Fremont Focus

Dear Fremont Staff, Parents, & Community,

Our community's responsibility to safeguard our children is one of great importance. Collaboratively, school leaders and law enforcement design thorough and thoughtful plans to both prevent and respond to emergencies. We have worked diligently over the years to enact advanced security measures, while continually making adjustments to our crisis plans, incorporating the most up-to-date practices.

FSD79 utilizes the “ALICE” protocol to enhance preparedness in the event of a crisis situation. Under ALICE, students and staff are empowered to take the steps necessary to increase safety. ALICE means:

A = Alert: Staff is notified that a threat is present, and that defensive action is to be taken;

L = Lockdown: As a first defense, students are ushered out of sight and protected behind locked doors;

I = Inform: Staff is notified of the nature and location of the threat to build situational awareness;

C = Counter: As a last resort, staff and students may work to either physically avoid or engage the threat; and

E = Evacuate: As a preferred action, staff and students will move rapidly away from the threat.

This school year, we will continue to train students and staff in the ALICE protocol inclusive of the following exercises:

• During the week of September 26, the Elementary, Intermediate, and Middle Schools are scheduled to hold a “rally point” exercise, where children will be evacuated from their buildings, and directed toward safe, pre-designated assembly sites.

• During the week of October 24, the Elementary, Intermediate, and Middle Schools are scheduled to hold an intruder drill, where both staff and students will be expected to apply ALICE procedures.

These exercises are a collaboration between the school district and Lake County Sheriff's Office. We also work closely with the Countryside Fire Protection District. Throughout the process, we remain focused on ensuring developmentally appropriate practices are in place for our students. Our goal is to reinforce preparedness and empower our staff and students in the event of a crisis situation. If you have any specific questions, please contact your child’s principal. Thank you for your continued collaboration in ensuring safety within our schools.

Sincerely,

Dr. Trisha Kocanda

Superintendent of Schools

Lt. Michael Keller

Lake County Sheriff’s Office

• September 21 - PTO Meeting, 6 p.m. (Middle School DEN)
• September 21 - Parent Focus Group (RSVP), 7:30 p.m. (Middle School DEN)
• September 22 - Lincoln Early Learning Center Curriculum Night, 6:30 p.m.
• September 26 - Board of Education Meeting, 7 p.m. (Middle School DEN)
• September 27 - Parent Focus Group (RSVP), 9:15 a.m. (Intermediate School)
• September 30 - School Improvement Planning Day (Half-Day Schedule; no PM Kindergarten; no school for Pre-K/Early Childhood)
• September 30 - Pre-K/Early Childhood Parent Involvement, 10 a.m. (Lincoln Early Learning Center)
• October 5 - Yom Kippur - No School
• October 10 - Columbus Day - No School

Parents, we invite you to join us in shaping the future of Fremont School District 79. Our new Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Trisha Kocanda, is hosting a series of upcoming parent focus groups over the next two months. Participants will be asked to reflect and share ideas to inform the District’s next Strategic Plan. Make plans to join us for one of these upcoming opportunities:

Wednesday, Sept. 21 – 7:30-8:15 p.m., Fremont Middle School DEN (following PTO meeting)

Tuesday, Sept. 27 – 9:15-10:00 a.m., Fremont Intermediate School

Tuesday, Oct. 11 – 7:00-8:00 p.m., Fremont Middle School DEN

Wednesday, Oct. 26 – 7:00-8:00 p.m., Fremont Middle School DEN (Spanish interpretation services provided)

Childcare for individuals ages 3+ will be provided for the two October dates by Fremont Middle School students.

To RSVP, please visit: https://forms.gle/XUmqegmnYwPzsGoCA

Padres, los invitamos a unirse a nosotros para dar forma al futuro del Distrito Escolar 79 de Fremont. Nuestra nueva Superintendente de Escuelas, la Dra. Trisha Kocanda, organizará una serie de próximos grupos de enfoque para padres durante los próximos dos meses. Se les pedirá a los participantes que reflexionen y compartan ideas para informar el próximo Plan Estratégico del Distrito. Haga planes para unirse a nosotros en una de estas próximas oportunidades:

Miércoles, 21 de septiembre – 7:30-8:15 p.m., Fremont Middle School DEN (después de la reunión del PTO)

Martes, 27 de septiembre – 9:15-10:00 a.m., Escuela Intermedia Fremont

Martes, 11 de octubre – 7:00-8:00 p.m., Fremont Middle School DEN

Miércoles, 26 de octubre – 7:00-8:00 p.m., Fremont Middle School DEN (servicios de interpretación en español proporcionados)

Los estudiantes de Fremont Middle School proporcionarán cuidado de niños para personas mayores de 3 años durante las dos fechas de octubre.

