Dear HSA McKinley Park Families,

The Best Year Ever! As I’ve reflected on my 3rd year at HSA McKinley Park as principal, it has been quite the experience. I have seen some amazing things happen during the pandemic with our student’s learning and even more outstanding things the following year. While the last 2 years have been a rollercoaster ride for all of us, we have preserved and have been more resolute and determined to return to our normal lives. Our school will continue to work to ensure the safety of each and every student, staff, and community stakeholder while they are on our school grounds. Together, we truly can make this “The Best Year Ever”.

We have also shared the 2022-2023 School Improvement Plan with all families. Please see the link below for more information on our plan to make HSA McKinley Park the best!

Also, one of our biggest initiatives this year is to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion occur routinely within our buildings. We want all students to feel safe and comfortable expressing themselves and we must teach them to respect each other, even if they are different from them. We want all our students to be world citizens and to work collaboratively with each other. We strive to ensure all students in our school will develop these six character traits - Critical Thinking, Empathy, Collaboration, Global Citizens, Adaptability, and Communication. We believe that these traits will help them become the best version of themselves as they grow into adulthood.

Lastly, I want to personally thank all our staff, students, parents, and community partners for attending our Open House on Thursday, September 1st as well as Parent Teacher Conferences on Thursday, September 22nd. It was great to see and hear all the wonderful conversations being spoken about our students. I also spoke with many parents and I was blown away by the level of enthusiasm and hope for an outstanding year. With this as a small sample size, I am confident that this will be “The Best Year Ever”!


Sincerely, 

Mr. Vedziovski
2245 W. Pershing Rd. Chicago, IL 60609
(O) 773.247.8400 | (F) 773.247.8401
Operated by Concept Schools
In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, we would like to this opportunity to salute, honor, and highlight our staff who make such huge contributions to the success of our school:

  • Jessica Garcia, Kindergarten Teacher
  • Alma Ybarra, Lunchroom Aide
  • Jimmy Velez, Biology Teacher
  • Marisa Vega, Community Outreach Coordinator
  • Danielle Morales, Front Office Staff
  • Karen Arteaga, 1st Grade Teacher
  • Graciela Valencia, 1st Grade Teacher
  • Diana Gamboa, 2nd Grade Teacher
  • Maricruz Diaz, Spanish Teacher
  • Diego Tapia, Maintenance Staff
  • Khrishma Castrejon, 1st Grade Teacher
  • Nancy Audelo, Maintenance Staff
  • Juanita Camacho, School Counselor
  • Christina Wrobel, 1st Grade Teacher
  • Yavette Esparza, EL Teacher
  • Roberto Jasso, Social Studies Teacher
  • Hugo Luna, Social Studies Teacher
  • Rosie Maldonado, College & Career Counselor
  • Humberto Galan, Security
  • Hollie Vela, Teacher Aide
  • Zoraida Muhammad, Kindergarten Teacher
  • Natalie Salinas, Front Office Staff
  • Vianty Gonzalez, Spanish Teacher
  • Tiffany Martinez, Lunchroom Aide
  • Jose Magana, Maintenance Staff

Thank you so much for all that you do for our students!
We appreciate you all so much!
BACK TO SCHOOL EVENTS
OPEN HOUSE
Thank you to all of our families who joined us for our Back to School Open House on Thursday, September 1st! Especially to our Community Partners for joining us to share their amazing services/organizations. PTO was also in attendance and we are so grateful for their continued support. PTO also hosted their annual Krispy Kreme Sale which was a huge hit! It was a also great night for our families to meet our new Superintendent Mr. Kartal.

Thank you again to our Community Partners:
  • St. Anthony Hospital
  • ESPORTA Fitness
  • Neighbors for Environmental Justice
  • Jose Cortina, Realty of Chicago
  • Chicago REC Sports
  • PTO
Family Movie Night
A special Thanks to our awesome PTO for hosting our Back to School Family Movie Night. It was a great turnout and we wanted to thank all of our HSA School Community for joining us! Special shout out to our High School Cross Country team for hosting the delicious movie snack sale! We are excited to celebrate once again with our school community at our Fall Family Festival happening next month!
HEALTH FAIR
Our sincere appreciation to our school Nurse, Ms. Brewer for organizing our 1st School Community Health Fair on Saturday, September 10th! We had the privilege to partner with the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council and were able to bring more than 9 different community health care resources/services to our school health fair before the upcoming flu season.
Parent Teacher Conferences
Thank you to all of our families who signed up for our first Parent Teacher Conferences of the school year. We were extremely happy to host the conferences this year in person and also happy to use our easy Meet the Teacher appointment setter! These conferences are always during progress report time so that our families are well informed before final quarter grades hit on the report card.
Band Spaghetti Night Success
A special shout out to Ms. Kovatch, band students, and Parent Band Booster club for producing a flawless Spaghetti Night dinner. This band fundraiser is always such a huge success because of the amazing support of our families who stop by during parent-teacher conferences. Our school band produced a night full of delicious food and fabulous music!

