My lovely blank newsletter

We have been working hard to ensure Big Timber is ready for students and families this August. We are looking forward to a productive partnership with all of you to ensure our students can achieve at their highest potential in a safe and caring environment. We recognize that in order to be successful in school, our students need support from both the home and school. As partners, we share the responsibility for our students’ success and want you to know that we will do our very best to carry out our responsibilities. Our Big Timber staff is eager to start the school year and meet their new students and families! Please take a moment, read over the important information and save the dates below on your family calendar.

Big Timber is welcoming back Nicole Nalbono as our assistant principal for the 2026-2027 school year! Mrs. Israel is taking a year off to be at home with her two children. Mrs. Nalbono has been in education for 22 years. She has worked as a Kindergarten teacher at Perry Elementary, a Student Advisor at Big Timber and has most recently been the assistant principal at Meadowdale Elementary. She is extremely passionate about education and has an overall love for children. Mrs. Nalbono is very excited to be back at Big Timber working with our families and community! Should you need any assistance throughout the school please do not hesitate to reach out to any member of the administration team at 224-484-5500.

Big Timber is a D300 Dual Language Campus, this means we will offer monolingual instruction in English in some of our classrooms and Dual Language instruction in both English and Spanish in some of our classrooms. As such, all communications to Big Timber families will be in both English and Spanish to support the program's vision of ensuring students in the Dual Language Program are bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural when they finish the program.

As a reminder, D300 has adopted a NEW Electronic Device Policy for the 2026-2027 school year. It is important that you thoroughly review the new policy located on the D300 homepage and in Dr. Smith’s Summer Messaging.

The PowerSchool Parent Portal allows parents to see important information on your child including: homeroom teacher, schedule, bus route, grades, etc.. as well as receive important updates from D300 and Big Timber throughout the school year. If you are a returning D300 family you will use your current username and password for your PowerSchool SIS Parent Account to log in. If you are a family that is new to D300, please contact the Big Timber front office and our secretarial staff will assist you with login information and directions. Please make sure you check your email regularly during the school year since Big Timber utilizes paperless communication! This means that all communication will be sent home electronically.

Parents will be able access their child’s teacher for the 2026-2027 school year via their PowerSchool Parent Portal on August 3rd. As a reminder, we do not take requests for teacher placement or classroom changes.

The purpose of Supply Drop-Off is to provide students and parents the opportunity to locate their classroom, briefly meet their teacher, check out the school, visit with friends, drop off supplies, and get ready for the first day of school on Tuesday, August 11th, 2026! Please be mindful of the number of people in the family that come to supply drop-off as space is limited. Families can come anytime between 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM. Supply lists can be found on our website at https://www.d300.org/SchoolSupplies.

The PTO has arranged for parents/guardians to have the option to order their child’s school supplies through the School Toolbox and have them shipped to their home prior to the start of the school year at https://schooltoolbox.com/school-supplies/. School Toolbox offers you the ability to order all school supplies or customize your order as you see fit. Shipping usually takes up to 10 days, please plan accordingly.

The purpose of Kindergarten Orientation is to provide our Kindergarten parents with information about Big Timber and allow students to experience Kindergarten Readiness Activities. Parents must RSVP to this event by July 29, 2026 using this google form.

**If you have already completed this, please do not submit another response.**

Big Timber Elementary School has drop-off/pick-up procedures in place for the 2026-2027 school year. The procedures are aimed at making these times safe for our students and staff. Please review these procedures prior to the start of the school year. Teacher supervisors will be outside helping to direct parents through the traffic flow. This flow is expected to be followed to ensure the safety of all of our students, families and staff during arrival and dismissal times. We would like to remind our families to expect delays the first week and we ask for your patience until the flow of traffic normalizes.

Bussing information can be found in PowerSchool Parent Portal beginning in early August.

We are requesting families either fill out our BTES Transportation Questionnaire or call Big Timber to indicate how your child(ren) will be going home during the 2026-2027 school year. We are asking that the transportation form be completed by Friday, July 31st. Families that will be car riders will need to pick up a Car Rider Number in the Big Timber front office the week of August 5th -10th, otherwise you will be required to park and sign your student out on the first day which will add to your wait time.

District 300 has sent communication regarding transportation confirmation for the upcoming school year.

If your student is utilizing D300 transportation, please review the transportation information provided in the message sent and confirm your student’s bus details through PowerSchool.

If changes are needed, please contact the Transportation Department by Friday, July 31, 2026, to ensure updates are made before the first day of school.

