Fremont MS Family Newsletter

Good afternoon,

We had a great first two days of school and all our staff was so impressed by how the students navigated classes, updated lunch procedures, and locker combinations. We thank you all families, students, teachers, and staff on this successful transition to the 2026-2027 school year.

This year, we have a new class called Studio 79. 8th graders will be writing, directing, producing, and staring in our morning announcement. Please be sure to check out the announcements each week, as we share a variety of information with students.

Emily Loerakker

Fremont Middle School Principal

Morning Announcements for August 24-28

• 📓August 27 - Curriculum Night (6:30 - 8:30 p.m.)

• ✈️ August 27 - 8th Grade Washington, DC Parent Info Meeting (6:00 - 6:30 p.m. in Large Gym)

• 🚎 August 27 - 7th Grade Springfield Parent Info Meeting (6:00 - 6:30 p.m. in Small Gym)

• 🗓️ September 3-4 - NWEA MAP Testing

• ‼️ September 7 - Labor Day - No School

• 📸 September 9 - Picture Day

• ‼️ September 21 - Not in attendance - No School

• 🚌 October 2 - Special Event Early Dismissal - 1:13 pm

• ‼️ October 12 - Indigenous Peoples' Day - No School

• 📷 October 22 - Picture Day Retakes

• ‼️ November 3 - Election Day - No School

• 🗓️ November 12 - End of 1st Trimester

• 💻 November 19 - 1st Trimester Report cards available through TeacherEase

• 📌 November 23 - Parent-Teacher Conferences (11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.)

• ‼️ November 24-27 - Thanksgiving Break - No School

Phase one of our construction of the cafeteria is complete! Crews will be working in the coming weeks to complete the expansion and install updated kitchen equipment and new tables. We are also working on cleaning up locker rooms. Students will not be changing in locker rooms until they are ready for student use.

As part of our ongoing commitment to safety and security, the school upgraded its secure entry vestibule this summer. These modern main entrances are specifically designed to better regulate visitor access. All visitors are routed through a single, secure point of entry to communicate with the front office, featuring a dedicated visitor transaction window and secure package drop-off shelves. This vestibule features new exterior card readers and magnetic door locks controlled directly by our main office staff.

Bullying in any form, by anyone, is not acceptable. Every student deserves to feel safe and free from bullying. Those who bully others need to learn more appropriate ways of interacting with their peers. This letter is intended to inform you about the School District’s anti-bullying program and to encourage you to help us identify students who are being bullied.

The School Board policy on bullying begins with this goals statement:

Bullying, intimidation, and harassment diminish a student’s ability to learn and a school’s ability to educate. Preventing students from engaging in these disruptive behaviors is an important District goal.

Bullying is defined as follows:

Bullying means any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or electronically, directed toward a student that has or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or more of the following:

1. Placing the student in reasonable fear of harm to the student’s person or property.

2. Causing a substantially detrimental effect on the student’s physical or mental health.

3. Substantially interfering with the student’s academic performance.

4. Substantially interfering with the student’s ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.

Bullying, intimidation, and/or harassment may take various forms, including without limitation: threats, stalking, physical violence, sexual harassment, theft, public humiliation, destruction of property, or retaliation for asserting or alleging an act of bullying.

School staff members are asked to respond compassionately and immediately to a student who reports bullying or school violence. After evaluating the situation to determine if an immediate referral to the building administrator’s office is needed, a staff member will give the student the report form for bullying, 794180.15 Report Form for Bullying. Building Administrators will inform you, the parent/guardian, whenever your child is involved in a bullying report.

Staff members were also asked for their feedback regarding locations that may be bullying hot spots needing additional supervision or monitoring or if there are any known bullies or targets of bullying in the building(s). We ask you to do the same thing. Please inform building administrators if you know of any bullying hot spots in or around our schools or if you are aware of a known bully or target of bullying.

Finally, staff members are instructed to intervene immediately to stop a bullying incident. If the incident involves a weapon or other illegal activity, they will immediately contact building security and/or law enforcement.

Below are some of the signs that a young person is being bullied:

· Does not want to go to school and refuses to explain the reason

· Talks about not having any friends

· Has unexplained bruises, cuts, scratches, or abrasions

· Has unexplained damage to clothing, possessions, books, etc.

