Chute E-Blast!
Family Newsletter
September 16 - September 20, 2024
Around the Building News
Keeping our schools healthy
We’re asking for your partnership in helping to keep our school healthy this year. As a reminder, students should be kept home from school when these symptoms or signs of illness are present: fever of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit; severe, persistent coughing; copious eye drainage; significant sore throat; excessive nasal discharge; undiagnosed skin rash; nausea and vomiting; diarrhea; extreme fatigue; moderate to severe headache; body aches; and/or a general sense of being unwell.
Please review our District 65 Health Services webpages for information about respiratory illness symptoms, guidelines on returning to school, preventative strategies, and more.
Health Requirements & Forms for the 2024-25 School Year
If you have already submitted your students' current health exam and physical, current and up to date immunizations form and dental forms, please disregard.
A reminder for 6th grade parents: All 6th grade physical and immunizations (including Tdap and Meningococcal vaccines) are now due. If you recently had an appointment for a physical and/or immunizations please submit all health documents as soon as possible to remain in compliance. This includes verification of immunizations as well as physical, dental examinations. Illinois law also requires that proof of an eye examination by an optometrist or physician (such as an ophthalmologist) be submitted to the school for all students who are enrolling in an Illinois school system for the first time. You may drop off all forms to the school. If you choose to email the forms, please keep in mind that you must send a clear and well lit photo or scan of the documents to be printable.
7th & 8th Grade parents: If your middle school student has an updated physical, please submit to the school nurse. If your student will be playing an intramural sport, a sports physical will need to be completed if we do not have a current 7th or 8th grade physical on file completed within one year prior to the first day of the current school year.
Please contact the school nurse, with any questions, Ana Rivera-Escobar at 847-859-8608 or email: riveraescobara@district65.net
- IL Dept. of Human Services Certificate of Child Health Examination with current immunization records
- IL Dept. of Public Health School Dental Exam Form (due by May 15, 2025 - must be dated after 11/15/2023) or an IL Dept. of Public Health School Dental Exam Waiver.
Chute Curriculum Night
Chute will be hosting our annual Curriculum Night on September 19th from 6:30 - 8:00 PM. Families are invited to meet your child's/children's grade level teachers and hear about what they will be learning this year!
6th and 7th Grade Picture Day
September 24th is picture day for 6th and 7th grade. Students will have their school picture and ID picture taken. If ordering pictures, your child will need to give their order form and money to the photographer. NO CHANGE is available, so please send exact amounts. You can also do online ordering at mylifetouch.com. The school ID is EVTD4BG9M.
Around the Community News
Thank you for your feedback on Standards Based Grading (SBG)!
We are so grateful to the many Chute parents/guardians who took our brief survey on standards based grading! Thank you!! Our District and school teams are carefully reviewing feedback and will work to answer your questions and concerns in the coming months.
Our goal is to ensure that report card grades are meaningful, accurate, and actionable for students, their families, and our educators. You can expect that your student’s report card will look different this year. To see a sample report card and learn more SBG, visit district65.net/sbg.
Sexual Health Information
Over the course of the school year, students in each grade will be engaging in a Human Body & Sexual Health unit. We will be utilizing the Rights, Respect, Responsibility (3R’s) curriculum developed by Advocates for Youth in alignment with the National Sexual Education Standards (NSES). These standards were recently adopted in Illinois Public Act 105-0522, which mandates that all health and safety education be complete, medically accurate, age-appropriate, inclusive, and culturally responsive. This unit also includes content to address other relevant state educational mandates such as Erin’s Law, or child abuse prevention education. Lessons will take place at different times throughout the school year in depending on the grade level. Classroom teachers will send out individual emails ahead of their units, which will include summaries of the lessons to be taught.
The curriculum is intended to build foundational knowledge and skills for our students to develop their identities and build healthy relationships. It is also designed for students to use the knowledge gained to make well-informed and responsible decisions. The middle school curriculum covers puberty, reproductive/sexual anatomy, pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (also known as sexually transmitted diseases or STDs), contraception, healthy relationships, sexual abuse and domestic violence, and more. The content is presented in developmentally appropriate increments so that students build on the previous years’ knowledge and skills as well as create a foundation for more in-depth learning about sexual health in later years. You can view an overview of the district’s entire K-8th grade scope and sequence here.
