Dear HSA McKinley Park Families,
It is hard to believe that we are currently in quarter 2 and the year is progressing so smoothly. As a school community, we have come a long way since the start of this school year. As a reminder please remember that Tuesday, November 1st 2022 will be our report card pick up day. You will get a chance to meet with your school assistant principal and address any concerns you may have if you can make it on November 1st from 3pm - 5pm. We are also getting close to our Thanksgiving break which is happening very soon. The whole week starting on the 21st of November will be a week off school to celebrate Thanksgiving!
I would also like to take the opportunity to discuss student absences since you can imagine, attendance is a significant factor concerning student success. The more a student is absent, the increased chance he/she will fail their courses, fall behind in class, and lose a connection with the school. We also understand that students get sick, have family emergencies, and things do come up. This is where we need your help. It is essential to call the school if your child will be absent, late, or leaving early from school. If no one calls the school to notify of the student’s absence this will be recorded as an unexcused absence. We can also excuse up to 5 unexcused absences if they are related to the mental health of our students.
Below is our school’s general policy on absences:
- Any student who accumulates 5 total unexcused absences will receive a warning letter from school.
- Any student who accumulates 10 total unexcused absences may receive a parent meeting request letter from the school requesting a conference with administration. At that point, administration may also require the implementation of an Attendance Intervention Plan (AIP) with the parent or guardian.
- Any student who reaches 15 total absences (excused or unexcused) may be required to meet with administration.
- Any student who reaches 30 total days of unexcused or excused absences during the school year will be considered to have failed his/her current grade and will repeat the same grade the following year unless the student’s principal and teachers of the failed subject areas agree that the student is academically prepared to be promoted to the next grade level.
Sincerely,
Mr. Vedziovski
2245 W. Pershing Rd. Chicago, IL 60609
(O) 773.247.8400 | (F) 773.247.8401
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Were #1 & #2 in the STATE |
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The Illinois Report card has updated their data and we are so proud to announce that: We are the number one Charter High School in Illinois with the TOP SAT Average Math Score!!! We improved 30% from last year!!!
Also our SAT Average ELA Score is the #2 Charter High School in the state. Our ELA score has improved from last year by 7.5%. We are so proud of our dedicated students and staff for this great improvement and accomplishment!
Note:
If you want to get more information please click on the button below:
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Thank you to all the CYSP parents for joining us for our Parent Informational Dinner Meeting on October 3rd. It was a huge turnout and success! We are excited to roll out all of our CYSP groups and the success solely relies on the partnership between our mentors and parents!
Ms. Martin & Ms. Maldonado did a great job by initiating this informational meeting to keep everyone involved in CYSP informed.
Thank you all again for your amazing support!!!
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Our Fall book fair took place from October 3rd to October 7th, and our school librarian, Ms. Manzella, was happy to open our doors to our students and parents for in-person shopping. With more than 600 books sold, the Fall Book Fair was one of our best fairs ever, with more than $5,000 raised to be put toward books and resources for the school! Thank you to all of our school community for purchasing books and we can't wait until to host our next book fair in March!
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Thank you to Ms. Maldonado, our College & Career Counselor for hosting this FAFSA night for our seniors and their families on Wednesday, October 5th. FAFSA night is very important for the college preparation process and we are proud to have such a dedicated staff who can help assist our students with their post secondary education major decisions.
What's Next:
On Wednesday, November 16th we will host a college fair for all of our high school students! More details coming soon.
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A special shout out to the middle school team and College & Career department for hosting our 8th grade parent night. We wanted to share important high school information with our 8th grade students and their families as they prepare to make their decision about their high school choice. The night showcased the amazing teaching tracks, programs and activities we offer our high school students.
If you missed this informational meeting and would like to know more information please contact Ms. Koson at [email protected]
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HSA McKinley Park had the honor of hosting our State Rep, Theresa Mah as "Principal for a Day" on October 14th. Between reading to kindergartners, visiting the robotics lab, listening in on our school band play, speaking to the government class, and meeting with the parents, we had our guest principal very busy! We appreciate State Rep Theresa Mah taking time out of her busy schedule to spend the day with us!
