MMM: Monday Morning Memo 9/14/26

Our Look Up Essential Standards!

Kudos to Dan for going the extra mile and showing up for Kids at cross country even though you were feeling under the weather!

-Lynn Smolen--Student Support Coordinator

Kudos to our awesome 5th grade team of Danielle Becker, Danielle Misiek, Regina Abizaíd, Kaitlyn Goorsky, and Jenny Reiff for their thoughtful and careful approach to reimagine math sectioning to best support our 5th grade learner. Way to dive into the Data!

Also, Kudos to Katy Gardner for welcoming and making 6 5th graders feel so at home as they prepare to join her class on Monday!

Kudos to the Stanton Guiding Coalition for tackling and preparing for Brave and important conversations through the analysis of student data.

Kudos to Meghan Reimers, Kim Mack, and Jill Becmer for putting together an awesome welcome and check-in lunch for all of our new Stanton Foxes across all 4 grade levels.

Kudos to everyone who helped at McTeacher Night!

-Tom Cardamone--Principal at Stanton

Shout out to

Haley for being such a great support and help in the pre-K wing!

Russ for getting rid of our bug issues by our arrival spot A LIFE SAVER

Laura and Lumi for being my everyday support in the classroom.

Lydia for always pushing through the heat and cleaning our rooms.

Michelle for the kind words and always noticing me.

Fiona and Kelly for helping take some kiddos in our class get a brother hug when the day is rough

-Corinne Corona--Blended PreK Teacher

Russ, thank you for being our unofficial garbage bag dealer!
Kudos to Matt for your wildly unlimited generosity! I appreciate it!
Erica, you continue to amaze me with everything you know, but watching you support a new student this week was something extra special. You always seem to know exactly what to do or say to help students feel calm, safe, and understood when they’re struggling. You are truly a safe person for so many kids and I love getting to learn from you.
Erica, Chad, and Lynn — thank you for all the time, thought, and work you’ve put into helping streamline our SPED procedures and creating tools that are clear and easy to use. This is going to make such a positive difference for our students and district!
Thank you to Sammie for your quick tutorial on Fantasy Football!
Livia, Dina, Gina, Haley, Fran, Candace, Mary, Amy, Erica, Chad and anyone I missed—thank you for everything you’ve done to support our new kindergarten student. Whether you welcomed him into your classroom with open arms, adjusted your schedule, helped gather information, or stepped in to help him feel calm and safe, your patience, flexibility, and teamwork are truly appreciated
Mollie and Mary, thanks for helping manage students while I tried to problem solve with MAP testing! I call that controlled chaos!

-Melissa McCart--Special Education Teacher at Lotus

Thank you Aleina for working hard every day as we navigate our new and exciting classroom.

Thank you Hailey for jumping in and making our preschool day running smoothly.

Thank you Kelly and Abbey for spending time with our class at the park, we’re so grateful.

Thank you pre-k team for helping us to become more of a community.

-Carmen Dean--PreK Teacher

Kudos to my entire prek team and paras who care so so much about their students. It inspires me!

-Laura Faro--PreK Teacher

Thank you to Erin Donovan for the tasty soda! Such a sweet treat and so kind of you!

Thank you to General Education teachers and paras of the WIN Program for being so flexible during MAP testing and multiple different schedules.

Huge shout out to Caitlyn Fenton for subbing in the WIN program and holding the ship down. We appreciate you!

Thank you to First grade, 2nd grade, and third grade teams for always sharing materials and making worksheets for shared WIN students weekly.

Shout Out to my WIN team. You truly are amazing and I am thankful for each of you every day.

Shout out to Colleen Robinson for the class fruit snacks. Yummy!

-Ashley Arff--Special Education Teacher at Lotus

Kudos to my amazing kitchen ladies!

I just want to give a HUGE shout-out to all of you for stepping up and taking charge while I was out sick. You kept the cafeteria running smoothly, worked together, handled everything that came your way, and made sure our students were taken care of.

Knowing that everything was in such good hands while I was away means more to me than you know. I’m so lucky to have such a dependable, hardworking, and supportive team!

I appreciate each and every one of you!

-Sonia Miller--Kitchen Lead at Lotus

Kudos to Mary Honea for laminating and assembling my testing resources for my class!

Kudos to Miss Gina for laminating my word wall resources!

