Bobcat Blog

• Monday, September 2 - No School in observance of Labor Day
• Tuesday, September 3 - 13 - MAP Testing (see more information below)
• Saturday, September 11 - PTO General Meeting - 10:00am in the library (see below)

It was a busy week at Beye! I enjoyed seeing many of you Wednesday evening at Curriculum Night. If you were not able to attend, please note that homeroom teachers are sending the slide presentations to everyone. Students participated in a bus evacuation drill earlier this week. This is an annual drill that is important because even if students don't ride the bus to school, they will have field trip bus experiences. Today, we practiced a fire drill with an Oak Park Fire Marshall. He was impressed with how well and quickly students got out of the building.

If it is raining or in winter on mornings not above 15 degrees including windchill, the students come into the building for morning line up. Students may enter through their regular entrance or any other regularly used entrance. They will be directed to the following places:

Auditorium - Kindergarten, Second and Fourth

Commons - First, Third and Fifth

Band & Orchestra Sign-Up for Beginners (Grades 4 & 5)

DUE BY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6!!!

Oak Park Elementary School District 97 welcomes all 4th & 5th grade students to our Annual Open Houses for Beginning Band & Orchestra for the 2024/2025 School Year.

Tuesday, Sep. 3rd, 5-8 p.m. @ Julian Middle School

Go to SignUp Genius to sign up for a 30 minute window to avoid extremely long wait times.

Wednesday, Sep. 4th, 7 p.m. Virtual Open House

Google Meet Link: meet.google.com/asz-zwps-zny

Our Instrumental Music Staff will be available for students and families to view and hold the instruments at our in-person open house on Sep. 3rd, as well as music vendors, to assist families in renting a band or orchestra instrument. There is no cost for participating in music lessons, however, families must provide an instrument for their student. For families who qualify, PING is a community organization who provides instrumental rental for your student at a very small annual fee. For more information about PING, go to www.pingoprf.org.

Online registration is open Aug 26th - Sep 6th. For more information about beginning band & orchestra go to www.op97.org/instrumental-music/registration

If Beye families have any questions about the process, please contact Gabby Rosenblum at grosenblum@op97.org!

All of our Beye Bobcats will be a part of MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) Testing that begins next week.

Please join us for the first general meeting of the year!

Hear about our plans for the year, share your ideas and learn how you can get involved, meet the new board, and vote on the PTO’s budget for the coming year. We hope to see you there!

Want to learn more? Find your perfect volunteer role!

We are looking for volunteers to fill some essential roles:

There are many other ways to get involved at Beye, from leading a working group, to helping run an event, to volunteering a few hours at an event or in the front office. Here is a list of volunteer opportunities to explore. We are especially looking for volunteers for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion working group, as well as Parental Involvement, Public Relations, Fitness and Nutrition, and Fundraising. If you prefer a more behind-the-scenes role, we are looking for help with Technology, Accounting, and the Teacher Conference/Appreciation Meals, but there are so many ways, big and small, families can share their time and talents with the Beye community.

The Beye Student Green Team is back!

Is your child interested in sustainability and environmental action in their school, home and community?

Are they looking for an opportunity to connect with other like-minded students across grade levels?

Yes?! Then the Beye Student Green Team is a group for them!

Who can participate?

Everyone! Students of all grade levels.

What is it?

The Beye Student Green Team will gather to share their ideas and explore earth friendly actions to pursue in school and beyond. Students will develop their leadership skills while exercising their voice and choice within the school community.

Check out this Newsletter to learn about the work SGT did last school year! Sign up below!

Student Green Team permission form

We are looking for volunteers to fill some essential roles:

There are many other ways to get involved at Beye, from leading a working group, to helping run an event, to volunteering a few hours at an event or in the front office. Here is a list of volunteer opportunities to explore. We are especially looking for volunteers for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion working group, as well as Parental Involvement, Public Relations, Fitness and Nutrition, and Fundraising. If you prefer a more behind-the-scenes role, we are looking for leads for the School Directory and Yearbook, but there are so many ways, big and small, families can share their time and talents with the Beye community, starting with taking a shift at next week’s Back to School Picnic.

This year Melissa Ingram and Joia Kopelow are helping to collect advertisements for the Beye Directory. Please see the important information below.

Please consider signing up to help maintain our Beye community pantry! Thanks in advance.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409084FAEA82EA0FC1-beye1#/

District 97 is committed to fostering a learning environment in which its students and all community members are emotionally and physically safe. As part of this commitment, the District recently adopted Board Policy 4:174 - Secure Gun Storage, underscoring the importance of safe firearm storage in reducing the risk of gun violence. We are collaborating closely with the Village of Oak Park and Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 to minimize these risks within our schools and community.

