Fremont Focus

Dear Fremont Staff, Parents, and Community,

At the April 24 Board meeting, the PK-8 math committee presented details of the year-long math curriculum and resource review to advance our students’ math growth and achievement in the years ahead. Here are highlights from our comprehensive review:

Priorities

• Promote math learning experiences for ALL students that are engaging, authentic, and hands-on, addressing the needs of our diverse learners and aligned to learning standards

• Address our gender performance gap by boosting girls’ achievement with targeted, research-based strategies

• Build bridges and remove barriers to increase student access to higher levels of math throughout the PK-8 experience

Course Pathways

Ultimately, we arrived at a structure that maintains two pathways in 3rd-5th grade, followed by an additional pathway in 6th-8th grade. The goal is to increase the opportunity for students to access the Algebra I pathway. Course recommendations will be revised for a more flexible and equitable approach, with an increased emphasis on parent, teacher, and student input. We will also embed more “bridge” opportunities to allow students access to more rigorous courses throughout their FSD79 experience.

Resource Recommendations

Our K-5th grade team has recommended Imagine Learning Illustrative Mathematics. This widely respected and research-driven resource addresses math instruction with an interactive, problem-based, collaborative, and inclusive approach that promotes deep student thinking and reasoning.

Our 6th-8th grade team has recommended continuing our partnership with Cengage Big Ideas. This resource is aligned with best practices in math instruction and embraces an exploratory approach to math that promotes deep conceptual understanding, meaningful applications, and student independence.

Our Lincoln Early Learning Center team will be updating many of their instructional resources used in the classroom (e.g. manipulatives, measurement tools, play money, shapes, etc.) and will not be adopting any new curricular resources.

Next Steps

As we look ahead, we are excited to continue our pursuit of increased student growth and achievement in mathematics through the utilization of our new/refreshed resources, professional development, utilization of our early release days, and an emphasis on rigor and access to our courses. It is important that all students benefit from high-quality math instruction so each student can reach their full potential.

Sincerely,

Dr. Trisha Kocanda

Superintendent of Schools

Dr. Brian Bullis

Assistant Superintendent of Learning

• May 5 - School Improvement Planning Day (Half-Day Schedule; no PM Kindergarten; no school for Pre-K/Early Childhood)
• May 17 - PTO Meeting, 6 p.m. (Middle School DEN)
• May 22 - Board of Education Meeting (live stream); 7 p.m. (Middle School DEN)
• May 26 - Early Dismissal Day (Early Dismissal Schedule; no school for Pre-K/Early Childhood)
• May 29 - Memorial Day (Not In Attendance)

May 8-14 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 8.

https://forms.gle/pbjCjpdnSDHZctRPA

The District has experienced great interest in the Middle School Principal and Asst. Director of Student Services search processes. We are hosting initial interviews this week with the expectation for final rounds next week. We are extending the Lincoln Early Learning Principal selection process in pursuit of the best possible match for this tri-district preschool. We will keep the community informed of our progress.

Does your child like to bake? Do they have an interest in Science topics? Or they may want to learn how to speak Spanish or explore their creative side. There are still many available spots in our Summer Program! Registration closes on May 12! Please click on this link to review the classes in our brochure and to sign up for classes. If you have any questions, please reach out to Cathy Park at cpark@fsd79.org.

Registration for Summer Boost has opened. Students can sign up for this virtual asynchronous program over the summer where they will be paired with a teacher in the area of Reading and/or Math. This program will run from June 12 until July 28. Please click on this link to register for this program! If you have any questions, please reach out to Cathy Park at cpark@fsd79.org.

In an effort to connect the FSD79 Board of Education and the community, the District is creating a summary of monthly, regular Board meetings. To view a recap of the April 24 meeting, please click here.

Fremont Elementary, Intermediate, and Middle Schools will be participating in ALICE intruder drills on Tuesday, May 16 with a rain date of May 19. In collaboration with local first responders, students are trained annually in an age-appropriate manner for how to respond should an intruder enter one of the schools. More information will be forthcoming from the school level, including the opportunity for parents to opt their student(s) out of the drills. For more details on ALICE drills, please visit the District's Safety and Security webpage. FSD79 is committed to keeping our parents informed and is excited to initiate a forthcoming Parent University series in order to continue to educate our parents on relevant trends and topics within our schools.

