Monday Morning Memo 11/6/23

      

Kudos to Mary Santi for being thoughtful and generous by offering her room to use for reading when available. It really saves time when we take students upstairs. 

 Thank you Mary!  

Joan, Ellen and Joe (The Amazing Lotus Reading Team!)

I want to give a shout out to my planning partners today; Erica, Kim L. and Chris Brown! Putting all our heads together to plan for this big and important shift for our 4th graders was much needed today, and I think we rocked it! Another shout out to my 4th grade team (the Care Bears). Thanks for being patient, supportive and understanding! A special shout out to Erica! Without you this would not be happening for our kiddos, so thank you so so much for all the work you’ve done!

-From Cortnee Snell (Special Education Teacher at Lotus)

Thank you Walter Nickles for helping a student who was a bit distraught about homework club...coming in with such a cheerful attitude and putting his mind at ease.  

-From Karen Lobodzinski (District Speech/Language Pathologist)

Kudos to Maureen D. for lending me four boxes for my new UFlI friends!  I appreciate you!

and

Kudos to Misty M. for showing me how she does UFLI so I can better accommodate one of our students!  You are the best!

-From Kim Leable (EL Teacher at Lotus)

This past Thursday I walked out to see my tire was flat!  Thank you to Leah Falster for helping me look for my spare, jack and pump. Thank you to Mike Fefferman and Scott Donovan for inflating my tire, making sure it was holding air, and continuing to look for my non-existent spare. And thank you to Dan Olson who told me about Depot Tire in Fox Lake who patched the hole to get me home!  

and

A giant THANK YOU to Oner Medrano and Leah Falster  - you are the BEST! Thank you for your dedication, support and consistency with the ILPB program at Stanton!  The students and I would be lost without it 

and

Jeff Sefcik, Rachelle Peters, & Lynn Smolen - thank you so much for your support and care during a difficult time - we truly are a district that puts family first - both personal and work 

-From Karen Skorup (ILP-B Teacher at Stanton)

I would like to thank Yesenia Flory for organizing such a wonderful BPAC Event, Dia de los Muertos, this past weekend.  It was quite a turnout with representatives from Fox Lake, Gavin, and Grant.  

and

Thank you to Lemar Wilson and Gayle McManamon for contributing beautiful artwork created by your students. The alters turn out amazing!

and

A special shout out to all the volunteers that made this event possible from set up, clean up, and running a booth: Mary Marqui-Prondzinski, Gina Crosthwaite, Georgette Franco, Natalie Udstuen, Joseph Fernandez, Hilda Serna, Rachelle Peters, Erin Connolly-Jordt, Lisa Werner, Dina Moczalla, and Kimberly Jacobs-Leable. 

-From Matt Peters (Principal at Lotus) 

Jill Becmer for organizing our Day of Service 2 trip.  The 25 students that qualified to participate and Mr. Lomas (Super Chaperone) had a blast and made an impact on the native plant species at Grant Woods - LCFP!  I heard a student tell another student - "this is really fun and satisfying too"

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qtohbpjoT-gmGP8XpWe6eWbIRFIJjghU?usp=sharing

-From Jeff Sefcik (Principal at Stanton)

To EVERYONE who made the Dia de los Muertos event happen! I'm blown away by the pictures, and I

I hate that I couldn't be there--my oldest had all 4 wisdom teeth out on Friday. YOU ALL ARE

AMAZING!!!!

and

Thank you to both Negotiations teams. Your time, collaboration, and dedication are so truly,

sincerely appreciated.

-From Heather 💓

Please send me your kudos for colleagues each week! I'll happily post them in this section!

Oh, I found another great article!!! This is all about 7 great, quick, EASY ways to Check for Understanding! Check it out when you have time!!!!

Reporting Absences

All employees are expected to enter all absences in Frontline, even if you text/call/email others to let them know you will be out. This is a professional responsibility! 

