2nd quarter report cards were sent home with students on Friday, January 13.

Students will take the middle-of-the-year i-Ready assessment over the next two weeks. Please see below for the testing schedule by grade level.

Dear Skinner Parents or Guardians,

Each year, students in the English Language Programs take the ACCESS for ELLs language proficiency test. The test measures academic English language proficiency for students learning English as a second language in our school and throughout our state. This year ACCESS testing will begin on January 17th, 2023.

We use this information to help us plan instruction for your child. We also use the ACCESS test scores to monitor the progress your child makes toward English proficiency.

Please contact me if you have questions about the ACCESS for ELLs test.

Sincerely,

Ms. Morales

English Language Program Teacher/ ESL Program Coordinator

Lsmorales@cps.edu

Discounted tickets to upcoming Bulls games are available for the community! Choose from the following upcoming games: February 2 or March 17, and root for the Chicago Bulls at the United Center! Friends of Whitney Young is hosting this event for the wider community to facilitate these discounted tickets and a small donation will be made to them for each ticket. Donations will benefit the grants and students in need at the school. Note: While our mission benefits Whitney Young HS, we are a separate independent, non-profit, all-volunteer organization run by parents in the community.

We hope that your winter break is filled with love, joy, and peace!

To every person who donated to the FOSW Holiday Gift Drive, THANK YOU. Your generosity will make a child feel very special. Thank you parents, guardians, and community members who have been very active these past few weeks helping organize the gift distributions, volunteering for school events, celebrating teachers and staff, and joining us for the winter concerts. It is so awesome to see that Skinner Spirit!

We hope everyone has an opportunity to rest and reset as we head into 2023. Most importantly, we hope everyone is able to connect with loved ones.

Happy Holidays! We look forward to seeing the Superstars January 9.

Sincerely,

Dr. Bush, Dr. Brown, and Ms. Eskridge, Skinner Administration Team

Every month, Skinner Principal Dr. Bush gives her report at the Local School Council (LSC) meeting. Download the report from the Dec. 20, 2022, meeting.

Thank you to all of the parents, guardians, and community members who attended this year's Winter Concert. The turnout was fantastic. And, thank you to Ms. Maatouk for getting our Superstars into singing shape.

The Skinner West Debate Team participated in the Chicago Middle School Debate League's Tournament Two for the 2022-2023 season on Saturday, Dec. 10.

The overall topic for the year is "NATO Security Cooperation," and the cases being debated at this tournament were 'Disinformation,' 'The Baltics,' and 'Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS).'

About 77 debaters across 40 teams from eight CPS schools competed at the tournament. The students did a great job against some tough competition. Congrats Superstars!

Some highlights:

14th: Alec S.

13th: Dawson M.

11th: Vedant P.

8th: Lucas B.

5th: Raahil M.

2nd: Sophia M.

1st: Erin C.

4th: Elio G.

3rd: Deven G.

2nd: Neil D.

3rd: Vedika S.

7th: Issac Z. and Harshil S.

6th: Pranav P. and Vedant P.

5th: Emma W. and Veda B.

3rd: Erin C. and Sophia M.

2nd: Alec S. and Ryan L.

1st: Ella M. and Dawson M.

2nd: Neil D. and Elio G.

3rd: Tvisha H. and Celeste D.

I am happy to announce that I will be returning to Skinner on January 9. I am grateful to Dr. Bush for giving me the opportunity to return to Skinner. I'll be taking on the role of English language program teacher (ELPT). In this role, I will focus on developing our English language program to ensure our English language learners get the required services. At the same time, I will support teachers by providing ESL resources offered by the CPS Office of Language and Culture Education (OLCE).

Happy holidays to you and your loved ones. I’ll see you in January!

Our youngest Superstars at the Branch have decked the halls in merriment!

Meanwhile, the teachers and staff at the Branch decked THEMSELVES in the holiday spirit!

Our kindergarteners got together for their annual Reindeer Pajama Party. They bounced around to different classrooms creating reindeer ornaments, making reindeer food, singing reindeer songs, and playing reindeer games! The best part was that they all got to wear pajamas!

Happy holidays from all of the Skinner West kindergarteners!

There is currently an opening on the Skinner Local School Council (LSC) for a community representative. Being an LSC Member is a great way to get involved in your neighborhood’s school. LSCs provide an opportunity to help shape how students will be educated and how the school will impact the community. A community member is eligible to serve as a community representative for Skinner if they:

Applications must be turned in to Skinner's office by January 18, 2023 at 3 p.m.

All 5th-8th grade Superstars are invited to join the Whitney Young Robotics for a free, four-week workshop virtually via Zoom.

The course runs Sundays from Jan. 15 to Feb 5 from 3 to 5 p.m.

Sign up via the QR code in the flyer.

To build on the success of the district’s State Seal of Biliteracy program, the CPS Office of Language and Cultural Education (OLCE) introduced the CPS Seal of Biliteracy Pathway Award for 5th and 8th grade students to be recognized for being on their pathway towards earning the State Seal of Biliteracy through their enrollment in a bilingual, dual, and/or world language program.

The assessment window runs from March 1-15. Download the flyers for more information.