We are excited to present the academic calendar for the 2022-23 school year! Thanks to everyone who shared their feedback. Votes were close, with 54% of voters selecting the first option, featuring a August 23, 2022 start date. In consideration of your feedback, as well as much discussion around the highlights of each calendar, we have decided to select the first calendar option, with a student start date of August 23, 2022. Take a look here:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KtrR7h7bIuK83_Q7L1umoSvrVLeB3xM6/view
Hi Bucktown families! There will be a PALS meeting on Thursday, March 24th at 5:30 on Zoom. We would love to have you there. We will be going over school updates, discussing fundraising ideas, and upcoming school events.
Zoom link will be sent home with your child.
**Students whose parent(s) join the meeting will earn 100 DeansList points!!
Happy #SELday everyone! SEL or Social Emotional Learning is extremely important to our mission at Distinctive Schools. When students understand their emotional health, they grow as individuals both in their academics and daily life. Shout out to our partners @Move_ThisWorld for their amazing SEL curriculum and thank you to caresolace24_7 for making the first steps in getting support even easier!
This week is National School Social Work Week and we are celebrating our amazing Social Workers! Thank you for partnering with students, families, and staff to ensure our communities are safe, warm, welcoming environments for all! We appreciate you!
We’re excited to launch the Test to Stay program this March! In partnership with the Chicago Department of Public Health, Test to Stay will provide an alternative to quarantine to keep more students learning safely in-person. Read more here: https://bit.ly/DS_COVID19
We are hosting another vaccine clinic at CICS Bucktown this Wednesday March 2, 2022! Getting vaccinated is imperative to keeping us learning together safely. Walk ins are welcome, but advance registration is strongly recommended, please use this link : https://bit.ly/BTVaccineClinic
Celebrate – Honor – REFLECT
Today is the final day of Black History Month. We close with a quote from the always inspiring author, novelist, playwright, poet, activist, and brilliant mind of James Baldwin, “History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary…” Let his words serve as a reminder that history is being written now, as we carry it in our hearts, we celebrate, honor, reflect. Black history is everyday.
The CDC lifted the mask requirement for schools – we are excited about the progress this means we have made in fighting COVID-19! At this time, Distinctive Schools Chicago will continue to require masks for the week of February 28 as we update mitigation measures and quarantine protocols. We will provide an update on masks beyond this week by Thursday, March 3.
Dr. Gholdy Muhammad is an educator, curriculum designer & author of Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. As we reflect on how we as educators can strive to #CultivateGenius, Dr. Muhammad’s texts have been so inspiring! Her work has provided an incredible framework for how we REFLECT on curriculum and analyze texts.
Celebrate – HONOR – Reflect
Marva Collins, famous Educator, Chicago native, and education pioneer, is someone whose life and work are held in high HONOR. Marva Collins worked to serve students with a focus on teaching and reaching the whole child. As an educator, including in developing a whole-child model and philosophy, Collins ensured that strong teaching and learning take place every single day – she is an amazing example of passion and dedication; she is a testament to the impact a teacher can have.
There is no one way to be kind, there are infinite ways! Do what you can today to make someone’s day. Being Distinctive means being kind – what can you do today where you are, with what you have to #MakeKindnessTheNorm? #RandomActsofKindness #BeDistinctive
We strive every day to make sure each of our students and staff know they are *somebody* – we teach and learn with extraordinary individuals every single day! Take a moment today to make someone’s day through – #RandomActsofKindness! #MakeKindnessTheNorm #BeDistinctive
Today is a very special day at Bucktown. Our kindergarten students are 100 days smarter! Happy 100th day of school to all of our students, we are proud of all of your hard work these past 100 days!
Everyone can make a difference with a little bit of kindness! Kindness is one of our core values at Distinctive Schools, we love seeing out students and staff being kind to each other every day! What little bit of good will you do today to #MakeKindnessTheNorm? #BeDistinctive #RAKweek
Hope everyone had a great first day of Random Acts of Kindness Week! During Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Week, we challenge you to do something KIND for others everyday! Our goal is to help #MakeKindnessTheNorm! How will you practice kindness today? #RandomActsofKindness #RAKweek #BeDistinctive
Today is the first day of Random Acts of Kindness Week, but here at Bucktown our students are always showing kindness and compassion. Check out some of Ms. Schwerdt's students rocking their kindness sunglasses they got for showing other classmates kindness. Way to go, 105!
Bucktown students are honoring and celebrating Black History Month. Check out these bulletin boards highlighting influential black individuals.
Last Friday we had Career Day. Our staff invited friends and family in to speak to to our students about their jobs and careers to get them excited about their futures and expose them to a variety of careers that they might be interested in pursuing. A big thank you to all of the speakers who took time out of their day to participate!
We're excited to see you soon! School is back in session on Tuesday, January 4, 2022. Happy New Year!
We hosted a High School Fair for our students and students at CICS West Belden and CICS Irving Park! Check out these Bucktown 8th graders learning all about their options for the next step in their education journey!
