BULLDOG BULLETIN

Welcome back to a new and exciting school year at Sarah Adams! I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable summer break. We are thrilled to see you back in just a few short weeks and are looking forward to a year filled with learning, growth, wonderful experiences, and lots of fun!

This year, we have some exciting changes to share with you. If you have been near the school this past month, you have likely seen progress of our new playground! The crew has been hard at work to have the playground ready before school begins. Additionally, we are delighted to welcome several new staff members to our Sarah Adams family. They bring with them a wealth of experience, enthusiasm, and dedication to supporting our students!

Kindergarten: Emily Clauser

1st Grade: Ally Sheehan

2nd Grade: Iskra Popova

3rd Grade: Ashley Davison

4th Grade: Heather Vlamis

5th Grade: Allison Schaumburger

EL: Gia Galasso

SCP Social Worker: Natalie Dobbins

SCP: Jeff Koons

SCP: Emily Prosser

SCP: Jack Pfeifer

Assistant Principal: Ellen Wilfinger

You will have an opportunity to meet our new and returning staff at our Meet the Staff event (details below). Please join me in extending a warm welcome to our new team members!

As always, our goal is to ensure that every student feels supported, challenged, and inspired to achieve their full potential. We look forward to working closely with you to make this school year a memorable and successful one.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership. Let's bring our Bulldog Best and make this year our best one yet!

Fondly,

Dr. Colleen Conway

Dear Sarah Adams Community,

I am thrilled to introduce myself as the new Assistant Principal at Sarah Adams Elementary. I am honored to have the opportunity to work with such hardworking students, a dedicated staff, and a supportive community.

With 13 years of experience in the education field and a passion for student success, I am committed to supporting the mission and vision of Sarah Adams. My background includes time in Schaumburg, La Grange, and Palatine as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, and school administrator. I look forward to working with the whole school community to ensure each student’s success. On a personal note, my husband Nick and I welcomed our twins, Sofie and Henry, last October. We’ve enjoyed getting used to our new roles as parents and watching our two dogs get used to the loud little humans that have moved in.

I believe in open communication and collaboration between the school and families. Together, we can create a supportive environment for our students to learn and grow so they can reach their full potential. I am looking forward to getting to know each of you and working collaboratively together.

Please feel free to reach out to me at ellen.wilfinger@lz95.org with any questions or concerns you may have. I look forward to meeting you all soon.

Sincerely,

Ellen Wilfinger

📌 August 6-Teacher Assignments Available at Noon

📌 August 14- Meet the teacher and drop off supplies from 1:30-3:00

📌August 15- First Day of School!

📌August 20- Family Fun Night

📌 August 21- Curriculum Night | K-2nd grade 5:45-6:45 pm | 3rd-5th grades 7-8 pm

Teacher assignments will be available in ParentVue on August 6th, by noon.

To view your student’s schedule/classroom teacher in Home Access:

1. Go to the district website: https://www.lz95.org.
2. Mouse over Parents and click ParentVue. Log in with your ParentVue username and password.
3. To access your students teacher assignments, click the CLASS SCHEDULE TAB (located on the left side of your screen).

If you can’t log into ParentVue, contact support@lz95.net for additional assistance.

We are very excited to host our annual “Meet the Staff” event on Wednesday, August 14th, from 1:30-3:00 pm. This event will give our students and families the opportunity to drop off school supplies, meet our amazing staff, and see our beautiful building. If your family pre-ordered school supplies through the PTO, those supplies will already be in the classroom.

Click the link below to see the 2023-2024 school year school supply lists.

2024-2025- School Supply Lists

As we prepare to start the school year, it is important that students and families establish regular routines to maximize student attendance to school. For younger learners, sometimes this means helping students feel more comfortable about a transition away from home and caregivers. Parents can find additional resources for students struggling with thinking about the transition back to school HERE.

Please note that for students who struggle to maintain regular attendance, parents/families will receive additional communication, conference requests, and other interventions to support regular school attendance - in accordance with state law. Parents/guardians can find more information regarding attendance in the Parent-Student Handbook.

Additionally, there will be more information shared at our Curriculum Night. There will also be a parent workshop offered in early September around supporting student attendance - stay tuned for more information!

As we approach the start of the school year, we want to remind all of our students and families of bus behavior expectations. Please take some time to review the information below with your student(s) before the start of school:

• Drink water only while on the bus; other food or drinks should be kept put away

• Use a voice level of 0 (voices off), 1 (whisper) or 2 (conversational volume, such as talking to someone next to you) at all times while on the bus

• Keep the aisle clear when students are loading or unloading

• Keep all body parts within the bus during the entire route

• Remain seated during the entire route

• Report to and stay in your assigned seat during the entire route

• Follow loading/unloading/crossing directions provided

• Exit through the designated doors only

• Take all trash and personal items with you when exiting the bus

• Keep all personal items with you during the route

• Use your assigned bus stop

Families can find additional information regarding bus expectations in Chapter 4 of the Parent-Student Handbook; students will also receive additional instruction on this topic during the first few weeks of school. We look forward to your partnership in these efforts, and to a successful start to the school year on transportation!

Kindergarten and any student new to the District:

Please upload physicals to ParentVUE or bring hard copies into the school office prior to the first day of school.

Fee Waivers for the 2024-2025 school year are being accepted by the Business Office, and the forms are available on the district website on the Business & Operations Department page at https://www.lz95.org/departments/business-operations. Fee waiver forms must be completed and submitted for review each school year. If you have any questions regarding the Fee Waiver process please contact the Business Office at businessoffice@lz95.org.

Please see the flyer and link below for information on purchasing any SA Spirit Wear.

https://sarahadamsgear2024.itemorder.com/shop/home/

We are excited to kick off the 24-25 school year with a Safety Week, to occur during the week of August 19th. During this week, students will engage in learning around the following topics:

• The Standard Response Protocol (SRP), our emergency response protocol used to address safety concerns

• Safe2Help, our new anonymous reporting tool for safety concerns

• Collective responsibility for school safety (i.e., it takes all of us working together to maximize feelings of safety in the school community)

Families who want to learn more about the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) and the “I Love U Guys” Foundation may access information via the foundation’s website HERE. Please note that students will NOT be engaging in any drills associated with the SRP during Safety Week, and families will receive separate notification in advance of scheduled lockdown drills for the school year.

Effective the 24-25 school year, District 95 has partnered with Safe2Help Illinois, a statewide school safety program. This will replace the current District 95 See Something, Say Something tool. Safe2Help Illinois features a 24/7 helpline (1-844-4-SAFEIL), free mobile app, and dedicated website. Families who want to learn more about Safe2Help can visit the website at www.Safe2Helpil.com.

Thank you in advance for your partnership as we approach the start of the school year; it takes all of us working together to create safe school communities!

As we have done in years past, we will be collecting information from students in Grades 3 through 5 during the week of 8/19/2024 regarding social-emotional and other related needs. This information will be used to plan for any additional supports for students, as well as for parent collaboration on student needs.

This process should only take a few minutes, and will be minimally disruptive to your student’s school day. Students and families may view the items from the needs assessment HERE. If you do not wish for your student to participate in the needs assessment, please contact the building principal, Colleen Conway, colleen.conway@lz95.org.