Lincoln Weekly News

Lincoln Early Learning Center houses the preschool programs for three school districts: Fremont District 79, Hawthorn District 73, and Mundelein District 75.

⬅️ Check out the Table of Contents on the left for the latest news from your district.

Please note that you will need to open the newsletter from your browser in order to see the table of contents.

Dear Lincoln Early Learning Center Families,

September has been full of excitement and growth in our preschool classrooms, and it’s wonderful to see our students thriving. Thank you to all of our Fremont families who joined us for Curriculum Night this week. It was wonderful to see you and share more about our preschool program. We look forward to welcoming our Hawthorn and Tri-District families next week!

Here’s what’s coming up:

📅 Curriculum Nights – Mark your calendars!
Hawthorn District 73 and Tri-District Families: September 25, 2025

🚒 Practice Fire Drill – This Week & Next
Our preschoolers did a fantastic job during our first practice fire drill this week. Next week, we’ll practice again with the fire department joining us. Teachers will continue to guide students through the process in a calm and supportive way.

🍂 Fall Weather Tips – Dress in Layers
With cooler weather on the way, please help your child stay comfortable by dressing in layers. A light jacket or sweater works well for chilly mornings and can be removed as the day warms up.

We’re proud of all the learning, growth, and teamwork we’re seeing each day.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Warm regards,

Katie O’Brien
Principal, Lincoln Early Learning Center

kobrien@fsd79.org

Kim Stergios
Building Assistant Supervisor, Lincoln Early Learning Center

stergiosk@hawthorn73.org

Absences

If your child will be absent from school because of illness, doctors’ appointments or vacation, please contact us at Lincoln at 847-949-2720. Please notify the school office by 9:30 a.m. the day of the absence to leave a recorded message regarding your child's absence. Keeping track of all the students on a daily basis is a huge task and we greatly appreciate your prompt attention.

Medical Forms

Annual Physical Examinations are required within the first 30 days of entering preschool. All forms can be emailed, faxed, or brought in with your student. If we do not receive your child’s physical, your child will be excluded from school and cannot return to school until submitted. Per IL State Law we must have a child’s physical by October 15 or within 30 days of starting preschool.

Illness and Injuries

Please remember that any child with a fever should stay home until they have been fever free without the use of fever-reducing medication, for at least 24 hours.

Students should also remain home if they are experiencing vomiting or diarrhea. Students may NOT return to school for at least 24 hours after the last episode.

The health office must have current telephone numbers for parents and designated emergency contact persons. Please select your emergency contacts carefully. This person should be familiar with your child, your family routine, and be available to transport your child home if necessary.

Please pre-plan for a telephone call from the health office. If your child becomes ill at school, you are responsible for picking up your child within 30 minutes of the call.

Medications

All medications, feeding, and treatment supplies are to be supplied by the parent per school policy.

Doctor’s orders for medications, feedings, and treatments are required at the beginning of each school year. The school nurse will not accept or administer any medications (including over the counter medications) or perform nursing services or treatments without a doctor’s order.

Any questions related to the above health office guidelines should be directed to the health office staff.

Lincoln Health Office

847.949.2720 ext.1503

Change in Dismissal

Please contact América Lanuza (lanuzaa@hawthorn73.org) or Danielle Garcia (dgarcia@d75.org) at the Lincoln Front Office(847-949-2720) if there are any end of day changes throughout the school year. Teachers may not always be able to pick up their phone or check email throughout the day, so it would be best to call the front office with any changes. América and Danielle will relay any changes to the classroom teacher after you contact them. Please contact the main office by 10:00 a.m for the morning session and 2:00 pm for the afternoon session for any changes in regards to a child's dismissal procedures.

As a reminder, if your student is in our Tri-District classroom, they will follow the arrival and dismissal times below:

• AM: 8:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
• PM: 12:15 p.m. - 2:45 p.m

Please review the Hawthorn School District 73 section for information about important dates. Please review your home district section for any other information.

