Welcome Back to School John Stewart Families!!

 

August Important Dates:

• August 2nd - Class placements go live
• August 8th - Kindergarten Curriculum Night and Supply Drop-Off 4:00-6:00 pm
• August 12th - 1st-5th Grade Curriculum Night and Supply Drop-Off 4:00-6:00 pm
• August 14th - First Day of School!                                                                              (8:45am - 3:30pm FULL DAY) (Half-Day Kinder 8:45-11:30)

School Supply Lists
Click below to review the 24-25 Kaneland school supply lists:
Kindergarten
1st-5th Grade (English)
1st-5th Grade (Spanish)

School Hours

• First Bell 8:45
• Tardy Bell 8:50 - If your child is Tardy, you must walk them into the front office
• AM Kindergarten Dismissal 11:30
• Walker/Car Rider Dismissal 3:25
• Busser Dismissal 3:30

Main Office Hours 7:45 am - 4:00 pm
*Students cannot be dropped off any earlier than 8:40 am as there is no supervision

Prepaid Milk
It is time to order prepaid milk for the 2024-2025 school year. Prepaid milk may be purchased for the entire school year or by semester. Milk may be purchased online through your parent portal on Infinite Campus.

Costs: 

Full year (Aug 2024 – May 2025) $84 per student
1st semester only (August 14th -December 20th) $42 per student (You will have an opportunity to purchase milk for 2nd semester at a later date)

All orders are due on or before Friday, August 16, 2024. No later orders will be accepted. Milk service will begin on the first day of school. As always, milk is available for purchase on a daily basis for 50 cents.

Teacher Assignments Released - Friday, August 2nd
For all students, teacher assignments will be available on your child's Infinite Campus portal by the end of the day on Friday, August 2nd.
If you have yet to receive communication outlining the steps to creating and accessing your child's Infinite Campus portal, please get in touch with the main office at 630-365-8170

*NEW* Free/Reduced Lunch Application
Free/Reduced Lunch Applications for the 2024/2025 school year are now available at www.kaneland.org/free-and-reduced-lunch-applications to those students who qualify based on their Income, SNAP, TANF, or Income Eligible Medicaid Status.

If you qualified for one of these during the 2023/2024 school year, your lunch benefits will carry over for 30 school days.

Help Wanted!

We have an immediate opening for a Lunch Monitor

If you are interested or would like to gain more information, please get in touch with Mr. Tankersley 92967@kaneland.org. 

You can also complete an online application via the link below.

Kaneland Employment Online Application

Drop off and Pick Up Procedures

1. Cell phone use in a school zone, including the parking lots, is prohibited by law
2. Be sure to note the signage at the entrance to the main parking lot
3. Cars should refrain from entering/exiting the main parking lot when buses are present, including from approximately 8:35-8:50 am and 3:15-3:35 pm. All drop-offs/pickups should occur in the west lot.
4. Students are not allowed to walk through the front parking lot when buses are present
5. They should cross the crosswalk with the crossing guard.
6. When heading west on Prairie Valley Street, cars are prohibited from turning left into either parking lot during student arrival and dismissal. 

Student Drop-Off/Pick-Up

• Use the West lot
• Follow the route in the picture BELOW
• Pull all the way forward before allowing your child to exit or enter the car
• Children should enter/exit on the curbside only
• Remain in your car if using the drop-off/pick-up lane
• If you would like to walk your child up, park in a designated spot and use the marked crosswalk
• Refrain from pulling around cars that are unloading children
• Model respectful, patient, and positive interactions for students
• Allow extra time to get to your destination when using the crowded lot

                                     

Parent Zone For Waving

To maintain the safety of our students and staff, we are asking parents not to walk up to the entrance doors with their children. Please stop at the sidewalk where the sign "Students Only Beyond This Point" is located and say your goodbyes there. Think of it like the “kiss and ride or fly zones” you would see at train stations and airports. This minimizes unknown adults from being around children or entering the building. It gives staff and students a clear path to their entrance destination 

First Day of School
On the first day of school WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14th, all of our students meet in front of the school at their assigned door. 

