Monday Morning Memo: Monday Morning Memo August 4, 2025

Welcome to the Monday Morning Memo! Let's take a tour so you know what will be here each and every week of the school year!

In this section, I'll share a weekly tip on how to say LET ME when working with our students and each other to bring out the BEST together. It will make LOTS more sense after Opening Day on August 14!

This is the KUDOS section. We use this to celebrate each other. I copy exactly what you send me and put in here. I'd ask that you send any kudos by 4PM on Friday so I can get them...and also have a weekend myself. 😀

Here are a few to get us started for 25-26...

Big thanks to Cary Scarpino for graciously hosting our summer-break Letrs study group.

Thanks to the Letrs study group (Abbey, Cary, Donna and Maureen) for the motivation, engagement, thoughtful conversations and humor. You ladies are amazing!

Nicole Mild--Kindergarten Teacher

HUGE kudos to the front line and behind the scenes team that make Stanton work!

Michele

Jill

Norm

Carrie

Sue

Matt

Not only are they there for all of our students and staff during the year, what they accomplish during the summer to get this whole production ready to go does

NOT go unnoticed and is so appreciated!

and

Big shout out to the entire Stanton Summer School team! Your care and time for our students during the summer is amazing and we are all so grateful! Best of the Best!

and

Our Stanton Social Studies team attended the PLC conference together in order to continue the work of being better for students and co-workers every day! Way to go; Jenny, Walter, Niall, Kaitlyn, and Matt!

and

Team Lotus:

Matt

Erica

Chad

You all rock and it’s a joy to learn from and partner with all of you every day! Bringing two schools together to model and exemplify the same core beliefs for students takes collaboration and care. I have seen that firsthand from all of you this summer and know that we can all do amazing things together for the entire 114 community!

Tom Cardamone--Stanton Principal

Thanks to everyone who sat in on interviews these past few months. It was great to work through the process with you. We appreciate you helping to find the right people to move Stanton forward into this new era! We are excited to have this opportunity to lead and learn along with you this year!

Tom Cardamone and Matt Shannon--Stanton Administrators

To every single person who made Summer School happen! What a team effort! I saw such joy, collaboration, and LEARNING! You all made my heart so happy

and

To the D114 Administrative Team...holy moly! Do I LOVE working with you? It's a joy to see us all come together, through all the changes, to be even better and stronger. You make me better and I am so lucky to get to work with you!
Heather

Please send me your kudos for colleagues each week by Friday at 4PM! I'll happily post them in this section!

In this section, you'll always find the latest news you can use! It's updated weekly with the newest information at the top!

Welcome to 25-26!

You'll find this letter and the working copy of Welcome Back schedule in your home mailbox later this week, but in case you want to peek ahead...and YES, I DO have the read aloud for the year already selected!

Transportation Updates

We are currently in the middle of setting up even better Transportation plans for 25-26. We are sad that Andrea DeMatteo is leaving D114 (but happy she's heading to a new opportunity as an Accountant for the Village of Arlington Heights) and are working hard to find a spot and supports to help us run our fleet. We'll need flexibility from EVERYONE on this, but I'm very confident that--like always--we will find a solution!

Classroom Set Up Guidelines

Please check out this document for stuff that CANNOT be in your classrooms. It's our hope that having this information now will help you with set up. These come directly from our Compliance Checklist from the Regional Office...and they are things that we get dinged on in the site visit that happens early each Fall. Thanks in advance, and please direct any questions to Natalie Udstuen, Director of Business Services.

Injury Reporting

If you are injured on the job, you MUST IMMEDIATELY do the following:

1. Report this injury to an administrator.

2. Report the injury to Company Nurse.

Thanks in advance!

Remember the Employee Assistance Program!

The EAP is typically a great place to start when you need care and aren’t sure what support you or a family member might be needing. They can guide you to specific care and even set up the appointment for you. Take advantage of this confidential and supportive service to address any

personal or work-related challenges you may be facing by calling Perspectives at 800.456.6327.

In this section, you'll find updates from our AWESOME association, the EAFL!

This section will highlight key upcoming dates...I'll get us started here!

August 11 and 12--New Staff Welcome

August 13--

AM--5th Grade Orientation at Stanton

PM--Special Education Collaboration Time 11:30-4:00 at Stanton

August 14--All Staff First Day!!!!

August 15--Building Based Time

August 18--Work Day/Meet and Greet

August 19--FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL K-8!

See Opening Schedule lInked here

Curriculum Nights

In this section, you'll find helpful links to documents you'll need. You'll also have access to building Toolkits that will help you find links to what you need.