Fremont MS Family Newsletter

We celebrated a great 6th grade and New Student Launch this past Monday, August 11th. It was great to see families and students back in the halls of Fremont. Thank you to our PTO for sponsoring the event and staff and students that volunteered to make our newest Wildcats feel welcome on the first day of school.

Please see supply drop off information below. As a reminder, the first day of school is Thursday, August 21st!

Here’s to a fantastic school year ahead!

Emily Loerakker

Fremont Middle School Principal

While our goal is always to drop off our students on time, we want to make you aware that there may be some minor delays on the first few days of the school year. To ensure the safety of our students, bus drivers will be taking attendance and ensuring that all students are on the correct bus. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we help familiarize the students with their bus routes

• The first day of school is Thursday, August 21, 2025. It is a full day of school.

• Grades 6-8 will report to their first period Flex.

• Middle school hours are 7:55 a.m. - 2:43 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays and 7:55 a.m. - 2:13 p.m. on Wednesdays.

• Students may be dropped off no earlier than 7:30 a.m. and have to sign-in in the front office as “tardy” if they arrive after 7:55 a.m.

To help you and your child prepare for a successful school year, we encourage you to review the FSD79 Family Handbook 2025-2026, which outlines important school expectations, policies, and procedures.

To support a learning-focused environment, we will continue our “Away for the Day” initiative in accordance with the Portable Electronic Equipment Policy (Board Policy 7:190).

Here are a few important reminders:

• Cell phones must be turned off and kept in a Chromebook bag or sleeve during the school day.

• Smartwatches should be in school mode and used only as a watch.

• Devices are not permitted during class time, in hallways, bathrooms, lunch, or recess.

• Students needing to contact a parent or guardian should use the main office phone.

• Exceptions may be made if outlined in a student’s IEP or 504 Plan.

Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to a fantastic year ahead!

Parents and guardians who DO NOT want their child’s photograph and/or student work published need to complete this form and return it to their school's front office within your student’s first 5 days of school attendance. A letter submitted from the previous year will not carry over.

Parents/guardians have the option to prepay for school pictures. The site and ordering will be closed at 11:59 PM 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. Please see the flyer from Color Portraits for more information.

• Parents/guardians and students can log in to TeacherEase to view the student’s schedule. Scheduling is an extremely intricate balance that we work diligently to achieve based on the needs of our students. Therefore, there will be no schedule changes, unless there is an error. If you feel like a mistake has been made, please fill out this form, and an administrator will contact you regarding your student’s schedule.
  

• If you have never logged into TeacherEase, go to www.teacherease.com, use your email address as your user ID, and click "forgot password." It will send you a link to set your password.
  
• New students or those that registered recently may not have a schedule in Teacherease. We will review student records before scheduling a student in classes.
• Below is the full-day schedule for each grade level. Please note this is an 8-period-a-day schedule.

Please note that class period times have been adjusted. Each student has an assigned Flex teacher. Flex will meet the first 10 minutes of the day for morning announcements (each Monday), check-in, and attendance.

Flex at the end of the day will be utilized for social-emotional learning and WIN (What I Need) time. The purpose of the WIN time will be to provide students with targeted, intentional support based on their individual academic and social-emotional needs. This dedicated block allows educators to offer interventions, extension, reteaching, or independent work time in a flexible setting, ensuring that all students receive the right level of challenge and assistance.

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

To ease the transition to middle school, we will have a 6th-grade Launch Day this summer. It is scheduled for August 11th from 9:00 - 11:00 am or 12:00 - 2:00 pm. This is an excellent time for students to walk through the building with their schedule, get their assigned locker and padlock, practice printing items, and learn about how to stay organized. Parents/guardians are welcome to attend, as we will also have a session to learn more about the middle school. The 6th Grade/New Student Launch Day will end with a scavenger hunt for families to participate in together. Please fill out this form to indicate interest in the AM or PM session on August 11th. As of today, we have over 100 students and their parents/guardians signed up to attend!

Our 7th graders at Fremont Middle School also created the "A Day in the Life of a Middle Schooler" video, which gives a snapshot of what the day might look like.

School Supplies

School supply lists can be found on the Middle School section of the FSD79 website under the Families tab.

PE Class

Students will dress for PE class for the 2025-2026 school year.

• The PE t-shirts will be given to the students on the second day of school.

• 6th-grade students are assigned a locker space directly in the locker room and given a combination lock.

