Back-to-School Guide

Wondering when locker setup, school supply drop-off, or Meet the Teacher is happening? Each school’s calendar is the place to go. Stay up to date on important back-to-school events like Parent Night, locker setup, and more by visiting your school’s website and checking the calendar.

Stay up to date with important events, holidays, and activities! Visit our Calendar page to view and filter events by school or see districtwide happenings all in one place.

Stay informed and connected all year long! District 47 and each of our schools will be sharing regular newsletters through ParentSquare—our unified communication platform for families. These newsletters include important updates, upcoming events, and highlights from your child’s school. To access your school’s past newsletters, go to the school’s website, open the menu, click Families, then click Newsletters.

Check ParentSquare regularly for updates

View past District newsletters 

Information on Emergency Alerts & School Closings

District 47 and all of our schools use ParentSquare as the primary communication platform to keep families informed and connected. Through ParentSquare, you’ll receive school and district newsletters, event updates, weather alerts, and other important messages via email, text, push notification, and in-app posts—all in one convenient place. Download the free ParentSquare app and customize your notification settings to receive messages how and when you prefer!

Learn more and get support by visiting our parentsquare page

To ensure you’re receiving messages, please make sure your contact information is current. If updates are needed, contact your school office. Building secretaries will update your information in both ParentVUE and ParentSquare.

All District 47 schools have their own PTO/PTA. The PTO/PTA is a volunteer-based non-profit organization committed to supporting the school community. The PTO/PTA organizes events throughout the year, like classroom parties, speakers and assemblies, book fairs, celebrations, and fundraisers, to bring together families, faculty, and staff in a fun and engaging way.   

The Crystal Lake Friends of Gifted Education (CLFOGE) is a not-for-profit, volunteer-staffed group of parents and educators who are dedicated to supporting gifted education in District 47. CLFOGE has been supporting the families and educators in District 47’s Extended Curriculum program since 2001 through advocacy, programming and fundraising. 

Find your school's PTO/PTA here

Free and reduced lunch applications for District 47 students for the 2025-26 school year are now available online and in hard copy

Please visit our Health Services page, where you can find the following information:

• Guidelines for keeping students home from school
• Health FAQs
• Health forms
• Medical Records Submission
• Required Health Exams & Immunizations
• Student Immunization Data
• Type 1 Diabetes

Parents can create a MyPaymentsPlus account to fund and manage their student's food service online. This system speeds up serving lines in the cafeteria, eliminates the need to send checks to school and concerns over lost or forgotten lunch money, and ensures a nutritious meal for students. All deposits are listed as 'General', which allows students to use their funds for milk, meals, and a la carte items. At no cost, MyPaymentsPlus allows any family to: 

• Create a secure online account
• Check student account balances 24/7 online
• Monitor items purchased in the cafeteria
• Receive low balance alerts via email 

For a small fee (3.99 percent), MyPaymentsPlus allows any family to: 

• Make a prepayment into a student’s meal account using an e-check, credit card, or debit card via MyPaymentsPlus or by calling 877.237.0946. Funds deposited through MyPaymentsPlus are usually available for student use within a matter of minutes and are able to be distributed across multiple student accounts. Note: Fund balance surpluses at the end of the school year will carry over to the next school year as long as the student remains in the District.
• Automatically replenish a student’s account when it reaches a low balance 

Even if you do not wish to make payments at this time, we encourage parents to create a free account. To sign up, simply visit www.MyPaymentsPlus.com and click on “Register a Free Account.” You will need your student’s ID number to complete registration. (If you don’t know your child’s student ID, please check ParentVue, contact your child’s school, or call MyPaymentsPlus customer support at 877.237.0946.) Once you finish registration, you may log in to begin managing your student’s account instantly. For those who choose to fund their student’s account online, please note that any surplus balance at the end of the year may be carried over to the next year or allocated to a sibling.

Click here for all registration information

The District 47 student handbook applies to students in preK-grade 8 and aligns with the Illinois Association of School Boards’ (IASB) PRESS Policy Service, which the District subscribes to for its policy review and revisions process. Feedback is sought from both the administration and parents on items that need to be added, deleted, and/or revised. The District 47 Board of Education reviews the handbooks and approves them annually at a Board meeting typically held in the spring.

Please use the links below to view and/or download the current student handbook. Questions or comments can be directed to your child's school administration. 

Student Handbook (2025-26) - English

Student Handbook (2025-26) - Español

District 47 welcomes parents, families, and community members to our schools. Visitors and volunteers must identify themselves before being allowed to enter the building and present a driver's license or state ID upon entry. The ID is used to run a background check through a visitor management system called Raptor. For the health and safety of our staff and students, volunteers/visitors are required to complete a brief online application each school year. The application process includes a background check conducted by Raptor. 

Click here to learn more about our volunteer and visitor procedure

Student fees are due by the first day of school and may be paid online via ParentVue or by cash or check.

Click here to view student fees for the past and current school years