Good morning!  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  We are looking forward to a great 2nd week of school.  Please read below for a few updates and reminders.

Friday, we held our #bettertogether assemblies.  Students in all the grade levels got to share what the phrase means to them.  It was an inspiring event.  Thank you to our student hosts, Muhammad and Izaak, to all of our student presents and to Skinner North Superstore for donating raffle prizes.  We are truly better together.  
  
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LSC Agenda - See attached for the agenda for our Local School Council meeting which will be at 3:45 on Wednesday, Sept. 12 in the library.  

Back to School Open House - Our open house is on Wednesday, Sept. 12 from 5-6:30.  Derrick and I will be giving 3 short presentations (same information in each) about the school and policies in the auditorium at 5:15, 5:45 and 6:15.  While teachers will be available the entire time, please see the attached flyer for specific times they will give presentations.  

Second Annual Skinner North K-8 Chess Tournament - Every current Skinner North student who already knows how to play chess is invited to participate in our second annual Skinner North Chess tournament on Sat., Sept 15.  Check-in is from 8:30 to 9:15 a.m. and the tournament will start afterwards and conclude by 4:00 p.m.   The event is free and you can register by emailing skinnernorthchess@gmail.com no later than September 13th or register onsite on September 15th between 8:30 a.m. and 9:15 a.m.  (see attached flier for more information.)

Drop Off and Pick Up Procedures- Please remember students may be dropped off starting at 8:00.  If coming before this, you must be signed up for J at School before care.  This policy is in place to make sure all students are safe and have supervision.  This also goes for after school.  Pick up time is 3:30.  Students must be signed up for an after care program or have pre-arranged supervision after this time. 


New CPS IDs  for Some Students- CPS has changed the eight-digit CPS Student ID numbers for all students affected by the unfortunate sharing of student information that occurred in June via the Office of Access and Enrollment.  Students impacted will received sealed letters  that contain their new IDs will be sent home with them.  

Skinner North Upper Grades (SNUG) Committee announcements:   SNUG Committee Meetings - The first SNUG Committee Meeting for the 2018-2019 Academic year will be on Thursday, September 20th at 5:00 p.m. in the Parent Room.  The remainder of the meetings for the year will be set at this kick off meeting. Agenda to follow.


Academic and High School Forum - 
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Skinner North Auditorium
 
Agenda includes:

1. Presentation by Ms. Jacobson regarding academic center and high school options and the application process for both; and  
2. Q&A session with a panel of with current and former SN students who have chosen different paths and who will speak about their experiences in 8th grade and beyond.  
   
   *All are welcome; however, this forum is geared to 4th – 8th grade students and their parents/guardians.

​Good afternoon!  It was so wonderful having students back in the building today.  It was a great first day of school.  Students will have seen this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmhnZgeWEnE) already, but we wanted to share with you as well.  We encourage you to watch, see our staff and hear about our theme.  


Our theme this school year is #bettertogether.  Our motto has always been working together, achieving success and the idea of #bettertogether exemplifies this.  Throughout the year, we will connect back to this idea and have community building activities around it.  We are looking forward to a great year.   

Sports Updates - Mr. Popowich sent out sports info for 5-8th grade students on the Bloomz pages the other day. We also passed out paper copies on today to any students interested. When students return forms, they can put them in Mr. Popowich's mailbox or hand them to him. Please be reminded that forms are due Sept. 10.


Staffing Updates - Please note we also had 2 recent staffing changes this school year.  A new directory will be sent our in the coming weeks after we have finalized our special education teacher.  However in the interim, Ms. Plummer, one of our nurses, is not returning.  Tara Sonnenberg will be joining us and taking over that position.  


Katie Siegel, our former social worker, got the opportunity to work full time at another CPS school, and will be working there.  LaRuby Sangster (lesangster@cps.edu) is our new social worker.  She splits her time between Skinner West and here.  We are excited to have her join us.

Letter from CPS CEO -  Attached please find an update from CEO Janice K. Jackson regarding student protections. 
 
Have a wonderful day,
Katie

Good afternoon, Skinner North Families!  We hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday.  It has been a busy week here at Skinner North and excellent example of working together, achieving success.  


Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who came out!  Volunteers prepared bulletin boards, made copies, painted, and prepared the back playground for some fun updates (coming next week).   We are excited for students to return!
   

Thank you to FoSN for helping to fund the paint and playground resurfacing as well as the updated gym floor!   


Please read below for a few updates and reminders.  Next week be on the lookout for our getting ready for the first day of school-wide email.  


Have a great day,
Katie & Derrick
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Back to School Picnic & School Supply Drop Off- We are looking forward to seeing many of you at the Back to School Picnic, tomorrow (Sat.) from noon-2PM, on the back playground area.  Come bring a picnic for your family, socialize with the Skinner North Community and find out teacher assignments.  Many of our teachers will be at the picnic as well.  It is also a great opportunity to drop off your child's school supplies (You will enter through the back door and place supplies by your student's classroom door).  Supply drop off can also been done any day next week from 8:00-3:30.  (If you pre-ordered school supplies, they have arrived and will be delivered to classrooms next week.)


Get to know the Skinner North Staff - See attached for our Skinner North Staff Directory and an article on why our teachers teach.  We hope this helps you put faces with names and learn about our team.  We are welcoming 2 new teachers.  Ms. Steenman is new to our school and comes with rich instructional experience and expertise.  She will be teaching Kindergarten.  Ms. Fahey will be teaching music.  Two years ago she was a student teacher with Ms. Poznicek and has a strong musical background and pedagogically understanding.  We are excited to welcome her back.  We will also welcome a new special education position as we recently received an additional position.  We are currently seeking a candidate and will introduce the new staff member as soon as we can.


