Fremont Middle School

August 9, 2024

A Message From the Principal

Elyssa's Mission

Good afternoon,

The adolescent years are marked by a roller-coaster ride of emotions – difficult for students, their parents, and educators. It is easy to misread depression as normal adolescent turmoil; however, depression (among the most common of mental illnesses) appears to be occurring at a much earlier age. Depression – which is treatable – is a leading risk factor for suicide. In addition, self-injury has become a growing problem among youth.

To proactively address these issues, Fremont Middle School, is offering depression awareness and suicide prevention training as part of the SOS Signs of Suicide Prevention Program. The program aims to increase help seeking by students concerned about themselves or a friend. SOS is listed on the SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices and in a randomized control study, the SOS High School Program showed a reduction in self-reported suicide attempts by 40-64% (BMC Public Health, July 2007).

Our goals in participating in this program are straightforward:

To help our students understand that depression is a treatable illness
To explain that suicide is a preventable tragedy that often occurs as a result of untreated depression
To provide students training in how to identify serious depression and potential suicidality in themselves or a friend
To impress upon youth that they can help themselves or a friend by taking the simple step of talking to a responsible adult about their concerns
To help students know whom in the school they can turn to for help, if they need it

This program will be presented to all students by grade level on the following dates:

6th Grade: November 4th

7th Grade: November 19th

8th Grade: November 12th

The SOS program is brought to us by Elyssa’s Mission, a nonprofit organization dedicated to suicide prevention. Elyssa’s Mission is the only organization in the state of Illinois to fund, distribute and implement SOS. To get more information on suicide prevention, visit their website at www.elyssasmission.org. Make sure and view their online Parent Presentation at http://elyssasmission.org/suicide-prevention-training/ for specific information on warning signs and how to keep your child safe.

As part of the program, facilitators will show the SOS video and subsequently lead students in discussion. Students will then complete a brief depression screener as well as fill out a response card indicating whether or not they would like to speak to an adult about themselves or a friend. The depression screening tool addresses thoughts and feelings which a parent may be unaware their child is having. This tool does not provide a diagnosis of depression, but rather alerts school staff to those students requiring further investigation. Students will also complete a response card indicating whether or not they would like to speak to an adult at the school about themselves or a friend. School mental health staff or a qualified community mental health partner will be available to meet with designated students; school staff will subsequently notify parents/guardians regarding any needed next steps.

If you have any questions and/or do NOT want your child to participate in the SOS program, please contact Emily Loerakker at eloerakker@fsd79.org prior to the program date. If we do not hear from you, we will assume your child has permission to participate in this program.

This week we partnered with the Lake County Sheriffs Office to conduct the ALICE drill. Students and staff did an excellent job of following safety procedures.

Morning Announcements for October 28-November 1st

Emily Loerakker

Fremont MS Principal

Student Council - Treats for Troops

HallowSteam at Mundelein High School

Mundelein High School will be hosting our annual HallowSteam event at the high school from 6-8pm on Tuesday October 29th. The event is targeted at all pre-high school ages and is a great opportunity for students and their families to come and do some really fun and educational Halloween themed STEAM related activities at the high school.

Stevenson HS - Dance Consortium

All Stevenson High School-bound 8th graders are invited to attend the Consortium Dance Field Trip to Stevenson High School on Thursday, December 5th from 9:30 - 11:30 am. Fremont will provide transportation to and from the event, along with a teacher chaperone. This is a great opportunity to visit SHS prior to the start of the school year and explore what dance is all about.

Parents/guardians: Please complete this permission slip for your student to attend. Permission slips are due by November 1st. To find out more about SHS Dance, please click this link.

Veteran's Day

We are excited to have a great guest speaker, student speakers, and some wonderful music. All Veterans are invited to attend the assembly on Friday, November 8th from 8:30 - 9:30 am. Please email eloerakker@fsd79.org if you'd like to attend.

Early Pick-Up Procedures

If your student needs to be picked up early, please notify our main office at 847-566-9384 or send an email to the receptionist, Karolina O'Malley, at komalley@fsd79.org. A parent/guardian or designated person must present identification to pick a student up early. Please note that the latest pickup time is 2:00 PM on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and 1:30 PM on Wednesday. Parents cannot park in handicapped parking spots near the gym as it interferes with bus pick up.

