Fremont Focus

At the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, the FSD79 Board of Education approved annual goals centered around four primary areas of focus. The goal we are highlighting today is: Increase the District’s ability to attract and hire the highest-quality talent.

Allison Stempien, Director of Human Resources and Administrative Services, presented the progress that has been made towards attracting and retaining the highest-quality staff at a recent Board meeting. We welcome you to review the Strategic Recruitment Board Presentation.

The District created a Strategic Recruitment Committee to evaluate the best ways to recruit candidates in the midst of a national educator shortage. The committee is focusing on the following efforts:

• Developing a recruitment campaign that utilizes themes identified through employee feedback to guide the messaging in promotional materials;

• Evaluating how to create meaningful job postings;

• Determining where to source high-quality talent; and

• Evaluating the interview, selection, and onboarding process to ensure efficiency and consistency.

Additionally, the administrative team is developing a competitive compensation plan that ensures the District maintains a fair, fiscally responsible, and competitive pay structure to assist with hiring and retaining employees. Our market analyses indicate that our pay structure is up to 30% below other districts in our immediate area; this is impacting Fremont’s ability to retain key staff and hire new talent. We are in the midst of a comprehensive market-adjustment plan which started with our bus drivers and paraprofessionals earlier this year. The investment in people is the biggest investment we can make for our community’s children.

• December 21 - PTO Meeting, 6 p.m. (Middle School DEN)
• December 23 - January 6 - Winter Break (No School)
• January 9 - Teacher Institute Day (No School)
• January 10 - First Day Back from Winter Break
• January 16 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (No School)

In an effort to connect the FSD79 Board of Education and the community, the District is creating a summary of monthly, regular Board meetings. To view a recap of the December 19 meeting, please click here.

Please be on the lookout for a postcard in your home mailbox in early January coming from FSD79. We are asking all parents, staff, and community members to complete an online survey to help us in our strategic planning process. The deadline to complete the survey is January 21. Thank you in advance for your participation in helping us shape the future of our school district.

The annexation of the 700+ acre land referred to as Ivanhoe Village (located entirely with our District boundaries) was unanimously approved at the the Village of Mundelein's December 12 Board meeting. Developers indicated that initial construction on the mixed-use project could begin as early as 2025, and the project ultimately could take up to 25 years until completion. The Village's press release is available here. To read the complete communication that was sent from the District to families and staff on December 13, please click here.

One of the great FSD79 annual traditions took place last week as the MAP classes took a field trip to the Target in Mundelein in order to purchase items for those in need this holiday season. A total of 30 groups spanning grades 1-4 collaborated to help benefit the Fremont Township Food Pantry. The students learned about working within a budget, while purchasing needs as opposed to wants. Thank you to all of those who volunteered during the event as well as those who donated funds to help make the event possible.

The Fremont Middle School jazz band was honored to perform for our neighbors at Grand Dominion by Del Webb last Friday. Watch their full performance below.

Congratulations to the Fremont Middle School poms team on their recent first-place finish at the Hawthorn Spirit Invitational!

For all the most up-to-date news and notes regarding the Fremont PTO, please be sure to visit the organization's webpage.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

• The Fremont PTO would love to see you at our meetings this year! Meetings are on the third Wednesday of the month in the Middle School DEN at 6:00 pm. Our next meeting is on December 21.
• Here is the list of all meeting dates for the 2022-2023 school year.
• Casino Night is back on January 21 from 6-10 p.m. See details below.

WINTER CLASS PARTY HOSTS

Party Hosts for the Winter Classroom Parties have been assigned and notified. Each class party is designated 3 Party Hosts. If more than 3 parents signed up for a classroom party, volunteers were chosen at random. Please note: All remaining parents who have not been notified, have not been assigned to host a party will not be invited to attend the party.

ART AWARENESS VOLUNTEERS

It's not too late to be an Art Awareness volunteer! If you enjoy putting together projects for kids, we could use your help in the K-5 classrooms. As an art awareness volunteer, you simply put a project together that can be tied to an artist, schedule a time with the teacher to go in and present the lesson to the kids. The students absolutely love it and it only requires about 2 hours a month of your time. We have plenty of resources and supplies available for you to use. The classroom teacher is always there to assure you have a positive experience. You don't need to have a background in teaching or art. Contact Lauren Rollinger at lauren.rollinger@gmail.com

SILENT AUCTION

We are looking for donations for a silent auction and need your help! See our flyer for a list of ideas we are looking for by January 10, 2023. Contact Elisabeth fsdvpes@gmail.com or Danielle daniweg29@gmail.com

CASINO NIGHT

Looking for a fun night away? Join us Saturday, January 21 for Casino Night at Hawthorn Woods Country Club from 6-10 p.m. for games, food, music, silent auction, and raffles. Tickets are LIMITED so register now! Registration QR code and additional details here.

School lunch menus for the month of January are now available and can be found here.

FSD79 offers local groups and organizations the opportunity to advertise their upcoming events in the Virtual Backpack. To submit your group's event for consideration, please submit a PDF flyer to publicrelations@fsd79.org. Check back regularly for upcoming offerings. Events that are upcoming include:

• Carmel Catholic HS Street Scenes Student Show

• Stevenson HS Incoming Freshman Dance Placements

• Kirk Players Youth Play Auditions

• Stevenson HS Patriot Recreation Education Program

• Mundelein HS Incoming Ninth-Grade Information (English)

• Mundelein HS Incoming Ninth-Grade Information (Spanish)

• Metra Safety Poster & Essay Contest

• Mundelein Baseball & Softball

• English Tutoring

The next edition of the Fremont Focus will be distributed on Wednesday, January 18. This will be in addition to the weekly e-newsletters sent on Sundays from principals at the school level.

Address: 28855 North Fremont Center Road, Mundelein, IL

Phone: (847) 566-0169

Website: fsd79.org

Facebook: facebook.com/FremontSchoolDistrict79

Twitter: @FSD79

Instagram: @FSD79

YouTube: youtube.com/FSD79