Principal's Corner & Newsletter

September 2025

Dear Lenart Families,

Thank you for helping us start the year off strong! Your partnership and support make all the difference, and we are excited to continue building on this momentum together. We also invite you to join us for our Back to School Night on Thursday, September 4th, where you can learn more about the school and your child’s classroom specifically. Our LSC meeting had a great turnout and we are appreciative of the support. Congratulations to our newest LSC parent rep Mr. Jones! We are so excited to welcome you to the LSC.

This year, our school mantra is “Celebrate Your Roar” and we’re excited to live it out by showing appreciation for both our staff and students all year long! We kicked things off last week with our Back To School Pep Rally, where Lenny the Lion joined us to cheer on our Lions and remind us of the pride, joy, and achievement we’ll be celebrating together this year.Here’s how we’ll be promoting our mantra throughout the year:

For Staff- Monthly birthday celebrations, recognizing a nominated Lenart Leader of the Month (dedicated parking space, the Lenny the Lion Trophy, a certificate, a special announcement shout-out, and a lunch), ongoing appreciation days/weeks, and staff shout outs in our weekly bulletin. 

For Students- 

Lion of the Month: Students will be recognized monthly with certificates that celebrate their leadership and achievement.

Honor Roll Certificates: Awarded each quarter to celebrate academic excellence.

Announcements: Each Friday at 2:30 p.m., our students will hear community shout-outs and celebrations over the intercom and TV.

We are proud to be a school where every Lion, student and staff member alike, is seen, valued, and celebrated. Thank you for partnering with us to make this a joyful and meaningful school year.

With Lion Pride,

Principal Adams

School Communication

• Principal Newsletter: Monthly via email on Sundays and posted on the school’s website (link).
• Teacher Newsletter: Weekly via email
• LLP Room Reps: Weekly via email
• Main Office Hours: 7:15am-3:00pm | 773-535-0040
• Communication should be first connected with the adult closest to the request/need/complaint, then the main office, then administration 
• Communication from administration, teachers, and staff members can be expected between the hours of 7:45 AM and 2:45 PM Monday-Friday. Please allow up to 48 school-business hours for a response. 
• Safety Reminder- Please help us keep our students safe by avoiding double parking, refraining from entering the staff parking lot, and keeping traffic flowing smoothly during arrival and dismissal. Whenever you need to enter the building, please use Door 1, sign in with Mr. Carl, and check in with Ms. Fleming for next steps. This procedure is in place to ensure the safety of our students, as we cannot allow anyone to walk through the building without following this process.
• Cell phones- For student safety, students are not permitted to use cell phones, Apple watches, or other tech devices during the school day nor during early arrival or after school. Cell phones should be put away and turned off during the day. Classroom teachers will inform you if they are collecting cell phones vs. if students should leave them turned off in their bookbags. The school is not responsible for any lost or stolen personal items.  

Upcoming Dates

Mr. Carl Appreciation Week - 3rd Week in September (9/15-9/19)

Want to show Mr. Carl appreciation, feel free to make him a card, drop off something special for him, or just say thank you when you see him! 

Star 360/iReady Testing Dates: September 16th and 17th (if your child has testing accommodations, a letter went home with the testing date)

September 1st- T-Shirt Size Due! Complete this form so that your child can have some Lenart swag. 

September 1st- No School- Labor Day

September 4th- Back To School Night 4-6pm | Principal’s Message in Auditorium at 4pm with classrooms to follow

September 16th- LSC Meeting @ 5:30pm | Lenart Library or Virtual 

September 19th- 1st Quarter Progress Report Distribution

September 19th- LLP Social Coffee & Donuts in the Library 7:30am-8:30am

September 25th-  Lenart High School Fair 6th-8th Grade

September 26th- No School, Teacher Professional Development Day

October 3rd- Fall Picture Day

Want to see future weeks? View the Lenart parent calendar here | CPS Calendar

LLP Events 

LLP Caregiver Social Coffee & Donuts in the Library- September  19th 7:30am-8:30am

LLP Fall Fest – October 24th 5:30-7:30pm

January – social event (Outside of Lenart event) 

LLP Winter Dance – February 27th 5:30-7:30pm

LLP Walk-A-Thon – April 24th

Teacher Appreciation – first full week of May 4-8th

EOY Picnic May 29th

Schoolwide Major Events- More to come! 

