MARK T. SKINNER WEST SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
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 2020-2021 School Year
Week #15: January 16 - January 22
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Dates to Remember
NWEA Testing @ Skinner - January 12-19th 9:30-2:30
Monday, Jan. 18th NO SCHOOL - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Tuesday, January 19th- LSC Meeting 6pm
Wednesday, January 20th - Free COVID Testing @ 955 W Grand
Jan 27th and 28th Hybrid Plan Virtual Meetings for Parents- Times to Be Announced
CPS 2020-2021 Calendar: here
Front Office Hours: 8:45am-4:00pm - BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
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The next LSC Meeting will be held virtually on Tuesday, January 19th at 6:00.
Please click HERE for the January LSC meeting agenda.
Dates for future LSC Meetings will be determined. More information including instructions for attending will be on the school calendar. All are welcome to attend! As a reminder, previous LSC meeting notes including the principal's report can be found on Skinner's website.
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Isabelle L. is a 3rd grade Superstar in Ms. Sanders Class. She is one of the youngest members of the #Fight2FeedBakeSquad. Since September she has been baking 100 cookies for them every other weekend and increased her baking time to weekly during the month of December. In November, volunteers were asked to also bake pumpkin pies to accompany the Thanksgiving dinners being served. Isabelle stepped up and made her first ever pumpkin pie!
Fight2Feed has a mission to end hunger and reduce food waste. Fight2Feed rescues food and prepares meals for those in underserved and homeless communities. They don't have the capacity to prepare a baked good to add to the meal, but their clients love receiving something made with love by volunteers in the community.
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Merit School of Music invites Skinner West students to study after school with Chicago's finest music teachers. Whether your child is a beginner or looking to refine their skills, Merit's online and in-person group classes will help unlock their full musical potential. Financial aid and low-cost instrument rentals are available.
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CPS Reopening Guide
Please make sure you review the information about CPS' Reopening Plans. You can find that information HERE. Skinner West will share more information about our reopening plans including pod assignments soon. Stay tuned to the newsletter for more Information.
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Please click HERE for the December LSC meeting agenda. Our next meeting will be held virtually on Tuesday, January 19th at 6pm. More information including instructions for attending will be on the school calendar. All are welcome to attend! As a reminder, previous LSC meeting notes including the principal's report can be found on Skinner's website.
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GoCPS Applications for high schools and selective enrollment elementary schools has been extended from December 11, 2020 to January 8, 2021. CPS announced this deadline to ensure that everyone has the time they need to go through school options and decide which schools best match their talents, interests, and abilities. To learn more about this change and the process go to https://go.cps.edu.
If you have a child that you want to enroll in a Skinner West for the 2021-2022 school year, and you have another child enrolled in Skinner's Classical Program, you must submit an application through the GoCPS application process. The currently enrolled sibling's last name, CPS ID number, and current school name or code must be included on the application.
Siblings applying to elementary magnet, magnet cluster, or open enrollment schools are selected first and will be offered seats to the extent that space is available. If a school receives more applications from siblings than there are seats available, a computerized lottery will be conducted to fill the seats.
The term "sibling" refers to natural siblings, step-siblings, foster siblings, and adopted siblings only. In order to be eligible, the currently enrolled sibling and the sibling applicant must live in the same household. Your child cannot be enrolled as a sibling if their brother or sister graduates in 2021 or transfers to a different school in the 2021-2022 school year.
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With colder weather forcing us indoors for the next few months, getting our Superstars (and ourselves) enough physical activity is going to be a challenge. To help with meeting that challenge, Ms. Westy and Mr Johnson have put together resources aimed at creating a more active home environment. We aimed to provide resources from super simple to very structured to allow for parents to choose what best suits their needs.
On our sites we have different resources depending on the age or your Superstar. There's also videos to help explain each resource. 3-5 resources can be found HERE.6-8 resources can be found HERE We hope that you will find these resources helpful and if you have any questions or need additional support please let us know. Happy New Year!
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The Skinner West Debate Team participated in the Chicago Middle School Debate League's Tournament One for the 2020-2021 season on Saturday, October 24.
The overall topic for the year is: 'Criminal Justice Reform', and the cases being debated at this Tournament were 'Money Bail' and 'Predictive Policing'. About 140 debaters across 73 teams from 11 schools competed at the tournament, but the students did a great job against some tough competition and won the awards listed below.
