Monday Morning Memo: November 2025

Tip of the Week

Engage using the Friz 5

Let's keep digging in...what's the why on Checks for Understanding?

WHAT:

5--Check for Understanding

WHY:

Research

Our shared thoughts on WHY and options for HOW to implement SEL/"Heart" Targets:

Here's the link shown below...GREAT stuff linked here!

Reflection Questions

What are your "go to" ways to check for understanding?

Think of a recent time where a check for understanding made you change instruction. What change did you make based on the data you observed?

Check it out...5 Ways to Improve Your Checks for Understanding. Loved this!

To everyone who stepped in during Thursday afternoon’s bus incident — thank you. Your calm, teamwork, and quick action kept our students safe and supported.
A huge shout-out to Sonia, Jillian, and Sarah for stepping up and cleaning the gym after the parade — even though no one asked you to. That kind of initiative and teamwork doesn’t go unnoticed. Thank you for always jumping in and doing what’s best for our school community!
To everyone who helped make Reading Night one of our best yet — thank you! Your energy, creativity, and teamwork made the night such a success for our students and families. A special shout-out to Kim V for all the organizing, planning, and behind-the-scenes magic you do to bring it all together. We’re so grateful for you!
A big shout-out to Sonia, Jillian, Colleen, Gayle, and Sarah for working together to problem-solve the 10:30 daily hallway traffic jam so students can transition safely and smoothly. Your proactive thinking and teamwork make such a difference — thank you for always putting student safety first!
Big kudos to everyone who presented and showed up at the board meeting to celebrate our students. Your thoughtful words and presence made it so clear how deeply you care for our kids. Thank you for representing our school with such heart and pride — it truly shone through!
To the entire building — thank you for an incredible Halloween day filled with fun, laughter, and the best parade yet! Your energy, teamwork, and support made the day so special for our students and families. From managing costumes to cheering on the parade, every bit of effort showed — and it made all the difference.

-Erica, Chad, and Matt

Kudos to Cara Creager for rocking student teaching so far! You got this!

Kudos to Oner Medrano for helping during math class. The students love having you in class, even if they think you're Mr. Cardamone , and I appreciate the extra help!

Kudos to Jillian Rejcyzk for the extra laughs in the morning before/during Community Building. It wouldn't be the same without you!

-Jenny Reiff--5th Grade Teacher

Kudos to Jenny Reiff for making our fabulous Jimmy Johns costumes for Halloween! You're the best!

Kudos to the 5th Grade team for being the best of the best, and making everyday great!

Kudos to Renee Evans for having the 5th grade team be a part of the boo gram fun during lunch this week!

-Danielle Donelli--5th Grade Teacher

Kudos to the paras:Mandy for seating two buses of anxious students, Mary F. and Misty for assisting with students on a run I don't normally cover and getting all the children to the correct care providers. For drivers Jeff and Alexis for jumping in to get Stanton students home, equipment restated, and keeping the Thursday afternoon running smoothly under the circumstances.

-Erik Linquist--Bus Driver

Sonia for spearheading our new procedure for 2nd grade lunch

CJ, Erin, Jillian, Sarah, Brooke and Fran for helping make Sonia's plan a reality

Pam for helping keep Sherry and I sane

Misty, Courtney and Mary MP for coming together to make sure a student is supported on the bus.

Misty, Courtney, Ashley, Sherry, Mary MP and Chad for spearheading our 'I can' statements

Kaitlyn May for checking in every morning to see if fwe need anything with our kiddos

-Colleen Robinson--Paraprofessional at Lotus

I want to give a Kudo Call to Kailyn May, she has been in and out of our Prek classroom subbing and has been very helpful and super flexible moving around and want to thank you for being so patient with us

Kudos also to Britney for helping get everything cut and prepared and ready for Halloween Parties on Friday a rockstar shining

-Corinne Corona--Blended PreK Teacher

KUDOS to Mary H, Kaitlyn, and Gina for all their help with all the things!

KUDOS to Mandy for always checking to see if Kinder needs help anywhere at the end of the day when her schedule allows.

KUDUS to all of the admin for their support always and for being on top of everything!

KUDOS to Mary H, Kourtney, and Gina for all their help with all the things!

KUDOS to my team for being my biggest supporters and helping me be successful in kindergarten!

-Adisyn Illg--Kindergarten Teacher 💙

Kudos to Rejczyk! Thanks for always lifting everyone's spirits down here in the basement. Your humor is the best and your jokes make my day.

-Jessica Lieber-5th Grade Teacher

Thank you to Mrs. DeVoss for having a heartfelt conversation with one of my students who was struggling with self worth. Your help was much appreciated!

-Serene Madison--4th Grade Teacher

Kudos to Colleen, Jillian, Sarah, Gayle and CJ for your continued support and problem solving with our traffic jam in the hallway. The flexibility with your time to help keep a safe environment for our kiddos is truly unmatched!

