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: If you are unable to view this message in its entirety (viewing all 3 district sections below), please open the message in a new browser so you are able to view important time-sensitive information for your respective district.

Dear Lincoln Early Learning Center Families,

Spring is in full swing, and our little Lincoln lions are soaking up every moment of the warmer weather! It’s been such a joy to see them playing outside, exploring nature, and enjoying sunshine-filled days together. Outdoor learning and playtime have brought so much excitement and energy to our week!

This week, we’re also celebrating some very special members of our school community. First, a big thank you to our amazing bus drivers during Bus Driver Appreciation Day! These dedicated professionals play such an important role in starting and ending our students' days with care and safety. We are so grateful for their patience, smiles, and commitment to getting our children where they need to go.

We also celebrated Administrative Professionals Day — a chance to recognize the incredible work of our front office team. Their kindness, organization, and behind-the-scenes support help our school run smoothly every single day. We’re so lucky to have them as part of our Lincoln family!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We love learning and growing with your children, and we’re so grateful to be on this journey together.

Warmly,

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.

**We are seeing an increase in nurse office visits with sick students. It is imperative that the health office has current telephone numbers for parents and designated emergency contact persons. You are responsible for someone picking your child up 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. Please do not send medication to school in your child's backpack. All medication must be brought to school by a parent or guardian.

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

Liz Mulé

847.949.2720 ext.1503

emule@d75.org or mulee@hawthorn73.org

efax: 847.388.4842

Parent/Guardian Pick Up and Drop off is at Door 2 on the east side of the building. Parents/Guardians who pick up their children on set scheduled days will have a laminated sign with their child's first and last name on it in their district’s color. Please make this sign visible so supervisors can easily identify you. If you need extras, please let the office know.

Parent/Guardian Drop Off

● Pull along the curb. The first car to arrive should stop at the first cone along the curb. There are 4 cones total. The line will continue along the curb and onto Ridgeland Ave if needed.

● Once at a cone, please wait in your car for a staff member. When a staff member is present, please exit your child curbside. Do not walk your child to the door.

● Do not exit your car until you have been able to pull up to a spot marked with a cone along the curb.

● Please keep in mind your speed when arriving and leaving as students, parents, and staff

members are arriving at school. Do not pull forward to an empty cone unless a staff member directs you to do so.

*If you are a family that walks to school from your own, please walk your child directly to the student line on the basketball court.

Parent/Guardian Pick Up

● Pull along the curb. The first car to arrive should stop at the first cone along the curb. There are 4 cones total. If the curb is full, please wait in the line to pull to a cone along the curb.

● Once at cone, please wait inside of your car until a staff member brings your child

to you. Please do not walk to the door to get your child.

*If you are a family that walks to school from your home, please wait by the basketball court with your sign.

Please refer to our Pick Up and Drop Off Procedures for our specific guidelines.

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.

Gross motor activities are scheduled daily and take place outdoors whenever the weather permits. At Lincoln, all districts will line up outside and play outside when there is a “real feel” temperature between 30 and 90 degrees. Classes will stay inside if there is active precipitation, wet equipment and/or ice/snow on the ground.

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 see below or review the Hawthorn School District 73 section for information about important dates.

March 24 - 28 - No School - Spring Break

Please review your home district section for any other information, including PTO, spirit wear, and other fun things happening in your home district!

For families returning to Lincoln for the 25-26 school year

As we approach the end of the school year, we begin the process of making class placement decisions for the upcoming school year. To ensure we have a well-rounded understanding of each student, we invite families to share any additional information about their child that may not already be known—particularly insights into their learning style or other relevant considerations. If you have information you would like to add, please complete this form. We will review family input alongside teacher observations and recommendations as we make placement decisions.

The deadline for submissions is May 2. While we will do our best to consider all input, forms submitted after this date may or may not be included, depending on where we are in the process. Thank you for your partnership and support!

Share Your Teacher and Staff Appreciation

May 5-9 is Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week. Fremont teachers and staff work so hard to support our students’ learning and well-being. You are invited to fill out the form below if you would like to recognize a staff member for their positive efforts. We will be sure to pass along the good news. Thank you in advance for sharing your encouraging words. This opportunity will be open through May 5.

https://forms.gle/b5q56wcjJD2Chh5E8

Parent Transition Night Forum

May 5, 2025 • 6:30 p.m.

Zoom link available soon!

Parents, do you have a child transitioning to Fremont Intermediate School or Fremont Middle School for the 2025-26 school year? Please join us for an interactive discussion and Q&A on Monday, May 5, at 6:30 p.m. This one-hour Zoom session will be led by parents and the school principals, and will cover what families can expect when their students transition to a new school. Please fill out this form to ask questions in advance and provide us with an accurate count of those who plan on attending. Advanced registration is not required.