-Kaitlyn May--4th Grade Teacher

Kim V for putting together all the resources for the lunchroom duty folders

Sonia thanks for always being helpful with everything in the lunchroom

Brooke and Dina for switching things up with their schedules to make mine work

For all the paras who have picked up extra buses

to the PTA for setting up another great Mcteacher night

Mandi for keeping me updated on everything down in first grade so we are on the same page

-Colleen Robinson--Paraprofessional at Lotus

Kudos to Sam Mock and Connor Macko for subbing my 7th and 8th hours this week. I really appreciate the flexibility!

Double Kudos to Connor Macko for subbing for me on my paperwork day. I hope it didn’t get too warm over in the 6th grade world.

Thank you to Cathy Jawnyj for being a great “space share-er” AND for sharing my north qualities.

Not really a kudos, but here are some people I’m grateful for: Regina, Jack, Cathy, Karen, and Jillian WHAT A CREW. I know we don’t always connect, but knowing what our days look like, well done <3

-Leah Falster--Special Education Teacher at Stanton

Caitlyn Fenton for presenting Bridges information during our SST meeting and helping us think about concept quests and how to implement them more this year.

Abbey, Mollie, and Caitlyn Fenton for supporting our students with small group testing for MAPs.

- 4th Grade Team

This is SO late, but I’d like to send BIG kudos to the following:

Michele Burgess for creating the CPDU forms and sign-in sheets for me at the beginning of the year. It probably wasn’t a big deal to her, but it was a HUGE help to me! Thank you, Michele!

Mandi, Mary, Sammi S., Colleen, Russell, Monica, and Candace for helping with the T-shirts and bus tags (again - at the beginning of the school year). You guys were a HUGE help, and I appreciate it so much!

Ashley A. for helping me retrieve a student for an early parent pick-up. Sometimes tracking down the kiddos isn’t so easy, so THANK YOU for going out of your way to help me out!

Kristie for helping input the rest of Kindergarten — THANK YOU! That was a HUGE help!

Russ for helping me get the writing off the bus tags and for always coming to everyone’s aid when we need him. Thank you for always being willing to help!

Sue for always being on top of it. Always willing to help and never complain. I appreciate you!

-Jenny Sundell--Administrative Assistant at Lotus

Shout out to Jennifer Sundell for doing such a great job scheduling all of our 504's, Thank you!

-Sam Gatyas--Counselor at Lotus

I'd like to send Kudos to the Wellness team for their summer work and willingness to try new activities to engage their students.

There's been a noticeable energy shift in the gym over the past week and a half. Seeing and hearing all students engaging in fun, focused activities has been great! Keep up the great work!

-Matt Shannon--Associate Principal at Stanton

Thank you to Caitlyn Fenton for taking my kids to get fluency done. That small act of kindness was beyond helpful.

Kelly Roland- Thank you for being me on Thursday! The kids were absolutely blessed to have you in the room and learn from you!

-Maureen DeVoss--2nd Grade Teacher

Kudos to:

-Jack Resnick, Al and Sue Giandonato, Matt Shannon, and Russ Xhemaili for coming to the rescue when the power was out and we risked losing LOTS of frozen food!

-EVERYONE for amazingly great ROE Health Life Safety Inspections!!!! THANKS!!!!

-Everyone who gave their precious time at McTeacher Night!

-AJ Tripoli at Stanton for growing our Band program and finding amazing connections and resource donations...he just got us a donation of 40 new music stands!!!!! No more wire stands at Stanton!!!!

-Heather

Please send me your "Look Up" kudos by Friday at 4PM to add them to the next Monday Memo! THANK YOU!

Try some of these to keep LOOKING UP as we turn the calendar page to September!

ROE Site Inspections--THE OUTCOMES

WOW! We had our best EVER site inspections!!!!! Thanks for all the attention to detail. Here's an overview of improvements, items for immediate attention, and things we'll be digging in on as we move forward...

We'll be doing follow up walks in early October to make sure these items have been handled.

Thank you again for your cooperation and for the improvements that were evident during the inspections. The goal of these reminders is not only to address inspection requirements but, more importantly, to ensure that our classrooms and buildings remain safe for everyone.