Congratulations to our FSD79 students who were honored at the Lake Region Illinois Principals Association Student Recognition Banquet. This year's recipients were:

• Jake P. and Emily T. (8th grade)
  
• Jonathan S. and Emily H. (5th grade)
  
• Bram S. and Katherine K. (2nd grade)
  

Thank you for being positive examples to your classmates and for all that you do to make our schools a welcoming place for all!

Have you ever wondered where our FSD79 students go after high school? The District continues to partner with the National Student Clearinghouse to compile postsecondary data to tell that story. Although the Clearinghouse cannot locate all former students it does have a high success rate. You may click here to see data from grads who are currently between their freshman and senior year.

Our 7th grade students will be participating in a Career Day on June 1 and we are looking for your help! To make this happen, we need volunteers to come and speak to small groups of students about their job. A schedule with more information will be provided as the date gets closer. For now, please indicate your interest in speaking to students by completing this Google form. Thank you for your time and help in creating an authentic learning experience for our students!

This is an installment to accompany a series of communications regarding our implementation of standards-based grading across the district. Our District website has prior communications and additional resources posted.

Despite the efforts of educators across the globe for many decades, there is simply no perfect method to determine grades. Absent perfection, the goal shifts to doing all that we can to maximize objectivity and report grades as accurately and clearly as possible.

In FSD79, each content area has identified 4-6 strands to report academic achievement at each grade level. The respective standards for each course are grouped according to these strands. There are no set number of data points that teachers must use to effectively measure performance on a standard or strand. It is important that students have multiple opportunities over time to demonstrate their growth and achievement. We recognize that students learn in different ways and at different paces and our teachers design their instruction and assessment to account for these differences.

Our goal is to report learning as accurately and honestly as we can in our standards-based grading environment. If you have questions regarding the calculation or methodology of a grade your child receives please reach out to their teacher for more information.

Fremont Middle School 7th and 8th grade bands and choirs treated guest to terrific spring concerts last week. Enjoy photos from the band concert and video from the choir concert.

Congratulations to our Fremont students who had their artwork presented to the public at the recent Mundelein High School Art Show.

Track and field season is in full swing at Fremont Middle School. The team is off to a great start with a number of strong performances!

School lunch menus for the remainder of the school year are available now and can be found here.

For all the most up-to-date news and notes regarding the Fremont PTO, please be sure to visit the organization's webpage.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

• The Fremont PTO would love to see you at our meetings this year! Our next meeting is on May 17. Here is the list of all meeting dates for the 2022-2023 school year.
• Lace Up your Skates and Grab a Date (Mother/Son Night) - Saturday, May 13 (see this flyer for more details)

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 the attached form and send it via email to Stacie Brown, pto@fsd79.org, by Friday, May 5.

FIRST DAY SCHOOL SUPPLIES

Hey Fremont Parents, I know it's hard to think about school supply shopping for 2023-2024 school year already, but with our continued partnership with 1st Day School Supplies, now you don't need to! You can order your supply kits TODAY using this link! So, why not check school supply shopping off your list even before summer hits!

FSD79 offers local groups and organizations the opportunity to advertise their upcoming events in the Virtual Backpack. To submit your group's event for consideration, please submit a PDF flyer to publicrelations@fsd79.org. Check back regularly for upcoming offerings. Events that are upcoming include:

• Right at School Summer Camp

• Mundelein HS Summer Programs

• FC Lake County Soccer

• CLC Youth Summer Camps

• Stevenson HS Mélange and Repertory Dance Auditions

• First Responders Expo

• The Center for Gifted - Spring and Summer Programs

• Stevenson HS Patriot Recreation Education Program

• Free Boys Tennis Lesson

The next edition of the Fremont Focus will be distributed on Wednesday, May 17. This will be in addition to the weekly e-newsletters sent on Fridays from principals at the school level.

Address: 28855 North Fremont Center Road, Mundelein, IL

Phone: (847) 566-0169

Website: fsd79.org

Facebook: facebook.com/FremontSchoolDistrict79

Twitter: @FSD79

Instagram: @FSD79

YouTube: youtube.com/FSD79