Please note that a Parent Coffee is being held on May 2 for families with students who are transitioning from Lincoln Early Learning Center to kindergarten at Fremont Elementary School. Contact Lincoln principal Katie O’Brien for more information.

Summer Programs

The time is here to sign up for summer school programs that Fremont School District is offering this summer!

Summer Adventures in Learning (sign up here) consists of six one-week sessions of “Kindergarten Readiness” available to incoming Kindergartners! This is also the form to sign up for bus transportation. There are no mid-session bus routes, so those who sign up for transportation would need to be picked up or dropped off between 10:25 and 10:40 depending on which class session you choose. You may choose to register for more than one session! This way, your child would be able to ride bus transportation both ways, while getting important incoming kindergarten experience! Classes will eat a snack between 10:25 and 10:40. You will receive confirmation emails after registration closes on May 2nd. If your session is cancelled due to low enrollment, you will be given the option to move to a session that is running or take a different class.

All costs will be found on Teacherease after your classes are confirmed. Take advantage of this one-week class that introduces Kindergarten to your child with ease and joy!

Please reach out to Alana Davidov, adavidov@fsd79.org, Fremont Intermediate School Assistant Principal, for help or questions about Summer Adventures in Learning!

Extended School Year is invitation-only. You should have heard from teachers and case managers if your child is invited to attend this summer. This program offers tailored assistance with Math and Reading from June 4 - July 1 from 8:30-11:00 am. There is no school on Fridays or June 19. Please reach out to Tegan Dittmer, tdittmer@fsd79.org, for any questions related to Extended School Year.

May 2 - No School - Parent Coffee 10:00 - 11:00 am - See the invite above and RSVP to your child's teacher.

May 26 - No School - Memorial Day

May 29 - Last Day of School

May 30 - Park Playdate

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

The Fremont PTO would love to see you at our meetings! Our next meeting is on May 13th at the Hawthorn Woods Country Club.

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

Instagram: @fremontpto

Facebook: Fremont PTO

EVA AWARD

Every year we honor one of our wonderful volunteers with the Excellence in Volunteering Award. To be eligible, the candidate must have their last child graduating from Fremont this year. Candidates can be submitted by a teacher, student or parent. Please take a moment to fill out this form by Monday, May 5th. If you have any questions, please contact Stacie Brown, pto@fsd79.org.

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK - I’ll BE THERE FOR YOU

We all know our teachers and staff know how to PIVOT, PIVOT, PIVOT when necessary. For Teacher Appreciation Week 2025 let's celebrate all our awesome teachers and staff with a Woo-Pah and Jazz Hands the week of May 5th - May 9th (Friends theme). They don't know that we know they know we know how amazing they are. Check out our flyer!

Here are themes for each day:

Monday - Ross's Letter - Have your student show their love by writing a kind note or drawing a picture.

Tuesday - Joey Doesn't Share Food - Bring your teacher or a staff member their favorite snack.

Wednesday - Chandler Steals the Cheesecake - Bring your teacher or a staff member a sweet treat.

Thursday - A Gift Rachel Won't Return - Bring your teacher or staff member a gift card to their favorite store or make them something from the heart. This would be a great way to show our specials teachers some love too - see the form for their favorite things!

Friday - Phoebe's Relaxi-Taxi - Bring your teacher or staff member something relaxing (coffee shop gift card, bath bombs, etc.)

FREMONT PARENT/GUARDIAN-SON EVENT

You are invited to the Fremont Parent/Guardian & Son event. We are looking forward to a wonderful event playing, socializing and friendly competition.

Event Timing: Saturday, May 10th, 2025 4-6pm

Event Address: Kristoff's Entertainment Center, 421 Rollins Rd Round Lake Beach, IL

Contact us at fsdptoparentliaison@gmail.com for questions.

This is a 2-hour event and will include: 1 hour of bowling and 1 hour of unlimited arcade play. During the arcade play you will also have time to eat.

Please fill out the following link to register: https://forms.gle/F9jYk7ABV9FxvS5QA

1st DAY SCHOOL SUPPLIES

It's that time of year! Time to start thinking about purchasing your 1st Day School Supply kits for the 2025/2026 school year! I know it’s crazy to think that it’s time already but before you know it, summer will be here. It's important you order your supplies before it's too late! Let’s start the school year with the exact supplies your teacher requested, and give your child the confidence they need to conquer next year!

