 | Our Annual Appeal Needs Your Help Dear Northside Parents, Please join the 106 families who have generously contributed $52,818 thus far. Currently about 10% of families have donated. Our goal is 100% parent participation at whatever level you can afford. Every donation, regardless of the amount, makes a difference because all of the funds directly benefit your daughters and sons. We set a goal of $500,000 to ensure we fully fund all of the items that aren't funded by the CPS budget (listed below). Without your help, Friends of Northside will have to choose which items we can afford. Please, donate today! ▪ Athletics Bus Transportation
▪ Athletics Trainer
▪ Counselor
▪ Clerk/Asst Clerk
▪ Facilities Manager
▪ Security
▪ Faculty Lounge Supplies
▪ Hospitality
▪ Printer Contract
▪ Wellness Center
▪ Capital Improvement
▪ Professional Development
▪ Student Clubs
▪ Student Emergency Fund
| ▪ | Athletics Bus Transportation | | ▪ | Faculty Lounge Supplies | | ▪ | Professional Development | | 2019 Teacher & Faculty Appreciation Lunch Gift Cards, Donations, and Volunteers Needed! Thursday, December 19 During this time of giving, please help us show our appreciation to our wonderful Northside teachers and staff by donating to the Teacher & Faculty Appreciation Lunch. We need gift cards, food, and volunteers for the luncheon on Thursday, December 19. We are in need of 100 gift cards! Please send all gift cards to the office to the attention of the FON by Tuesday, December 17. Sign up HERE to volunteer or to donate an item. If you have any questions, please contact Christine Lee at chrissoolee@yahoo.com. | This Week in Sports Please come out and cheer on our mighty Mustangs at the following games: Men's Basketball ▪ Thursday, December 19, 5:00 pm (V) and 6:30 pm (Soph) vs. Lane Tech at NCP
| ▪ | Thursday, December 19, 5:00 pm (V) and 6:30 pm (Soph) vs. Lane Tech at NCP | Women's Basketball ▪ Tuesday, December 17, 5:00 pm (V) and 6:30 pm (JV) at Whitney Young
▪ Friday, December 20, 6:30 pm (V) vs. Marine Leadership Academy (Lakeview Holiday Tournament) at Lakeview HS
▪ Saturday, December 21, 11:30 am (V) vs. Instituto Health Sciences (Lakeview Holiday Tournament) at Lakeview HS
| ▪ | Tuesday, December 17, 5:00 pm (V) and 6:30 pm (JV) at Whitney Young | | ▪ | Friday, December 20, 6:30 pm (V) vs. Marine Leadership Academy (Lakeview Holiday Tournament) at Lakeview HS | | ▪ | Saturday, December 21, 11:30 am (V) vs. Instituto Health Sciences (Lakeview Holiday Tournament) at Lakeview HS | Men's and women's varsity and JV basketball schedules are posted on the MaxPreps website. Visit the NCP Athletics website for information about Northside teams. | Local School Council (LSC) Meeting Tuesday, December 17
6:30 pm
Faculty Lounge The Local School Council (LSC) - the voice in the continuing evolution of Northside - is an elected body that plays an important role in the decision-making that affects our school. The LSC is responsible for approving the Continuous Improvement Work Plan (CIWP), principal selection and evaluation, and allocating discretionary funds to school programs. LSC elections for six parents and two community representatives will be held in April 2020. Please attend upcoming LSC meetings to get a sense of what NCP’s Local School Council is working on this year. You can learn more about the Local School Council HERE. | Cozy Winter Concert Tuesday, December 17
7:00 pm
Auditorium
Tickets are $5.
Children 12 and under are free. Come on out to NCP's annual Cozy Winter Concert featuring Northside's Jazz, Band, Concert Band, Intermediate Strings, Concert Strings, and Chamber Strings. | NCP Athletic Boosters Meeting Thursday, December 19
7:00 pm
Faculty Lounge The NCP Athletic Boosters seek to organize support and assistance for our exciting athletic programs, their coaches, and our amazing student-athletes. Please join us to share your ideas and concerns and help us in our quest to increase attendance and student participation at our team events. Get involved and celebrate the incredible achievements of our students outside of the classroom! All parents and guardians are welcome. Go Mustangs!!! | Winter Clothes and Blankets Drive Through Friday, December 20 The Pay It Forward colloquium is having a winter clothes and blankets drive. Donations will be accepted through Friday, December 20. There will be boxes by the main office. Items can be new or gently used. Your donations are greatly appreciated! | Doing Your Holiday Shopping Online? You can help our school in the process, with no extra cost to you. AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way to support Northside every time you shop. Click HERE to read about AmazonSmile. Click HERE for detailed sign-up instructions or skip the instructions and sign up HERE. Please note that our AmazonSmile name is Friends of "North" "Side" (North Side - two words at AmazonSmile). | Make-Up Days Chicago Public Schools has amended the 2019-2020 school calendar to include the following future make up days: ▪ January 2 and 3
▪ June 17 and 18
| The NCP calendar has been adjusted as follows: ▪ Thursday, January 2: regular Thursday schedule, Blocks 4 - 1
▪ Friday, January 3: regular Friday schedule, Blocks 8 - 5
▪ End of the Year final exams for 9th-11th graders are moved to June 15-17.