Para confirmar su asistencia, visite: https://forms.gle/XUmqegmnYwPzsGoCA

The next meeting of the FSD79 Board of Education will be held Monday, September 26 at 7 p.m. at the Fremont Middle School DEN. This meeting will include the following presentations:

• District 2022-23 Communications Plan

• FY23 Budget Hearing

Recaps of previous Board meetings can be found here. The Board meeting agenda and materials can be accessed here. Board materials are available by noon on September 26.

Fremont School District 79 began implementing standards-based grading with mathematics during the 2019-2020 academic year, followed by English language arts in 2021-2022. This year, all of our remaining subject areas are coming on board, resulting in full district implementation. This means you will now see a cleaner report card and a consistent reporting method, with the ultimate goal of more meaningful and specific feedback regarding student learning.

To read more about standards-based grading at FSD79, please click here.

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 p.m. Our next meeting is on September 21. Here is the list of all meeting dates for the 2022-2023 school year.
• Jimano's Pizza Fundraiser Tuesday, October 11! More information to follow.
• And our Holiday Boutique is back on Saturday, November 12. More information to follow.

PANERA FUNDRAISING NIGHT: Support Fremont PTO by ordering from Panera in Mundelein anytime Tuesday, September 27! Show them our flyer, and 20% of the proceeds from your order will be donated to the PTO.

HALLOWEEN CLASS PARTY HOST SIGN UP

Sign up now to volunteer to be a Party Host at the Halloween class parties! Halloween parties will be held on Monday, October 31. Party times are as follows: K AM 10:45 - 11:30 a.m., K PM & Grades 1-5 2:00 - 2:45 p.m., Lincoln AM 10:45 - 11:30 a.m., Lincoln PM 2:45 - 3:30 p.m. Each class party is designated 3 Party Hosts. If more than 3 parents sign up for a classroom party, volunteers will be chosen at random. Please note: All remaining parents who have not been assigned to host a party will not be invited to attend the party.

The sign up will close on September 30. Volunteers that are chosen to be party hosts for the Halloween parties will be notified on October 5.

TRUNK OR TREAT: Our Trunk or Treat is Saturday, October 22, from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. See the flyer for more info!

YEARBOOK INFO: Order your student's 2022-2023 yearbook before September 30 and get 10% off. Use the correct school code from our flyer when you order!

PTO MEMBERSHIP/ONLINE DIRECTORY FOR 2022-2023 SCHOOL YEAR

If you already have an account in Membership Toolkit, thank you for creating and/or updating your Membership Toolkit account last year. All accounts have been rolled over for the 2022-2023 school year but you do need to update/confirm your account information to activate your account. If you do not update/confirm your family information and directory preferences by November 1st, your account will be removed from Membership Toolkit.

If you don't have an account in Membership Toolkit, set it up now for free! Once you have created an account in Membership Toolkit your child will appear in the online directory immediately (that's if you choose to do so). To create an account, go to fsd79.membershiptoolkit.com and follow the directions in the attached form (Online Student Directory Set Up Instructions 2022-2023).

To gain access to Online Student Directory your account must be active and you must pay the $15 PTO Membership Fee per family. If you paid your PTO Membership fee thru your TeacherEase account before June 30, your payment has been confirmed and you currently have access to the Online Student Directory. If you didn’t pay your PTO Membership Fee before June 30th, you can pay the $15 PTO Membership fee thru Venmo @Fremont-PTO; or by bringing or sending the attached form below with your cash payment or check made payable to Fremont PTO to any school front office. The option to pay the PTO Membership Fee thru your TeacherEase account is no longer available. Once we receive confirmation of your payment we will give you access to the online directory. Please note it may take up to one week to be granted access to the online directory.

Don't forget to download the FREE Membership Toolkit app to your smartphone-search "Membership Toolkit" in your app store.

Mrs. Liston’s fifth-graders learned about chalk artist David Zinn during their first Art Awareness session of the year. The students then went outside and had fun using their imaginations to create masterpieces on the sidewalk.

The school lunch menus for the month of October are now available. To view the menus, please click 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:

• Lake County STEM for Girls

• Sage Leadership Academy - Girl Power Workshop

• Right at School - Fall Electives

• Stevenson HS Math Carnival

• Vaping - Community Education Workshop

• Water Polo Youth Camp

• Free Boys Tennis Lesson

• Brookfield Zoo

The next edition of the Fremont Focus will be distributed on Wednesday, October 5. 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