Elementary school: http://1stdayschoolsupplies.com/gs/32164

Intermediate school: http://1stdayschoolsupplies.com/gs/1177849

Middle school: http://1stdayschoolsupplies.com/gs/32165

Questions? Please email Elisabeth Reigle at fsdvpis@gmail.com

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 for bonus points. Then simply scan your receipts after shopping, and watch the points (and $$) add up for our schools!

UPCOMING DINE-IN NIGHTS

Mark your calendars for our next dine-in night for this school year at California Pizza Kitchen on May 14th!

ORDER YOUR YEARBOOK NOW!

It’s not too late to order your student's 2024-2025 yearbook. Use the correct school code from the list below when you order!

Elementary school

Intermediate school

Middle school

Lincoln

PTO MEMBERSHIP/ONLINE DIRECTORY FOR 2024-2025 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 in 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 (Online Student Directory Set Up Instructions 2024-2025).

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 2024-2025; 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.

Staff Appreciation Week

Help us celebrate our Hawthorn staff during the week of May 4 by sending a flower and thank you note. Flower-Gram Order Form

Also, consider purchasing an item from their Amazon Wish List.

🏁 The Race is On — Help Us Bring Home the Trophy! 🏆

Who will win the Registration Trophy this year? 🏅 Last year, Townline Elementary claimed the title—now it’s our turn to take the lead!

We need your help to win! Be the reason our school hits 100% returning student registration before anyone else. Every registration counts, and together, we can bring the trophy home!

✅ Deadline: May 1
If you need assistance with the process, our registrars at the District Office are ready to help—just stop by with your questions!

Let’s make this a record-breaking year: Register NOW

May 26 - No School - Memorial Day

May 28 - Last Day of School

PTO Updates

Dine Out

The PTO will be hosting a Dine Out on April 29th at Taqueria Los Perez located at 325 N. Seymour Ave from 4pm to 8pm. Taqueria Los Perez will be donating 40% of all sales back to the PTO; no codes or flyers necessary. Grab your family and friends and join us for Taco Tuesday. Flyers will be going home with students this week.

Board and Committee Positions

The PTO is currently working to build our Executive Board and Committee Positions for the 2025-2026 School Year. To be nominated for a Board Position please fill out this form 2025-2026 PTO Board Nomination by May 12th at 9pm. If you would like to join a Committee next year, please fill out this form Committee Member Inquiry; there is no due date for this form.

Volunteer Opportunities

The end of the school year is really busy with so many events and the PTO is in need of Volunteers and Donations for several upcoming events like our 5th/6th Grade Activity Night, Teacher Appreciation, 8th Grade Celebration and Fun Fair. To make things easier, we have all of our sign ups located in one document. Any support you can provide is much appreciated. D75 PTO End of Year Volunteer & Donations

Box Top Update

We have currently raised $704.70 this year; that's $24.70 raised since the beginning of the month! This month anyone who opts in and completes the monthly challenge will get a chance to win 2,500 Bonus Box Tops ($250) for the school. 50 winners will be randomly selected. A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who is scanning their receipts.

We invite all families to attend our D75 Cultural Celebration on Friday, May 9th at 6:00 PM at Carl Sandburg Middle School. Families can reserve a table to represent their home culture or attend to learn about the multiculturalism of our community. Please RSVP using this google form: D75 Cultural Celebration Google FormInvitamos a todas las familias a nuestra Celebración Cultural D75 el viernes 9 de mayo a las 18:00 en la Escuela Intermedia Carl Sandburg. Pueden reservar una mesa para representar su cultura o asistir para aprender sobre la multiculturalidad de nuestra comunidad. Por favor, confirmen su asistencia utilizando este formulario de Google: Formulario de Google para la Celebración Cultural D75.

BRIGHT ARROW

• Our BrightArrow notification system enables you to stay in touch in the event of emergencies, delays/cancellations, and other important events throughout the school year. In order for you to be able to receive these notifications, it is vital that you keep your contact information accurate and up to date with your child’s school.
• You can confirm and/or request to update your contact information by contacting your student's school. We encourage you to take a minute to make sure your contact information is up-to-date so you don't miss out on important notifications.

To Receive Text Alerts

1. You must have your mobile phone number on file with your child’s school to receive text messages. (If you’re not certain whether you’ve done this, please contact your child’s school.)
2. To opt in to text messages send the word Yes to the shortcode 79041. Once you opt-in, BrightArrow will send you a confirmation that your phone number is subscribed.
3. After opting in, you should be receiving text messages along with email notifications. If you still are not receiving text messages (only email) please contact your child’s school to update your telephone number.

May 26 - No School - Memorial Day

May 28 - Last Day of School

May 29 - Park Playdate