Parent Internet Content Filtering Resource

FSD79 is partnering with Securly to provide internet content filtering on student-issued devices. Securly offers registered parents/guardians the opportunity to participate in the online safety of their children by providing access to view their student’s internet activity within the Securly Home Web Portal or the Securly Home App (available on both Android and iPhone). The Securly Home App has additional features that allow parents/guardians to receive push notifications on flagged activity, schedule when their student's device is offline, and pause and unpause their student’s internet usage on the school-issued device while away from school.

Starting next week, parents/guardians who have not already registered will receive a "Welcome to Securly” email from noreply@securly.com to complete their registration. Registered parents/guardians will receive weekly activity reports, offering a snapshot of their child’s internet use on the school-issued device.

For more information on Securly Home Web Portal and Securly Home App, click here. To log into the Securly Home Web Portal via a web browser, click here.

For registration issues, please contact Craig Albers, Director of Information Systems and Network Security.

School Calendar Survey

FSD79 is seeking input from our community as we plan our 2026-2027 K-8 school calendar. If you have not yet already done so, please complete this survey by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, September 26. For more information, please click here.

Parent University Presentation—September 25

Fremont School District 79, in collaboration with the Fremont PTO, is excited to once again offer Parent University programming to our families throughout the 2025-26 school year. Together, we are offering programming on a variety of topics related to the District's goals that might interest our parent community.

Please make plans to join us for our first in-person presentation of the year on Thursday, September 25. We sincerely hope you take advantage of these opportunities to learn and connect with others. For more information, please visit our Parent University webpage.

Report an Absence

If your child will be absent from school because of illness, doctor's appointments, or for any other reason, please report it to the school office by 9:00 a.m. on the day of the absence by completing the form linked below. While the online form is preferred, you may also call in the absence to the front office at 847-949-2720.

September 23 - No School - Rosh Hashanah

October 2 - No School - Yom Kippur

October 10 - No School - Parent Involvement Event - Details to follow.

October 13 - No School - Indigenous Peoples' Day

October 15 Immunizations and Physicals Due

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

The Fremont PTO would love to see you at our meetings this year! Meetings are on the third Wednesday of the month in the Middle School Den at 6:00 pm. Our next meeting is on October 15th.

Here is the list of all meeting dates for the 2025-2026 school year.

To stay in the know of what Fremont PTO is up to, follow and tag us on social media:

Instagram: @fremontpto

Facebook: Fremont PTO

HALLOWEEN CLASS PARTY HOST SIGNUP

Sign up now to volunteer to be a Party Host at the Halloween class parties! Halloween parties will be held on Friday, October 31st. Party Times are as follows:

Kindergarten Classes: Eddy & Sherman 10:30-11:15 AM;

Kindergarten Classes: Cohen, Goldman, Hay, Hoehne, Kastein, Martinelli, & Van Reck and Grades 1st - 5th 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM;

Lincoln AM 9:45 - 10:15 AM;

Lincoln PM 2:00 - 2:30 PM.

Each class party is designated 3 Party Hosts. If more than 3 parents sign up for a classroom party, volunteers will be chosen at random. Please note: All remaining parents who have not been assigned to host a party will not be invited to attend the party.

The sign up will close on September 26th. Volunteers that are chosen to be party hosts for the Halloween parties will be notified by October 3rd.

Party Host Sign Up

PARENT U. - GUIDE TO SCHOOL SAFETY ALICE DRILLS

Please join us in the Fremont Middle School Den on Thursday, September 25th for our next Parent University session. District Administrators, along with representatives from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, will be providing an overview of what happens during an Alice Drill, as well as giving tips on how to discuss this serious topic at home. Please RSVP here if you need free child care.

AUTUMN MUM FUNDRAISER

Reminder – mum pickup is 9/20 in the Elementary parking lot from 9:30 am -12:30 pm!

Questions? Contact Elisabeth at fsdvpes@gmail.com.

CHARLESTON WRAP FUNDRAISER

We are officially kicking off our fundraiser with Charleston Wrap on Wednesday, October 8th. All orders are placed online with direct shipping. More details coming soon!

PANERA DINE-IN NIGHT

Please join the Fremont PTO at Panera Bread on September 25th for our next dine-in night. It’s located at 1575 S. Lake St. in Mundelein, and runs all day. Check out our flyer, and use code FUNDU at panerabread.com, in the Panera App, or at the kiosk in-cafe Online orders placed all day at your event will count toward your total sales.

