Skinner North fifth graders Leon and Jack H. were among top scholastic chess players in the city recognized by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the City Council.  They participated in the presentation of a resolution celebrating Chicago scholastic chess players and the Renaissance Knights Foundation.  Congratulations on your hard work, strategic thinking and dedication to the game of chess!

Congratulations to our 7/8th grade boy's basketball team on their win over Pritzker to clinch the Division Championship title!  Well done and congrats on a great season!

Congratulations to our Skinner North chess players who qualified for the CPS Championship. Eighteen of our children qualified and they all are truly champions because they competed against the best in the city and they all deserved to be there. Our parents also deserve commendations. I know there was a lot of uncertainty and changes in direction and hoops to jump through. You are the best group of parents any team could possibly hope for. Thank you!


Congratulations especially to our K-6 team that won the 2nd place team trophy. Daniel L, Finn B, Henry R, Jack H and Leon C did a great job as a team. Additionally, Leon C won the 2nd place individual trophy and Jack H won the 3rd place individual trophy. In the K-2 division, Andy C won the 1st place individual trophy. Way to go, Andy!

On Thursday, March 23, we had our annual Literacy Night.  This year we had a super hero theme.  It was a fun and engaging evening full of reading and literacy games, activities, and crafts for families of all students K-8.  After getting the chance to explore different literacy stations, students were able to put their name in a raffle for prizes!  Strategies for supporting literacy at home were available for parents and guardians as well.

This afternoon Alison Ridgway won the Golden Apple Award. We are so excited for her achievements and accomplishments.

"The award recognizes outstanding instruction, passion and dedication in the classroom.  This year's recipients were selected from a pool of more than 600 nominations, and represent 4th-8th grade teachers throughout Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.  Recipients were nominated by their students, community members/parents and colleagues who have directly engaged with them and benefited from their talent and passion." - Golden Apple organization

Alison has been a critical member of our Skinner North team and we are thrilled for her and her students. The award is well deserved. 

​We had a lot of success at the chess board! We brought 34 players, our largest tournament turnout ever. We had a lot of fun despite some challenges. We also earned three team trophies and three individual trophies. Eighteen of our  children are invited to participate in the City Championship. That's a Skinner North record too.

Our K-2 team won the first place trophy. We were led by Andy C who also won the first place individual trophy with 4.5 points out of a possible 5. Hannah G was close behind. Congratulations to Andy, Hannah and and the whole team!

Our K-4 team won the third place trophy. Mitchell A placed highest with four points. Asha L, Evan C, Niccolo L, Noah S. Matthew C and Rhett S and all scored nearly as much. Congratulations to them all and the 6 other children on our team!

Our K-6 team won the second place trophy. Jack H won the fourth place individual trophy and Henry R won the fifth place trophy. Both boys had four points as did Paul N. Congratulations to this trio and all their teammates too!

Our K-8 team finished strong just barely missing third place. Jaiden L,  Max C, Nathan L (7th grade) and Nathan L (6th grade) and Osita A all had three points.

Dear Skinner North families, 

I am pleased to announce that the Local School Council (LSC) met yesterday morning and voted unanimously to offer the Principal position to our current Assistant Principal, Katie Magnuson.  I am even MORE pleased to announce that she has accepted!

Ethan Netterstrom's last day in our school is March 22 (be sure to stop by and say "goodbye" before then!).  Katie will continue in her current role until Ethan's last contract day, April 3, and then she will become our official Contract Principal. 


Thank you to all of the members of our community who took the time to send messages to the LSC to express your feelings about who should be our next Principal. It truly helped us understand what our community was thinking and what we should look for in a candidate. We received:
           ·  notes from 29 students (including one signed by 11 members of the Student Council)
           ·  a letter from 26 members of Skinner North teachers and staff
           ·  notes from 7 teachers and staff
           ·  notes from 61 current parents
           ·  notes from 2 former Skinner North parents
​
Despite ultimately choosing a popular and proven "internal" candidate, it was NOT an easy decision. We all respect the confidence and trust you placed in us when you elected us as your representatives and we wanted to be certain we earned it by being open-minded and diligent. Each LSC member spent a great deal of time reviewing each applicant's materials and our community's feedback, taking copious notes, and thinking carefully about our school's future needs. There was just no denying the obvious: Katie Magnuson was the best choice based on her experience and qualifications.

I would like to express my personal gratitude to all of the members of the LSC for their hard work during this process. I was very proud to work with these thoughtful, intelligent and caring people to find the very best Principal for our school: Mia Beckman, Johanna Jacobson, Kelly Mulligan, Shannon Pokornick, Gabrielle Sansonetti, Ramiro Santillan, Judy Stevens, Conor Sullivan, Holly Tomchey,  and Frances Zemans.
 
If you have any questions about this process, please contact me at nicolleheller@hotmail.com or 773-682-8137 or our Principal Selection and Evaluation Chair, Mia Beckman at miatatic@aol.com. 
 
Congrats, Katie! 
 
Best wishes to you all,
 
Nicolle Heller

PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) testing begins Monday, March 6.  Students in grades 3-8 participate in this assessment.  3rd -5th grades will test the weeks of 3/6 (ELA) and 3/13 (Math).  6-8th grades will test the weeks of 3/20 (ELA) and 3/27 (Math).  Teachers will send out more specifics around classroom testing days.  

The district wrote a letter explaining PARCC testing in further detail. Please see below to read.  A paper copy of this letter will be sent home today as well.  

For additional information, please visit CPS' PARCC website at www.cps.edu/parcc and national-level resources at www.illinoistestguide.org and www.bealearninghero.org.