Spelling Bee- TBD

Halloween Parade 10/31

Graduation 6/1

Last day of school 6/4 

School Fees

School Fees are due October 1st. Click here to pay now. 

Amazon Wishlists

Want to support our teachers? Here are their Amazon Wishlists. 

MTSS- Ms. Reyes 

Our Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Team is a group of teachers and staff members at Lenart that work together to improve academic, behavioral, and social-emotional outcomes for all students using a tiered approach.

 

We are asking that parents/caregivers respond to this survey to ensure our team is providing the best at-home supports for families, resulting in the best supports for our students. Please respond to the survey once, by Tuesday, September 9, 2025.

 

We will be hosting our first Parent Workshop on Wednesday, October 1, 2025 regarding how to better understand your child's STAR 360 or i-Ready Beginning of Year Assessment data. Please see the attached one-pager on things to note prior to your child taking their assessment.

Parent Handbook

We have developed a Parent/Student Handbook for the 2025-2026 school year. We encourage all families to read it in its entirety. It will have vital information regarding our school and our school policies. Please use it as a reference to navigate the new school year. You can access the SY26 Parent/Student Handbook by clicking the link HERE or through our school website.

Counselor & Social Work Corner (Ms. Daley & Ms. Clark)

High School Fair dates are set! The Lenart High School Fair will be held on September 25th in the gym for 6th-8th grade students and their parents. 8th graders will also attend the Network 11 High School Fair on October 3rd. We already have 16 high schools set to come to our high school fair to share information about their schools. The current list of high schools attending will be updated up to the event and can be found on my website here.

Support our Lenart Garden by joining us on Saturday, September 20th from 9-11am. Mrs. Smolen will come back to help us with weeding and general clean up! No gardening experience necessary, but come dressed to get a little dirty. Tools and gloves will be provided. We won’t have access to the building so bring your full water bottle.

OSP Trainings: On January 24, 2013, Gov. Pat Quinn signed a new law, Erin’s Law, into effect for all Illinois schools. Erin’s Law requires schools to provide age-appropriate sexual abuse prevention education for all students, Pre-K - 12, on an annual basis. In accordance with the state and federal law, all students in Pre-K through 12th grade will receive age-appropriate training from the District. The Office of Student Protections and Title IX has collaborated across a number of departments to create developmentally appropriate sessions that will allow students to identify abuse and empower them to report any wrong doing that may have occurred. Parents are given the option to OPT-OUT of these brief, 20-30 minute trainings. Be on the lookout for an OPT-OUT form which you will need to sign and return before the date of your child’s classroom presentation. I will present Middle School trainings during the first two weeks of September and to other classrooms in the following weeks. The form will be sent home at least a week before your child’s scheduled training. Please return the form ONLY if you would like your child to be excused (opt-out) from the training. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns: 773-535-3730 or [email protected]. 

The Social and Emotional Learning team (led by our school counselor, Mrs. Daley) is looking forward to working with your students to help them build the skills they need to be successful in all areas of their lives. Students have already been thinking about what it means to be gifted. They wrote little notes about what they will do with their gifts on paper leaves which are now displayed on our Gift Tree bulletin board near the gym. They have so many talents and are ready to use them in the best ways! The Lenart August SEL Newsletter is linked on the Lenart Website and has some tips on making Approach-Oriented Goals, which focus on the positive.

BHCCT is our school's Behavioral Health/Culture and Climate Team that addresses Social and Emotional Learning needs. We have been working with our MTSS team to create a parent survey designed to learn from families what we can do to best support you and your family. Please look out for this brief survey and share your perspectives.