Bulldog Bulletin
Telephone: (847) 870-3868
Absence Line: (847) 870-3869
Twitter: @D23Ross
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A Message From Your Principal |
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Dear Ross Families,
It's been a tremendous start to the 2021-22 school year and I cannot believe we've been in school for over a week already. Having all of our students back in person once again this year has brought a fresh sense of vibrance to our hallways and classrooms. Visiting classrooms, the lunchroom, and seeing students on the playground, I can't help but be proud of all the work our community has done to provide such a quality school experience. Our bulldogs are so excited to be in class with their friends and creating such strong connections while learning. Thank you to all of our staff members for working so hard to make this happen and thank you to all of our family and community members for their trust and support in our schools.
This coming week, we have some big events on the horizon. Please review the upcoming events section of this flyer for more details. This coming Wednesday, September 1st will be Ross Picture Day. There is an electronic order form attached to this communication. The Ross/Sullivan Parent Night will also be held on Wednesday, September 1st from 6-7 PM. In order to maintain social distancing to the greatest extent possible, the structure of the event will be different from Parent Night events in the past. We will send home a presentation on the afternoon of September 1st which will contain brief videos and a slideshow that should be viewed at home. The event is an Open House style event. Classrooms will be open for parents to visit, classroom teachers will be available to answer questions, and specials teachers will be available throughout the building. Please note, this is a parent-only event due to space constraints.
Also, this coming Wednesday, September 1st, District 23 is proud to partner with the Illinois Department of public health to provide a vaccine event at MacArthur Middle School. We highly encourage any 12+ student and adult who is unvaccinated to take advantage of this convenient opportunity.
Additionally, we are proud to announce that our goal to keep students in school can be supported by an optional screening and testing process currently being planned for District 23. Through a partnership with the Federal and State governments, the SHIELD Illinois program is now available to all schools in Illinois, free of charge. This 3rd party laboratory analysis uses the SHIELD saliva-based test developed by the University of Illinois. More information can be found HERE. We hope to launch weekly screening and on-demand testing to monitor local community spread, identify presymptomatic or asymptomatic cases, and assist in making informed quarantining decisions. It is our goal to begin on October 1st. Participation is optional but requires parental consent. Please complete this form if you are interested and willing to have your child participate in this program. More information and details will be shared as it becomes available.
Sincerely,
Craig Curtis
P.S. Please click on the link at the bottom of the page that allows you to "View Entire Message".
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Ross/Sullivan Parent Night |
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The Ross/Sullivan Parent Night will be held on Wednesday, September 1st from 6-7 PM. In order to maintain social distancing to the greatest extent possible, the structure of the event will be different from Parent Night events in the past. We will send home a presentation on the afternoon of September 1st which will contain brief videos and a slideshow that should be viewed at home. The event is an open house style event. Classrooms will be open for parents to visit, classroom teachers will be available to answer questions, and specials teachers will be available throughout the building. During the event, we will also have backpacks with school supplies available to families in need of these resources. Please note, this is a parent-only event due to space constraints.
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Thank you for your patience as our bus drivers work to familiarize themselves with their routes during the first couple weeks of school and our staff members and parents get used to the pick-up and drop-off procedures at Betsy Ross School. Our systems work but it will take some practice along the way. We definitely appreciate your patience in making this happen.
Busing Update:
We are most appreciative of First Student and their team in working to get the school year off to a good start, especially under the circumstances of the pandemic and the nationwide driver shortage. We are now in the process of evaluating all bus routes and looking at actual student ridership. We are aware that at least one route is potentially above our targeted number of riders for each route of 50. We have asked the First Student team to perform load counts each day and recommend changes based on that information. This will not immediately impact stop locations or route assignments however, we are working on recommendations to bring to the Board of Education based on their data.
Drop-Off & Pick-Up Reminders:
Please note that our drop-off line does not begin until 8:15 AM and our pick-up line begins shortly after the release of school at 2:25 PM. Because of this, the lines are stagnant if you arrive early. The best time to plan on arriving is about 3-4 minutes after these times in order to optimize the flow of traffic. We appreciate your cooperation with our procedures.
