CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS

8/22 – First Day of Extended Day (M/T/TH/F 3:30-6pm and W 1-6pm)
8/25 – NEW! Middle School Open House  (6th-8th Grade) (GYM) 5:30-7:00pm
8/31 – Latin Heritage Planning Group Meeting (room 203) 9:00-10:00am
9/1 – Updated! K-5th Grade Open House (classrooms) 5:30-7:00pm (time shortened from previous emails)
9/5 – NO SCHOOL/NO EXTENDED DAY – LABOR DAY
9/6 – Fall NWEA testing begins

NEW! WEEK OF 9/12 – UNIFORM PICKUP #2  – All orders placed by today (8/22) will be received by students the week of 9/12.  All students MUST be in full school uniform by the time these uniform orders arrive. Please contact the office or your child’s teacher for information about what is acceptable to wear while you wait for your uniforms.

9/20 – Fall Picture Day (K-7th) (8th Grade will participate in graduation pictures in January)


OTHER INFO

• MENUS August Breakfast  and Lunch Menus
• Dismissal Authorization Sheets – Please make sure you have completed a sign out sheet for every child. This should be given to the teacher at Meet & Greet or on the first day of school so that teachers know who may pick students up from school. Ms. Santiago will also keep copies at her desk and you can update any information with her throughout the year. Dismissal Authorization  Student Walk Home Form


• NEW! Latin Heritage Month Planning:
  • El Mes de la Hispanidad se celebra 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre.  Por favor, únase a nosotros para una junta de planificación el miércoles 31 de agosto a las 9:00 en la cafetería de los maestros. Escogeremos un tema y unas actividades para el mes.  Les solicitamos su asistencia y su apoyo . También hablaremos brevemente de nuestro 2016-2017 BAC (Comité de Padres Bilingües) que se pondrá en marcha en septiembre. Por favor, siga este enlace para apuntarse a la reunión.
  • Latin Heritage Month is September 15 through October 15.  Please join us for a planning meeting on Wednesday, August 31 at 9:00 in the Teachers’ Lounge.  We will be talking about a theme and activities for the month, and we want a lot of parent input.  We will also briefly discuss our 2016-2017 BAC (Bilingual Advisory Committee) that will launch in September.  Please follow this link to RSVP to the meeting.  
• All unpaid registration fees as now PAST DUE!  This can impact your student’s participation in field trips, sports and extended day. Please pay all fees ASAP!! Please contact Ms. Cotrone if you have any questions.
• Please review our uniform cheat sheet so that you will know what students may wear this year.  Uniform Cheat Sheet
• Family Income Form  
  • This form is directly tied to our federal assistance monies. It is imperative we get one form for every family, and it is filled out completely. Please print and fill out BOTH sides. You can return the form via scan/email to ysantiago@distinctiveschools.org, fax to 773.433.5009, drop it off in the office or through the mail slot by the main entrance doors.

PTO UPDATES:

• Limited Tickets Remain – Join other CICS Irving Park Families at Wrigley Field for the Chicago Cubs game on Monday September 19th at 7:05pm against the Cincinnati Reds.  Tickets are in the Terrace Reserve Outfield.  Students must be accompanied by a responsible adult. The cost is $18 per ticket.  Tickets can be purchased on line through the Puma Online Store –http://pumapto.3dcartstores.com.      

Please check the RESOURCES page on the IP website regularly for updates and quick links.Please also check out our FACEBOOK PAGE for any Donor’s Choose projects!

Please reach out to Ms. Cotrone or Ms. Santiago with any questions. We will send out another email early next week with more updates and information.
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Thank you!

August 17, 2016

Dear CICS Irving Park Families,

We had a FABULOUS first day of school!  Welcome to the 2016-17 school year, we are so excited and cannot wait to get this year off to a fantastic start!  We look forward to partnering with you and working to provide the best learning environment for each child at our school both academically and socially. We could not do this work without your continued support and we thank you all for giving us the opportunity to learn with your student’s everyday!

We have several new teachers that we are thrilled to have join our IP Family!  Please be sure to introduce yourselves and make them feel welcome as they join our community.  In first grade we have Ms. Igleski, second grade Ms. Niquette (resident teacher last year), sixth grade we have Ms. Taylor (student teacher last year) & Ms. Stern, 7th grade Ms. Staack (resident teacher last year),  8th grade Mr. Reed and Mr. Brinkman!

This year we have made a change to the electives that we are offering.  We have made a shift  from the Language Lab (Rosetta Stone) and we are moving to offering a media class!  Ms. Montague is working closely with media teachers across our network to plan for high quality learning opportunities for our students in Kindergarten thru eighth grade. We feel this is a great opportunity for our students and we are looking to offer language classes after school!


