Dear HSA McKinley Park Families,

This is a long update and I appreciate you taking the time to read it. 
What a difference a year makes! We are so excited to announce that all of our students and staff will be back full time, and in person in August. Our goal is to keep all students and staff healthy and in school.

We are a community and although we may have different beliefs and viewpoints, we need to work together, take care of each other and especially take care of our children. I hope you will support the School’s decisions on health and safety protocols for this school year. Our children learn first from their families and then from their teachers. Please help your children understand that there are different views on wearing/not wearing masks and vaccinations, and when they are at school, they need to follow the school rules and continue to be kind to their friends who may have different views. These conversations are so important for you to have with your children. If you are finding it difficult to find the right words to begin the conversation, please reach out to your school principal. We will not tolerate bullying related to mask wearing or any other bullying.  

Below you will find our opening plan. All of this is based on current information, including updated school-specific guidance from a joint effort by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). Please note that things may change, hopefully based on decreasing numbers of COVID-19, and we will continuously communicate with you.

General Information
  • Friday, August 20th is the first day of school for new students, all 6th & all 9th.
  • Monday, August 23rd is the first day for all students
  • Friday, August 20th is new parent orientation
  • Bus services will continue as in previous years. 

Face Masks
  • All students and staff will be required to wear masks on school buses.
  • All students and staff will be required to wear masks indoors.
  • Face masks do not need to be worn outdoors.
  • Mask guidance will be evaluated weekly based on
-Local, State and National health department guidance
-Student/staff cases of COVID-19
 
Social Distancing
  • Individual students or student groups will be socially distanced, 3 feet apart when at all possible.
  • Small groups of students may be assigned to the same table and be 3 feet from other tables
  • Students can share materials

Self Certification
We will no longer require lanyards for daily student health certification. Parents should continue to keep their children home from school when they are ill.

Visitors
All school visitors must wear masks.

Field Trips & Large Gatherings
  • At this point in time we are not scheduling field trips or large gatherings of students. We may change this according to guidance from ISBE and CPS.  
  • We are planning our open house in September. Details will be shared soon.

Hand Washing and Sanitizing
Students will have time and opportunity in their classrooms and throughout the building to sanitize their hands throughout the day.

Breakfast and Lunch
Lunch and Breakfast programs are happening as scheduled.  

After School Activities
  • After school clubs and sports will resume.
  • Morning Care and Aftercare programs will resume.
  • HSA McKinley will continue to share information as we get closer to our start date. 

Thank you for your patience and concern about all of our children. If you have additional questions please contact me.  

Sincerely,

Mr. Vedziovski
2245 W. Pershing Rd. Chicago, IL 60609
(O) 773.247.8400 | (F) 773.247.8401
Operated by Concept Schools

School Reminder:
Attention New Parents:
Supplemental Day
FOR ALL FAMILIES
Special THANKS
On Friday, July 30th we wrapped up our mandatory summer school for our students. We wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of our faculty and staff that helped make our summer school program such a success this year. We would also like to thank our parents for their continued support. Our partnership with our parents means the world to us and together we will continue making sure our students receive the best education possible.

*Pictured above are some of our summer school teaching staff.
Thank you for your dedication to our students!
Sports Corner
New Water Fountains
We are proud to launch this year the #BYORB – Bring Your Own Reusable Bottle Initiative!!!
With the new installation of our new water fountains through out our school, we are strongly encouraging our students, staff and faculty to #BYORB! It is not only helping us save the planet by reducing the waste consumption it is also a more sanitary way for our students to use our water fountains safely. All of our water fountains have been updated with this new feature and we are excited to share with all of our school community!
PTO News
Staff Spotlight: Agnes Koson
This month's staff spotlight shines on Agnes Koson!

We wanted to shine the spotlight on our new middle school Assistant Principal, Ms. Agnes Koson. We wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate her on her recent promotion and share her story to all of our families.

Ms. Agnes Koson was born in Chicago and grew up both in the city and the suburbs. Currently, she lives in city. Since kindergarten, she knew that she wanted to be a teacher. After graduating high school, she worked at FedEx Ground as a trainer. While working in that position she knew that teaching was her passion and pursued a degree in teaching at UIC and Trinity Christian College. She graduated with a minor in History and holds endorsements for elementary, ESL, and bilingual education. In her first year teaching, she was a bilingual kindergarten teacher in the suburbs. She then landed her dream position as a middle school social studies teacher here at HSA McKinley in 2013. While teaching here at HSA, she continued to grow and earned a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction in 2015. Since then, she has served as an AP teacher, Grade Level Chair, and Department Head for the past six years. She also hosted the Chicago History Club and has headed our Annual International Dinners. Her favorite memories from the classroom are skits the students wrote and performed, minute-to-win-it Olympic Games, and the Egyptian mummification rituals. She will definitely miss the classroom and is so excited for the new opportunity to be transitioning into the incredible role of Middle School Assistant Principal as she begins her ninth year at HSA McKinley!

We are very thankful for Ms. Koson's dedication and successful contributions she has made throughout the years here at HSA McKinley. We are looking forward to see her grow and shine in her new position as the middle school Assistant Principal.

Closing out with her favorite quote:
"Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.
-Robert Collier

Click on her welcome message to our School Community
Any questions? concerns?
At HSA McKinley Park our top priority is the health and safety of students and staff, and we will continue to follow the guidance of local, state, and federal health officials in this evolving situation. Should you have any questions or concerns please email us at:

Mr. Seat Vedziovski at:
vedziovski@hsamckinley.org

Ms. Armouti, Outreach Coordinator:

Mrs. Vega, Outreach Coordinator:
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