Monday Morning Memo: Monday Morning Memo 4/27/26--4 More to Go!

Tip of the Week

Every Student, Every Day

So, I came across an amazing series of infographics...I love them, so I thought I'd share with you! 💙

Kudos to Russ for coming to Stanton Saturday evening to help disarm and lock the school security system. Thank you, Tom for your part and helping as well. I can promise Niall and I will never be left responsible to do that ever again!

-Jessica Lieber--5th Grade Teacher and Track Coach

Kudos to Colleen for being near my room at the perfect time and helping me take a student to the nurse AND help me clean up the mess so I could finish the lesson! You’re always at the right place at the right time!

Kudos to Nicole Brinkman for giving me affirmation and laughs that I didn’t know I was asking for or needed.

Kudos to my team for always being willing to help!

-Sami Lear--Kindergarten Teacher

Kudos to Regina,NEW 5th grade case manager... You handled a parent meeting like a seasoned PRO! The parent recognized all that you are doing for their child! You were calm and ready to share all the great things the student is doing in class. Great job building rapport with this family!

We are so thankful to have you as part of the D114 family.

-Lynn Smolen-Student Support Coordinator

Kudos to Gina C. for always being such a supportive hand in my room in the mornings with math! Your insight is appreciated by my class and I and we love having you with us! Always able to start my day off right with a good laugh shared in my room!

-Lili Tosado--3rd Grade Teacher

Thank you Joe for getting my sunglasses off the floor when I didn't have a 3rd hand!

Thank you Ms.May for covering so I could get a lunch break!

Michelle, thank you for extending dip day to fit my likes. I am so grateful you thought of me! It was delicious!

Thank you Ms.Arff for collaborating with me for the Earth day and planning for the end of the year.

Thank you Mary MP for going to the 4th grade concert to support our kiddos.

Colleen thank you for always being willing to support our kiddos in and out of the classroom.

-Sherry Tietjen--Special Education Teacher at Lotus

A HUGE Kudos to our 8th Grade Team (Dan, Walter, Cindy, Jossie, Hailey) as well as Jack R., Sam Mock and Mr. Mark for the great care and planning that as put into place to make the 8th Grade Student visit to GCHS on Thursday such a success! The students were AMAZING!

-Tom Cardamone--Principal at Stanton

Thank you Sonia for going out of your way to help us gather and clean milk cartons for 3rd grade to use for Day of Service!

Thank you to Kelly Roland and Abbey Kadera for both doing so much for our newer EL student who needs extra support.

-Emily Reczek--3rd Grade Teacher

Samantha Mock: You are one of the kindest people I have ever met. I am so happy you were my DOS partner! Stanton is lucky to have you!

Pre K, First Grade, and Fourth Grade teams: Thank you so much for hosting Stanton seventh and eighth graders for DOS, the girls absolutely loved it and could not stop smiling and talking about how much fun they had when we got back on the bus.

Hailey Decker: Thank you for being my roomie this year. I appreciate our conversations and I truly appreciate you.

Niccole Culbertson: Thank you for always providing a good laugh and all of your support this year.

Karen Brnot: Thank you for being you. I am so grateful to work with you and I can’t believe it is our tenth year together!

Renee Evans: Thank you for your support for all students. You are kind, and caring and it shows.

Nial Schoenfelder: Thank you for always chatting with me about all things history. It’s hard to find people that want to talk about that stuff lol, so I appreciate our conversations.

Bryan Bailey: Thank you for all the laughs and good music in the morning.

Kim Husko: Thank you for always supporting kids and for all the support you have provided me!

Dan Miller: Thank you for being my community building partner with Karen. I appreciate our conversations.

Matt Shannon: Thank you for all your support this year. I truly appreciate it more than you know!

Kayti Hoepner: Thank you for lending my ELA class paint to paint our ceiling tile! We truly appreciate it!

-Cathy Jawnyj--Special Education Teacher at Stanton

Jen - We are so lucky to have you. Many thanks for all you do and your ability to just jump right in with a smile. You sure got your steps in delivering all those secret co worker treats for everyone :)

-Kim VanHoorelbeke--Library Paraprofessional at Lotus

Kudos to All of Stanton Staff or a GREAT Day of Service!

Kudos to Tom, Matt, and Lynn for holding down the fort year round!

Kudos to Karen Skorup for all of the AMAZING work you do! You are a rockstar!!

Kudos to the 5th Grade Team for always looking out for each other and being there for eachother! Love you guys!

-Danielle Donelli--5th Grade Teacher

Thank you to...

Michelle Magness for giving me Tier 3 support when attempting to accurately get 3 PreKs to parent pick up on Friday! 😂 There's a reason I never asked (or was asked) to teach PreK! God bless the PreK team!!!!

To Natalie, Maddie, and Kristie for covering all the things so I could be with my mom for most of the end of the week. 💙

-From Heather

DID YOU KNOW?

Friday, May 1 is National School Lunch Heroes Day? It's the PERFECT day to say THANK YOU to our amazing Kitchen Teams!

