The Franklin Flyer

Mark Your Calendars:

September 18: Picture Day

September 21: Fall Conference Sign-Up Opens for Parents @ 4:00 pm

September 28: PTA - Back to School Bash 5-7 PM @ Franklin

September 30: Judi McCarthy 5K Memorial Run/Walk 9 AM @ Franklin

October 2: PTA - Room Parent Kick-Off Meeting

October 2-13: PTA - Raise Craze

October 9: No School

October 17: Fall Conference @ 4-8 pm

October 23: Picture Day Retake

October 24: Fall Conference @ 4-8 pm

October 26: Fall Conference @ 4-8 pm

October 28: Trunk or Treat

October 31: Halloween Parties

November 20 - 24: Fall Break - No School

Absences

Please remember to call in or email absences by 8:45 AM. You can call our student absence line (847) 318-4390 (ext 1) is available 24 hours a day, or email Mrs. Linda at lberleth@d64.org.

If the absence is illness related, please also make sure to include Franklin's nurse, Mrs. Queta Karstens, at qkarstens@d64.org.

Franklin Office Hours
School office hours are from 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday.

School Hours

School Hours (M, T, Th, F): 8:50 am - 3:30 pm

Wednesday School Hours: 8:50 am - 2:40 pm

Half-Day Kindergarten Hours

Kindergarten Hours (M, T, Th, F): 8:50 am - 11:35 am

Kindergarten Wednesday: 8:50 am - 11:05 am

You can find frequent updates or snapshots from our days at Franklin on Facebook and Instagram! Follow us at

Facebook: facebook.com/FranklinD64

Instagram: franklin.d64

For the health and safety of our students and community, no pets are allowed on school property. We realize the beautiful weather increases the amount of families who are walking. However, we ask that you please leave your dog or cat at home. Properly identified service animals are always permitted.

This is a friendly reminder that all Camp Duncan forms and payments are due this Monday, September 18th. Should you have any questions, please reach out to your classroom teacher or Ms. Burke. Thank you, and have a wonderful weekend.

Please take a moment to review the contacts section of your ParentPortal. Any adult who has approval for after school pick-up or emergency pick-up for illness/injury should be listed. Franklin staff will not release students to adults who are not listed on the ParentPortal.

Picture Day

Franklin's Picture Day is September 18th. Information on ordering school pictures from Color Portraits can be found below. If you have any further questions please contact Claire at claire@colorportraits.com

We are preparing and looking forward to meeting with you during Parent-Teacher Conferences. Conference dates and times are as follows:

October 17th, 24th, 26th - 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Parent-Teacher Conferences will focus on reviewing your child's current progress, performance, and learning goals for the school year.

To sign up for a conference, you can use the directions linked here. Conference sign up will go live on September 21st at 4:00 pm. An email reminder will be sent to our community on September 20th.

We hope you take advantage of this opportunity to meet with your child's teacher in October. Your involvement in your child's education is very important, and we appreciate your partnership.

Chromebooks

As a reminder, each Franklin student will be issued an iPad (grades K-1) or a Chromebook computer (grades 2-5) as part of the District’s one-to-one digital learning program. Students will receive their devices during the first week of school. Your child will also be assigned a Google account to access Google Apps for Education and other digital resources at school and to explore further concepts introduced in class at home. The devices and their applications are technology tools that provide all students access to digital content and higher levels of individualized instruction.

You can find more information about the 1:1 Initiative, Chromebooks, and the other technologies available to our students here.

Drop-off of Student Items/Lunches

If your student forgets something at home, an adult may drop off items at the Franklin front office. Our front office staff will message the classroom for your student to pick up these items during a break in student instruction. The teacher will send the student to the office when it works best in the classroom schedule.

Visiting Franklin

All visitors to Franklin must have a valid state ID or driver’s license. Identification is entered into the Raptor identification system. This process only takes a short time to complete. Once you have clearance, the office staff will print a visitor pass for you and attach it to a lanyard you must wear throughout the building. The office will hold your ID until you return to the office and return the lanyard. We appreciate your support as we proceed with this district-mandated safety procedure for the safety of our students.

Student-Parent Handbook
Franklin Elementary School and all District 64 schools follow policies and practices reviewed and implemented by the District 64 Board of Education. Please review the D64 Student-Parent Handbook before the start of the school year.

Appreciation Spotlights

Thank you to our Pizza Monday chairs, Lorena Hamzic and Rebecca Van Poucke, for organizing a successful kickoff to one of our biggest fundraisers at Franklin. And thanks to the many volunteers who have signed up to serve pizza. Currently, the Pizza Monday volunteer slots are full, but if you are interested in volunteering, please reach out to us at info@franklinpta.com, and we’ll be happy to make accommodations.

Connect with us on Facebook

Have you joined the PTA Facebook group? It’s a great way to stay informed on upcoming events, connect with other families, and quickly reach members of the PTA team and event chairs with questions. This is a private group for Franklin PTA members, so if you haven’t signed up yet, membership registration is open at franklin store.membershiptoolkit.com.

Back to School Bash

The PTA invites all Franklin students and families to celebrate the 2023-24 school year with our annual Back to School Bash on Thursday, Sep. 28, 5-7 PM. The event will take place in Franklin’s staff parking lot and will include music, an inflatable, food, and fun. We are also looking for volunteers to help make the event a blast for the kids. Please visit the PTA Membership Toolkit to sign up for open roles.

Register or volunteer for the Judi McCarthy 5K Memorial Run/Walk on September 30

Registration is still open for our inaugural 5K at Franklin in honor of a dedicated former Franklin teacher, Judi McCarthy. Franklin students and family members who want to participate in the 5K can register in the PTA Membership Toolkit for $10 per person. The registration deadline for receiving a t-shirt has passed, but you can still sign up to run/walk until the race starts.

Coming soon - Raise Craze!!

We are counting down the days to the start of Raise Craze - our two-week-long kindness marathon and biggest fundraiser of the year. We are grateful to have Deanna Barrett and Alycia White back to co-chair this mega event and need help from everyone at Franklin to make this the biggest and best Raise Craze yet. 45 different volunteer opportunities related to Raise Craze will go live in the PTA Membership Toolkit on Monday, Sep. 18 at 9:30 AM - Please sign up for an open role and reach out to FranklinRaiseCraze@gmail.com with any questions!

5th Grade Opportunity

We are looking for outgoing 5th graders to sing the national anthem before the Judi McCarthy race. To participate, you must be able to be at Franklin at 8:30 AM on SATURDAY 9/30/23, and be able to practice with Ms. Carlson 1-2 times during lunch prior to the event.

Interested 5th grade families can sign up in the Membership Toolkit (the option will only be visible to those who have updated their student information to reflect a current 5th grade student). If chosen, the students’ parents will be notified via email.

Looking to get more involved?