4th/5th Grade - Door 12

Kinder/3rd Grade - Door 1

1st/2nd Grade - Door 2

We have adults who will help your child find your teacher. All students walk in together. The PTN will have a Card My Yard Sign that you could use to get a picture of your child’s first day. We ask that parents remain in the parent waiting area and not wait at the front of the building.

While You Wait Podcast
We are live! The Kaneland 302 Seconds Podcast is out there! New episodes starting in August! Release the 1st and 3rd Tuesday each week at 2:50 for 6-12 and 3:00 for EC-5.

Each podcast ends with a secret phrase to send if you listened to this email for a raffle:

302seconds@kaneland.org Podcast site: https://rss.com/podcasts/302seconds/

                                                  

2024-2025 School Calendar

Please click HERE to view the 2024-2025 Kaneland School Calendar.
Access the links below to subscribe to our district calendars that include all events throughout the school year.

John Stewart Calendar

District Wide Calendar

Ways to Stay Connected

• Facebook - Please like and follow for exciting news, pictures, and videos
• Stewart Scoop Newsletter - Please bookmark this blog - these are bi-monthly newsletters
• PTN Emails - email stewartptn@gmail.com to get on that list
• Kaneland Website

Kaneland Cares Closet
The Care Closet is still available this year for any family who is struggling with basic necessities. 

See the link below for more information: Cares Closet

Here is the Amazon link if you'd rather have items directly sent

💖 Mrs. Aversa & Mr. Tankersley 

Special Edition - Welcome Kindergarten Families 2024

Dear Kindergarten Parent(s) and Guardians,

Welcome to Kaneland John Stewart Elementary!  What an exciting time for you and your child!  The staff and I look forward to working with you throughout this school year to ensure that your child has a positive and rewarding school experience.

Front Office Staff
Mrs. Samantha Aversa - Principal 
Mr. Keith Tankersley - Assistant Principal at John Stewart and Blackberry Creek
Ms. Ashley Jeager - Principal Secretary 
Mrs. Jessica Bottorff - Attendance Secretary 

For the upcoming school year, Kaneland John Stewart will run three extended-day kindergarten classrooms, with half-day students throughout all three classrooms. Mrs. Lori Doll, Mrs. Lisa Druwe, and Mrs. Alicia Hardy are our fabulous kindergarten teachers this year.  The core and half-day classes will run in the AM from 8:45 - 11:30 am.  Extension and enrichment activities for extended-day students will take place in the afternoon. 

Specific classroom assignments are made based on the desire to keep classroom characteristics equitable, current enrollment information, specific needs of individual students, and registration in extended-day programming.  You can find out who your child's teacher is on August 2nd in the Infinite Campus App

Infinite Campus

If you have not downloaded the Infinite Campus app, please do but you can also access the IC system at www.Kaneland.org. This is an extremely important tool for parents to see all of their child’s school information, payments, fees, emergency contact information, etc.  

Kindergarten Orientation/Supply Drop Off 

Kindergarten orientation/supply drop off for you and your child will take place on Thursday, August 8th from 4-6pm at John Stewart Elementary.  Please enter the main doors - door 1 

4:00-4:30 pm Principal chat in MPR with guardians to review important information regarding starting school.  Kindergarten students play outside on the playground with teacher support

4:30-5:00 pm Supply drop-off in the classroom with guardians and kindergarteners. Teachers will share the curriculum for families to review on their own time.

5:00-5:30 pm Self-guided school tour/scavenger hunt (Optional for families to complete)

*Please do NOT bring other siblings. We want to make this a special event for our kindergarten students

Kindergarten Supply List 

At orientation, you will receive an identification tag for your child to wear on his or her backpack to school for the first few weeks.  The color and information on the tag will enable staff to guide your child to the appropriate destinations throughout the school, including which bus to board at the end of the day.  Transportation information can be found on the Infinate Campus App in early August. If the transportation information is incorrect or needs to be changed please let your teacher or the front office know.  If your child takes a bus, ALL Kindergarten bus stops require an adult when be present at drop-off to release the student.  In the event that you will not be able to attend orientation, please contact the school office to arrange the pick up of your child's identification tag. 

If you have forms to turn in, this is a great night to drop any forms to the office.