▪ Thursday, June 18: Annual Field Day
| ▪ | Thursday, January 2: regular Thursday schedule, Blocks 4 - 1 | | ▪ | Friday, January 3: regular Friday schedule, Blocks 8 - 5 | | ▪ | End of the Year final exams for 9th-11th graders are moved to June 15-17. | | ▪ | Thursday, June 18: Annual Field Day | *No changes have been made to senior activities/graduation events. Please review the updated calendar HERE. | Winter Break Monday, December 23, 2019 - Wednesday, January, 1, 2020 *Classes resume on Thursday, January 2, 2020. | Mark Your Calendars! Northside's Feast and Fundraiser Spring Benefit Friday, March 13, 2020
7:00 - 10:30 pm
DANK Haus, 4740 N. Western Ave Join Northside parents and faculty for a fun evening to raise
essential funding for our students and celebrate cultural diversity with a buffet of local favorites and craft spirits. For more information, click HERE. | Order a Yearbook Today! Interested in purchasing a copy of the 2019-2020 Stampede, NCP's yearbook? Click HERE to start your order. Type in code 4187220, fill in the name and year of your student, and complete your purchase! Copies are $45 until March 1 and $55 afterward. | Student or Parent Volunteers Needed for NCP Basketball Student or parent volunteers are needed to help staff the scorer’s table (operating the new scoreboard and keeping the scorebook) during the regular season and at tournament games for both men's and women's basketball. A small courtesy payment (to come from concessions proceeds) will be offered to interested students. Two volunteers needed per game. Please contact Athletic Director Henry Henderson to help or with questions. | Donations Needed for Student Resource Closet Friends of Northside has a resource closet available to NCP students. As of Friday, December 6, we are in need of: ▪ Individual snacks such as granola bars, nuts, and dried fruit
▪ Body lotion
▪ Deodorant for women
▪ Reusable water bottles
▪ Athletic apparel for men and women (shirts, shorts, pants)
▪ Mittens and gloves
▪ Earmuffs
▪ Baby wipes
| ▪ | Individual snacks such as granola bars, nuts, and dried fruit | | ▪ | Athletic apparel for men and women (shirts, shorts, pants) | All items must be new and unopened. No used clothing will be accepted. Please bring all items to the Counseling Office and set outside of Ms. Matthews' office. Contact Nancy Liljedahl with any questions. | Band Trip to Orlando for Festival Disney Thursday, March 12-Sunday, March 15, 2020 All non-beginning level members of Band, Jazz Band, Orchestra, and Choir are invited to travel to Orlando to participate in Festival Disney, a music performance competition and festival for high school music ensembles from across the country, from Thursday, March 12 through Sunday, March 15, 2020. Click HERE for trip details: 1. Read through the trip details.
