Good afternoon,
Happy 2nd quarter! We had a great day of learning on Friday with our staff and look forward to a new quarter. Report cards will be sent home on Wednesday, Oct. 26. Teachers will be sending information about Parent-Teacher Conference Sign Ups in the near future. Parent-Teacher Conferences are on Monday, Nov. 21 from 8:30-3:30.
Please read below for a few updates and reminders.
Happy Diwali to all who celebrate!
Have a great day,
Katie and Mattea
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Picture Day - Picture day is Thursday (Oct. 27). Envelopes went home. You can pay online at https://magic.collectorsolutions.com/magic-ui/Login/cps-22591-skinner-north or send exact change in the envelope with preferences marked to school.
Prospective Parent Open House - This event is for families who are interested in applying to Skinner North. We give a short presentation and then tours. It is on Wednesday, Nov. 9 from 5:30-6:30. Please reach out to Katie at kmagnuson@cps.edu if you would be interested in supporting, i.e. giving tours to prospective families.
Diversity Committee
Cultural Observances Celebrated by Our School Community
The second Monday of October is recognized as Indigenous Peoples Day. Chicago is the ancestral homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Potawatomi, Objiwe, and Odawa, and a site of trade, travel, and healing for many more tribes. The last federally recognized tribe to hold title to land in Chicago were the Potawatomi, who were forced to cede the last of their territory in 1833. Today, the Chicago area is home to an estimated 65,000 Indigenous people. You can learn more about youth activism among our city's Native communities and their push to create the First Nations Garden at the corner of Wilson and Pulaski, here and here.
October 11 is National Coming Out Day. You can find resources and stories here.
October 9-16 (sundown to sundown): Sukkot, a seven-day Jewish festival.
October 16-18 (sundown to sundown): Shemini Atzeret, a Jewish holiday also known as the Eighth (Day) of Assembly, takes place the day after the Sukkot festival, where gratitude for the fall harvest is deeply internalized.
As we wrap up Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month on October 15, we want to send a special shout-out to Ms. Walkowski, who organized school field trips to Cantigny Park to see Alebrijes in addition to other classroom and buddy classroom learning activities. For more information on the Cantigny art exhibit our students visited, see here.
Diverse Needs Committee
Diverse Needs Transition to High School Meeting
Calling all caregivers of High School-bound students! Join us for a virtual meeting with High School case managers who will be answering questions from Skinner North families about IEP and 504 plan implementation and management during High School.
Tuesday, October 25, 12:00 – 1:00pm
Google Meet Video call link: https://meet.google.com/xci-xoct-tcx
Or dial: (US) +1 304-981-5471 PIN: 518 509 789#
Caregiver Coffee
Join us for the next coffee on Friday October 28, 8:30am (right after drop off)
If the weather is too cold, we will move to the parent room (room 105)
Committee Meeting Notes
Catch up on the discussion from our October 14 meeting with notes posted at the Diverse Needs Website. Our next planning meeting will be on Friday, November 11 at 8:30am in the parent room (Room 105) and via Google Meet.
Disability Activists
The Committee will be researching Disability Activists and their work to share with the Skinner North Community throughout the school year. Is there a Disability Activist that you’d like us to know about? Would you like to join the research effort? Let us know on the website here!