The awards ceremony for Alison Ridgway's Golden Apple Award took place on Saturday 5/20!  At the event, Ms. Ridgway along with the 9 other teacher winners and 1 leadership award winner were recognized.  A video of students and other staff highlighting Ms. Ridgway's impact is included, as well as a demonstration of Mathematical Magicians by 1 former and 2 current Skinner North students. 

A YouTube link to the hour-long Golden Apple Awards presentation is included below. Alison Ridgway is honored around the 24 minute mark of the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ-28JTC3Hw

​Over the years, we’ve heard from families about the importance of having a choice in selecting which high school provides the best match for their child’s needs. We’ve also heard that applying to high school can be frustrating and confusing. So this year, Chicago Public Schools has completely revamped its high school application process for students that will be freshman in the 2018-19 school year with the launch of GoCPS, a new website where students and families will be able to: 
 

• Review school and program options in one place
• Rank these school and program choices based on their preferences
• Be matched with your highest possible choice for high school with available seats

 
The new application process will feature five key phases, the first of which, “Subscribe,” launched this week.
 
1.Subscribe (May – June 2017): Sign up to receive important updates and announcements
2.Research (June – July 2017): Conduct detailed research to find the best school for your child
3.Activate (August – September 2017): Create an account and access your student’s eligibility
4.Apply (October – December 2017): Complete applications with one system and one deadline
5.Match (January – June 2018): Get matched and receive high school offers
 
Each month, CPS is planning to open access to the new features listed in the dates above. This will lead up to August 2017, when families will be able to able to begin using the application functions of the site and October 2017 when high school applications will become available.
 
But before then, there’s still a lot to do, so current seventh grade families are encouraged to visit Go.CPS.edu as soon as possible to start reading about the new application process and to subscribe to the GoCPS mailing list. This will allow them to receive important instructions, announcements and advance notifications that are critical to completing the application process.
 
With GoCPS, Chicago Public Schools wants to empower all students to attend the school with the best environment, programs and activities for them while creating an application process is that is more equitable, transparent and simple for everyone. Stay tuned for more updates to come. 

This past weekend, fifth grader Jack H. represented Skinner North at SuperNationals IV, which set the record for the largest, rated chess tournament in the world. More than 5,500 students--including 70 students from Chicago Public Schools--represented their schools in more than 25 different sections!

​Jack played 7 games--some as long as 3 hours--and earned 5 1/2 out of a possible 7 points. He was part of a large tie for 12th place. Due to tie breaks, Jack ended up earning a 36th place trophy out of his section of 484 students, in grades K-12th grade (Under 1600 rated)! Congrats, Jack!


Chess is a lot of fun and almost 50 Skinner North students have participated with our team this school year. We hope your child will consider joining us next year. We have a free all girls chess workshop scheduled at 3:45pm on May 31st. We have room for up to 30 girls. Both experienced chess players and beginners who have never played are welcome. It's not too early for boys and girls to consider joining our chess team next year. Just send an email to skinnernorthchess@gmail.com and we will register your daughter for the May 31stworkshop and/or add you to our email list for upcoming chess team news and events.

​Over the years, we’ve heard from families about the importance of having a choice in selecting which high school provides the best match for their child’s needs. We’ve also heard that applying to high school can be frustrating and confusing. So this year, Chicago Public Schools has completely revamped its high school application process for students that will be freshman in the 2018-19 school year with the launch of GoCPS, a new website where students and families will be able to: 
 

• Review school and program options in one place
• Rank these school and program choices based on their preferences
• Be matched with their highest possible choice for high school

 
The new application process will feature five key phases, the first of which, “Subscribe,” launched this week.
 

1. Subscribe (May – June 2017): Sign up to receive important updates and announcements
2. Research (June – July 2017): Conduct detailed research to find the best school for your child
3. Activate (August – September 2017): Create an account and access your student’s eligibility
4. Apply (October – December 2017): Complete applications with one system and one deadline
5. Match (January – June 2018): Get matched and receive high school offers

 
Each month, CPS is planning to open access to the new features listed in the dates above. This will lead up to August 2017, when families will be able to able to begin using the application functions of the site and October 2017 when high school applications will become available.
 
But before then, there’s still a lot to do, so current seventh grade families are encouraged to visit Go.CPS.edu as soon as possible to start reading about the new application process and to subscribe to the GoCPS mailing list. This will allow them to receive important instructions, announcements and advance notifications that are critical to completing the application process.
 
With GoCPS, Chicago Public Schools wants to empower all students to attend the school with the best environment, programs and activities for them while creating an application process is that is more equitable, transparent and simple for everyone. Stay tuned for more updates to come.
 

Ten of the middle school students entered work in the Department of Arts Education K-8 Visual Arts Exhibition.  Their work is displayed in an online exhibition gallery at http://www.cpsarts.org/view/gallery/.  We are so proud of each of them and their hard work.   

STEM Night was a huge success.  Students were able to participate in various STEM related activities like: creating straw planes; creating bags from t-shirts; making boats and finding the mass they could hold; creating bristle bots; making and testing paper airplanes and helicopters; and coding.  In addition, various parents in STEM related careers shared about their jobs. Attendees were able to learn more about careers like software development, engineering, biomedical research, and anesthesiology.  All attendees also received kits from ComEd to make their homes more efficient.  Thank you to the Ms. Shah and the Science Professional Learning Community for organizing and thank you to all our parent volunteers and student volunteers in 7th and 8th grade!

Thank you to FoSN for providing the funding so Cinema Academy could come and perform Anne Frank: "Thinking Myself Out" at Skinner North. Students were deeply moved by the different perspectives on genocide presented in the play.  It also related to the theme of empathy, which we discussed in our Buddy Classrooms on Friday.

The continued and ongoing support from FoSN is greatly appreciated!

May is Food Allergy Awareness Month.  The goal of this month is to spread awareness about food allergies and help increase understanding.  This year's theme is #TealTakeover.  On Wednesday, May 17, we will wear teal to show support.  

The event was so wonderful yesterday!  Students and parents were able to participate in a yoga session, meditation, coloring project and creation of worry boxes.  A huge thank you to Shannon, Joanna, Jitka, and John for being our Yoga instructor and meditative musical "gonging" accompaniment. 

Thanks to all the helpers that set up, broke down and provided assistance to the students.

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