Here are some important tips we will need everyone to follow along the way:
1.) All cars dropping off in the morning or picking up in the afternoon MUST enter the lot from the entrance at the southernmost point of Ross heading north (see attached map)
2.) Parents may walk students to the door in the morning or pick them up at the south door by the playground. In order to do this, parents MUST park their car in an empty space in the south lot behind the playground.
3.) For the safety of all Ross family members, please do not wave children through traffic. All students will get out of or into their car at the front of the car rider line where there is adult supervision. This is also the quickest way to ensure the flow of traffic.
4.) For the best flow of our traffic line before and after school, ALL adults should remain in their car (unless parking in a designated space and walking their child to the Ross doors). A supervisor will assist your child in getting in and out of their car.
5.) After school, it would help us out if you had a sign or piece of paper in your car with the name of your children on it. This way, our supervisors will know the names of your children to call as you pull up to the front of the line.
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One extremely important piece of the first couple of weeks of school is setting our students up for success. We do this by teaching students the school-wide expectations.
(pictured here being taught at the start of recess)
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Our teachers are also working on expectations with students all throughout the school day. We've learned all kinds of strategies for distancing in the hallways such as chicken wings, airplane arms, and many more.
(Pictured here, 2nd graders working on their chicken wings)
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The number one goal during the first weeks of school is to get to know our students and for them to get to know each other. Our teachers worked through various activities, games, and lessons that assisted with this purpose.
(Pictured here, students making new friends to kick off the year)
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Another way staff members get to know our bulldogs is by visiting different classrooms to meet students. This is just as much fun for our staff members as it is for the students!
(Pictured here, Mrs. Wright visits a 2nd grade classroom)
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Order Your School Pictures Online |
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Betsy Ross "Bulldog Beliefs" Expectations |
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At Betsy Ross, we pride ourselves on being respectful, responsible, and safe at school and within the community. Our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program, which we call the Bulldog Beliefs, focuses on rewarding students for making positive choices and celebrating the successes we achieve as a team. Below, you'll find a matrix of our school-wide expectations throughout Betsy Ross School. |
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September 1: D23 Vaccination Event (3:00 - 8:00 @ Mac)
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September 1: Ross/Sullivan Parent Night (6:00 - 7:00)
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September 1: Ross Picture Day
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September 6: Labor Day (No School)
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September 13: Parent Tech Night: Seesaw Family (6:30-7:30) RSVP
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September 14: School Board Meeting (7:00 Virtually)
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September 21: Parent Tech Night: Seesaw Class (6:30-7:30) RSVP
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September 23: PTO Meeting
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September 24: D23 Family Movie Night (7:00 @ MacArthur)
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District News and Updates |
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Important D23 Information |
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District 23 has partnered with the Illinois Department of public health to provide a vaccine event to be held at MacArthur Middle School on
Sept. 1 from 3:00-8:00pm.
We highly encourage any 12+ student and adult who is unvaccinated to take advantage of this convenient opportunity.
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Our goal to keep students in school can be supported by an optional screening and testing process currently being planned for District 23.
Through a partnership with the Federal and State governments, the SHIELD Illinois program is now available to all schools in Illinois, free of charge.
This 3rd party laboratory analysis uses the SHIELD saliva based test developed by the University of Illinois. More information can be found HERE.
We hope to launch weekly screening and on demand testing to monitor local community spread, identify presymptomatic or asymptomatic cases, and assist in making informed quarantining decisions. It is our goal to begin on October 1st.
Participation is optional, but requires parental consent. Please complete the form below if you are interested and willing to have your child participate in this program. More information and details will be shared as it becomes available.
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PTO Update
Welcome back, District 23! The D23 PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) wishes you a fantastic and healthy 2021-2022 school year! Thank you all for your past support. Many of you have generously volunteered your time, donated items, attended fundraising events, collected Box Tops, shopped through Amazon Smile, contributed financially, and supported us throughout the years. Your involvement makes all the difference in our district and we hope you will stay just as dedicated in the upcoming school year. Any help you can provide is always appreciated. Our PTO consists of members with children across all schools in the district. You can meet some wonderful people by getting involved. Please consider joining us for our PTO General Meetings. Here is a list of our future meeting dates:
- Thursday, September 23th
- Thursday, November 11th
- Thursday, January 13th
- Thursday, March 17th
- Thursday, May 12th
If you'd like to check out our PTO website, please feel free to click here.
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Community Partnership Resources |
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