 | How the Annual Appeal Benefits All Students Thank you to all the families that contributed a collective $5,500 to the Annual Appeal on Giving Tuesday! Our goal is 100% participation. Whatever the amount, EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS! You can make a difference by donating HERE. Your donation supports things that directly benefit students:
$10,440 for bus transportation to athletic events
$3,500 for Shakespeare Theater
$4,912 for student clubs
$108 for snacks for college representatives at the college fair Don't forget about company matching donations! It will often double your support to Northside! Check with your employer. Contact Peter Beale-DelVecchio with questions. Please donate today! | Winter Clothes and Blankets Drive Monday, December 9 - Friday, December 20 The Pay It Forward colloquium is having a winter clothes and blankets drive. Donations will be accepted between Monday, December 9 - Friday, December 20. There will be boxes by the main office. Items can be new or gently used. Your donations are greatly appreciated! | This Week in Sports Please come out and cheer on our mighty Mustangs at the following games: Men's Basketball ▪ Monday, December 9, 5:00 pm (JV) and 6:30 pm (V) vs. Maine East at Maine East
▪ Wednesday, December 11, 5:00 (V) and 6:30 pm (JV) vs. Foreman at NCP
▪ Friday, December 13, 5:00 pm (V) and 6:30 pm (JV) vs. at Lake View
| ▪ | Monday, December 9, 5:00 pm (JV) and 6:30 pm (V) vs. Maine East at Maine East | | ▪ | Wednesday, December 11, 5:00 (V) and 6:30 pm (JV) vs. Foreman at NCP | | ▪ | Friday, December 13, 5:00 pm (V) and 6:30 pm (JV) vs. at Lake View | Men's and women's varsity and JV basketball schedules are posted on the MaxPreps website. Women's Basketball ▪ Monday, December 9, 5:00 pm (V) vs. Beacon Academy at NCP
▪ Tuesday, December 10, 5:00 pm (V) and 6:30 (JV) vs. North Lawndale at NCP
▪ Friday, December 13, 5:00 pm (S) and 6:30 pm (V) vs. U of C Lab Schools at NCP
| ▪ | Monday, December 9, 5:00 pm (V) vs. Beacon Academy at NCP | | ▪ | Tuesday, December 10, 5:00 pm (V) and 6:30 (JV) vs. North Lawndale at NCP | | ▪ | Friday, December 13, 5:00 pm (S) and 6:30 pm (V) vs. U of C Lab Schools at NCP | Winter Sports Tryouts Winter Sports Online Registration is Now Open All Winter student athletes must have their parents or guardian register them. Also, all students must have a current physical on file. Students need to turn in a copy of their current physical to their coach. Students can not participate in practice or games without a physical. Visit the NCP athletics website HERE and click on the registration tab. Tryout Dates: ▪ Track (Men and Women) – Jan 2020
| ▪ | Track (Men and Women) – Jan 2020 | Visit the NCP Athletics website for information about Northside teams. | Holiday Hop Dance Planned Friday, December 13
7:00 pm
Gymnasium The strike-canceled Halloween dance is back as a Holiday Hop this Friday, December 13. Sponsored by the Latin Club, previously purchased tickets will be honored. | 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 parent 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 Please join the NCP Intermediate Strings, Concert Strings, and Chamber Strings for an evening concert. | 2019 Teacher & Faculty Appreciation Lunch Donations and Volunteers Needed! Thursday, December 19 Show your appreciation for Northside’s wonderful teachers and staff by volunteering or donating an item for the annual luncheon. Sign up HERE to volunteer or to donate an item. If you have any questions, please contact Christine Lee. | 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!!! | Registration Deadline for NCP Costa Rica Trip Approaches Friday, December 13 Ms. Torres is leading a trip of NCP students to Costa Rica over spring break from Saturday, April 4-Saturday, April 11. The deadline to submit the tour fee payment is Friday, December 13. The itinerary is packed with exciting adventures. Students will travel to Arenal to see the Arenal Volcano National Park, go on hanging bridges and hot springs excursions, and visit La Fortuna waterfalls. In Monteverde, students will try canopy zip-lining, horseback riding, and plant a tree in the Santa Elena Biological Reserve. And during a visit to Manuel Antonio National Park, the guided visit will include a rainforest aerial tram ride. The final day will be spent traveling to San José via Sarchí to see the village's crafts. Click HERE for a flyer. | 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. | 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 afterwards. | 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. | SAVE THE DATE 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. Click HERE for a preview. ▪ All are welcome- parents, alumni, teachers and administration
▪ A casual gathering to raise funds for our amazing school
▪ Consider donating an “experience” for our live auction
▪ Need more info? Contact Debra Swan our event chair debra@theswans.net
| ▪ | All are welcome- parents, alumni, teachers and administration | | ▪ | A casual gathering to raise funds for our amazing school | | ▪ | Consider donating an “experience” for our live auction | Willing to Donate? ▪ For sponsorship opportunities and in-kind donations, please contact Kimberly Chase Harding or Peter Beale-DelVecchio.
▪ To donate live and silent auction items, please contact Kristen Werries Collier.
| 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 Men's Basketball Win Thanksgiving Invite Congratulations to the Men's Varsity Basketball team for its first place finish in this year’s Mustang Thanksgiving Invite tournament. The Mustangs took home the trophy on Saturday in a nail biter win, ending with a 4-0 tournament record. |  Varsity pictured here in rainbow spirit before a game last week. | | Varsity Women's Basketball Celebrate Victory Varsity women's basketball had their first WIN Saturday! 34-33 against University High (Lab School). Their first home game is Monday against Beacon at 5:00 pm! | 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, December 11
United States Naval Academy, 10:40 am 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. | | |
