We are continuing the wonderful Longfellow tradition of having a talented jazz band lead students on a parade through our awesome Oak Park community on the first day of school. This tradition is unique to Longfellow and is something all of the students and community enjoy. The band will meet at corner of Scoville/Van Buren and lead the kids through the neighborhood on the way to Longfellow. ALL Longfellow kids are welcome to join the parade at any point along the way. The band will then continue to play on the Longfellow playground until all the kids go into school.

These are professional jazz musicians from all over Chicago and they are being paid for sharing their amazing talents with us. This is a grassroots effort and not funded by the school or PTO, so if you can contribute, please do so, but you do NOT need to contribute to join the parade. This is meant to include everyone in our community and we just want people to have a fun and memorable first day! Any additional funds collected over the $1,000 will be donated to the PTO.

Parade Route Details:

7:30am: band will assemble at corner of Scoville and Van Buren.

7:35: parade will start going Eastbound on Van Buren towards Ridgeland

7:42: parade will turn North on Ridgeland (on east side of Ridgeland) and kids from east side of Ridgeland can join in parade at Ridgeland/Van Buren

7:46: parade will turn East on Jackson and arrive on playground at approx 7:50am

7:50-8:10: band will play on playground until all students have entered the building

Thank you,

Chris Parente