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Thank you to all of our school community for coming together for our ISBE renewal and hearing that took place on Monday, October 24th. Overall the visit went very smoothly. Our public forum was a huge success due to the 45 staff, parents and students who spoke so proudly about our school!
Thank you again to all of speakers who rose to the occasion and spoke in favor of our school renewal. It was a great night for HSA McKinley Park and we are happy to share that ISBE designated us a "commendable" school during the 2021-2022 school year!
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Closing Out Hispanic Heritage Month |
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HSA McKinley was excited to close out Hispanic Heritage Month with our annual festival! This month was such a success due to all of the efforts from our staff and school community. Our festival was full of great food, music and great company. All of our students enjoyed this social activity and had lots of fun sliding down the jumpee and dancing to great music.
A special shout out to Vista Hermosa Express for setting up during our festival to sell some delicious Mexican food to our students! This was the first year we ever hosted a taco vendor and will make sure to extend our festival longer next year so everyone can buy some tasty tacos!
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During this celebratory Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrated by hosting successful Latinos in our Community to motivate and inspire our students! A special thank you to all of the guest speakers who took the time out of their busy bschedules to spend time to share their stories with our students. We were honored and very proud to host you all this month:
- Thelma Vega, CPD Commander
- Zenia Ruiz, Owner of Flor del Monte
- David Arevalo, Owner of Comfort Upholstery
- Eddie Garcia, Owner of Realty of Chicago
- Omar Villagomez, Chicago Actor
- Valeria Acosta, Owner of Acosta Law Offices
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Thank you to our amazing parents who joined us for our very first Fall Family Festival on Saturday, October 22nd. It was a great day full of fun to include pony rides, petting zoo, games, crafts, a bounce house and our traditional Trunk or Treat Parade. We appreciate the support of our parents who set up for our Trunk or Treat. Also this event would not of been possible if it wasn't for our amazing PTO! Thank you PTO for hosting this amazing day for our families to enjoy! |
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Middle School Anti-Bullying Assembly |
October is National Bullying Prevention Month. Our 6th and 7th grade students participated in an anti-bullying assembly with our school counselor, Ms. Camacho. They pledged to help stomp out bullying and build a stronger community at HSA McKinley Park. Check out our pledge board below to see their commitment to this very important cause.
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Middle School Student Spotlight |
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Students in grades 4th through 9th grade got to participate in a celebratory field trip to Six Flags Great America! To earn this field trip, students successfully met or exceeded proficiency standards on the 2021-2022 IAR state test for English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics. The field trip was a blast and all of our chaperones had fun riding the rollercoaster rides with our students! |
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HSA McKinley Park continued to honor successful Latinos in our community for Hispanic Heritage Month! It was an honor highlighting the amazing career and Dance Company, Latin Music Street Dancing, of Andres Meneses. Latin Street Music and Dancing is one of the largest Latin dance studios and Latin entertainment companies in the United States. They are home of Grammy winning musicians and Latin dance world champions!
It was an interactive presentation where volunteer students and teachers got moving on the dance floor with the pros! Andres and his team of dancers came by and presented Salsa and Bachata moves. This assembly came just in time because our high school students were able to show off their new moves at the Homecoming Dance! It was a great assembly and our students enjoyed it very much!
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Our Very Own History Hero |
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Congratulations Evelyn!
Our very own Evelyn Nolfi,(9th grader) was selected this month through our Concept Schools Network as a History Hero! Check out Mr. Jasso's nomination:
"Evelyn has shown a passion for history since the beginning of the school year. Therefore, when our first project was announced she was ecstatic to know that she could build her own version of the guillotine. Her excitement to start on the project was evident in her smile as she contained her excitement. Her project not only showed her creativity but also doubled as a visual representation that helped her peers by providing them with a visual that helped capture their attention and generated interest in the material. Evelyn is a committed student to her work and a student of excellence."
