Fremont MS Family Newsletter

Good afternoon,

Student Council is excited to host a spirit week this week. As a reminder, the middle school does not have any parties. For example, students should not be bringing in candy or food to share with others on Halloween.

It is optional, but students may dress up on Friday, October 31st, as it is the last day of the Student Council spirit week. Please see the spirit week and guidance for costumes below.

Morning Announcements

Navig8 Lake County was a great opportunity 8th graders had to learn all about the work force and job opportunities in the Career and Technical Education (CTE) fields in Lake County.

🗓️ November 13 - End of 1st Trimester
💻 November 19 - 1st Trimester Report cards available through Teacherease
📌 November 24 - Parent Teacher Conferences (11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.)
‼️ November 25-28 - Thanksgiving Break - No School

🗓️ 2025-26 K-8 School Calendar

8th grade pictures - January 8th
8th grade picture retakes - February 6th
8th grade dance - May 27th
8th grade graduation - June 3rd at College of Lake County

Parent/Teacher Conference will be done using the PickAtime website. Conference sign up will begin on 11/11/25 and close on 11/14/25. Parents/guardians will receive a separate email with log in instructions in early November. To help us in preparing for conferences, please fill out this form by 11/10/25, if you need translation services.

Student results of the IAR from last spring will be mailed home on October 30, 2025. Please see this important information regarding New Proficiency Benchmarks to assist in reviewing your student's scores. If you do not receive your scores, please email lflaherty@fsd79.org.

A friendly reminder that every student in FSD79 has access to the Varsity Tutors Live + AI platform. This access includes:

On-Demand Chat Tutoring
On-Demand Essay Review
100+ Weekly Live Classes
Recorded Enrichment Classes
Self-Study & Practice Resources

Here is a pamphlet that provides an overview of the platform features. Students can go to their Clever Dashboard and select the Varsity Tutors icon to login to the platform. Any chat sessions students participate in are recorded and posted on their dashboard for future reference.

The adolescent years are marked by a roller-coaster ride of emotions – difficult for students, their parents, and educators. It is easy to misread depression as normal adolescent turmoil; however, depression (among the most common of mental illnesses) appears to be occurring at a much earlier age. Depression – which is treatable – is a leading risk factor for suicide. In addition, self-injury has become a growing problem among youth.

To proactively address these issues, Fremont Middle School, is offering depression awareness and suicide prevention training as part of the SOS Signs of Suicide Prevention Program. The program aims to increase help seeking by students concerned about themselves or a friend. SOS is listed on the SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices and in a randomized control study, the SOS High School Program showed a reduction in self-reported suicide attempts by 40-64% (BMC Public Health, July 2007).

Our goals in participating in this program are straightforward:

To help our students understand that depression is a treatable illness
To explain that suicide is a preventable tragedy that often occurs as a result of untreated depression
To provide students training in how to identify serious depression and potential suicidality in themselves or a friend
To impress upon youth that they can help themselves or a friend by taking the simple step of talking to a responsible adult about their concerns
To help students know whom in the school they can turn to for help, if they need it

This program will be presented to all students by grade level on the following dates:

7th Grade: October 27th

The SOS program is brought to us by Elyssa’s Mission, a nonprofit organization dedicated to suicide prevention. Elyssa’s Mission is the only organization in the state of Illinois to fund, distribute and implement SOS. To get more information on suicide prevention, visit their website at www.elyssasmission.org. Make sure to view their online Parent Presentation at https://elyssasmission.org/for-parents/ for specific information on warning signs and how to keep your child safe. We also encourage you to visit www.sossignsofsuicide.org/parent for information on warning signs for youth suicide, useful resources, and some of the key messages students will learn.

As part of the program, facilitators will show the SOS video and subsequently lead students in discussion. Students will then complete a brief depression screener as well as fill out a response card indicating whether or not they would like to speak to an adult about themselves or a friend. The depression screening tool addresses thoughts and feelings which a parent may be unaware their child is having. This tool does not provide a diagnosis of depression, but rather alerts school staff to those students requiring further investigation. Students will also complete a response card indicating whether or not they would like to speak to an adult at the school about themselves or a friend. School mental health staff or a qualified community mental health partner will be available to meet with designated students; school staff will subsequently notify parents/guardians regarding any needed next steps.

If you have any questions and/or do NOT want your child to participate in the SOS program, please contact Emily Loerakker at eloerakker@fsd79.org prior to the program date. If we do not hear from you, we will assume your child has permission to participate in this program.

We would like to honor veterans during the assembly with a slideshow of pictures. If you have a veteran in your life and would be willing to share, please send a picture to apoglayen@fsd79.org by 11/5/25 and we will include them in our slideshow to be played with music during the assembly.

Winter 1 Sports include Boys' Basketball, Cheer, Poms, and Wrestling. You can view the schedules here

Poms - 6th, 7th, & 8th Grade - Informational Meeting - Flex - 10/6
Cheer - 6th, 7th, & 8th Grade - Informational Meeting - Flex - 10/16
Boys Basketball - 7th & 8th Grade Tryouts - begin the week of Oct. 27th.
Wrestling - No Cut - 5th, 6th, 7th, & 8th Grade - Practices start 12/8

Sign up for Winter II (Girls Volleyball, Scholastic Bowl) and Spring (Boys Volleyball, Track) will be sent out on later dates.

A CURRENT sports physical MUST be on file with a school nurse before tryouts. If you have questions regarding your child's physical, please email the school nurse - rhickok@fsd79.org.

If you have any questions regarding sports, please email our Athletic Director, Mrs. Poglayen - apoglayen@fsd79.org

7:55 a.m. to 2:43 p.m. (M, Tu, Th, F), 7:55 a.m to 2:13 p.m. (W)
The earliest students can be dropped of is 7:30 a.m. If students are reporting to school early for a morning activity that is supervised by a Fremont staff member, they can enter the office beginning at 7:05 a.m.

Please note: Students are dismissed 30 minutes earlier than normal every Wednesday so that teachers and staff may participate in professional learning.

7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (during school year)
8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (during school-year breaks and summer)

The designated pick-up and drop-off zone is in front of the school.

Early pick-up of students ends before the dismissal process begins. Please note that the latest early pickup time is 2:00 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays and 1:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.

The area behind the building is reserved for buses only.
If someone other than the child’s parent or guardian is picking them up, the school office must be notified.