Dear Fremont Staff, Parents, and Community,

This past January, we were fortunate to have more than 1,000 parents, staff, and community members participate in our strategic planning survey. As previously shared, the full results of the survey divided by constituent groups may be found here. Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts and feedback. We wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the highlights of the results that will help us in shaping our future path.

Overall Satisfaction

(Note: n/a responses were removed in these calculations):

District Communications

• Survey data indicated that parents had a satisfaction level above 80% and staff above 90% in regard to the communications that come from the District. Similar satisfaction was noted specific to the District keeping them informed, the effectiveness and timeliness of communications, and the accuracy of the communications.

• An area of improvement was reflected in how parents and staff felt the District engaged them on important issues, as the numbers dropped below 80% for both groups on that topic.

• Community members who don’t currently have students enrolled at FSD79 indicated their desire to receive updates from the District on a more regular basis, including adding a mailed newsletter to the communication strategy.

Top Strategic Priorities

All respondents also were asked to set priorities for our 4-year strategic plan. The priorities were ranked in the following order:

1. Recruit and retain quality teachers, administrators, and support staff (#1 for staff, parents, and community members across the board)

2. Support students’ social and emotional well-being, such as managing stress while building resilience and developing empathy for others

3. Advance classroom instruction and curriculum, such as reviewing our academic supports for a wide range of learners, bolstering STEM programming, and fostering critical thinking skills

We are on track to have the 2023-2027 Strategic Plan board approved by June for implementation this fall. We will provide progress updates throughout the spring. Thank you, as always, for your continued collaboration in setting an aspirational vision for Fremont’s future.

Sincerely,

Dr. Trisha Kocanda

Superintendent of Schools

• March 8 - Girls Night Out - 6 p.m. (Intermediate School Gym)
• March 9 - Preschool Screening (Lincoln Early Learning Center)
• March 15 - PTO Meeting; 6 p.m. (Middle School DEN)
• March 20 - Board of Education Meeting (live stream); 7 p.m. (Middle School DEN)
• March 27-31 - Spring Break (No School)

Fremont School District 79 has a wide variety of employment opportunities available. To view all current job openings, please visit the Employment page on our website. Watch the video below for more information.

The Board and Fremont Education Association (FEA) recently agreed to terms on a five-year contract, which includes needed market-based salary adjustments to address our recruitment and retention goals.

Fremont School District 79 students in grades 3-8 will be participating in the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) during the month of April. The Illinois State Board of Education requires that all students in grades 3-8 take the IAR.

The IAR is fully aligned to the Illinois Learning Standards for English language arts and math and is taken online. Our students are scheduled to test between April 4th and April 19th. More specific testing dates and times will be provided by your building principal(s).

You can help your child do their best on the test by:

• Making sure that your child attends school on the days of testing, if possible;

• Making sure your child gets a good night’s sleep the night before testing;

• Providing breakfast on the mornings of testing;

• Letting your child know that you have confidence in their ability; and

• Advising your child not to worry about the test and to do the best that they can.

We will be reviewing and sharing the IAR assessment results with you when they become available. We appreciate being partners in the education of your child.

Our Summer Adventures in Learning program will be open this summer at FSD79 from June 12-30 (no class on June 19) from 8:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. We have some awesome art, sports, and game classes for students in grades K-7. Sign-up for classes will open on Monday, March 13. We look forward to seeing Fremont students in our enrichment program this summer. If you have any questions, please contact Cathy Park (cpark@fsd79.org).

Congratulations to all of our Fremont Middle School students who participated in the Science Olympiad competition at College of Lake County last Saturday. The team was the recipient of Spirit Award and also had numerous individual place-winners!

Your time is valuable and so is your input. The Illinois state 5Essentials survey provides an opportunity for staff, students, and parents to provide climate and culture feedback for our schools. The state requires at least a 20% parent participation rate for reporting purposes to ensure our school designations are not negatively impacted. As of today, we are just shy of the necessary parent participation rate. Please help us achieve the 20% participation goal by taking the survey today.

https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/?target_name=parent

Parents are welcome to answer the survey for each of their children’s schools. Thank you for your assistance!

Congratulations to the 7th grade White girls’ volleyball team on winning the Patriot Conference tournament!

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 February 27 meeting, please click here.

The next meeting of the FSD79 Board of Education will be held Monday, March 20 at 7:00 p.m. at the Fremont Middle School DEN. This meeting will include the following presentations:

• Staffing Plan SY23-24

• Early Release Plan Recommendation

A live video stream of Monday’s meeting will be available via the District’s YouTube page. The stream will go live shortly before the start of the meeting. Recaps of previous Board meetings can be found here. The Board meeting agenda and materials can be accessed here. Board materials are available by noon on March 20.

On March 6, representatives from the FSD79 administrative team attended the Lake County School Safety Conference held at Warren Township High School. District administrators had to opportunity to connect with other area leaders to learn more about school safety and best practices.

At the end of March, the District will be installing Airphones at the main entrance of each school building. Airphones will allow our front office staff to speak to and see guests before they gain access to our buildings. The system will provide an additional security measure that will inform staff and help maintain a quick security response time. As safety and security are a top priority for the District, we are excited to add this additional layer of security for students and staff.

Thank you to all of our Lincoln Early Learning Center families who recently came out to the parent involvement night bowling event at Lakeside Recreation Center. A great time was had by all!

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! Meetings are on the third Wednesday of the month in the Middle School Den at 6:00 p.m. Our next meeting is on March 15. Here is the list of all meeting dates for the 2022-2023 school year.
• March Madness - Saturday, March 11
• Family BINGO Night Friday - April 28 (more details to follow!)

MARCH MADNESS

Saturday, March 11 - Come support your favorite Fremont teachers as they play against one another in basketball. See flyer for details (including which of your favorite teachers are playing!). All proceeds raised will go to our Wildcat Warriors -- Mrs. Herchenbach & Mrs. Mjoen.

BOARD AND CHAIR SIGN-UP

The Fremont PTO needs you!! The PTO has a few board and chair positions available for the 2023-24 school year. If you are interested in joining, please sign up here. Elections will be held on Wednesday, April 19 at 6 p.m. in the Middle School Den. If you have any questions, please email Stacie Brown at PTO@fsd79.org.

DOUBLE GOOD POPCORN POP-UP

Download the Double Good app, share your popcorn pop-up shop, and raise funds for the Fremont PTO. It's really that easy! 100% contactless and Fremont PTO gets 50% of the funds. Orders ship directly to your customers. Our fundraiser begins March 13 and goes until March 17. See flyer for additional details.

ART AWARENESS VOLUNTEERS

It's not too late to be an Art Awareness volunteer! If you enjoy putting together projects for kids, we could use your help in the K-5 classrooms. As an art awareness volunteer, you simply put a project together that can be tied to an artist, schedule a time with the teacher to go in and present the lesson to the kids. The students absolutely love it and it only requires about 2 hours a month of your time. We have plenty of resources and supplies available for you to use. The classroom teacher is always there to assure you have a positive experience. You don't need to have a background in teaching or art. Contact Lauren Rollinger at lauren.rollinger@gmail.com

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 - Spring Break

• District 120 Facilities Plan

• Mundelein HS Town Hall

• Lake County Stallions

• Stevenson HS Patriot Recreation Education Program

• Ballet Folklorico Tayahua

The next edition of the Fremont Focus will be distributed on Wednesday, March 22. This will be in addition to the weekly e-newsletters sent on Fridays from principals at the school level.