Dear CPS Families,

As part of the U.S. government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all CPS students are now eligible for food benefits as a result of the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT). Through P-EBT, eligible school children receive temporary emergency nutrition benefits in the form of funds loaded on an EBT card that can be used like a debit card to purchase food at any grocery store that accepts Link cards.

All CPS students, regardless of income or citizenship status, are eligible for P-EBT. Families will receive P-EBT cards automatically and do not need to complete an application. Each child will receive their own card mailed to their primary address in Aspen. Please ensure your address is up to date in order to receive this benefit. 

Cards will be mailed in March and should arrive in an unmarked envelope. Families should keep their P-EBT card because future benefits will continue to be loaded onto the same card.

For additional information on this program, please view the FAQs, call the Healthy CPS

Hotline at 773-553-KIDS or complete the Healthy CPS Encounter form.

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Estimadas familias de CPS:

Debido a la pandemia del COVID-19, el gobierno federal ha permitido que todos los estudiantes de CPS reciban beneficios de alimentos, bajo el programa de Transferencia Electrónica de Beneficios por Pandemia (P-EBT). A través del mismo, los estudiantes elegibles reciben temporalmente beneficios de emergencia en forma de fondos que se cargan en una tarjeta EBT, que puede utilizarse como una tarjeta de débito para comprar alimentos en cualquier tienda que acepte tarjetas Link.

Todos los estudiantes de CPS, independientemente de sus ingresos o estado de ciudadanía, califican para el P-EBT. No se requiere presentar una solicitud para recibir la tarjeta, y la misma será enviada por correo a cada estudiante a la dirección principal registrada en Aspen. Asegúrese de que su dirección esté actualizada para poder recibir este beneficio. 

La tarjeta se enviará durante marzo en un sobre sin marcar. Las familias deben guardarla, ya que se seguirá cargando los futuros fondos en la misma tarjeta.

Para obtener información adicional sobre este programa, lea estas preguntas frecuentes, llame a la línea directa de Healthy CPS al 773-553-KIDS, o complete este formulario de Healthy CPS para solicitar asistencia.

Dear Bateman Families & Friends,

Our core values of Being Empowered, Being Inclusive, and Being Kind are in the DNA of what it means to Be Bateman...something we can do at any time and anywhere.  We know that the upcoming week may bring some excitement, as well as anxiety, for our students and parents alike.  Managing stress and transitions can feel a bit overwhelming at times and want to ensure our families feel supported - no matter where they are learning next week! Please find some Social Emotional resources below you can use at home with your family - we know they will help you #BeBateman! 

A big thank you to our wonderful SEL Team for supporting our students and families all year long! 


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Estimadas familias de Bateman,

Nuestros valores fundamentales de ser empoderados, ser inclusivos y ser amables están en el ADN de lo que significa ser Bateman, que es algo que podemos hacer en cualquier momento y en cualquier lugar. Sabemos que la próxima semana puede traer algo de emoción y ansiedad para todos nuestros estudiantes, así como para los adultos, y queríamos ofrecer algún apoyo socioemocional que pueda usar en casa. ¡A continuación tenemos algunos recursos que sabemos que te ayudarán a #Ser Bateman!

¡Muchas gracias a nuestro maravilloso equipo SEL por apoyar a nuestros estudiantes y familias durante todo el año!

Dear Bateman Families & Friends,

Happy 100th Day of School! What a special day to celebrate that our students and teachers have been learning and growing together for 100 days! Please enjoy the Kindergartener's celebratory messages by clicking the picture below! 

Today, we welcomed back our K-5 teachers and staff. Everyone's smiles were radiating through the hallways, even through their masks! As we prepare to welcome our K-5 students next week, please be reminded that this week will be the last week for Quarter 3 Supply Pick Up. All visitors will be limited for entry into the building and must ring the bell at Door #1 beginning on Monday, March 1st.

We look forward to Friday's big Heart Challenge Event! Let's continue to #BeBateman.

Our best,
Georgia & Kate

Dear Bateman Families & Friends,

Yesterday evening, CPS announced that a tentative agreement has been reached to welcome our staff and students safely back to the building. In the midst of much uncertainty, our educators worked diligently on Friday morning to ensure that instructional approaches, curriculum, and social and emotional strategies remain consistent for the upcoming quarter - a framework that will help support our students towards certainty.

Throughout the Staff Development Day on Friday, educator teams collaborated around reopening protocols, analyzed Quarter 3 units of study to prepare performance tasks for remote and in person learners, received training on social and emotional strategies for both themselves as adults and methods to support our students during reopening, and created informative tools for parents to see the scope and sequence of learning for Quarter 3. Please see below for some of highlights from their work time!

Celebrating Black History at Bateman
Educators have been bringing lessons around Black History to life at all grade levels to promote a culture of inclusivity and those who came before them. In Ms. Howland's classroom, students compared Ruby Bridges, who helped integrate Louisiana schools for Black and white children, and Sylvia Mendez, who helped integrate California schools for Latino and white children.  Check out some of their work here!  Our second graders were also inspired by amazing Black Americans and thought about how THEY will be amazing. Students talked about how Black people's achievements have been ignored in the past, and resolved that we will celebrate everyone. 