-Sonia Miller--Kitchen Lead at Lotus

Kudos to Nicole Brinkman for working so closely with me to figure out the best plan for my students! Your encouragement, reassurance, and guidance is extremely appreciated.

-Lili Tosado,-3rd Grade Teacher

Kudos to Katy, Kaitlyn, Jessica, Jennifer, Dayja, and Danielle for helping sell Boo-Grams during lunch! I appreciate all of you so much! Kudos to the 7th grade team for an amazing birthday celebration! Thank you so much!

-Renee Evans--7th Grade Math Teacher

Thanks Colleen for the Fall-o-Ween directions shirt!

Thank you Kelly for the cookies :)

Thank you Pam for the football stuffy for Eliana!

Thanks Mr.Russell for changing your schedule to hang out with my little man a few times a day. He loves his Mr. Russell time.

Thank you Erin for taking on a friend to get more social interactions with Kindergarten age peers.

Thanks to everyone who congratulated my brother for his rushing yards accomplishments! He got 2nd place for Running Back of the week! College application are being submitted

Thanks Ashley for sharing your kiddos so we could celebrate and have a pizza party Friday!

Thanks Sammie for brainstorming with me.

Thanks Colleen for changing your schedule again to support our little "crazy crayon" family.

Thanks to all who made the snack cart happen, my students loved to "go to work."

Thanks Alana & Sammie for the fun pumpkin and slime group!

-Sherry Tietjen--Special Education Teacher at Lotus

To...

Kindergarten for inviting me to your Halloween parties!

Jeff Fewell, Sue Pinkawa, Kristie Paul, and everyone on the transportation team for so smoothly navigating an emergency situation last week.

Natalie for being on her A game all the time. You are thriving in your new role and I sooooo appreciate you!

-Heather 💙

Girls Basketball Coach NEEDED!!!!

We are still seeking a coach for Stanton's 7th Grade Girls Basketball team! Please reach out to Jill Becmer, Athletic Director, if you are interested or if you know someone from outside D114 who would be interested and a great fit.

Thanksgiving D114 Family Feast

We're soooo excited to start a new tradition!

Let’s Celebrate Together — Thanksgiving Potluck!

Hi D114,

As we head into the season of gratitude, we’d love to take a moment to celebrate you — our incredible staff — with a Thanksgiving Potluck! This is a chance to relax, share some delicious food, and enjoy each other’s company.

Date: Wednesday, November 19th
Time: Lotus @ 1:30 & Stanton @ 2:00
Location: Your School's Cafeteria

We’ve set up a sign-up sheet to help organize the dishes. Please take a moment to add your team to a food item. No need to worry about serving utensils — we’ve got that covered!

*This food item can be homemade by team members, store bought, catered (team split cost), etc.

Lotus Sign Up

Stanton and Transportation Sign Up

Let’s make this a fun and festive meal full of great food, laughter, and gratitude. Thank you all for everything you do — we couldn’t ask for a better team!

THANK YOU to our Kitchen and Spirit teams for putting this plan together!

Donate Your Candy!!!!

Don't want that extra Halloween candy! We have two ways to donate!

Lotus

We're collaborating with Conlon Thompson Orthodontics again this year to collect candy donations!
Have your Lotus students bring leftover Halloween Candy to "feed" to our candy monster!
The PTA will receive $1 for every pound of candy collected.
The candy will be used in care packages for the troops!

Stanton

Stanton Student Council Food Drive

The Stanton School Food Drive will run until November 21. We will be collecting non-perishable items that will then be donated to the Grant Township Food Pantry.

There will be four boxes in the cafeteria each morning. Students will put their donation in their GRADE LEVEL box. Student Council members or Renee will be out there to give them raffle tickets, one per item. It would be very helpful if they know how many items they have, but we can count with them. If it happens that no one is out there, they can just come see me Renee at another time that works!

They should put their first and last name on their ticket and put them in the container that will be on the stage. This does not have to be done right when they get them. If they don’t fill them out and put them in there, though, they will not be eligible for the raffles.

The Community Building class with the most items brought in will receive popcorn and candy brought to their class during flex the week before winter break.

PIE in the EYE raffle: ALL tickets for ALL grades will then be dumped into one box for the PIE in the EYE event the day before Winter Break! We will need staff volunteers for this event! 500 donations gets Mr. Cardamone on stage to be pied, and then we add one staff member for each additional 100 items. Sign up sheet will be in the lounge for any volunteers willing to participate.

Student Council members will count and box up the items as the baskets fill up. We will make announcements along the way to let everyone know who’s in the lead!

The baskets will not often be unsupervised, but we will let them know that plenty of cameras face that area in the cafeteria, so there should be no moving of items from one cart to another!

