Mills Moments

We had so much fun this last week with all the end of year celebrations. Thank you again for a wonderful school year. Included in this edition is all the information you'll need for the upcoming school year. As a reminder, registration has been open for the 2025-2026 school year. You will hear from us in early August. Have a safe and happy summer!

We reached our goal for parent participation on the most recent 5Essentials Survey. Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback. These results help us continuously improve. Results from the survey can be found here.

***The full registration process must be completed by August 13, 2025, at 3:00 pm for students to start on the first day of school, August 20th***

All students must enroll each school year. All enrollment is done through PowerSchool and you will need an account to enroll your student.

• For Returning Students: Student residency is reviewed in the spring. If your residency was verified in public record, you do not need to submit residency. If it was not verified, you will need to provide proof of residency through the PowerSchool portal. Your PowerSchool account will be updated of your status. Students without approved residency will not be able to enroll in EPCUSD 401 schools.
• For New Students: New students are defined as students who have not attended an EPCUSD 401 school in the prior school year, or have transferred out to a different district and are re-enrolling. All new students must prove residency.
• For Pre-K Students: Enrollment in preschool for the 2025-26 school year is open to Elmwood Park children who will be at least 3 years old during the school year and no more than 5 years old as of Sept. 1, 2025. John Mills is the only District 401 school that offers preschool instruction. All preschool programs are half day, with some students attending in the morning and others in the afternoon. Students must be Elmwood Park residents.
• For more information, please contact Pre-K Secretary Leslie Laureano at:
  • Email: laureanol@epcusd401.org
  • Phone: 708-583-6285

Immunizations must be current with the requirements listed below. It is strongly encouraged to make your doctor appointments now if you have not done so already.

All new/transfer students regardless of grade:

• A physical examination and all required immunizations
• Childhood Lead Risk Questionnaire for children ages 6 and under
• The Health History section of the medical form completed and signed by the parent/guardian
• The doctor’s stamp and signature, including phone and fax number
• An eye exam by an eye doctor (for kindergarten and all new students except preschool)

Preschool

• Childhood Lead Risk Questionnaire for children ages 6 and under

• A physical examination and all required immunizations

  • HIB vaccine
  • Pneumococcal vaccine

Kindergarten

• A dental exam within one year of the school year.
• An eye exam by an eye doctor within one year of the school year.

• A physical exam within one year of start of school year with updated immunizations including boosters of:

  • Dtap
  • Polio
  • Second MMR
  • Second varicella

Grade 2

• Dental exam

Please complete, sign, and return the attached Transfer Card. Once received, transfer papers for the new school will be completed and ready for you.

We have a limited number of spaces available for this year's Kindergarten Jumpstart. If you have a student fully registered, including residency verification, to attend John Mills School Kindergarten for the upcoming school year, please click on the link below.

We want to acknowledge and celebrate the career of Mrs. Baron who retired at the end of this school year on June 3rd. We are grateful for her contributions, and we wish her a retirement filled with joy and relaxation.

Information about the program can be found here, including registration and tuition rates.

Program administrator:

Toni Chakchay (708) 609-0339

(708) 583-6289 (business hours only)

JohnMillsBASEC@PicketFenceLearningCenter.com

Our first planning meeting of the summer will be Tuesday, June 24th at 6:30 pm either at Circle Tavern or in the circle. Please look out for a calendar invite from the PTA Member Hub to RSVP to determine the location. If you are not receiving emails from the John Mills PTA, please email the PTA email box JohnMillsElemPTA@gmail.com to be added on future communications, activity notifications, and upcoming events.

While we fell short of our goal of having every grade have 95% or better average daily attendance, we will continue with this goal in 2025-2026. Congratulations first grade on having the best attendance this year.

These students were recognized by their teachers for being CARING:

We recently recognized students and teachers for meeting or exceeding their NWEA MAP growth goals in reading and/or math. And we had a lot to celebrate! Students who met or exceeded their expected growth goal received a certificate of achievement. Teachers sent home student reports last week for your review.

73 kindergarten students met or exceeded their expected growth in reading and/or math.

74 first grade students met or exceeded their expected growth in reading and/or math.

73 second grade students met or exceeded their expected growth in reading and/or math.

84 third grade students met or exceeded their expected growth in reading and/or math.

100 fourth grade students met or exceeded their expected growth in reading and/or math.

72 fifth grade students met or exceeded their expected growth in reading and/or math.

Mark your calendars for important dates for next school year. Please try and plan family activities and events by referencing this document.

It is never too early to get your Trojan Pride gear for the summer and next school year.

Here is the link to the official gear.

The 2025-2026 school year brings administrative changes for John Mills!

Ms. Gomez is transitioning in to the Director for Multilingual and Instructional Supports role here in District 401. Her leadership and daily presence will be missed, but we look forward to her larger role supporting teachers and students.

Mrs. Collins is taking a leadership position in another district. We thank her for her time in 401 and wish her well in her next endeavor.

Mrs. Petrino will assume the role as an Assistant Principal. She will be the Summer School Principal here at John Mills and will be ready to kick off the school year in August!

Phone: 708-452-3560

Email: millsinfo@epcusd401.org

2824 North 76th Avenue, Elmwood Park, IL 60707

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