Sent 9/23/24 (A) to all exhibitors
Over the next two weeks you will receive three emails in preparation for NPN’s Annual Preschool and Elementary School Fair coming up on Sunday, October 6th from 9am - 12pm at the Nature Museum. Here are the topics of each email you will receive:
Sharing the School Fair with your community
Arrival information including parking
Museum rules and other information
Additionally, if you signed up to participate in the attendee bag, swag bag, or raffle/gift basket opportunities, you will receive an extra email. Presenting, Major, Supporting, and Special Thanks sponsors will receive an additional email on top of that.
Email #1 will follow shortly. Thank you for your support!
Sent 9/23/24 (B) to all exhibitors
This email contains information that you can use to promote the fair, and give the parents in your community free entry to the fair (and to the museum!). There are 85 families registered so far. We’re optimistic that with your help, we can reach many more Chicago families by October 6th!
Attached you will find the following:
School Fair Social Media Sharing.png: An image you can post on social media
Exhibitor School Fair 24 Flyer.pdf: A flyer you can send to your network via email, or print and distribute or hang up. It includes a discount code that your community can use to RSVP for free.
We also invite you to like, comment on, and share NPN’s social media posts about the fair. Our handle on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn is @npnparents.
Parents can register at npnparents.org/schoolfair.
Thank you for your support! If you have any questions, please let me know.
Sent 9/25/24 to relevant schools and businesses
Thank you for taking advantage of additional opportunities associated with the school fair. Here is information about providing attendee bag items, session chair drop flyers, swag bag items, and a gift basket for our event raffle.
Attendee Bags
50 flyers or brochures
Session Chair Drops
50 flyers or brochures
Swag Bag Items
25 swag items. Our swag bags are paper bags, size 8 x 10 x 4 inches. If your item is too big for our bags, please email me separately.
Special request: I kindly ask you to refrain from providing more items than listed above. Extra items are too cumbersome and heavy for the NPN team to manage. Regretfully, we are unable to return superfluous items or transport them to the fair. Although it is unfortunate, extra items will be discarded.
Preferred Delivery Method: Please mail your items to NPN to arrive by next Thursday, October 3rd. Items should be labeled “attendee bags”, “sessions”, or “swag” as appropriate. You can mail them to this address:
NPN
Attention: School Fair
3320 W. Foster Ave, STE 138
Chicago, IL 60625
All of the items except the raffle basket must be delivered to NPN by Thursday, October 3rd. We can not accept them at the event, as we will not have time to put them into the bags that day. If you can’t mail your items in time, please email me for instructions on dropping off your item(s) in Irving Park.
Gift baskets for the raffle can be delivered to the NPN desk at the fair when you arrive.
For a reminder of what your school signed up for, you can check the list below:
Bennett Day School - attendee bag, session chair drop,
British International School of Chicago, Lincoln Park - attendee bag, session chair drop, gift basket
British International School of Chicago, South Loop - attendee bag, session chair drop,
Catherine Cook School - attendee bag, swag bag,
CST Academy - attendee bag
Empowering Parents - attendee bag
GEMS World Academy - attendee bag, session chair drop, swag bag, gift basket
German International School Chicago - attendee bag
Immaculate Conception-Saint Joseph School - session chair drop, swag bag
Intercultural Montessori School - swag bag
Kensington - attendee bag, swag bag
Kids' Work Chicago - attendee bag
Latin School of Chicago - swag bag
Lycée Français de Chicago - attendee bag, session chair drop
Montessori Academy of Chicago - attendee bag, swag bag
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy - session chair drop
Park West Cooperative Nursery School - swag bag
Saint Andrew School - swag bag
Saint Clement School - attendee bag, session chair drop
St. Benedict - attendee bag, swag bag
St. Matthias - attendee bag, swag bag
St. Stanislaus Kostka Academy - swag bag
Tutu School - swag bag, gift basket
W.E.B. DuBois Elementary - swag bag
If you are no longer planning to provide any or all of the items that you originally signed up for, please reply to this email to let me know.
Sent 10/2/24 to all exhibitors
We are getting excited for Sunday and hope you are too! This email contains information about arrival, unloading, and parking at the school fair. As a reminder, the school fair runs from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM.
Unloading
You can unload your car before parking by driving to the loading dock at the north end of the museum. There is a driveway off of N Canon Dr. Please do not unload in the circle drive or at the main entrance.
>>Please sign up for an unloading time at the link below.
Here are some additional, important details:
The Nature Museum’s unloading area can only handle 15-16 cars at once. With that in mind, I have created a sign up sheet for you to sign up for an arrival time. Your choices are 7:30, 8:00, and 8:30 AM. Please sign up for a time slot here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WQIG9psH_VviCfW_wvr9Bj4rEE1JacvN9bybC-5MHt0/edit?usp=sharing
All load-in should occur through the loading doc at the north end of the museum off of N Canon Dr. (See attached map.)
