Romona Review: Back-to-School

Dear Romona Families,

Welcome to the 2023-24 school year at Romona! We hope you have had a fabulous summer! We are looking forward to a fantastic year and partnering with you to support your mustang.

We have a lot of important information to share with you today. This is our first email of the year and we will write to you every Friday. These emails will contain information from the school and from our incredible PTA. We encourage you to visit our PTA website to learn more about how you can get involved.

We hope you enjoy these last weeks of summer & look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, August 23rd!

Warmly,

Cindy & Lisa

Please click here to learn more about all of our Romona staff members.

Grades 1-4 & KEEP39 School Day: 8:35-3:15 (2:15 dismissal on Friday)

Kindergarten: AM 8:35-11:55

LEEP: AM 8:45-11:05, PM 12:10-2:30

Please refer to this District 39 Calendars for information about days when we have no school. Please visit our Romona website for the online calendar.

You will be getting an email from the District on August 17th with your child's teacher assignment. These emails come throughout the day, so please let us know if you do not receive an email by the 18th by calling our office at 847.512.6400 or emailing us at Office-Romona@wilmette39.org.

Our first day of school is Wednesday, August 23rd. This is a half day, so dismissal for grades 1-4 is at 11:55.

Kindergarten and LEEP students will be having a meet & greet in the classroom with their teacher on this day. These events are intended to offer our youngest children a time to meet their teacher with their special adults. Please click here for the timing of the meet & greets.

This year, arrival and dismissal is a bit different, so please read carefully!

K-4 Arrival

All students can come in through the front door and will be supervised in the auditorium from 8:20-8:30. All students will go to their classrooms at 8:30 for our 8:35 start time. Please help us get all of our students into the building by 8:30 everyday!

Dismissal

Kindergarten:

• Kindergartners will meet their parents outside of their classroom doors in the garden.
• Bus riders will gather in the auditorium.

Grades 1-4:

• All mustangs will exit out of the front doors at the end of the day.
• Bus riders will gather in the auditorium.

Our entire District 39 community wishes to welcome you back to the start of the 2023-24 school year. We are so excited to welcome our staff to our buildings in the days ahead and for our students to return for the first day of school on Wednesday, Aug. 23!

Registration Reminder

Please make sure that your child has been officially registered for the 2023-24 academic year and that any outstanding instructional materials fees have been paid prior to the start of school. Both matters can be resolved by logging into the PowerSchool Parent Portal.

Parent Education Events

We are proud to announce that our first Parent Education event of the year, titled “Feeling Safe in District 39 Schools” will be held next Thursday, Aug. 17 at 11 am via Zoom. This presentation will feature a review of our focused and collaborative efforts to ensure safe, secure and supportive learning environments for our students and staff. In addition, we have compiled a fantastic lineup for our Parent Education series this year and hope that you find these presentations both informative and helpful as we partner to provide a terrific learning experience for our students. Registration is open for our first event and our Parent Education page provides the full schedule and registration links. The list of presenters for our first event is below:

• Dr. Kari Cremascoli, District 39 Superintendent

• Tony DeMonte, Asst. Superintendent for Technology and Safety

• Kyle Murphy, Chief of Police, Wilmette Police Department

• Val Davis, Community Resource Officer, Wilmette Police Department

• Dr. Renee Dominguez, Co-Executive Director, Family Service Center

• Layla Danley, Illinois Chapter Lead, Be SMART

Air Conditioning Update

We are excited to be installing air conditioning within nearly all of our classroom spaces for the 2023-2024 school year. Although our construction teams and maintenance crews have worked extraordinarily hard this summer in preparation for the start of school, supply chain and equipment delays have caused some delay in project completion. As a result, our air conditioning projects in some district buildings will not be completed in time for the first days of the school year. However, we anticipate final equipment delivery in September and are eager for our temperature-controlled classroom environments soon thereafter. In the meantime, please dress appropriately for warmer weather. Our D39 Action Plan for Warm Weather Days will remain in place until all classroom air conditioning is fully functional.

District 39 believes inclusion plays a vital role in student growth. We are committed to providing a safe and equitable learning environment that fosters a mindset of empathy, respect, and belonging for all District 39 students and staff.

By respecting each person’s unique identity, perspective, and learning style, we create a stronger community. We honor differences including races and cultures, genders and sexualities, abilities and aspirations, identities and affiliations, socioeconomics and worldviews. Embracing diversity prepares our students to thrive in an increasingly complex global community.

Monday, August 21st

• New Family Orientation (6:00)

Wednesday, August 23rd

• First Day of School
• 11:55 Dismissal for grades 1-4
• Meet & Greet for LEEP & Kindergarten

Monday, September 4th

• No School: Labor Day

Thursday, September 7th

• Curriculum Night

Friday, September 22nd

• No School: Staff Institute Day

Monday, September 25th

• No School: Yom Kippur

Tuesday, September 26th

• Picture Day

Saturday, September 30th

• Rockin' Romona (PTA Event, more details coming soon!)

Make sure all of your health forms are ready to be turned into our nurse, Mary Ann Roche. Please contact her at rochem@wilmette39.org with any questions.

• Kindergarten: Vision, dental, & medical forms
  
• 2nd Grade: Dental form
• Lechner Early Education Program: Medical forms
  
• All: Medication & health updates
  

Students are allowed to bring a snack to school every day. Please make sure that all snacks are fresh fruits and vegetables.

Please call the attendance line before 8:30 any time your child is absent from school.

Romona Attendance Line: 847-512-6450

We work with the Wilmette Park District for our before and after care programs at Romona. If you are interested in more information, please visit the WPD Website. The PTA will also be offering some special after school clubs, so please keep your eye out for those offerings.

District 39 aggressively investigates bullying. Please refer to page 18 in our handbook to see our practices and Board of Education policy on bullying and teasing.

Cindy Anderson, Principal

Lisa Anderson, Assistant Principal

Website: http://romona.wilmette39.org
Phone: 847.512.6400