TRUNK OR TREAT

Mark your calendars! Our Trunk or Treat event is Saturday, October 18th from 10 am-noon. Check out our flyer for all the details!

If you would like to decorate your trunk for this event, please fill out the form below!

https://form.jotform.com/252507044821148

Questions? Contact Elisabeth at fsdvpis@gmail.com.

ORDER YOUR YEARBOOK NOW - 10% DISCOUNT

Order your student's 2025-2026 yearbook by October 31st and get 10% off. Use the correct school code from the list below when you order!

Elementary school

Intermediate school

Middle school

Lincoln

SHOP. SCAN. EARN.

Forget the scissors - Box Tops for Education has gone digital! Simply download the Box Tops for Education app (see www.boxtops4education.com for more info), select Fremont School District 79 (in Mundelein, IL) as your beneficiary, and you're all set! Enter the code H02P2R0D when you register and you'll receive 50 bonus points after you scan your first receipt - that's $5! There are monthly bonus opportunities too, so watch the points (and $$) add up for our schools! Last year we raised just shy of $500 - let's see if we can beat that this year!

PTO MEMBERSHIP/ONLINE DIRECTORY FOR 2025-2026 SCHOOL YEAR

If you already have an account in Membership Toolkit, thank you for creating and/or updating your Membership Toolkit account last year.

If you don't have an account with Membership Toolkit, set it up now for free! Once you have created an account in Membership Toolkit your child will appear in the online directory immediately (that's if you choose to do so). To create an account, go to fsd79.membershiptoolkit.com and follow the directions in the attached form.

To gain access to the Online Student Directory your account must be active and you must pay the $15 PTO Membership Family Fee. If you paid your PTO Membership fee through your TeacherEase account before June 15th, your payment has been confirmed and you currently have access to the Online Student Directory. If you didn’t pay your PTO Membership Family Fee before June 15th, you can pay the $15 PTO Membership Family fee thru Venmo @Fremont-PTO; or by bringing or sending the attached form with your cash payment or check made payable to Fremont PTO to any school front office. The option to pay the PTO Membership Fee thru your TeacherEase account is no longer available. Once we receive confirmation of your payment, we will give you access to the online directory. Please note it may take up to one week to be granted access to the online directory.

Don't forget to download the FREE Membership Toolkit app to your smartphone-search "Membership Toolkit" in your app store.

BIRTHDAY BOARD

Celebrate your Fremont Student's special day! "Happy Birthday, Your Child's Name" can appear on the Fremont Electronic Message Board. Just complete the Birthday Board Request Google Form 2025-2026; or complete the birthday board form and send it back to any school front office with your $5 payment per birthday message. If you have any questions, please contact Christie Johnson at cjohnson@fsd79.org.

September 23 - No School - Rosh Hashanah

September 25 - Curriculum Night 6:30 - 7:30 pm(parents only)

October 2 - No School - Yom Kippur

October 10 - No School - Parent Involvement Event - Details to follow.

October 13 - No School - Indigenous Peoples' Day

October 15 Immunizations and Physicals Due

October 15 - Immunizations and Physicals Due

October 17 - Picture Day

PTO Updates

Box Tops

Forget the scissors, download the app and enter code PNKN0SEQ (District 75 PTO Mundelein), scan a receipt with a Box Top eligible item, and you'll earn 50 Bonus Box Tops, a $5 value! There are monthly bonus opportunities too, so watch the Box Tops (and $$) add up for our schools! Last year we raised $801.70 and we are hoping to crush that this year.

Discount Cards (order form below)

Discount Cards are still available for purchase! Cards are $20 Cash or Check (made out to D75 PTO) or $21 online. D75 PTO Square Discount Card Link Questions on Discount Cards can be sent to mundelein75pto@gmail.com.

October 2 - No School - Yom Kippur

October 10 - No School - Parent Involvement Event - Details to follow.

October 13 - No School - Indigenous Peoples' Day

October 15 Immunizations and Physicals Due