ELC Lion's Latest News

• October 27th: Picture Retakes
• October 29th: Ask Me Anything with Superintendent Dr. Enderle at the ELC @7:45 am and 8:45 am - families are welcome to join the conversation
• October 29th: Fall Classroom Celebrations AM: 9:30-11:00; PM: 1:15-2:45
• October 31st: NO SCHOOL for PRESCHOOL - Fall Festival Family Event 9 to 11 am at the ELC
• November 11th: Veteran's Day: Wear Red, White and Blue
• November 12th: PAC Meeting @5:30 pm at the ELC

Party times will be:

9:30-11:00 AM for the morning and full day session

1:15-2:45 PM for the afternoon session

Your child's teacher will inform you if you were chosen as a classroom volunteer for this celebration. Please remember that school day events are just for our ELC Little Lions. We appreciate your cooperation with keeping siblings at home for this event.

To ensure a smooth visit to the ELC so we can pre-print your visitor badge, please use THIS LINK to complete the pre-registration for Visitor Aware.

In this section each week, you will find helpful information related to the Second Step Curriculum and Pyramid Model framework that supports students' social emotional learning and development both in the classroom and/or at home. A variety of topics will be included throughout the year including, but not limited to:

• Following Directions
• Identifying and Managing Feelings
• Fair Ways to Play
• Thinking of Solutions

The Feeling Faces Cards assist children with understanding their feelings and the feelings of others. It is important to teach children words to use to express feelings in place of challenging behavior. The feeling cards below can be used in a variety of ways to help children learn social emotional skills around use of emotional literacy and vocabulary. CLICK HERE to access the cards along with a variety of activities to play with your child.

• To ensure the safety of pedestrians, vehicles and staff members, please adhere to traffic patterns outlined during orientation.
• Vehicles should not block driveways and parking lot entrances.
• Once the curbside line has formed, the line wraps around the corner onto 93rd street in front of the school. Please make your way to the back of the car line when entering the curbside lane.
• For the safety of all students and staff, please stay in the car line until you have safely exited the parking lot. A staff member will let you know if it’s okay to pull around another vehicle that may need a little extra time.
• Please remember that ALL preschool-age students MUST be in a child restraint system. Please refer to the guidelines below for your child's height and weight requirements.

Thanks for teaming up with us to keep our school community safe!

Here’s where you can find ways to lend a helping paw! Check out volunteer opportunities and discover how to stay connected and informed in our ELC community.

See below for Trunk or Treat and other Halloween related activities.

Click each photo for more information.

Please take a moment to fill out this brief survey from Whitson's Culinary Group, our snack provider.

CLICK HERE to take the survey.

In the D123 Parent University sessions, staff and administration will highlight various aspects of the curriculum, safety protocols and the importance of recreational learning, to name a few. We firmly believe that a strong partnership between home and school is essential to a child’s success. Your involvement, support, and communication are invaluable to us.

Upcoming Session: Supporting Your Middle School Student's Math Journey | October 21, OLHMS, 5345 W. 99th Street, Oak Lawn

Discover the Math Behind the Moments...Join the CMP4 Conversation!

Discover what your child is learning in math through CMP4! This session helps build a strong home-school partnership by giving families a firsthand look at the curriculum’s teaching approach, along with practical tips for supporting learning at home.

RSVP here: link.d123.org/ParentU102125

As part of Oak Lawn-Hometown’s School District 123’s ongoing efforts to strengthen communication and deepen engagement across our learning community, we are expanding the Administrative Ask Me Anything (AMA) process into each school and inviting families this year. This initiative builds on the success of past AMA sessions and directly supports our 100% All In… culture of transparency, clarity, and partnership.

At each AMA session, Superintendent Dr. Paul Enderle will join the three District 123 Assistant Superintendents in hosting families and staff for interactive Q&A discussions. These sessions provide a safe, judgment-free space to ask questions, share feedback, and receive accurate information. These sessions provide an opportunity for our learning community to come together, ask questions, and get clear answers. Topics may include school programs, district strategic goals, or anything connected to the mission and vision of District 123.

D123 invites and welcomes all staff and families to attend, whether to ask questions or simply listen in.

The Early Learning Center will have sessions at 7:45 AM, 8:45 AM and 11:15 AM on Wednesday, October 29th.

Oak Lawn-Hometown Middle School is collecting candy for our troops in the U.S. Armed Forces, as an act of kindness and unity across our district. We will have a box at the Main Entrance as well as the Curbside Drop Off Door to drop off your donations of any type of packaged candy, or you can place them in your child's backpack and your child's teacher will gladly collect them. Thank you for supporting our troops!

Potty training can sometimes be a difficult task of knowing when your child is ready, especially when your child has a disability. We welcome you to join us on “Our Trip to Successful Toilet Training” on October 28th from 6:30 to 7:30 pm.

During this training, you will learn:

- when and how to begin the process

- tips and tricks

- ideas and strategies for all children

Click HERE to register for the webinar.

Trying new foods can be a challenge for many 3 and 4 year olds.

Our preschool snack program offers a wide variety of fresh foods each week such as bananas, carrot sticks, applesauce, oranges, milk, raisins, pears, apples and hummus. Eating alongside peers at school is a great way to encourage our preschoolers to try new foods!

Here are some simple tips to use at home to encourage your little lion to try new foods:

• Be a role model: Eat with your child and show them you enjoy trying new foods.

• Pair with familiar foods: Serve a new food with something you know your child already likes.

• Encourage exploration: Let them touch, smell, and explore the food without pressure to eat it. A lick or a tiny taste is progress!

Click HERE for some Super Simple Songs about food!

kedgar@d123.org (708)423-8363

The D123 preschool program provides all items needed for snacks, which are distributed by Whitson's School Nutrition and are free of cost to all families. CLICK HERE to view the menu and review nutrition information, ingredients and allergen information, accessible from any mobile device or computer.

***THE ELC SNACK CALENDAR IS LISTED UNDER OAK LAWN-HOMETOWN SD ELC CENTER***

D123 uses the Visitor Aware Program to immediately identify visitors and create a temporary ID badge to wear for the duration of their time spent at our schools.

In order to ensure a smooth visit to the ELC, please use THIS LINK to complete the pre-registration for Visitor Aware for any future classroom volunteering and visits inside our building.

You will be prompted to take a picture of yourself and answer a few questions, including Driver's License #. Once you complete this, you will be added to the system and will not have to resubmit this information every time you visit the building. You will receive a QR code via text and email to scan which is what you will use when checking into the school for a visit.

You can find common questions about the Visitor Aware System answered HERE. Click HERE for SPANISH.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact the Main Office.

Early Learning Center

4201 W. 93rd Street, Oak Lawn, Illinois 60453

Director: Christine Fuller - cfuller@d123.org

Website: d123.org Instagram: @d123elc

Phone: 708.423.8363 Fax: 708.869.7093