2. If you are committed to participating, complete and submit the commitment form. COMMITMENT FORM
3. Officially register for the trip and begin your payments by way of the online registration and payment portal.
| 2. | If you are committed to participating, complete and submit the commitment form. COMMITMENT FORM | Contact Mr. Park if you have any questions. | Guest Speakers Needed for Life Lessons Colloquium Mr. Madia is looking for parents who would like to be a guest speaker for his life lessons colloquium. He's looking for people in the field of finance, cooking, fashion, travel, hiring manager, auto, housing, life skills, etc. Please contact Mr. Madia directly to help. | NCP Junior Maya Chan makes 2020 Winter Youth Olympics Team NCP Junior and USA Luge Junior National Team member Maya Chan and her partner qualified to represent the USA at the Youth Olympic Games being held this coming January in St. Moritz, Switzerland. They will be competing in the new discipline of women's doubles luge, which is debuting as an Olympic event at these games. They qualified for the Games by successfully competing in Luge Youth A World Cup events at Innsbruck, Austria and Königssee, Germany over the past few weeks. When they competed at St. Moritz last year, they placed third in a smaller introductory World Cup event. | NCP Senior Justin Ren awarded Second Prize in 2020 Illinois Music Education Association Composition Contest Justin Ren was awarded Second Prize in the 2020 Illinois Music Education Association Composition Contest for his original electronic music submission entitled Crash and Burn. He will be recognized at the 2020 Illinois Music Education Conference in late January and participate in a unique composition workshop designed specifically for contest winners. | NCP Students Audition into Illinois Music Education Association's District 1 Orchestra Jonathan Alday, Julia Carlson, Edward Lee, and Gyury Lee successfully auditioned into the Illinois Music Education Association's District 1 Orchestra. They dedicated many hours preparing for the audition and rehearsing with the District 1 Orchestra, culminating in a concert performance at Elmhurst College under the direction of Maestro Frank Lestina. Jonathan Alday was also selected to perform with the ILMEA All-State Orchestra in Peoria. He will engage in three days of intense rehearsals and perform with the All-State Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Gary Lewis (conductor and professor of music at the University of Colorado - Boulder) as a culminating experience at the Peoria Civic Center. | Do you have news or team results to share with the Northside parent community? Click HERE to submit information. | December & January College Visits at Northside Wednesday, January 8
Harvard College, 2:15 pm Students can register for the upcoming visits via Naviance or the Enriching Student Portal. Parents can access the college visits via their Parent Naviance account. | Academic Approach SAT Test Prep Course Academic Approach is offering a standardized test preparation course for students taking the April 14, 2020, SAT exam. This course will review key skills in reading, writing, math, and science and their application on the SAT. Cost: $356.40 per student.
Class time: Wednesdays from 2:15 pm – 5:15 pm
Deadline to register: January 6, 2020 For more information and to register, click HERE. | CPS Scholarship Notifications and College Events Around the City For details about the upcoming events and to access the most recent updates, view the College Calendar on the Northside Prep Counseling website HERE. Also, for additional scholarship opportunities visit the Northside College Prep Counseling page HERE | New to Parent Portal? Three easy steps to sign up! 1. Obtain your student's PIN, which should be on your acceptance letter or school welcome letter.
2. Create an account HERE.
3. Link a student to your account.
| 1. | Obtain your student's PIN, which should be on your acceptance letter or school welcome letter. | | 2. | Create an account HERE. | | 3. | Link a student to your account. | PINs can only be provided to the parent/guardian in person or by mail to the address on file. They cannot be provided by phone or email, or to a student. To request your PIN, please contact Sonia Fernandez in the Counseling Office. | CPS Volunteer Requirements According to CPS policy, anybody who is going to be in contact with students must be approved as a CPS volunteer. There are two levels of volunteers, Level 1 and Level 2. Level I Volunteers (Please allow 8-12 weeks for the entire process)
A fingerprint criminal background check is required for all Level I Volunteers. A Level I volunteer is: 1. A parent providing volunteer service in their child’s school or classroom for 10 or more hours/week;
2. An individual providing volunteer service for 5 or more hours/week at a school where s/he does not have a child enrolled;
3. Any individual chaperoning an overnight school-sponsored trip, regardless of the hours/week that the volunteer serves (See also the Student Travel Policy).
| 1. | A parent providing volunteer service in their child’s school or classroom for 10 or more hours/week; | | 2. | An individual providing volunteer service for 5 or more hours/week at a school where s/he does not have a child enrolled; | | 3. | Any individual chaperoning an overnight school-sponsored trip, regardless of the hours/week that the volunteer serves (See also the Student Travel Policy). | Level II Volunteers (This process can be completed in a day & is required even of volunteers for Friends of Northside events)
A fingerprint criminal background check is not required for Level II Volunteers. A Level II Volunteer is: 1. A parent providing supervised volunteer service in their child’s school or classroom for less than 10 hours/week;
2. Any individual providing volunteer service for less than 5 hours/week at a school where s/he does not have a child enrolled;
3. An individual providing incidental volunteer service with no ongoing individualized interaction with a student(s) including those who speak at a class/assembly, judge academic competitions, give musical performance, participate in the “Principal for a Day” program, job shadowing event or other one-time event provided where there is direct supervision of the activity/event by regular school employees;
4. A parent accompanying his/her child’s class on a one-day field trip or another type of extracurricular activity that does not involve an overnight stay;
5. An individual providing volunteer service on projects/activities involving no or nominal contact with children (home-based volunteer activities, volunteers serving at Central or Network office).
