McHenry County launches a new school year with optimism, nerves

Amanda Gvozdjak walked her daughter Avery to her classroom on her first day of kindergarten Wednesday at Verda Dierzen Early Learning Center in Woodstock.

Gvozdjak, a pre-kindergarten teacher at Greenwood Elementary School, another Woodstock School District 200 building, was at Verda Dierzen for meetings ahead of pre-K starting up next week, but she was able to take her daughter’s photo and bring her to class.

“I love that I got to bring her in,” Gvozdjak said.

[ Photos: A new school year begins in Woodstock District 200 ]

Avery is Gvozdjak’s youngest child, and she said her daughter got to see the teacher she had in pre-K, who was helping out Wednesday. Gvozdjak said it was great for her daughter, who she said was clingy and shy.

Gvozdjak herself is a first-year educator in District 200 and said “everybody here has been helpful.”

District 200 was among several McHenry County school districts – including Huntley School District 158, McHenry School District 15, McHenry High School District 156 and Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155 – that started classes Wednesday. Algonquin-based District 300 students returned to the classroom Tuesday.

Crystal Lake Elementary School District 47′s first through eighth graders start the new school year Wednesday, Aug. 21, with pre-K and kindergarten the following day. District 47 appears poised to begin the school year without a teachers contract in place, even after a federal mediator was brought in in June to assist with negotiations.

At Woodstock’s Northwood Middle School, across the parking lot from Verda Dierzen, Jesus Lopez was outside the school waiting before doors opened alongside his mother, Yolanda Lopez, and her significant other, Daniel Vazquez.

Jesus was starting sixth grade at Northwood, and he said he was “nervous.” He was nervous about being late to class and hopes to learn more in math this year. He said math was a difficult subject for him. Vazquez, an engineer, said it was exciting for the students to return to school and that math was his favorite subject.

Kristina and Ricky Salazar were taking their daughter, Sofia, to her first day of kindergarten at Verda Dierzen.

“It’s nerve-wracking but exciting at the same time,” Kristina Salazar said, adding that she hopes to see her daughter make new friends.

Parents were taking photos of their kindergartners, and staff members were outside the school greeting families and helping them navigate the first day. Quinten Rohlwing posed with a sign commemorating his first day of kindergarten in front of Verda Dierzen. Kurt Rohlwing said Quinten has been “super excited.”

The sign had no personal identifying information and simply read “Quinten’s first day of kindergarten 2024 #stopcryingmommy.”

More detailed signs that parents often post to their social media pages with information such as their child’s teacher or their favorite foods and TV shows prompted a warning from the Huntley Police Department. The department posted a photo Saturday morning of Sgt. Theo Kallantzes holding a sign similar to the social media signs that listed some of his favorite things.

The police department urged people to think about the information they’re sharing about their children online in a post accompanying the photo. They asked parents to consider imagining if a stranger took a photo of their child then started asking questions.

“This would probably make you uncomfortable as a parent, right? Posting pictures with these signs is essentially the same thing, only with a much larger audience. No matter how you lock down your privacy settings on social media, once an image is online, it can go anywhere,” the police department wrote.

The police department said it’s not trying to ruin the fun of sharing those moments, but it wants people to consider what information they want to put out before sending out a back-to-school post.

With school in session, the police also posted graphics Tuesday reminding drivers of when to stop for the school bus. Drivers at intersections and two-lane roads always must stop for the bus, while for drivers on roads with multiple lanes in each direction, only those traveling in the same direction as the bus must stop, according to the post.

Verda Dierzen Principal Tricia Bogott said she thinks it helps ease parents’ worries to have the staff there to help out. Parents are able to walk students in to school for the first week of classes, Bogott said.

Jamie Schroll, a physical therapist at Verda Dierzen, was among the staff greeting students and parents Wednesday. Schroll said she was “very excited” and said it’s a lot of kids’ “firsts.” She tries to create a fun introduction to learning and give students a good first experience.

This story has been updated to correct the start date for Crystal Lake District 47.