Thank you to all who showed their support!
Kicking off Hispanic Heritage Month
We were so excited to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with all of our students! We kicked off the celebratory month with our annual dress-down day on Thursday, September 15th. During lunch, we had a surprise Mariachi Serenata by Mariachi Perla de Mexico and we passed out delicious churros to all students.

This year, Mariachi Perla de Mexico Mariachi Group surprised our band students by stopping by the classroom to share their stories and music success. It was a great way to showcase to our band students the beautiful instruments of mariachi and its rich history.

Celebrations will continue until next month so stay tuned for more events & special visitors!
Alebrijes Field Trip
Celebrating Hispanic Heritage month must include fun field trips! We were excited to take both our Kindergarten and Spanish classes to Cantingy Park to see the Alebrije exhibit. A group of phenomenal Mexican Artists made over 40 grand Alebrijes that were displayed on the beautiful grounds of Cantingy Park. It is important to expose our students to as much Hispanic Culture as we possibly can and we are so happy to share the beautiful Mexican Art of Alebrijes with them this year!
High School Parent Nights
Junior & Senior
The SAT Program Coordinators, Dr. Yilmaz & Ms. Moss, and our College & Career Counselor, Ms. Maldonado set to kick off the school year with Senior & Junior Parent Informational Nights. Preparation is the key to success and we are proud to have a staff that is dedicated in preparing our students for their future! Each night was designed to inform our parents of the SAT Prep Program and College Preparations.

If you missed any of these informational nights please contact:

 
Student Leadership Academy
Mural Unveil
HSA McKinley Park celebrated their highly anticipated Mural Unveiling on Thursday, September 29th. Thank you to all of our community partners, Concept Family, neighbors, students, and staff who joined us for this magical and historical night. It was an exciting moment for HSA McKinley Park to share this important Mural with the community! We are so proud of our Student Leadership Academy for their hard work on this masterpiece that will have an everlasting life at our school!

We are on a quest to be the best!
5th Grade Camping Field Trip
To kick off the school year our 5th graders set off on an amazing field trip! They had 2 nights at the NIU Loredo Taft Campus that was full of classes on Native American life, studying bones, studying the science of garbage, and learning survival techniques! They also went on a night hike and learned about nocturnal animals which included a campfire, roasting s’mores, and singing campfire songs! This field trip was all possible because of our awesome 5th grade team: Ms. Martin, Mr. Cann, and Ms. Fortman! They knew this field trip would help build our 5th graders up with team-building skills and social activities!
Student Council Results
Congratulations to our newest
Senior & Junior Student Council Members

Junior Student Council: 
President - Zoey Roman 
Vice President - Havilyn Aitken & Luis Garcia
Secretary - Fernando Garcia 
Treasurer - Danvier Carpio

Senior Student Council: 
President - Itzel Solis
Vice President - Angelique Roldan
Secretary - Jaylene Bue
Treasurer - Nicolas Roacho
High School Fall Sports Teams
Cross Country is Taking Off!
Our Fall Sports teams are up and running and that means in full stride for our Cross Country runners. A special shout-out to all of our runners for their dedication this year! They are close to the end of their season with just a couple of more races before the Regionals!

Special Recognition to the class of 2026, this is the largest group of freshmen (14) our team has ever seen! We are excited to see how our Hawks finish out their season.
Girls Volleyball Team
The Varsity Girls Volleyball team finished the month of September by setting a school record with their tenth win of the season. They take a 10-7 overall record (5-3 conference record) into October with sights set on winning the Lake Shore Athletic League. Senior Night for our Girls Volleyball players will take place on Friday, October 14, when the Hawks host Beacon Academy.
Remission Accomplished
What a special and amazing way we closed out this month by celebrating our very own Zoe Perez on Friday, September 30th. We are so happy to share the exciting news that Zoe is now in remission!!! Remission Accomplished!!! The celebration included a classroom pizza party, a dress-down day for her class, a school-wide parade, and a special visitor, SouthPaw, The Chicago White Sox Mascot! This is incredible news for Zoe and her whole family and we had to celebrate it BIG! We will continue to show our support to Zoe and the whole family because together we are stronger! Thank you to all that were involved in the planning of this very special day for our Cancer Warrior Zoe!
Save these Date
Any questions? concerns?
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
Principal

Mrs. Marisa Vega
Outreach Coordinator:
Be sure to follow us on social media!