· Frequently loses money or possessions

· Loses interest in school and/or has declining grades

· Becomes withdrawn and/or has stress or depression symptoms

These signs do not necessarily mean your child is being bullied, but if present, ask your child whether they are being bullied. Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

FSD79 will be performing a test of our mass notification system next Thursday, August 27, at approximately 5:00 p.m.

If you do not receive an email, text message, or automated phone call, please fill out this form. Be advised that due to the high volume of messages that need to be delivered, an individual may not receive all three notifications right at 5:00 p.m.

FSD79 is pleased to welcome back numerous area first-responder organizations who will be joining us on a rotating basis for the second year of our High-Five Fridays initiative. We’re thrilled to have these local leaders join us to help welcome our students to school on Friday mornings. We appreciate their collaboration as we help our students and our schools develop relationships with these trusted partners.

Parents/guardians have the option to prepay for school pictures. The site and ordering will be closed at 11:59 p.m. the day of Picture Day to process the orders. If parents missed prepaying, they will have a chance to order pictures with their child's Ticket Code. When placing an order after Picture Day with a Ticket Code, a shipping fee will be added and picture packages will be shipped directly to the home. Pictures will be ready 3 weeks after orders are placed. We will share the flyer from Color Portraits as it is prepared for the upcoming year.

Picture retakes are scheduled for Thursday, October 22.

Another opportunity to meet teachers is at the Middle School Curriculum Night scheduled for Thursday, August 27, from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Please mark your calendars.

• 8th Grade Washington DC Parent Information Meeting: August 27 from 6:00-6:30 p.m. Large Gym (Contact Andrea Poglayen if you have any questions. apoglayen@fsd79.org)
• 7th Grade Springfield Parent Information Meeting: August 27 from 6:00-6:30 p.m. Small Gym (Contact Kyle Snow if you have any questions. ksnow@fsd79.org)
• Tech Support: 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.: Drop in the Den (library) if you have any tech questions. Mrs. Poglayen will be available for tech support.

Fall Sports - STARTS MONDAY!!!!

• Cross Country (6, 7, 8) - Report to Mrs. Glas's room (#246) after school on Monday.
• Boys & Girls Soccer (7, 8) - Report to cafeteria at dismissal
• Girls Basketball (7, 8) - Report to Big Gym at dismissal

*6th-grade Soccer and Girls Basketball- an email will be sent Monday evening informing you the status of the team.

Parents must complete the interest form and submit a valid, current physical to the school nurse.

-Interest form linked and posted on the Athletic Webpage.

-Physicals are valid 395 days from the exam date on the form.

Visitors (Reference: Board Policy 8:30) All visitors, including parents/guardians and siblings, must enter through the front door of the building. Visitors should identify themselves and inform office personnel of their reason for being at school. All FSD79 buildings have secure entrances. Upon being buzzed into the school office, the office staff will scan a picture ID using the Raptor visitor management system. The visitor shall wear a printed visitor ID badge if further entry is required. Visitors are required to proceed immediately to their location in a quiet manner. They must then return to the school office and sign out before leaving the school.

Health information and medical forms are available on the FSD79 Health Services webpage. Please drop off forms at your child’s school.

• Sixth graders must provide a dental examination form and a health examination form with proof of up-to-date immunizations.

• Any student who would like to participate in school sports will need a school sports physical before they are allowed to try out.

• The school nurse is Rachel Hickok. Please contact her with any questions regarding medical forms. (rhickok@fsd79.org)

If your child will be absent from school because of illness, doctors appointments, or for any other reason, please call 847-566-9384 and select option 2 to report it to the school office by 8:00 a.m. the day of the absence. Keeping track of all the students on a daily basis is a huge task, and we greatly appreciate prompt notification of any absence.

• 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.

• Family Handbook
• Family Resources
• Community Resource Guide
• Important School Contacts
• Weekly Principal E-newsletter

Emily Loerakker

Fremont Middle School Principal

Nick Atchley

Fremont Middle School Assistant Principal

Address: 28871 N. Fremont Center Road

Phone: (847) 566-9384

Website: middle.fsd79.org

Instagram: @FSD79

YouTube: youtube.com/FSD79