Lincoln Bulletin

Our Vision-Lincoln School is a community that fosters a sense of belonging to grow as a citizen and a learner.

Lincoln leopards are respectful, responsible, and safe!

District and School Theme-Be Here, Be You, Belong!

Email: michelle.woodring@d303.org
Website: Lincoln.d303.org
Location: 211 South 6th Ave, St. Charles
Phone: 331-228-2501
Facebook: facebook.com/LincolnElementary
Twitter: @LincolnD303

Good afternoon and Happy August,

I cannot believe that the school year is upon us, tomorrow evening will be our welcome back gathering and PTO sponsored pizza party. All families are welcome and we look forward to gathering together. If you have not RSVP's using the evite please do so, this way the PTO can plan accordingly for our order.

I also wanted to take some time to share a message regarding the school board vote last week.

I know many of you have been following this process, and closing Lincoln as an elementary school has been something that has been discussed for many years, well before my tenure at Lincoln. The school board voted last Wednesday to repurpose Lincoln for the 2024-2025 school year. The finality of the decision brings on a lot of emotions. It was difficult to hear, but at the same time, I know that it is for the best for our students, staff, and families.

Change is difficult, but I want our whole community to keep a positive mind set. Lincoln has always been a close-knit community, we will support one another and ensure that this is the best year honoring our traditions and continuing to be the best we can be.

This upcoming year is the 95th year that Lincoln will be open, educating St. Charles children and families. I want us to make this the best year, and I know we will all work together to do this and support one another.

Tomorrow is our welcome back gathering to kick off this school year. I look forward to seeing everyone there or at our supply drop off August 10, from 4:00-6:00. Remember you will be able to log into HAC Friday morning to see your students classroom teacher, this is going to be a great year.

If you have any questions along the way feel free to ask me, I will continue to share as information and decisions are made.

Below is a letter from Wendy Landers our school nurse, we are reminding all kindergarten families of the records that need to be turned into school prior to the first day of school. You can bring these to the welcome back pizza party, the office any week day between 7:30 and 3:00, or during supply drop off. This is important to ensure your child is not excluded from school.

Dear Families of Lincoln, Fox Ridge, and Transition students,

I’m writing to inform you of the Board’s approval Wednesday to repurpose three of our buildings and relocate select services beginning in the 2024-2025 school year. These changes are critical to ensuring equitable learning environments for our students and proper utilization of our buildings at the elementary level, and are aligned with our Strategic Priorities of effective collaboration, instructional coherence and culture of dignity.

The Board approved the Administration’s recommendation of Scenario D, which will:

• Reopen Fox Ridge as an elementary school,

• Relocate the Transition program, Learning and Teaching office spaces, and Professional Learning space to Lincoln,

• Relocate early childhood services to the Haines Center,

• Maintain Compass Academy at the Haines Center

I recognize the significance of these changes and the disruptions they will cause your child and family. Ultimately, we know the space modifications in Scenario D will improve how students learn and the opportunities for staff to provide them with support.

Why did we recommend this scenario? Reasons include reductions to overcrowding and space inequities in order to elevate student learning, modernization to instructional practices, optimized space for high-value programs, alignment with the Board’s facility guiding principles, and that the scenario is future-focused.

This is the first stage to address urgent facility needs in our District and strengthen support for our students. The changes will begin with the 2024-2025 school year. We are committed to easing the challenge of this transition by providing you with timely information and resources. This will include community engagement opportunities this fall on boundaries, so that we can practically and equitably identify which school our students should attend. District Administration recognizes the challenge of these tasks. But given the data we have on building usage and enrollment projections, along with a newly-approved Strategic Plan, we believe it is the right time to have these conversations to improve the working and learning environment for each person. Please stay tuned for updates on the Facility Master Plan process throughout the school year.

Sincerely,

Paul Gordon

Superintendent

If you would like to recognize a Lincoln staff member for making a positive impact on your child or family, going above and beyond in their work, and/or contributing to making Lincoln an AMAZING school, PLEASE fill out this form and let them know! You can fill this form out as many times as you like. Each Shout-Out will be shared with the staff member that you nominate. It will not be shared with the whole staff or with the school community. Thank you for helping us celebrate the wonderful ways our staff supports our students!

Here is the link to the form, https://forms.gle/XzjVuHd5HK7zGMBj9

In the future it will be embedded as a button.

If your student is going to be late or absent, please call 331-228-2500 and press 1 to report the absence and the reason. Leave a message on the attendance line as soon as possible that morning or the night before. Thank you for your help in verifying absences from school.

Please refrain from parking in the handicapped space in front of Lincoln School. We have parents & grandparents that are disabled that need to be able to utilize this space.

This week’s first snow is a great reminder to make sure the contact information you’ve provided the District is up-to-date. We want to ensure you’re getting timely alerts on inclement weather operations and other important notifications. Please take a moment to do the following:

View Notification Preferences/Enable Text Messages
District 303 will send notifications to families through the ParentLink system by text message, phone call and email based on your settings. Parents/guardians can view and edit their contact settings through the Home Access Center.
To receive timely emergency communications, we strongly encourage families to enable text notifications. For most people, this is the fastest way to receive and view important messages. Here’s how:

• From the HAC main menu, select the “registration” tab to view your contact settings
• Select the “edit” button to change your contact settings
• To enable text message notifications, enter your cell phone number in the Cell/Text field
• Select the “save” button

Users can only update their child(ren) and personal contact information. You will not be able to make changes to another parent/guardian's contact information. For updates to emergency contact people, please reach out to the school directly.