Absences

If your child will be absent from school because of illness, doctors appointments, vacation, or for any other reason, please call 847-566-9384 and select option 2 to report it to the school office by 8:00 a.m. the day of the absence. Keeping track of all the students on a daily basis is a huge task, and we greatly appreciate prompt notification of any absence.

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 November 20th.

Childcare services for children ages 3+ will be provided at ALL of our upcoming PTO meetings. Please use the form below to let us know if you will be bringing a child to the meeting. It is not required to RSVP; however, we ask that you please do so if you plan to take advantage of childcare. Care will be provided by Fremont Middle School students for individuals ages 3 and up.

RSVP Form for childcare: https://forms.gle/ceerdTKn7Pa51mVt7

Here is the list of all meeting dates for the 2024-2025 school year.

To stay in the know of what Fremont PTO is up to, follow and tag us on social media:

Instagram: @fremontpto

Facebook: Fremont PTO

HAPPY LITTLE FLAME CANDLE FUNDRAISER

We are excited to be partnering up with Happy Little Flame again this year with clean, non-toxic candles! Perfect for gifting or filling your home with delicious scents around the holidays or just because!

The fundraiser goes through November 6th, with an in-hand date of 11/20. Sniffer scents are at the Elementary building NOW until 11/6. See the flyer for more info!

CHARLESTON WRAP FUNDRAISER

Only one week remains for our Charleston Wrap fundraiser! Be sure to place your online orders before time runs out! Please see the attached flyer with detailed instructions about how you can start registering online and support our goals.

TRUNK OR TREAT

Our Trunk or Treat event is tomorrow, Saturday, October 26th from 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

There will be trunk or treating, Duck Donuts, and Julio’s Tacos selling delicious munchies, Raffle baskets to win and, like always, voting for the best trunk!! Raffle tickets will be available for purchase. Cash or Venmo only!

Raffle ticket prices: $2 for 1, $5 for 3, $10 for 6, $20 for 12!

Bring a donation to Antioch’s traveling closet from the approved list from our flyer and receive 1 free raffle ticket per item (up to 2 free raffle tickets per family).

SHOP. SCAN. EARN DOUBLE!

Forget the scissors - Box Tops for Education has gone digital! Simply download the Box Tops for Education app (see www.boxtops4education.com for more info), select Fremont School District 79 (in Mundelein, IL) as your beneficiary, and you're all set! For a limited time earn DOUBLE bonus points, by entering the code H02P2R0D when you register. Then simply scan your receipts after shopping, and watch the points (and $$) add up for our schools!

UPCOMING DINE-IN NIGHTS

Thank you everyone for coming to support us at Buona. Our next fundraiser is scheduled for November 12th at Mod Pizza (701 N Milwaukee Ave, Unit 364 Vernon Hills). It’s an all day event, from 6 am to 10 pm, so there’s plenty of time to stop in! We have a full year of dine-in nights ahead – check out the list here!

ORDER YOUR YEARBOOK NOW - 10% DISCOUNT

Order your student's 2024-2025 yearbook by October 31st and get 10% off. Use the correct school code from our flyer when you order!

PTO MEMBERSHIP/ONLINE DIRECTORY FOR 2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR

If you already have an account in Membership Toolkit, thank you for creating and/or updating your Membership Toolkit account last year.

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 2024-2025).

To gain access to the Online Student Directory your account must be active and you must pay the $15 PTO Membership Family Fee. If you paid your PTO Membership fee through your TeacherEase account before June 15th, your payment has been confirmed and you currently have access to the Online Student Directory. If you didn’t pay your PTO Membership Family Fee before June 15th, you can pay the $15 PTO Membership Family fee thru Venmo @Fremont-PTO; or by bringing or sending the attached form 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.

BIRTHDAY BOARD

Celebrate your Fremont Student's special day! "Happy Birthday, Your Child's Name" can appear on the Fremont Electronic Message Board. Just complete the Birthday Board Request Google Form 2024-2025; or complete the birthday board form and send it back to any school front office with your $5 payment per birthday message. If you have any questions, please contact Christie Johnson at cjohnson@fsd79.org.