The first bell rings at 7:45 AM for all students to enter the building. Students must be in their classrooms at 8:00 AM on normal school days or they are considered tardy. The regular school day ends at 2:15 PM. As a reminder, parents will not be allowed to walk their student(s) into the building on the first day of school.

OrganicLife is the food service provider for the 2026-2027 school year. Any families wishing to purchase lunch for their child during the 2026-2027 school year can visit the D300 website to view lunch prices and menus when they become available.

Please join us at Curriculum Night where parents will have the opportunity to learn more about the classroom procedures and curriculum at Big Timber Elementary while meeting with the classroom teachers. From 6:00-7:00 PM, there will be two 25-minute sessions led by your child’s teacher. Each session will be the same presentation which will allow parents with students at different grade levels to attend multiple presentations. Please note if you would like additional time with the classroom teacher to discuss your student’s progress, we ask that you set up a meeting outside of the curriculum night presentation. We look forward to sharing important details about the school year and your child’s classroom!

• Session 1: 6:00 PM - 6:25 PM

• Session 2: 6:30 PM - 6:55 PM

State school law requires a complete physical examination, certain immunizations, dental, and vision exams of all students entering Kindergarten. Students who have not met these requirements by the first day of school will not be admitted to school. Evidence of compliance with the law (physicals and records) must be on file with the school nurse. If you need to drop off any physical forms or records to the nurse, you may do so during regular office hours Monday - Thursday from 7:00 AM - 3:30 PM and Fridays from 7:00 AM - 11:00 AM. Parents/guardians can also email immunization, dental and vision records to the school nurse at megan.sanders@d300.org.

You can find the D300 School Calendar for the 2026-2027 school year by clicking here (English/Spanish). D300 will be implementing late starts again for the 2026-2027 school year. All six late starts occur on Wednesdays, late start dates can be found on the district calendar or via this link.

Attendance at school is vital for students' academic success. Big Timber students are expected to attend school on a daily basis. The State of Illinois only allows students to be absent 5% of the school year. If a child accrues more absences than 5% of the school year then they are considered truant. This means that students cannot miss more than 9 days total for the school year. We are required to monitor this, and families will be notified in writing via PowerSchool if their child is considered truant from school.

Parents are responsible for reporting a student’s absence to the Attendance Office via phone by calling 224-484-5520 or emailing our attendance line at attendance.btes@d300.org before 8:00 AM the date of the absence. A student will be considered unexcused if a phone call or email explaining the absence is not made to the attendance office. When calling in or emailing an absence, please provide your student’s name, grade, ID number, and reason for the absence. Recorded messages may be left on the Attendance Office voice mail between 3:30 PM and 7:00 AM preceding the absence.

Please consider joining our school volunteer program as our students can greatly benefit from your involvement and contributions. If you would like to be a part of the Big Timber Elementary Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) for the 2026-2027 school year, please contact Morgan Kolecke at bigtimberpto@gmail.com.Click here for more information about the PTO!

The PTO would like to invite families to Popsicles with the PTO on August 7th from 4:30-5:30 PM in the field and playground area. Come and get to know other families and students! Click here to learn more about Popsicles with the PTO!

The PTO will be hosting the first Dine-out Event on Friday, August 14th, from 3 PM - 8 PM at The Milk House! Come have ice cream with your friends and celebrate the start of a new school year! Please see this flier for more information on the event!

Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on the following dates and times:

● Monday, November 23rd from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM

● Tuesday, November 24th from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM

We are planning for parents to sign up using the PTC Wizard scheduler software as in prior years. More information regarding parent teacher conferences will come out closer to the dates.

As we prepare for the new school year, District 300 is excited to share Project Backpack, a free community event designed to support families who may need additional assistance with back-to-school supplies.

In partnership with Elgin Community College and neighboring school districts, families can receive free backpacks and school supplies (while supplies last), connect with community resources, and learn about services available to support students and families.

Project Backpack will be held on Saturday, August 1, 2026, from 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. at Elgin Community College, Building J Events Center.

Please refer to the attached flyer for additional details, including eligibility requirements and available resources.

If you are in need of additional assistance or support, please contact our Bilingual Family School Liaison, Ms. Alexis Rosas, at 224-484-5504 or alexis.rosas@d300.org. You can also click here to learn more about Ms. Rosas and how she can support your student and family.

Don’t forget to check us out on facebook where we will post pictures of the happenings and reminders at Big Timber throughout the school year. We look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday, August 11th!

Sincerely,

Brittany Porsche

Brittany Porsche

Principal