You must move your car after unloading. We can not park in the small lot near the unloading dock.
Parking
Vendor and guest parking will all need to be offsite. The museum does not have its own public lot. Cannon Drive is free to the public but fills up quickly. We suggest carpooling or ride-sharing. You could also use the Spot Hero app to reserve a parking space, or park at the Lincoln Park Zoo. The lot at the zoo opens at 6:00 AM. Here are the rates:
1-3hrs $30
3-6hrs $35
6+hrs $40
Number of registrants
As of today (Tuesday, Oct. 1), there are 46 families registered for the fair, consisting of 89 adults and 59 children. Please continue to help us spread the word about the fair. Images, a flyer, and social media links were attached to my previous email, and attached again here. You can share discount code GUEST so your community of families can attend the fair for free.
The NPN staff has promoted the fair via email, social media, community calendars, alderman newsletters, press releases, partner sharing, and more. The Nature Museum is also promoting the fair on their website here and will be sharing on social media later this week. All museum visitors will be welcome to stop in and enjoy the fair as well.
You will receive one more preparation email from me later this week. It will include the day's schedule and important information from the Nature Museum.
Sent 10/3/24 to all exhibitors
The school fair is almost here! This is the last preparation email that I will send. It contains arrival information, the schedule for the day, and important information from the museum. If you would like to review previous emails, you can find them on our website here.
Unloading Information
Unloading information was shared in the previous email. Here is a reminder:
You can unload your car before parking by driving to the loading dock at the north end of the museum. There is a driveway off of N Canon Dr. Please do not unload in the circle drive or at the main entrance. Here are some additional, important details:
The Nature Museum’s unloading area can only handle 15-16 cars at once. With that in mind, I have created a sign up sheet for you to sign up for an arrival time. Your choices are 7:30, 8:00, and 8:30 AM. Please sign up for a time slot here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WQIG9psH_VviCfW_wvr9Bj4rEE1JacvN9bybC-5MHt0/edit?usp=sharing
If you have not signed up for a time to unload, you still have time at the link above.
Parking information was shared in the email you received on 10/2/24. You can review it here.
Arrival Information
If you are able to walk from your car with all of your belongings and do not need to unload before parking, you do not need to sign up for a time slot to unload.
After you park your car, enter the museum at the main entrance. Ring the bell, and security will let you in. As we get closer to 9:00 AM, families will be arriving for the 9:00 session and will also be entering the museum this way.
As a reminder, the school fair starts at 9:00 AM. Please have your table ready by 8:45 AM.
Important Museum Information
Please open and read the three attachments provided by the Nature Museum so that you understand the museum’s rules and guidelines. Be sure to share this information with everyone who will be staffing your table at the fair. The museum has been a pleasure to work with and we want to return the favor by being excellent guests.
Event Schedule
9:00 AM
➤ Exclusive access to Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum for museum members and registered NPN school fair attendees
➤ Exhibit hall opens
➤ Breakout Session I begins: Navigating CPS Preschool Options, presented by Dr. Camille Franklin, Network 4 Family Engagement Coordinator, from CPS Office of Early Childhood Education In this 30-minute session, parents will learn about preschool options in Chicago Public Schools and how to navigate the CPS preschool application and admissions process.
10:30 AM
➤ Enjoy a musical performance with Bubbles Academy on the patio off the South Gallery
➤ Visit with school representatives in the exhibit hall
11:30 AM
➤ Breakout Session II begins: Understanding CPS Elementary School Options, presented by Grace Lee Sawin of Chicago School GPS. In this 30-minute session, parents will learn about elementary school options in Chicago Public Schools and how to navigate the CPS elementary school application and admissions process.
➤ Visit with school representatives in the exhibit hall
12:00 PM
➤ Fair ends, continue to enjoy the museum
Attendance
As of today (Thursday) at 11:00 AM, there are 58 families registered for the fair. This breaks down to 110 adults and 67 children. Please continue to promote the fair wherever you can (images attached). Through signage and conversation we will invite museum guests to visit the fair as well.
Sent 10/4/24 to all exhibitors
I would like to confirm that you do NOT need to bring a table to the school fair on Sunday. We are able to provide them this year. Please bring your own table cloth and marketing materials.
We are providing coffee and snacks, however the coffee won't arrive until about 9:00. Thank you to Werewolf Coffee Bar for donating the coffee.
You will have access to the public wifi provided by the nature museum.
As of now, there are 71 families registered for the fair, consisting of 128 adults and 75 children.
I noticed that only 28 exhibitors have signed up for a load-in time. If you have not signed up for a time slot, please plan on parking and walking your items from your parking spot to the museum, or arrive prior to 8:00 AM to use the loading dock area.