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Conferences Fall 2023

Stanton	Lotus
November 20--In Person Conferences *Conferences 2:00PM-9:00PM *Instructional support staff and administrative assistants MUST work until 9PM on 11/20and work 8:00AM- 12:00PM on 11/21 to be paid for the 2 full days. *All non-instructional support staff work REGULAR hours	November 20--In Person/Virtual Conferences *Conferences 1:00PM-8:00PM *Instructional support staff and administrative assistants MUST work until 8PM on 11/20and work 8:00AM- 12:00PM on 11/21 to be paid for the 2 full days. *All non-instructional support staff work REGULAR hours
November 21--Virtual Conferences *Conferences 8:00AM-12:00PM *Instructional support staff and administrative assistants MUST work until 9PM on 11/20and work 8:00AM- 12:00PM on 11/21 to be paid for the 2 full days. *All non-instructional support staff work REGULAR hours	November 21--In Person/Virtual Conferences *Conferences 8:00AM-12:00PM *Instructional support staff and administrative assistants MUST work until 8PM on 11/20 and work 8:00AM- 12:00PM on 11/21 to be paid for the 2 full days. *All non-instructional support staff work REGULAR hours

Medicaid Billing

You know who you are...please be sure to document your billable hours. This generates a TON of funding for our Special Education programming!

Culver's Eat Out 2 Help Out Event

 Fox Lake Culver's

Tuesday, November 7th,  5-8pm

Come to Culver's and Mention D114 PTA Event for 10% of all purchases go back to the PTA, that go towards the school and kids. *You may even see your teacher serving you!! :)  

Drive Thru, Carry Out, or Dine In. 

November PTA Meeting

Thursday, Nov 9th at 6:00 pm at Lotus Library

*NEW* Each month when you attend a PTA meeting, your name will be put in a raffle to win a prize!! This month a $10 Gift Card!! 

Parent Teacher Conference Dinners

Monday, Nov 20th-  5-6pm (Donations needed by 4)

*Looking for 1-2 parent volunteers for each school to help organize and manage desserts and help with clean up for dinners. 

*Looking for donations from parents for dessert and drinks. *Can be homemade. Will need gluten free and/or dairy free options as well. 

If you are interested in donating, please contact Crystal at pta@foxlake114.org for more information.

Stanton Book Fair

Monday, Nov 27th-Saturday, Dec 2nd

Before school and during lunch periods on the stage.

*We are looking for parent volunteers. If you can help, please contact Katelyn or Sylvia at pta@foxlake114.org

Santa's Breakfast & Holiday Market

Saturday, December 2nd, 8am-12pm @ Stanton

*We are looking for small business/crafters for our holiday market. If you or anyone you know would be interested, please contact Victoria @ pta@foxlake114.org. 

$6 for Adults, $5 for Children, $3 for each printed photo, $3 for admission (if not eating)

Tickets go on sale online, Monday, Nov 6th.

Thank you to the negotiation team for your time and effort in working towards our new contract. If you did not see, we have reached a tentative agreement!

Mark your calendars- We will be having a union articulation meeting on December 6 to go over the new contract and vote to ratify or to go back to the table. We will meet at Stanton at 2:00.  Bus drivers will be meeting at a separate time to be determined that works with your schedule...stay tuned!

Our next EAFL spirit day will be on Tuesday, November 14th. Wear your EAFL spirit wear and then join us at Lotus for the school board meeting.  

Nominations for IEA RA Delegate are due by November 8. Click on the this link for the nomination form or contact Kendra Logar for more information.

Important Message from Government Relations

Act now! NEA created an action in support of raising the salary threshold and extending FLSA wage and hour protections to teachers. We encourage you to take action before the comment deadline on Nov. 7. Give teachers the same wage protections as other workers

Finally...Membership cards are here!  They will be sorted and distributed this week. If you do not receive them, please contact any of the board members to let them know.

November 10--NO SCHOOL--Veterans Day (Observed)

November 14–Board of Education Meeting at 7:00 PM

November 20 and 21--Conferences

November 22--No School

November 23 and 24--District Closed

Saturday, December 2--Santa's Breakfast & Holiday Market 8am-12pm @ Stanton

NEW---Work Order Request--please use this to ask for help with anything facilities, room, cleaning related!

2023-24 Certified Staff Evaluation Documents 

2023-24 D114 Calendar

Business Office Shared Drive

Second Step Pacing Guide 23-24 

  

(OR GREAT STUFF WE HEARD OR SAW LAST WEEK!)

I was handing out candy at a district 114 house and some 6th grade students came up to me (they are in Kaitlyn Goorsky's room..I never enter that classroom as  the 6th grade students often just come to speech).  They said we miss you at Stanton, you should come back there... I told them I still work there on Mondays and Tuesdays... They asked if I could join them  for community building.  That really filled my bucket!

Thanks, Karen Lobodzinski, for the great story!!!!

Please email me to share your funny stories, moments, and quotes (from kids or adults) so I can include them!!! (Ask permission first, please!) 

🍂🍁🍂 How many can you try???  🍂🍁🍂

I hope you have a really wonderful week! Thank you for all you do for our students!
-Heather 💝