Back-to-school supplies: what’s hot, what’s not

Janet Palkon of Joliet is a veteran at buying school supplies.

Palkon started buying school supplies 20 years ago, when her oldest child entered school. And this year, Palkon bought school supplies for her three children who attend two different grade schools.

She spent about $180 on all three children, including less on the two who attend a private school.

Palkon said the school supply lists are longer today than they used to be, and she is concerned for low-income families who can’t afford all the required items.

“I think 24 sticks of glue is ridiculous,” Palkon said. “And they need all those paper products now. And with the dry erase markers, they still want the kids to have regular markers.”

Now that students have computers, Palkon is surprised that they need “more than one notebook or two.”

Back-to-school supplies for 2023

Palkon juggled two school supply lists because her children attend two schools that are not in the same school district.

But within some districts, attempts are made to streamline those lists – something that Joliet Public Schools District 86 did about eight years ago, District 86 spokesperson Sandy Zalewski said.

Before that, each school in District 86 had its own supply list, Zalewski said. Now, all 15 elementary schools have one list, and all four junior high schools have one, she said.

The streamlining makes it easier for parents to buy supplies for their children, especially when families move during the school year to another school in the district, Zalewski said. This list also is shorter.

“The main things our elementary students need are pencils and crayons and markers,” Zalewski said. “The junior high students tend to use more pens than pencils. But they also need pencils on some assignments.”

District 86 also now provides earbuds and headphones for students to take their assessments and tests, Zalewski said. In the past, parents bought them, she said.

“Years before, we had calculators for the elementary grades and junior high,” Zalewski said. “Now that the kids have their own Chromebooks, that’s not necessary.”

Do kids still use paper today?

Looseleaf paper is off the list – but wide-rule, spiral notebooks are still there, Zalewski said. So are No. 2 pencils. So is Elmer’s School Glue, she said.

“We tried not to make it as expensive for our families,” Zalewski said. “We try to keep the amounts of school supplies at a minimum for our families who may be struggling, while making sure that all the students have the correct material in their classroom for them to learn.”

Casey Hartman, director of curriculum and instruction for District 202 elementary schools in Plainfield, said that district also uses one list for all 18 elementary schools.

“This is an attempt at consistency and keeping the expectations similar across the district,” Hartman said in an email. “We do review the lists every year, but we try to keep them reasonably consistent - again trying to maintain some expectations across the district.”

Hartman said elementary students in District 202 “definitely still use paper and notebooks in a lot of the traditional ways.” But they also now use headphones or earbuds, too.

“That is relatively new because the students have occasion to be accessing their computers and various programs throughout the day,” Hartman said.

Jaime Koziol, principal at Milne Grove School in Lockport, said the most notable change in the standard back-to-school supply lists is the addition of headsets or earbuds.

“I would [also] say that you see fewer binders and things like that since so much has shifted to the electronic,” Koziol said in an email. “Also, we no longer have computer labs and each child is 1:1 with a device in their classroom.”

Supply lists

Joliet District 86

Plainfield District 202

Lockport District 91

Will County District 92

Chaney Monge District 88

Richland District 88A

Troy District 30C