District 65 acknowledges that parents/guardians are the primary sexuality educators for their child(ren), and we are committed to partnering with you to provide supplementary resources to support you in this role. We understand that these can be sensitive issues for people of all ages. Our hope is for active participation and maturity so that students can feel comfortable talking about these issues with their you, their peers, and other trusted adults. You have the right to review the curriculum and to opt your student out of this unit, or specific lessons within the unit, if you do not feel they are right for your student. If you’d like to opt your student out of certain lessons or the unit, please let their classroom teacher know in writing.
The district will be hosting several parent/caregiver sessions in partnership with YWCA Evanston/North Shore to offer information and support. The first is a meeting to review the 6th-8th grade curriculum and answer your questions on Thursday, October 24th from 6-7 P.M. This session will be virtual and can be accessed through this link.
Our partners at YWCA are also hosting two caregiver workshops on zoom this year focused on supporting parents and caregivers in having conversations about healthy sexuality and relationships at home. During these workshops, participants will explore their own experiences with sexuality education, clarify their family values, and practice responding to common questions children may ask. There are two workshop options this year:
Thursday, November 14th at 7:00 PM, with a focus on families of K-4th graders
Thursday, March 6th at 7:00 PM, with a focus on families with 5th-8th graders
Both events are free but require registration to attend. Parents/caregivers of students of all ages can attend either workshop and will take away meaningful information. Please stay tuned for registration information. For questions about the caregiver workshops, contact Hallie Cohen from the YWCA at hcohen@ywca-ens.org.
D65 Sustainability / Climate Action Plan: Apply to Join our Team by Sept. 20
Are you interested in joining our team to build the 1st ever D65 sustainability / climate action plan by May 2025?
Our Goal: By May 30 2025, a district-wide sustainability program plan will be presented to the D65 School Board and shared District wide. The sustainability program plan will be aligned to City of Evanston and Village of Skokie sustainability program plans and District 65 strategic priorities.
Learn more about our process, timeline, meeting schedule and team / meeting norms
Are you interested in joining the team? Apply here by Sept 20. We will carefully review all the applications and let you know our decision by the end of September.
Questions? Contact Karen Bireta, D65 Sustainability Coordinator biretak@district65.net
Clubs
Star Wars Club
Attention students and families!
Chute Middle School's first Star Wars Club meeting will be held on select Thursdays for the rest of the year in room 324. If you're a fan of the galaxy far, far away, this club is for you! To sign up for more information and stay updated, join our Google Classroom using the code "tvlbrlr." We look forward to seeing you there!
Stage Crew
Stage Crew will have its first informational meeting on Tuesday September 24th at 3:15pm - 4:15pm in the auditorium. All students interested in learning how to operate the auditorium and work backstage during performance should attend! Stage Crew students operate the curtains, set up microphones & run sound effects, set up and run lighting for productions, and work to find/make set pieces, props, & costumes. Any questions please email Ms. McGuire at mcguirej@district65.net.
GSA
Gender Sexuality Alliance Club (GSA) meets on Thursday, September 26 in Room 304. Questions? See Cope, Himebaugh or Mesi.
Climbing Club
Chute Climbing Club will start the year in room 206. Students will need to sign up and attend our meetings in the classroom before they will be allowed to participate in the gym. Please reach out to Mr. Periman at perimand@district65.net for any questions.
Green Steam Club
Come join Green STEAM Wednesdays 3:15-4:15pm in Room 313! Green STEAM connects Chute's garden with science, technology, engineering, art and math. We do sustainability projects, garden, cook delicious recipes with food we grew, do experiments, and create art. This school year we will be designing and making a mural for our butterfly garden next to the parking lot!
Physical Education & Athletics
PE Uniforms
Chute physical education uniform sales are ongoing. Please have your Chute student turn in their uniform order form to their PE teacher.