REPEAT INFO

Referral GPS--Reminder!
We are committed to creating a culture of well-being of students, staff,
parents, and community. In an effort to continuously support this
commitment, the district has entered an agreement with ReferralGPS.
ReferralGPS is a web-based service focused on assisting our students,
staff, and community in finding local mental-health and substance use
related treatment. The service compliments the districts existing
systems of support as a tool for student service teams and families to
connect with treatment. Along with a searchable database of treatment
options, ReferralGPS provides Care Navigation to assist families in
triage, appointment setting, and follow up care.
School families may access ReferralGPS in two ways:
1) Contact Student Services (social workers, psychologists,
counselors) to seek out treatment options.
2) Visit this link at https://referralgps.com/find-help/D114 to
search for treatment resources or connect with a Care
Navigator anonymously.

ReferralGPS takes into account all types of private and public insurance
including PPO, HMO, Medicaid, Medicare, and families who are
uninsured or underinsured. The platform also filters by age, gender, zip
code, and special requests.
ReferralGPS is available for use by district students, staff, and families at
no cost. All information entered on the ReferralGPS tool is completely
confidential and securely stored.
If you are interested in seeking counseling-related services at this time,
please consider visiting https://referralgps.com/find-help/D114 or
reaching out to the Student Services team.

Field Trips

If you are planning for a field trip, please remember:

All field trip requests must be submitted to the principal no later than the 15th of the previous month of your trip.

Example: Trip is in March, Form must be in by February 15th. This allows time for approval and our drivers to select trips.

1. Complete the Field Trip Request Form.

2. Submit the form to your Principal for approval.

2. Principals, if approved, submit to NATALIE UDSTUEN to arrange transportation.

Work Orders

When you have something you need the Facilities Team to handle for you, please complete a Work Request. Be sure to include the LOCATION in the "summary" field.

Absence Reporting

Please refer to this document for all things absence reporting. Please send any questions to Maddie Mercado or me.

THANKS!

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.

Check out this flyer for the IEA's 4th Annual Fall Fest on November 15!

Stay informed by reading the Region 49 Newsletter

Other opportunities to check out:

Fall Teaching & Learning Collectives - Virtual Book Study Registration is OPEN!

September 28 - November 22 | up to 26 PD Hours Register HERE

Choose a book and settle in for the fall session of IEA’s virtual book studies. With 5 titles across Collective themes of Student Wellness, Justice and Equity, Instructional Strategies, and Educator Wellness - there is a book for everyone!

All IEA members are invited to participate: Virtual Book Study

Questions? Contact Jenny Seitz.

Aspiring Educators & Early Career Fall Events - Registration Now Open!

Please help spread the word and encourage members to attend these upcoming events:

Early Career Fall Blitz/Aspiring Educators Fall Retreat

AND...don't forget

See what your membership has to offer! Go to ieanea.org to see all of the happenings and most up to date information on union matters. Go to ieanea.org/benefits/ to explore discounts and deals that are offered to you with your membership.

Good morning, District 114!

Happy first week of November!! We hope everyone had a Happy Halloween and a wonderful weekend (and enjoyed an extra hour of sleep yesterday)!

Here's what we have coming up this month:
Candy Donations at Lotus
We're collaborating with Conlon Thompson Orthodontics again this year to collect candy donations!
Have your Lotus students bring leftover Halloween Candy to "feed" to our candy monster!

The PTA will receive $1 for every pound of candy collected.
The candy will be used in care packages for the troops!
November PTA Meeting
Monday, November 10th, 6:00 pm to ~7:00 pm
Lotus Library or Google Meet here!
November Eat Out to Help Out
Panera Bread in McHenry (1850 North Richmond Rd.)
Thursday, November 13th, ALL DAY
20% of receipts will go to the PTA!
Show the attached flyer or use this code for online orders: FUND4U
Parent-Teacher Conference Dinners
Monday, November 24th
El Puerto's will be catering for us again this year!
We're looking for dessert and drink donations and a couple of volunteers to help set up and clean up. Sign up here!
Donations should be dropped off at either school office by 4:30 pm on November 24th.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Stanton Book Fair
Monday, December 1st - Saturday, December 6th
Sign-up info forthcoming
Santa's Breakfast & Holiday Market
Saturday, December 6th, 8:00 am to 12:00 pm
More info forthcoming!
Interested in being a vendor at the Holiday Market? Email us at PTA@foxlake114.org
We're still seeking nominations for secretary of the PTA. If you're interested in self-nominating or have questions about the position, please email us at PTA@foxlake114.org. We're hoping to vote in the next fabulous member of the board at our next meeting on November 10th!

Help us reach our goal of 90+ members this school year! We currently have 79 members, including 39 teachers and staff, and 40 parents/guardians. Thank you to Karen Brnot for signing up last week!!! Welcome!

Here's what you need to know:
Dues are $10 for the whole year! That's less than a dollar a month!
You'll receive a District 114 PTA Calendar featuring student artwork (calendars were sent home last week check those backpacks!)
Join here today!
Join the PTA and help enrich your child's educational experience this year!
Make sure to join our Facebook Group Page!

We hope to see you at our next meeting on Monday, November 10th, at 6:00 pm at Lotus. You can also join the meeting virtually on Google Meet here!

Have a great week!
Your PTA Board