In Ms. Chrisman's art experience, your children will have the opportunity to learn about several Black Artists, including those featured below! Check back to see how our artists were inspired by their pieces!

Quarter 3 At-A-Glance
Parents, please take the time to read what your child's learning will look like for the upcoming quarter. Educators have created a go-to tool for you to access learning standards and concepts that your child will be working towards mastery this quarter! Please look at your child's Quarter 3 At-A-Glance today!

• PreK - 3rd Essentials
• Preschool
• Kindergarten
• First Grade
• Second Grade
• Third Grade
• Fourth Grade
• Fifth Grade
• Sixth Grade
• Seventh Grade
• Eighth Grade
• 4th - 8th Grade Essentials

Our very best,
Georgia & Kate

As stated in the email correspondence from CPS, all classes will resume with the remote schedule tomorrow, Tuesday, February 2nd and Wednesday, February 3rd.  Please see their communication here.

Dear Bateman Families & Friends,

Happy February to all! During this month, we have the special opportunity to focus on and celebrate the Black contributors and heroes in our country’s history. 

Throughout the past couple of years, Bateman teachers and community members have been striving to celebrate the diversity of our school year round.  Teachers have been learning about the Banks' approach to Social Action & Multicultural Curriculum Reform, which integrates cultural lenses throughout each aspect of units of study.  Instead of isolating individual cultures month to month, we pride ourselves on cultivating a school community in which culture is celebrated every day.

Educators are intentional in incorporating Black authors, biographies, impact, and main characters within their read alouds and tasks in all grade levels, which creates authentic learning opportunities that reflect and mirror our entire student body. We believe this in an integral part of our students’ educational experience here at Bateman. 

We invite you to continue this conversation at home utilizing the 28 Days Later Series, which features Black authors and illustrators whose work should be shared year-round. From February 1st through the 28th, The Brown Bookshelf will feature a different Black artist each day...so visit daily and learn something new about all of them with your child(ren).

We are excited to continue to highlight the many ways in which diversity is integrated throughout our daily learning at Bateman for the remainder of February and beyond!  Please help us congratulate our educators and students for creating a safe environment that embraces the ability to be fully inclusive.

Hybrid Learning Schedules

All families should have received detailed schedules from your child(ren)’s homeroom teacher on Friday, January 29th. Educators emailed schedules for both those who have opted to return for In-person Learning and those who have chosen to continue with Remote Learning for Quarter 3.

We understand that there are many moving pieces throughout the planning process for reopening, coupled with mixed emotions, feelings, and nerves. Please know that we have been diligently working with our teams with a lens of equity in the forefront of each decision we have made and are creatively maneuvering multiple schedules to support each individual child, no matter where they have chosen to learn for Quarter 3. We also recognize the position that our families have been placed during this time - to make a decision without feeling fully informed of what’s to come. 

For the past two weeks, our schedules for Hybrid Learning sustained multiple iterations in order to ensure both remote learners and in-person learners were able to continue with the momentum our educators have established with their students. With the majority of our community staying remote, we knew we had to prioritize the pre-existing schedules at home as to not disturb any cadence with student routines, parent work schedules, or learning center practices. We mapped out a process that we believe honored our family’s decisions for what they considered best while keeping remote learning as intact as possible. This ultimately meant many of our educators going above and beyond the district requirements. 

Please see below for steps our educators followed to ensure an equitable learning experience for all children:

For Kindergarten through Fourth Grades:

• Synchronous times of remote learners matched those of the in-person learners. This meant that the majority of start times for log ins would not change for remote learners with the exception of start times to allow in-person arrival protocols and Remote Learner schedules would not alter drastically.

• During workshop times in the building, teachers equitably spread out small groups, just as they would during a typical school year, so that every child is seen 2-3 times per week. We brainstormed alongside them and provided professional learning resources on how to structure groups through technology, shared platforms, and learning tasks across both learning locations.

• Where possible, homerooms were not altered to maintain cohesive classroom communities.

• After looking closely at times of the day, educators scheduled room locations and enveloped an all hands on deck approach so that co-teachers and support staff were thoughtfully utilized.

For Fifth through Eighth Grades:

• With Middle School being departmentalized, many grade levels intentionally devised new cohorts of students so that teachers were able to administer meaningful lessons to those who are learning in-person only while their teammates delivered instruction remotely only. This allows a rotation of teachers so that they are only teaching to one group of students in a given location.

• Remote Schedules and times were limited in change so that students in-person and remote learners still receive similar minutes of instruction throughout the day. 

• Educators then mapped out locations in the building as well as co-teachers and support staff to maximize instructional minutes across each cohort of students.

The final step to creating our Hybrid Plan was for all educators to have the technology needs that support their specific teaching model for that given cohort readily available and set up in their classrooms. Currently, we have three different types of learning models ready to go in the classrooms, including technology to support simultaneous teaching and learning, remote only teaching with teacher zones, and in-person learning environments.

We know that the plan on paper is fluid and that there will be changes once things are put into action; however, we are so proud of the plans our educators were able to create, the willingness of our teachers to go well above the expectations, and for keeping the best interest of each child at the center every step of the way.

We, along with our educators, stand by our commitment to ensure that all learners receive an exceptional learning experience. We thank you for your continued trust and look forward to welcoming our staff & students back to the building.

Our very best,
Georgia & Kate