Secure storage is a simple action a gun owner can take to reduce access to guns among young people, keeping children and families in our community safe. Best practices for secure storage include storing guns unloaded, locked, and separate from ammunition. Click here to visit the village's webpage about safe firearm storage, which includes information about obtaining free gun locks, conversation starters for parents, and other resources for promoting community safety. Information will also be shared periodically with staff and families throughout the school year, and is available on the Safety Resources page of our website.

Beye School Entry/Exit Doors

Health Office Important Letter

Welcome Back Letter from the district

See fliers below filled with important information.

Slowfire at Beye is an after-school art education program that offers enrichment in various art mediums, including painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and ceramics. Our dedicated staff and low student-to-teacher ratio of 6:1 foster community, create personal connections, and teach art FUNdamentals. Slowfire at Beye operates daily on school days: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 3–6 pm & Wednesday from 2:30–6 pm.

We are also offering these classes this Fall if you are looking for a shorter after care solution or a dedicated class!

Highlighted Classes:

• Intro to Ukulele: Mondays from 3-4:30 pm
• Intro to Guitar: Tuesdays from 3-4:30 pm
• Intro to Ceramics: Wednesdays from 2:30-4 pm and Thursdays from 3-4:30 pm
• Taylor Swift Mixed Media Art Class: Fridays from 3-4:30 pm

For more information, visit Slowfire Ceramics at Beye Elementary.

https://www.slowfireceramics.com/beyeelementaryschool

For those of you new to Beye School, you will learn we have an award -winning Green Team! Last year, students voiced their desire to begin a Student Green Team and it was comprised of I believe 60 plus students! Our school, as you will see below, is often modeled after in relation to our Green initiatives. This summer, I had the pleasure of meeting with two of our Green Team Leaders, Kara Finnegan and Lauren Smith-MacGregor, as well as our lunch manager, Bridget Redmond. With a desire to reduce waste on the front end and keep our students healthy and safe, see the below changes.

• Students who choose the main entree lunch from school are asked to "Choose at Least 3." Ms. Redmond and crew will have everything on the tray, but students are being taught in the lunchroom and in their homerooms that they may say "no thank you" to one or two items to reduce waste. However, they MUST take a fruit or vegetable.
• If students who get a school lunch on a given day are still hungry, they may ask for another fruit or vegetable as long as we have extras. They will get them from Ms. Redmond and lunch crew directly. (only for students who get a school lunch that day)
• If a student doesn't finish their school lunch items, they may set them on the small table by the sorting stations. These items will be distributed by our Green Team to our pantry (when appropriate) and other food banks. No student will be able to take food from this table.

ARRIVAL & BREAKFAST

School starts at 8am each morning with reminder bells to line up ringing at 7:55 and 7:57. We have staff supervision outside starting at 7:50 each morning.Teachers will bring their classrooms inside at 7:57 and doors close at 8:00 a.m.

Students should not be dropped off or picked up in front of the building; this is reserved for the busses. (and tardy students, although we are working to decrease tardies this year

Breakfast: Breakfast/Lunch Accounts

Students are welcome to join us for breakfast starting at 7:15. They enter through the main entrance. From breakfast, they will head outside at 7:50 a.m. to line up with their homeroom.

DISMISSAL:

Students are dismissed each day at 3pm, except on Wednesdays when dismissal is at 2:30pm.

LUNCH: Breakfast/Lunch Accounts **** The district is putting out info next week. I am learning lunch will be $3.00 this year, up from $2.90 last year.

Students have 55 minutes for lunch and lunch recess. K, and grades 2 and 4 will eat and then play; grades 1, 3 and 5 will play and then eat.

We’ve cleaned up the garden (with the help of amazing Aly Shoenfeldt) so it’s in good shape now, but we could use some help through September. Thanks in advance for signing up below to help if you can.

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10C0E49ADA92CA4FBC70-49894252-garden

Beye has had a very positive impact on other local school districts. Last year, we had multiple visits where school staff from various school districts, along with representatives from Seven Generations Ahead, came to Beye to see our lunchroom program in action. Take a look at this amazing article!

https://sevengenerationsahead.org/seeing-is-believing-as-broadview-and-maywood-schools-go-zero-waste/

Our Beye staff does a wonderful job at planning field trips that enrich our curriculum and we enjoy having family members chaperone. In order to supervise students, the chaperone must complete a background check through the district. Please click on this link to make an appointment. The background check lasts for 3 years. It is helpful to do these earlier in the year as time slots fill up.

Beye entrances/exits

Health Office Letter

Beye entrances/exits

D97 2024-2025 School Calendar

Health Letter from Nurse Shilpa

Student-Family Handbook for 2024-25

Cheryl Sullivan

Beye Principal

csullivan@op97.org

Location: 230 North Cuyler Avenue, Oak Park, IL, USA
Phone: 708- 524-3070
Twitter: @MrsSullivand97