Way to go Evelyn!
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HSA McKinley’s CYSP groups headed to County Line Apple Orchard on Saturday, October 15th! This field trip was offered to all of our CYSP groups and their familes. The day was filled with some fun fall activities such apple picking, a fun Corn Maze, great food and overall a great day to spend together.
Thank you to Ms. Martin and Ms. Maldonado for organizing and kicking off the CYSP field trips for this year!
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We kicked off our first BPAC event of the year with a fun filled Family Night! Thank you to Ms. Esparza and our EL department for organizing this night full of pumpkin decorating fun. It was a packed house and all of our families enjoyed this time with their children. Our Bilingual Parent Advisory Council meets every year quarterly and hosts fun filled informational sessions for our families to enjoy. Stay tuned for the next BPAC event!
If you would like more information about our EL program or BPAC please contact
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Testing has begun with our High School Students. Thank you to Ms. Bivens, College & Counseling team and the high school staff for administering this first round of the PSAT tests for our high school students. As they gear up to prepare our students for this important test we are thankful to have the supportive team efforts of our staff. All year long we will focus on preparing our students for these important tests.
If you would like to get more information on SAT prep please email Ms. Bivens:
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Who wants to be a Math-O-Naire
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Making Math fun is a top priority at HSA! Our Who wants to be a Math-O-Naire contest is now available for our 3rd through 5th graders. Thank you to Ms. Langton for setting up the whole competition! It was a packed room full of mathletes ready to compete. Winners were awarded gift cards and buzz around the school is that our students can not wait for the next one! |
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High School Homecoming Week |
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This highly anticipated Homecoming Week was one for the books! A special shout out to Ms. Portugal, Ms. Garimella and the Junior Student council team for making our Homecoming week the best! They went above and beyond to make sure every detail was executed to perfection. From planning the Homecoming Spirit week, Pep Rally to the Homecoming Dance everything was amazing!
We are also very proud of all of our students who were nominated for this year's court.
Congratulations to our Homecoming Court Winners! (pictured below)
It was definitely a week to remember!
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Congratulations to our 2022 High School
Homecoming Court:
King - Wesley Perez-Senior
Queen - Itzel Solis-Senior
Prince - Alberto Perez- Junior
Princess - Rosa Reyes-Junior
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For the past couple of years, Ms. Valencia has organized the Socktober fundraiser and we are happy to share we have collected over 70 pairs of socks this October!
Thank you to all of our school community that donated! We can't wait to share these warm socks to those in need before the Winter months!
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A special shout out to the k-5th grade teams for planning such a fun Halloween Parade and Spirit week for our students. This year we kept the parade open just for our students and staff but we were able to live stream it on our Facebook page! If you are not following us on social media please make sure to do so! Click on the icons below and add us as a friend! |
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Congratulations to Freshman Estevan Escudero and Juniors Erika Escudero and Danny Martinez for making it past Regionals on Friday, October 21st. They all advanced to the Sectionals competition that was held on Saturday, October 29th and although they did not advance to the State Finals this was the first year more than one person advanced to sectionals.
We also say good bye to our Seniors:
Martiza Botello, Aileen Beltran and Alberto Perez who were also the team's captains!
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The Varsity Boys Soccer team wrapped up their first season under Coach Fortman with a dominant 4-0 victory against HSA Southwest. The Hawks will say goodbye to seniors Gilberto Ceja, Franklin Carpio, Jaylin Chen, and Joshua Mack.
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The Varsity Girls Volleyball team finished their most successful season in school history. They won 13 games, a school record, and finished with a winning record for the first time. The Hawks were led by seniors Natalie Lopez, Angelique Roldan, and Itzel Solis. Seniors Mia Delgado and Sierra Grimmett contributed to JV Volleyball winning 10 games this season. |
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At HSA McKinley Park our top priority is the health and safety of students and staff. Should you have any questions or concerns please email us at:
Mr. Seat Vedziovski, school principal
Mrs. Marisa Vega, Outreach Coordinator
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