Facts:

This school year so far, our Kitchen Teams have prepared

Breakfast- 45,493 breakfasts

Lunch- 63,790 lunches

for a total of...

109,283 MEALS SERVED!!!!!

FUN RUN!!!!

We're so excited to host another fun filled, fitness forward, Fox Lake friendly, FREE fun run!!!

Want to volunteer to show your D114 pride?!?!?! CLICK HERE!

Watch your email this week for info about 2026-27...

*Insurance rates

*Supply Money

*Budget requests

Coursework Hours!!!

Please remember that any and all coursework reimbursement requests or lane changes for 26-27 MUST be submitted by June 30!

Summer School

I'll have class assignments for summer school ready early this week...sorry for the delay!😔

Summer Curriculum Work

Hello!!! Just reminding you that it's that time of year...when I ask for your ideas and proposals for summer curriculum work! THANK YOU to the teams who have already sent in ideas! WOW....amazing!!!!!

Here's WHAT:

Summer Curriculum Writing:

What do YOU want to work on this summer?

Example Projects:

*15 Day Challenge Planning

*Getting ready for Bridges launch

*SST Planning

*Fencepost work, including 3-2-1 unit designs and 15 day challenge plans

*Stuff YOU want to work on!

Here's How:

Email Heather:

Name(s)
Purpose of the work/intended outcomes
Proposed number of hours
Proposed schedule and plan for work

Notes:

Work must be completed onsite.

Artifacts of the work must be shared with Heather.

Timesheets must be completed, and pay rate is the curriculum rate/hour.

Looking forward to seeing your great ideas! Please send any questions my way!

Employee Assistance Program Updates

Our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) partner, AllOne Health, has launched a new Member Portal.

The updated portal is easier to use and aligned with the AllOne Health App, making it simple to access counseling, mental health resources, and well-being support.

What’s new:

A refreshed, user-friendly portal
Easier access to EAP and well-being services
One login for both the app and the portal

You can access services at AllOneHealth.com/portal.

You may notice that new materials reference updated landing pages. If employees use an existing or bookmarked link, it will automatically redirect to AllOneHealth.com/portal—no action needed.

If you already use the AllOne Health App, log in with the same credentials. If not, create an account—your login will work for both the app and the portal.

Please review the attached flyer for sign-up instructions and watch the short orientation video here:
Orientation Video

Confidential support remains available 24/7 for employees and their household members.

If you have questions, please contact me.

Thanks,

Maddie

Absence Info

Please refer to this document for all things absence reporting (updated 4/24/26). Please send any questions to Maddie Mercado or me.

THANKS!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be sure to enter absences as far in advance as possible! WE HAVE A POOL OF SUBS who can fill spots that are entered!!!! We're working on adding even more, so PLEASE enter your absences as soon as you know you'll be out.

REMINDERS

1. If you know you're sick, please put in your absence ASAP. This helps us plan for coverage more effectively. The more we have to react to in the morning, the more crazy the start to the day for everyone.

2. If scheduling personal tasks, it would be amazing if you could try to avoid THURSDAYS AND FRIDAYS whenever possible.

3. If you are asked to cover for someone, please know that you're being asked as part of a bigger plan to meet the needs of kids. Unless there's a truly extraordinary situation, you are expected to say YES when asked. We only ask when it's the best answer for kids.

Please direct any questions to me about this. Principals and Associate Principals are charged with creating the plans that best meet the needs of our students. If you have questions or issues with this, they should come to me for discussion.

Thanks!

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 Referral GPS.

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, Referral GPS provides Care Navigation to assist families in

triage, appointment setting, and follow up care.

School families may access Referral GPS 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.

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!

Stay informed by reading the Region 49 Newsletter

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!

Thank you for all your help raising money for Day of Service, and to all our students who did an amazing job serving their community last Wednesday!

Our grand total in donations and sponsorships came out to $13,900.76. While we didn't meet our goal of $25,000, we still look forward to using what we raised to bring our students meaningful programs and events this coming school year.
Seeking Nominations!!
Our current president's term is ending at the end of the school year!
Nominations for a new president are needed!
Do you know someone who would make an excellent president? Are you that person?
Send us an email at pta@foxlake114.org to let us know who you nominate!
We'll vote in our new president during the May 11th PTA Meeting!
We need your input!
Tell us when we should hold next year's PTA meetings
We need input by May 6th
Take the survey here

Mark Your Calendars for The Following Dates:
May PTA Meeting
Monday, May 11th
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Lotus Library or join us on Google Meets
Family Rocket Launch
Wednesday, May 20, 2026 (Rain date: Thursday, May 21, 2026)
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Lotus Cafeteria and Outside
Help us reach our goal of 90+ members this school year! We currently have 82 members, including 40 teachers and staff, and 42 parents/guardians.

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
Join here today!
Join the PTA and help enrich your child's educational experience this year!
Make sure to join our Facebook Group Page!

YOUR PTA Board