• 7th and 8th will carry items to and from their main locker to the locker rooms. They will be given a locker space to hold their items during the class period while PE class is in session.

• Students must wear gym shoes for PE class. (Flip-flops, Crocs, and slides are not allowed to be worn during PE class.)

• Students should wear black shorts or sweatpants and their green PE shirts for class. The deadline to have black shorts/pants is Monday, September 15th. The PE staff will send additional information to parents and students during the first week of school. Please let your child's PE teacher know if you need support with any items.

• We also encourage the students to have deodorant, extra socks, and gym shoes for PE class.

Lunchtime

During the 2025-2026 school year, 6th graders will eat during period 6, 7th graders will eat during period 5, and 8th graders will eat during period 7 in the main cafeteria.

• For further information, see Quest lunch menus on the FSD79 website.

• Students will have several lunch options to choose from including hot lunch and a la carte items. Students must purchase the items using their school-issued ID card.

• It is highly recommended to have an online MyMealtime account to monitor student food purchases and account balances. Email Anthony Smith at asmith@fsd79.org for assistance.

• Please contact the District Office at 847-566-0169 if you have questions about the Free and Reduced Lunch application.

Chromebooks

Students should fully charge their Chromebooks before the first day and each night during the school year. If your Chromebook is not functioning properly, please email apoglayen@fsd79.org.

Transportation

You will receive an email from the transportation department regarding busing information. Middle School students do NOT receive bus tags. Please do not contact the middle school regarding transportation. If you have questions, contact Leslie Lauritzen,

Director of Transportation (llauritzen@fsd79.org).

Wednesday, August 20, from 1:00 PM to 3:00 p.m., Fremont Middle School will open for students to drop off supplies in the Period 1 (Flex) classroom for Grades 6-8. Please review the follow schedule for Meet and Greet:

• 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. - A-L Families

• 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. - M-Z Families

All parents/guardians and their students should enter through the main office. Student leaders and staff will assist in handing out maps and providing information.

Another opportunity to meet teachers is at the Middle School Curriculum Night scheduled for Thursday, August 28, from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Please mark your calendars.

• 8th Grade Washington DC Parent Information Meeting: August 28 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 28 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 registration is OPEN.

Fall Sports: Cross Country (6, 7, 8), Boys & Girls Soccer (7, 8), and Girls Basketball (7, 8)

*6th-grade Soccer and Girls Basketball- If interested, please sign up - information will be provided if the roster allows.

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.

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.

• 🏫 August 21 - First Day of School

• 📓August 28 - Curriculum Night (6:30 - 8:30 p.m.)

• ✈️ August 28 - 8th Grade Washington DC Parent Info Meeting (6:00 - 6:30 p.m. in Large Gym)

• 🚎 August 28 - 7th Grade Springfield Parent Info Meeting (6:00 - 6:30 p.m. in Small Gym)

• ‼️ September 1 - Labor Day - No School

• 🗓️ September 4-5 - NWEA MAP Testing

• 📸 September 10 - Picture Day

• 🚌 September 12 - Special Event Early Dismissal (1:13 p.m.)

• ‼️ September 23 - Not in attendance - No School

• ‼️ October 13 - Indigenous Peoples' Day - No School

• 📷 October 23 - Picture Day Retakes

• 🗓️ 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

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 August 20th.

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

BACK TO SCHOOL BASH

Join the PTO for our Back to School Bash at the Intermediate School playground on Friday, August 22nd at 5:30 for food, music, and fun! We're excited to welcome all of our Fremont families back to campus.

UPCOMING DINE-IN NIGHTS

Please join the Fremont PTO at Portillo’s on August 28th for our first dine-in night of the year. It’s located 221 Townline Rd in Vernon Hills, and runs from 5 pm to 8 pm. 20% of sales will benefit the PTO. Order online or in-app for pickup using code PORTILLOS18 before checkout in the "Coupon Code" field, or show this flyer or a digital version to the cashier when ordering at the restaurant.

SPIRIT WEAR

Coming soon!! Spread school spirit with custom Wildcats gear! This online sale will run from Friday, August 22nd - Friday September 5th. NO LATE ORDERS WILL BE ACCEPTED! All items are custom-made for you! Once the online sale is complete, items will go into production, which takes approximately 3-4 weeks before being shipped to Fremont. They will then be sent home with your child. Each item is unique and comes from different manufacturers, so please check the sizing guide on each item you are purchasing. More information to come!

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.

• 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