J at School Registration - If you are interested in J at School before/after care and enrichments, registration is now available.  To register go to the Skinner North link found at https://www.jccchicago.org/programs/schools-out/before-after-school-care-info/ .  Information about their enrichment offerings is available at the Skinner North link found at https://www.jccchicago.org/programs/schools-out/enrichment/.

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Kindergarten Round Up - Our Kindergarten Round Up will occur Tuesday, August 28.  Please let us know if you will be unable to attend by emailing me at kmagnuson@cps.edu.

Round Up has an AM and PM session.  Attendance is determined by first letter of last name.  If the student's last name begins with A-M, please come in the morning (8:45AM-11:00AM) and if the student's last name begins with N-Z, please come in the afternoon (1:00PM-3:00PM).  

When you arrive students and parents will get the opportunity to do an activity in one of the classrooms.  Students will, then, play with one another with teacher supervision while parents go to the auditorium for a presentation and Q/A session with administration.  Each student's reading level will also be assessed to help us start differentiated instruction as soon as possible.  Students will receive their classroom/teacher assignment a day or two after round up.  

If unable to attend Round Up, it is okay.  We just ask that you please let us know in advance.  Students who miss round up will be placed in rooms and then, assessed when the school year begins.

*You can feel free to drop off your student's school supplies this day.*

An Updated Code of Conduct to Better Support Students

Dear CPS Parents and Families, 

As CEO of Chicago Public Schools, we know the importance of maintaining safe, supportive schools. But to be effective, disciplinary practices must be equitable and contribute to the social-emotional development of our students. Since 2012, CPS has made a dedicated effort to reform disciplinary practices and better support students by working to align the district’s Student Code of Conduct (SCC) (Spanish, Polish) with our values. As a result, out-of-school suspension have been reduced by 76 percent and expulsions have dropped 59 percent -- a reduction seen among every demographic subgroup.

To continue this progress, we are revising the SCC to expand student supports while providing additional clarification on the use of disciplinary practices. These revisions build on the district’s restorative approach to discipline, promote equitable practices, and ensure all students have access to safe and supportive learning environments.

I am pleased to share some updates to the SCC for the coming school year — changes that will build on the district’s restorative approach to discipline, promote equitable practices, and ensure all students have access to safe and supportive learning environments.

These updates include: 

• A more inclusive Anti-Bullying Policy, which protects children from being harassed for any reason, including race, religion, or immigration status. 
• A step-by-step guide for school leaders on how to document and respond to incidents of bullying, including contacting all families of involved students about the outcomes of any bullying investigations.
• Additional guidance on Out-of-School suspension practices to ensure that the use of suspensions is appropriate, equitable, and employed as a last resort.
• A more sensitive approach to address student behavior, especially when the students involved may have been exposed to trauma.
• Additional language to explicitly prohibit zero tolerance policies that have been shown to be ineffective at increasing school safety, or correcting student behaviors, and builds on the district’s continued commitment to restorative approaches to discipline.
• Clear guidelines for involving the new CPS Office of Student Protections and Title IX in investigating incidents of bullying, inappropriate sexual conduct, and other infractions.

This updated SCC is part of our commitment to strengthening the district’s restorative approach to discipline. Appropriate and equitable disciplinary practices help create safe and supportive learning environments that empower our students to develop the communication, relationship-building, and conflict-resolution skills they will need for success in school and in life.  

I thank you for your support and wish you an enjoyable summer break. I look forward to kicking off another successful school year on September 4, 2018. 

Sincerely, 

Janice K. Jackson, Ed.D
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public Schools ​

GoCPS High School Application Account Activation is Now Available
 
Eighth grade families, 2018 is a big moment as you will soon be deciding which high school your student wants to attend during the 2019-20 school year. The first official step in this process is to activate your application account on GoCPS, which is the online platform that you will use to submit all your applications.
 
Account activation opened on August 1, 2018 and will allow you to:
 

• Create a username and password
• Create your primary parent/guardian profile
• Create profiles for each high school applicant in your family
• Link student data records for current CPS students to the profile
• View the programs to which your student(s) are eligible to apply
• Verify that student records are accurate
• “Favorite” top programs you are considering for applications in October

 
To begin the account activation process, visit this page: https://go.cps.edu
 
Activation Codes
 
*For CPS students, account activation is only required for students applying to ninth grade.*
 
In order to activate your account, you will need to use the Activation Code from a letter sent home with your student at the end of the last school year. If you have misplaced or did not receive this code, please contact your child’s school counselor or the Office of Access and Enrollment (OAE) at 773-553-2060 from a telephone number on your student’s CPS student information file to have it reissued. The OAE call center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
 
Activation Codes will also be distributed to students again shortly after the beginning of school in September 2018. 
 
Application Advice
 
No matter who is activating the account, be sure to enter the name and address of the parent/guardian with whom the student resides as the primary parent/guardian. This address will be used when determining tiers and proximity boundaries, as well as attendance and overlay boundaries.
 
Web Browsers
 
GoCPS is optimized for view on Chrome, Safari and Firefox web browsers. We recommend using one of these to access the site. 
 
Need Help?
 
If you have any questions about the activation process, contact the Office of Access and Enrollment at 773-553-2060 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
 
gocps@cps.edu
​