Some highlights we would especially like to point out are:
1) Skinner West won 1st place in 4 out of 6 award categories. 2) Skinner West won 51% of all possible awards at the tournament (38 out of 75).
| 20th | Novice | Individual | Frances M. | | | 18th | Novice | Individual | Vedika S. | | | 16th | Novice | Individual | Aditi S. | | | 15th | Novice | Individual | Sophie W. | | | 10th | Novice | Individual | Maxim F. | | | 9th | Novice | Individual | Natalie Z. | | | 8th | Novice | Individual | Allison C. | | | 7th | Novice | Individual | Carter H. | | | 6th | Novice | Individual | Ketan N. | | | 4th | Novice | Individual | Grier B. | | | 3rd | Novice | Individual | Paras C. | | | 1st | Novice | Individual | Alex M. | | | | | | | | 12th | JV | Individual | Tanmay G. | | | 11th | JV | Individual | Aurelie G. | | | 7th | JV | Individual | Vishal S. | | | 6th | JV | Individual | Sabrina Q. | | | | | | | | 10th | Varsity | Individual | Katelyn T. | | | 9th | Varsity | Individual | Aadi K. | | | 7th | Varsity | Individual | Darian K. | | | 6th | Varsity | Individual | Sophie M. | | | 3rd | Varsity | Individual | Aleksia L. | | | 2nd | Varsity | Individual | Matthew Z. | | | 1st | Varsity | Individual | Maura S. | | | | | | | | 15th | Novice | Team | Grier B. | Shanya Y. | | 14th | Novice | Team | Natalie Z. | | | 13th | Novice | Team | Maxim F. | Paras C. | | 7th | Novice | Team | Allison C. | Celeste D. | | 6th | Novice | Team | Francis M. | Carter H. | | 5th | Novice | Team | Sophie W. | Alex M. | | 4th | Novice | Team | Emika M. | Mel L. | | 3rd | Novice | Team | Ketan N. | Emiliano B. | | 2nd | Novice | Team | Vedika S. | Aditi S. | | | | | | | 10th | JV | Team | Vishal S. | Tanmay G. | | 5th | JV | Team | Aurelie G. | Sabrina Q. | | 1st | JV | Team | Adrija D. | Sebastian C. | | | | | | | 4th | Varsity | Team | JunHui G. | Matthew Z. | | 3rd | Varsity | Team | Sophie M | Katelyn T. | | 1st | Varsity | Team | Maura S. | Aleksia L. |
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Congratulations to our Superstars and Mr. Lee!
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Ms. Sendoun's seventh grade science scholars are participating in a NASA sponsored essay contest. Students took on the role of the leaders of NASA's Artemis expedition to explore the Moon's South Pole for a week. They considered the skills, attributes, and character traits that would be essential to succeed in this mission as they put together their exploration pods. Students also thought about a machine or technology they could leave behind to help future explorers. The students worked hard to write very thoughtful plans and we wish them luck in the contest!
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Sixth graders have been traveling to the ancient past in Social Studies this year. In our latest unit on Ancient Egypt, students discovered how this civilization impacted the world, both then and now. See how students were inspired by writing a poem that shows what they learned HERE.
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NWEA Winter Testing
Eligible Skinner West 6-8th grade students that opted-in for testing will take place January 12th-19th. Schedules will be sent to parents by the end of this week. Please reach out to Ms. Maldonado if you opted in to testing and have not received your schedule.
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L. DeLeeuw came up with an idea over the winter break to assemble care packages for the many homeless people in Chicago. With his own money, he put together care packages consisting of dental care kit, Purell wipes, facemasks, a bottle of water, chips, energy/candy bars, hand & toe warmers, chapstick, and a handwritten card with an inspirational quote (all on his own).
Our student paid for the first 4 packages ($25 each) from his own savings. His family created a Go Fund Me to help him continue handing out these care packages. If you are interested in donating so he can serve others in our community you can find the Go Fund Me link here: gf.me/u/zdbwqf
Thank you for your stewardship! Our school community is SO proud of you! Have a story about your Superstar you'd like to share? Send us a note at skinnerwest@gmail.com and we'll feature them in a future newsletter!!
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Bennett Day School, Morgan Manufacturing & NEXT Restaurant have organized FREE COVID-19 walk-up testing in the West Loop. Starting January 20th and every Wednesday after that, anyone can get a free test in the Bennett Day School parking lot at 955 W Grand Street. Hours are from 8am-3:45pm. All you need to provide is a contact number for the test results.
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Front Office Hours: 8:30am - 4:30pm
In-person by appointment ONLY. Phone: 773 534-7790
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All comments, suggestions or requests to submit information to this newsletter should be emailed to skinnerwest@gmail.com.
Communications Volunteers are welcome. Donate your time to help increase communications and contact us!
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Would you like to add another parent, guardian or caregiver?
Text SKINNERNEWS to 22828 or click here (Messaging & data rates may apply)
Deborah M. Clark
Principal
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