The opportunity to sign up for Parent/Teacher Conferences for the upcoming school year will also be available during your visit, so please make sure to bring your calendar.

Our classroom teachers will also be joined by a few other teachers who support our children. Your kindergartener might also talk about Ms. Gecek and Mrs. Ford who provide interventions and special education supports with our kindergarten team in addition to a few other teachers in the building.

Exploratory Classes
Each day your kindergartener will go to an exploratory class and your teacher will have a schedule for your information at orientation:

Music - Mrs. Kunstman
Art - Mrs. Gregg
PE - Mr. Biddle & Mr. Mansour
Critical Thinking - Ms. Maz (Mazurkiewicz)
Computer - Ms. Svihlik
Library - Mrs. Steers

I found that asking your child about what exploratory class they went to was a great way to begin talking about their day.


Records
Please have dental, vision, and physical forms turned in by the first day of school. If you have specific questions, you can reach out to our nurse, Ms. Barb Scott at 30555@kaneland.org OR Barbara.Scott@kaneland.org.


School Hours
First Bell 8:45
Tardy Bell 8:50 - If your child is Tardy, you must walk them into the front office
AM Kindergarten Dismissal 11:30
Walker/Car Rider Dismissal 3:25
Busser Dismissal 3:50

Main Office Hours 7:45 am - 4:00 pm

*Students cannot be dropped off any earlier than 8:40 am as there is no supervision


Before and After School Child Care Options
We have the CARE program that is run through the Sugar Grove Park District. You can register through their website: https://www.sgparks.org/

This is offered to any student who attends full-day school and for half-day kindergarteners before school starts. SGPD also offers some day off activities during times when there is no school.


Lunch & Milk
If your child is enrolled in Extended Day Kindergarten, they will eat lunch at school. Parents will need to pack a lunch for their child each day. We are a cold lunch school. Milk is available for purchase and can be done by the semester or for the full year. Please go to Infinite Campus to make that purchase.


Drop off and Pick Up Procedures

• Cell phone use in a school zone, including the parking lots, is prohibited by law
• Be sure to note the signage at the entrance to the main parking lot
• Cars should refrain from entering/exiting the main parking lot when buses are present, including from approximately 8:30-8:50 am and 3:15-3:35 pm. All drop-offs/pickups should occur in the west lot.

Students are not allowed to walk through the front parking lot when buses are present. They should cross the crosswalk with the crossing guard.                           

When heading west on Prairie Valley Street, cars are prohibited from turning left into either parking lot during student arrival and dismissal. *This sign has been a bit obscured by an overgrown tree. The Village of Elburn is aware and ensures the trees are trimmed back   

Student Drop-Off/Pick-Up

• Use the West lot
• Follow the route in the picture BELOW
• Pull all the way forward before allowing your child to exit or enter the car
• Children should enter/exit on the curbside only
• Remain in your car if using the drop-off/pick-up lane
• If you would like to walk your child up, park in a designated spot and use the marked crosswalk
• Refrain from pulling around cars that are unloading children
• Model respectful, patient, and positive interactions for students
• Allow extra time to get to your destination when using the crowded lot

Parent Zone For Waving

In the past, parents would walk their students to the main entrance of the building to send them off for the day. To maintain the safety of our students and staff, we are asking parents not to walk up to the entrance with their children. Please stop at the sidewalk and say your goodbyes there. Think of it like the “kiss and ride or fly zones” you would see at train stations and airports.

First Day of School
On the first day of school WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14th, all of our students meet in front of the school (Door 1) with their teacher. We have adults who will help your child find your teacher. All students walk in together. The PTN will have a Card My Yard Sign that you could use to get a picture of your child’s first day. We ask that parents remain in the parent waiting area and not wait at the front of the building.


Ways to Stay Connected
Facebook - Please like and follow for exciting news, pictures, and videos
Stewart Scoop Newsletter - Please bookmark this blog - these are bi-monthly newsletters
PTN Emails - email stewartptn@gmail.com to get on that list

More information will be shared at the Kindergarten Orientation night but wanted to give you a little bit now. We look forward to seeing you all on Thursday, August 8th at 4pm

Sincerely,

Samantha Aversa

Principal

Kaneland John Stewart Elementary School