We have a few reminders for all families:

• Please be sure to pull into the driveway for drop-off in the morning!  The most important rule to remember is to never drop students off in the street for any reason.  This is a major safety issue.  All students in 5th – 8th grade may enter the south door for morning drop off!
• Students will be dismissed on the parking lot.   Please be sure that your dismissal authorization forms have been turned in so that we have all information on file in regards to dismissal/pick-up.
• Also, please remember to not block driveways or alleys.  It is important that we are following the parking restrictions and are being respectful of our neighbors.
• Thursday, September 1st is our CICS Irving Park Open House scheduled from 5:30pm – 7:00pm.  We hope to see everyone!
• Thank you to all of the families who were able to join us at the Meet & Greet  and supply drop off yesterday as well as this afternoon for pick-up!
• Every Wednesday is a 1:00pm dismissal for students.

Thank you so much for all of support, we look forward to working with each of you closely this year to make CICS Irving Park the best school in the city of Chicago!
​
Best,
Mrs. Breo & Mr. Kuebler

ONE WEEK AND COUNTING, PUMAS!
We are so excited to see everyone! Enjoy the last few days of summer as you get ready to come back to school. 

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS
8/16 – MEET & GREET for all families! 2-4pm Please come and meet your new teacher, drop off school supplies and socialize! (Enter through the North Doors)
8/16 – PTO Uniform Pickup 10am-3pm (Gym)
8/17 – FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL – 1pm DISMISSAL – NO EXTENDED DAY (This will be an indoor classroom dismissal, you may also drop off school supplies and meet the teacher if you are unable to make the Tuesday Meet & Greet)
8/18 – regular 3:30pm dismissal (outdoor, weather permitting) – NO EXTENDED DAY
8/19 – regular 3:30pm dismissal (outdoor, weather permitting) – NO EXTENDED DAY
8/22 – First Day of Extended Day (M/T/TH/F 3:30-6pm and W 1-6pm)
9/1 – Open House 5:30-7:30pm

**We are still hoping to have a new family mixer.  As soon as we decide a date and time, we will send out more information, however it might be after the start of school. Thanks for your patience.** 

Other Information:
All registration payment plans and late fees are due the first day of school. Please contact Ms. Cotrone if you have any questions.
Uniform orders were due two weeks ago. If you have not placed an order for uniforms, please complete ASAP. Your student will receive their uniforms as close to the start of school as possible. Please contact the office for information about what is acceptable to wear while you wait for your uniforms.


Please review our Resources page for frequent updates:
Some quick links that may be helpful:
Uniform Cheat Sheet 
Updated 2016-2017 School Calendar 5.23.16-2
School Supply Lists


Extended Day 
Extended Day will begin on Monday, August 22. 
Payment for August is due August 1.
The prorated rates are:
Full Week (1 student): $85.00
Full Week (family): $135.00
Wednesday only (1 student): $25.00
Wednesday only (Family): $35.00
2016-17 Extended Day Application
Extended Day Terms and Conditions
Extended Day Discounted Months
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact ejimenez@distinctiveschools.org.
 
Family Income Forms
This form is directly tied to our federal assistance monies. It is imperative we get one form for every family, and it is filled out completely. Please print and fill out BOTH sides. You can return the form via scan/email to ysantiago@distinctiveschools.org, fax to 773.433.5009, drop it off in the office or through the mail slot by the main entrance doors.

NEW! Dismissal Authorization Sheets – Please make sure you have completed a sign out sheet for every child. This should be given to the teacher at Meet & Greet or on the first day of school so that teachers know who may pick students up from school. Ms. Santiago will also keep copies at her desk and you can update any information with her throughout the year. Dismissal Authorization

Summer Learning Program / CPL Summer Reading Challenge 
We are encouraging all Puma students to participate in Rahm’s Readers program found here:http://www.chipublib.org/news/explore-on-the-go-with-rahms-readers-this-summer/
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Please also check out our FACEBOOK PAGE for any Donor’s Choose projects!

FAMILY WELLNESS AND BACK TO SCHOOL FAIR  
It will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11, at Avondale Logandale School, 3212 W. George Street, corner of Kedzie and George. Free school bags and supplies, physicals, immunizations, dental screenings and other health and wellness services.  

PTO UPDATE:
Join other CICS Irving Park Families at Wrigley Field for the Chicago Cubs game on Monday September 19th at 7:05pm against the Cincinnati Reds.  Tickets are in the Terrace Reserve Outfield.  Students must be accompanied by a responsible adult. The cost is $18 per ticket.  Tickets can be purchased on line through the Puma Online Store.  
 
Thank you!
Please reach out to Ms. Cotrone or Ms. Santiago with any questions.