:

Allows parents/guardians and students to view the bus stop time, location, and projected arrival time. This feature is available during scheduled route times only.
Updates approximately every 5 seconds and adjusts the scheduled arrival time as the bus is traveling along its route.
Will show if the bus has already passed the assigned stop.

To learn how to access and use the MyStop Mobile App, view the My Stop User Guide.

Click here for more information on MyStop.

Kindergarten Volunteer Opportunity

Helping hands are always appreciated during our kindergarten lunch the first full week of school! Therefore, if you are a parent/guardian of a kindergarten student and are interested/available the week of August 26th to help with our kindergarten lunch period, please click on the following link to sign-up for a date: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B48AFAB22A6F9C25-50504503-kindergarten.

Curriculum Night

Save the Date for our Owen Curriculum Night! Our Owen Curriculum Night is scheduled for Thursday, September 12th, 2024. The following will be our Curriculum Night format:

5:45 to 6:15 p.m. - ELL Presentation (LMC)

6:15 to 6:20 p.m. - Transition
6:20 to 6:50 p.m. - Session 1
6:50 to 7:00 p.m. - Transition
7:00 to 7:30 p.m. - Session 2

Attendance at this evening's event is for our parents/guardians, so they have an opportunity to participate in a learning session with their child's teacher to learn more about their child's classroom and curriculum. We look forward to engaging with our parents/guardians at this event!

Right At School Program

Owen is excited to host the "Right At School" program that provides families with before school and after school child care. Please review the flier for more information about the program as well as how to register your child.

Volunteering at Owen

Owen is excited to welcome our parents/guardians as volunteers in our school throughout the school year! If you are interested in volunteering at Owen this year, please complete the Indian Prairie School District 204 Volunteer Form that is attached to our newsletter. You may email the completed form to Debbie Jones (Health Assistant in the Owen Office) or drop off your completed form to the Owen office. Debbie's email address is the following: deborah_jones@ipsd.org.

Owen's PTA Information!

Owen PTA Membership

The Owen PTA is excited to share with our families that you may sign-up to join the Owen PTA for the 2024-25 school year! Your membership directly supports our students and teachers at Owen Elementary School!

To become a member of the Owen PTA, please click on the following link:

2024/25 Owen PTA General Membership Form

Thank you for joining and supporting our Owen PTA and community!

Ice Cream Social

Owls are starting the year on a SWEET note! Families are invited to attend the Ice Cream Social after meeting their classroom teacher on August 19, 2024 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Please click on the following link for more information: Ice Cream Social Flyer.pdf.

Stock the Teacher's Lounge

The Owen PTA is welcoming teachers back with a Teacher Luncheon on August 19th during Teacher Institute! Thank you to our amazing donors, Freedom Brothers Pizza and CRUMBL Cookies!

Let us continue to show our Owen Team our appreciation for all they will do for our students this school year by stocking the teacher's lounge! Please click on the following link to donate an item for the lounge: Stock the Lounge Sign Up!

If you would prefer to sponsor a teacher instead with a monetary amount that the PTA will utilize to purchase our teacher's favorite snacks and drinks for the teacher's lounge, you may click on the following link to make a donation: https://owenpta.givebacks.com/store?limit=21&live=true.

Thank you in advance for your kindness in providing these extra pick me up snacks and treats!