Please reach out if you have any questions

In Case You're Interested--Horace Mann

In case you're interested in learning more about the services Horace Mann can offer you as a D114 employee, a rep will be onsite at Lotus this Tuesday and Stanton this Thursday in the lounges of each site from 9:30-around noon. She will be bringing info and some snacks.

Click here for a Horace Mann overview.

Please note that the District does not endorse or encourage you to use this company. Rather, we are allowing them to share info for you to take/use if interested.

Spirit Wear!!!

Spirit wear is here! You have two stores you can purchase from. The first site is for District employees only and the second one is for our district parents. Please feel free to order for either or both sites. Here are the links:

https://district114staff.itemorder.com/shop - District Only
https://d114parents.itemorder.com/shop/home/ - For Parents and Staff

Orders are due by September 20th and Items will be delivered the week of October 5. If anyone has any questions, please contact Sue Pinkawa. Thank you, Sue, for coordinating this!

Stipends--Clubs, Coaching, and More...OH MY!

Interested in sponsoring a club, coaching a sport, seeing what opportunities are out there?

Check out this stipend folder and read this letter for information!

ATHLETIC COACHES PLEASE READ: There is a new timeline for applying for coaching positions. Coaches should apply prior to their season, and coaches will be notified as follows. Please contact Jill Becmer, Athletic Director, with any questions, please.

Late Fall: Boys Basketball, Cheer

Applications accepted through September 1, 2026
Announcement of Coaches by September 15, 2026

Winter: Wrestling, Girls Basketball, Scholastic Bowl

Applications accepted through October 1, 2026
Announcement of Coaches by October 15, 2026

Spring: Track

Applications accepted through November 1, 2026
Announcement of Coaches by November 15, 2026

Staff Device Upgrades

In an effort to streamline device replacement and get all students and staff into a predictable replacement cycle with devices that remain under warranty, we have a plan for making sure all devices are up to date, under warranty, ready to roll...all within our budget!

25-26--All support staff devices we replaced.

26-27--Lotus certified staff, Lotus office staff, and District office staff devices will be replaced. 💥

27-28--Stanton, it will be your turn! 😀

What does this mean?

*Given the fact that we are on Google platform, staff will be provided with Chromebooks. Staff who cannot do their jobs without a PC will be provided a PC (meaning they require specific programs/software that will only run on a PC).

Here's what you need to know...

By the time you trade in your current device, you'll need to follow the steps below:

Moving from Windows Laptop to Chromebook

In preparation for the move from Windows Laptops to Chromebooks, users will need to transfer any school related documents (from Desktop, Documents, etc.) that you would like to keep for next year to your Fox Lake School Google Drive.

Before uploading files to your Google drive, please take some time to do some maintenance/cleaning up by deleting any old/unused documents, pictures, and videos. All copies of files or anything that is over 2-3 years old should be deleted, if it is not going to be used in the near future.

Any personal files, pictures, or videos can be saved to a personal external drive if you want.

If you need help with the steps above, Mike Szotek (Lotus) or Tyler Fish (Stanton) will be happy to help and can partner with you by appointment over the summer or upon our return to school in the Fall.

All LOTUS certified staff will be expected to complete the device exchange by TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15.

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!

Absence Reporting

Please carefully review this updated document with all you need to know about reporting absences during this school year!

Our first articulation meeting is right around the corner! All Union members will meet on Wednesday, September 23rd @ 2:00 PM at Stanton. If you are arriving from Lotus, please do not arrive before 1:45 PM to allow for the safe dismissal of the Stanton students. We will be meeting in the cafeteria and we will have snacks! We are excited to meet with everyone and to share information as well as hear how your year is going!

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.

Stay informed by reading the Region 49 Newsletter

A Fun Fall Event for all Members: Fall Fest Flyer

What: The Palatine and Libertyville IEA Offices are excited to invite you to our 5th Annual Fall Fest. An event and opportunity to grow your union knowledge, build skills, and connect with fellow educators

Where: Schaumburg Professional Learning Center 522 E. Schaumburg Rd. Schaumburg, IL. 60194

When: Saturday September 26, 2026, 9:00am – 1:00PM

One Click. Endless Possibilities. A Union Here for YOU!

This school year, turn your commitment into action. Visit the IEA Leadership & Justice Department website to explore equity-focused opportunities, request professional learning, and stay up to date on trainings, events, and ways to get involved. Together, we can lead with purpose and create schools where every student thrives!