| 1. | A parent providing supervised volunteer service in their child’s school or classroom for less than 10 hours/week; | | 2. | Any individual providing volunteer service for less than 5 hours/week at a school where s/he does not have a child enrolled; | | 3. | An individual providing incidental volunteer service with no ongoing individualized interaction with a student(s) including those who speak at a class/assembly, judge academic competitions, give musical performance, participate in the “Principal for a Day” program, job shadowing event or other one-time event provided where there is direct supervision of the activity/event by regular school employees; | | 4. | A parent accompanying his/her child’s class on a one-day field trip or another type of extracurricular activity that does not involve an overnight stay; | | 5. | An individual providing volunteer service on projects/activities involving no or nominal contact with children (home-based volunteer activities, volunteers serving at Central or Network office). | To become a volunteer, please visit CPS' Volunteer website and follow the instructions. There is also a link on Northside's website on the Parents page Northside Volunteers. Assistant Principal, Kaitlin O'Hare is Northside's Volunteer Coordinator. After applying to become a volunteer, you must visit the school and show Ms. O'Hare your ID, so she can approve you to move forward in the volunteer process. For Level II volunteers, that is the only step you must take. For Level 1, you will receive further instructions from CPS. | FON Connect Friends of Northside uses a customer/constituent relationship management (CRM) system known as FON Connect that allows our parent volunteer organization to work from one database for events. It is not a CPS database and is completely different and separate from the CPS Parent Portal and Northside's EPay website. FON Connect also serves as the NCP Family Directory and allows users to review their donation history, update their contact information, register for upcoming events, and more. Each parent has a separate account. Transactions, including donations, are recorded in the account of the parent who initiated the transaction or donation. If you’re new to FON Connect, you'll need to set up a login and password. To do so: ▪ Click HERE.
▪ Click on “Forgot Password?”
▪ Enter your email address.
▪ Check your email for the link to create a login name and password.
| ▪ | Click on “Forgot Password?” | | ▪ | Enter your email address. | | ▪ | Check your email for the link to create a login name and password. | Once you have set up your FON Connect account, keep your login and password in a safe, convenient place because they will be your keys to the database throughout your years at Northside. | Parking Lot Safety Our NCP school parking lot is a bustling place before and after school. Families dropping off and picking up students are asked to be mindful of both safety and courtesy. Please assist us by ensuring that traffic lanes stay clear during drop-off and pick-up times and by following the parking lot procedures. Parking Lot Procedures ALL vehicles MUST exit onto Kedzie. You may enter the parking lot from Kedzie or Bryn Mawr, but regardless of where you enter, all cars must exit onto Kedzie. For the safety of our students and the rest of the Northside community, please do not exit onto Bryn Mawr. The first few days will be busy at drop-off and pick-up. Please, for the safety of all involved, plan to give yourself enough time for drop-off and pick-up and please be patient while in the parking lot. Pulling over to the curb on the right as your student enters or exits your vehicle keeps students safe and traffic flow efficient. Our safety team will be actively working to ensure that students arrive and depart safely each day and that vehicles in school lots remain damage-free. | NCP Carpool Connection! If you're interested in carpooling to school, add your address to the 2019-2020 NCP Carpool map and reach out to contact a potential carpool family on the map. Find the map HERE or on the Welcome page of FON Connect. | Attention, Parents of CTA Commuters Did you know that the #82 and #92 buses pick up students in front of Northside at the end of the school day? The Kimball Brown line station is also close to school at Kimball and Lawrence. These are just a few of the ways students can use public transportation to commute to school. More information on routes for your student can be found at the CTA website HERE. | Navigating Northside Navigating Northside, our parent handbook, is available on the school website under the "Parents" tab. Click HERE to access it directly. | Give Back to Northside Purchase school and office supplies at Office Depot and OfficeMax and Northside can receive 5% back in credits or FREE supplies. Simply provide our school ID 70031171 at checkout, online, or in stores. There’s no cost to you! | To view this message in your browser, click HERE. Seniors, click HERE for the Class of 2020 web page. Northside’s website can be found HERE. Friends of Northside's website can be found HERE. To see all volunteer opportunities on one page, click HERE. To ensure delivery of This Week at Northside, please add Thisweek@friendsofnorthside.org to your address book. Please do not reply to this e-mail. Send your questions or comments to Friends of Northside. Do you have news or team results to share with the Northside parent community? Click HERE to submit information. | | |
